Growth continues past parental hurdle for Carmel's Roeser

When Johnny Roeser got pushed around as a freshman on the Carmel varsity basketball team last year, it was nothing he hadn't experienced before.

Roeser was pushed around all the time as a kid. By his dad.

As far as driveway basketball was concerned, Michael Roeser, a star basketball player at Stevenson and then in college in the 1980s, wasn't going to give his youngest son an inch.

And that toughened up Roeser real quick, made him tough enough to play varsity as a freshman and evolve into Carmel's go-to player as a sophomore this year.

“I started playing basketball in fourth grade and I would play against my dad all the time,” Roeser said. “We'd go at it in the driveway. He would always go hard on me, always block my shot, knock me around.

“I remember crying a lot because I could never beat him.”

And then one day … it happened. Roeser, always a tall kid but still not taller than his dad, beat his dad at basketball.

He says he'll never forget that moment.

“I was in sixth grade. I was probably around 5-foot-10, 5-foot-11 and my dad is 6-foot-4,” Roeser said. “He was bigger than me, but he still thought that he could play up on me and I was starting to get faster, and I was beating him to the basket. And I won!

“By seventh grade, I was tall enough to block his shot. I'll never forget the first time I did that. I was just so happy to be able to challenge him and even beat him.”

Now, the 6-foot-5 Roeser, who can play all five positions on the floor for the Corsairs and can score on post moves, drives to the basket and 3-pointers, says that happens all the time.

Now, he doesn't give his dad an inch.

“The games are mostly blowouts by me now,” Roeser said with a chuckle. “But we still go 1-on-1 a lot. It's a lot of fun. I think back on all of our games when I was younger and I know they helped me. They made me tougher and instilled in me a competitive attitude.”

The competitor in Roeser doesn't back down from anyone.

He had a big challenge over the holidays at a tournament in Minnesota. On paper, it was almost like fourth-grade Johnny vs. Dad.

Roeser was up against Jericho Sims, a 6-foot-8 senior center from Cristo Ray Jesuit High School in Minneapolis. Sims got offers from dozens of major Division I schools and ultimately signed with Texas.

With Sims guarding him, Roeser scored 15 points.

“Those two were going at each other,” Carmel coach Zack Ryan said of Roeser and Sims. “You could tell it was a good matchup. Johnny showed no fear. It was great to see.

“Johnny has matured a lot in just the last year. We asked a lot of him last year, and that maybe wasn't always fair to do with a freshman, but I think that helped him grow and now this year, he's been a go-to guy for us.”

Roeser, known for wearing eye goggles when he plays, averages 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks per game for the Corsairs. He's had some particularly big games in which he's scored 20-plus points or hit game-winners.

But the game against the Texas-bound Sims in Minnesota ranks among his favorites so far.

“He is a center, but not like some slow guy in the post. He is really quick and his vertical was crazy,” Roeser said of Sims. “It was really cool to play against someone who has a chance to play in the NBA someday.

“I really cherished that moment. I wanted to see what I could do against him.”

And as he's been doing a lot lately, Roeser held his own against a bigger, stronger, older player.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

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