Johnson brothers to be enshrined Saturday

May 15, 2025

By Clay Whittington

T.J. Johnson and Trap Johnson guided the Tigers to numerous memorable moments inside Belton’s gymnasium, and Saturday, the brothers will be enshrined there.

In 2021, the pair of four-year varsity members helped the Tigers snap a playoff drought, and they have not missed the postseason since.

As a result, the two will be permanently honored Saturday morning, when they are inducted into the Belton High School Athletic Wall of Honor.

The ceremony is set to begin at 10 a.m. with a meet-and-greet occurring at 9 a.m. T.J. Johnson’s first two seasons ended in disappointment as Belton produced a combined district record of 10-22, but it did not deter his individual accomplishments.

En route to eventually becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,672 points and one of team’s most prolific rebounders (1,213), T.J. Johnson’s career started with him being named the alldistrict newcomer of the year.

He proved worthy of the title. One year later, T.J. Johnson was a member of the all-district first team before being named offensive player of the year in 2021.

In his senior year, T.J. Johnson was bestowed the title of all-district most valuable player and repeated as an all-region selection after guiding the Tigers to a share of its first district since 2004.

He also committed to Lipscomb in the same season, establishing him as just the second Belton player since 1961 to receive an NCAA Division I scholarship.

Currently, T.J. Johnson plays for Virginia Military Institute, where he started all 33 games as a sophomore, ranking fourth in the conference with 2.8 3-pointers per game and fifth in the conference with 32.6 minutes per game.

His brother mimicked the trajectory.

Playing alongside T.J. Johnson, Trap Johnson was an all-district second-team selection as a freshman in 2021, but his stature quickly grew during the ensuing seasons.

When T.J. Johnson was MVP, Trap Johnson gained first-team notoriety, and after his brother’s departure, the accolades continued coming.

Trap Johnson, who never missed a game, finished his high school career with two straight all-district superlatives, repeating as offensive player of the year to go along with back-to-back appearances on the all-region team.

Equally important, Belton earned its first playoff victory in almost two decades in 2023.

Trap Johnson added a pair of allstate selections to his resume and totaled 2,398 points (second in school history), 1,010 rebounds and 407 blocks before departing to college with a 104-30 combined record.

Next year, Trap Johnson will play for Montana State as a freshman, joining his brother at the NCAA Division I level.

The duo will be inducted along with former Belton girls soccer standout goalkeeper Mallory Bankhead and former Tigers offensive lineman John Roach, joining a list of elite athletes from the school that stretches back to 1909.