Duo learns to crawl before they can walk

When they walk around campus, heads turn. \nGirls come up to talk to them at the bars. \nThey've been to a Final Four and to Maui.\nAnd they're not even on scholarship.\nWhen seniors Ryan Tapak and Mark Johnson came to IU four years ago, they had no idea what the future held in store. The pair of walk-ons had two comfortable seats at the end of the IU bench, watching the likes of Tom Coverdale, Dane Fife and Kyle Hornsby lead the Hoosiers as the elder statesmen.\nFast forward four years, and now Tapak and Johnson are the seniors, with a whole team of young blood looking up to them, just as they did in 2001-02 to Coverdale, Fife and Hornsby.\nLooking back, the two agreed they are more than just teammates. They have a bond that has strengthened with every season.\n"Mark and I are probably closer than anyone on this team," Tapak said. "I grew up playing AAU with Sean Kline, so Sean and I are best friends too. But Mark and I have been fighting the same battle for four years now." \nJohnson said that the two will be linked by their lineage as walk-ons, despite what has or will happen. \n"It's kind of different. He's a real walk-on and I was a preferred walk-on, so we're kind of attached at the waist by being walk-ons," the Oregon, Wisc., native said. "We were always paired together for everything. We were always playing together on the white team and we just learned to go together. We learned each others strengths and we know where each other is going to be. We know what each other can do."\nDuring their freshman year, Johnson and Tapak's work in practice displayed their worth from the first time they stepped on the court.\nAs the pair teamed up to defend the likes of current Washington Wizard Jared Jeffries, Jeff Newton, Coverdale and Fife in practice, the experience proved beneficial.\n"I can remember our freshman year, when we played on the white team, and I think the score might have been 92-0," Johnson said. "We just got killed a couple of days and as we progressed throughout the years, we learned how to compete, we learned how to win and what we had to do. We definitely grew together and became really good friends and it's been a great experience." \nWhen IU succeeded, Johnson and Tapak stayed on the bench, still working hard in practice putting in their time.\n"It takes a toll on you mentally," Tapak said. "They say when you go through hard times and you're with someone, it really bonds you together. (Johnson's) my roommate as well as Sean (Kline) is. It's nice to have somebody there when you're not getting playing time. \n"You know you can talk it over with him. You can just talk about what we're going to need to do to get on the floor," The former Perry Meridian High star continued. "And at the same time we understand that our role might just be practice players, might just be to get five minutes. But we're both really lucky to be where we're at right now, and we understand we're really blessed."\nThose uphill battles finally paid off for the duo last year.\nIU coach Mike Davis put both men on scholarship for the 2003-04 season, but only for one year. And, the two got the chance to prove that they were worthy of wearing the cream and crimson. \nAt the end of the worst season in the past 30 years for IU, Davis turned to Tapak and Johnson in an attempt to spark the depleted team. \nBoth men turned in career highs in the Big Ten tournament. Tapak tied Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves' single-game Big Ten tournament assist record with 11, and Johnson scored back-to-back career high's in points with 13 against Ohio State and then 16 against Illinois the next night.\nComing into this season, with one of the most highly touted recruiting classes in recent IU memory, Johnson and Tapak understand their roles will be scaled back from last March. \nJohnson was sidelined for most of preseason work outs with a bulging disk and a fractured vertebra. He has been rehabbing toward a full recovery, in hopes of playing his senior year.\n"I mean, it's very disappointing," Johnson said. "Some players might like being out because you have conditioning, but I love being in there with the whole team. Just being a part of it, sweating every day, going through all the hard work and the pain. So, for me not to be out there working with them in conditioning, it's a big disappointment."\nEven though this year is still in limbo for Johnson, every day offers something new from which to learn. \nAnd still, being a senior, experiences are the name of the game.\n"It's a learning experience," Johnson said. "It's a great experience to go through all the situations I've been through, from the Final Four to having one rough season, just the transitions have been unbelievable. But it's an experience I'll never turn back, and never look back on and say I wish I never did that."\nTapak looks forward to taking on the senior role that Coverdale, Fife and Hornsby impressed on him, but altered to a walk-on's life.\n"(I'll probably have) the same role that I've had the last three year's," Tapak said. "Come in every day, work hard, try to lead by example, doing things the right way, getting on the floor for loose balls. But at the same time, I've had the experience on the court and I've had the experience of the older players that (were) so experienced like Tom Coverdale, Jarrad Odle and Dane Fife."\nWhen the chance to wear the crimson and cream came up for Johnson, it was too hard to pass up. \n"It's a dream come true, really," he said. "I've been an IU fan all my life. I've always wanted to come here and play basketball, and when I go the opportunity to, I couldn't turn it down -- everything it represents -- tradition, hard work and dedication."\n-- Contact senior writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.