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Sad to report that ORU Hall of Famer Gary "Cat" Johnson passed away Tuesday at a St. Louis hospital at the age of 58. Cat had been dealing with a number of health issues the past few years, but that didn't stop him from a number of business ventures in his hometown of Joplin (MO), the latest of which was a restaurant called "Cat Johnson's Taste Of The South". Here's a tribute posted from one of his friends: https://www.fourstateshomepage.com/news/one-of-joplin-s-greatest-athletes-gary-cat-johnson-has-died/1912698096 Cat was a schoolboy legend in Joplin, leading his Joplin Memorial high school team to back-to-back state championships in the late 70's against much larger schools from St. Louis and Kansas City. Here's a link to his bio from the Joplin Sports Hall of Fame website: https://joplinsports.org/hall-of-fame/entry/gary-cat-johnson At ORU, Cat teamed with fellow Hall of Famer Steve Bontrager to form arguably the greatest back court duo in school history. He had a flamboyant yet controlled style that reminded me of Isaiah Thomas. He really was "quick as a cat"; and he had a personality as flashy as his nickname. Cat was instrumental in convincing teammate Calvin Garrett to return to ORU in 2018 for Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, and coordinated a reunion of former ORU players from that time as part of the festivities. Cat was one-of-a-kind, and I'm sure there will be other tributes coming in the next few days that I will try to post as I find them.

I played on the Law School's intramural team as catcher/pitcher. Normally I was catcher. When we played the Athletic Dorm team I loved talking trash as each one of those guys came to the plate. I especially remember talking trash to both Cat Johnson and Mark Acres, trying to get them distracted. They would look at me and shake their heads like who is this idiot. It was all in good fun. They looked at our team as the "old guys". It was a lot of fun. It was also a true pleasure watching guys like Cat, Mark Acres and his brother Jeff and Steve Bontrager play in Mabee. Great times.

Cat, on the Athletic Dorm's intramural Team, took away a bunch of hits as shortstop, running in the hole and throwing people out against our team. It wasn't fair, it seemed playing the Athletic Dorm in intramurals, was like playing the Dream Team!

TheEagleman is very saddened to hear this news.....Cat Johnson played at ORU a few years after I graduated but I am very familiar with his exploits during the late 70s-early 80s when ORU basketball was still a force in D-1.....58 is far too young to go....especially since I am well past that....those photos of Cat in the old ORU uniforms bring back many memories....love the pic of Cat, Bontrager and Showman........sincere sympathies to his family.....Gary "Cat" Johnson will always be an ORU legend and HOFer.....