Maki, McCullum look for expanded roles

Teammates in high school and again at East Tennessee State, Maki Johnson and Jordan McCullum will looked at as leaders for the Bucs basketball team the upcoming season. ETSU finished 23-11 last season, won the Southern Conference regular-season title, and advanced to the tournament championship game against Furman. But, the top four scorers from that team are gone with Brian Taylor II and Morris graduated, and Barkley and Jaylen Smith transferred to other schools. It should open up more opportunities for Johnson, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard who has been a guy off the bench for most of his career. Whether he remains off the bench or is in a starting spot, he's going to be expected to do more throughout the season. After going 52-for-135 (38.5 percent) from 3-point range during the 2025-26 campaign, don't be surprised to see him more aggressive on the offensive end this season. He's ramped up the intensity in early practices "I've tried to bring the energy every day for the younger guys," Johnson said. "It's just setting the example. I will probably take a little more shots than I did last year, get more looks and handle the ball a little more." Johnson averaged 5.7 points per game with three games in double figures. He had a career-best 29 points in ETSU's blowout win over South Alabama. That night, he hit 9-of-17 shots behind the arc. He was good at taking care of the ball with a 30-12 assist to turnover ratio. As much as he's got better offensively, it's the defensive end where he's made the biggest strides. That is always a huge emphasis for ETSU coach Brooks Savage as the Bucs led the league last season in scoring defense. "I'd say I've probably improved the most with my on-ball defense," Johnson said. "It's not as much of a task for me anymore where I have to put as much effort into it. I feel like it's coming naturally now." His relationship with McCullum is also natural as they're close friends both on and off the court. Johnson said it's better than ever with both of them embracing their roles this season. "It's like our third year living together, because we lived together in high school," Johnson said. "He's like my brother, and I can't wait to lead this team with him." They were teammates for a season at Huntington Prep in West Virginia before McCullum returned to Harriman High School for his senior year. McCullum, a 6-foot-8 post has undergone a physical transformation. He's more muscular, nearly 40 pounds heavier than when he first arrived in Johnson City. "I've been settling in and getting acclimated to playing out there in college basketball," McCullum said. "I've gotten a lot stronger. Just stepping into a bigger role, year three, it's just getting ready to do the things that a leader does for his team." McCullum started 32 of 34 games for ETSU last season, and averaged 8.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Other post players from last season — Blake Barkley and Cam Morris III — had bigger roles scoring and rebounding. When asked about an expanded role, McCullum looked first at the team's goals. "We want to do a lot more winning," McCullum said. "It's about rebounding, playing harder defense, executing on offense, doing things like that. I've gotten better on defense, able to guard a lot of spots on the floor, so being able to bang with the five or guard your guard out on the perimeter." It's not just himself where ETSU has added bulk. They've brought in transfers to go along with himself and Brayden Crump, who played 11 games for the Bucs before a season-ending shoulder injury. "We've brought in Marqus (Marion), Kendall Campbell and Brayden is healthy again," McCullum said. "We're a lot bigger than we were last year. That should help us with the rebounds and blocking shots, things that we weren't able to always win last year."