Derrick earns region honor; Johnson keeps up with Cubs

Mickey Derrick, the head football coach and athletic director at Greenbrier High School, earned a huge accolade at the recent Region 3-AAAA meetings.

The coaches named Derrick the Athletic Director of the Year for 2001-02.

The meetings were held at Burke County High School, where each school's athletic director voted for Athletic Director of the Year.

The award was based on overall region wins, school performance and management.

Congratulations are in order for coach Derrick. He beat some tough competition and obviously is doing his job well with the Wolfpack.

Johnson spotted

I ran into former Greenbrier High School athletic standout Jon Johnson at a recent basketball game.

Johnson was a three-sport star for the Pack, but his best sport was baseball. His power-hitting and good defense helped Greenbrier win Class AAA state titles in 1998 and '99. He was drafted out of high school by the Chicago Cubs and has enjoyed great success so far in the professional ranks.

According to one minor league scout with the Cubs, Johnson might have more up-side than any right-handed batter in the Chicago farm system.

It won't be this year, but expect to see Johnson performing in the major leagues one day.

The former Greenbrier slugger left last Monday for spring training in Phoenix and is expected to play with Chicago's High A affiliate in Daytona Beach, Fla., or possibly at the Single A (Lansing, Mich.) or AA (Jackson, Tenn.) levels.

Ashley Brown's radio program can be heard from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday on News-Talk Sports 1630 AM. His e-mail address is AB@WRDWAM.com.