Adrian "Robbie" Johnson, from Indianapolis, Ind., is majoring in exercise science and minoring in coaching. He shares how he is able to excel on and off the basketball court.

“Tell me about your internship.”

“My internship is with Champions Academy, which is run by Joey Burton. The gym that we work out of is in Zionsville, Ind., and we call it ‘The Trenches.’ My job is to assist with the workouts by either playing defense or offense, rebounding, passing and giving advice to players who are working out.”

“What would an average day at your internship look like?”

“At 8 a.m., GR3 [Glenn Robinson III] is usually our first workout and I play defense, rebound and pass. At 9 a.m., either a college or professional player works out, and I do the same. At 10 a.m., other college or professional players come in for skill work and I compete in these games most days. From 1 to 8 p.m. there are one hour sessions of individual workouts with high school, middle school and elementary school kids, and I play with them.”

“You said that you got to play with Glen Robinson III – what is it like to be working with pro athletes?”

“When I first met him, I was nervous because I wanted to make a good first impression. But, there was no need to be nervous because he’s one of the nicest people you’ll meet. You might have seen the video of him dunking over me on my Instagram. I think that shows you how much I trust him. Working with professionals is something that I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid. A lot of the guys that work out with Joey, I’ve watched them in AAU tournaments, high school games or college games since I was younger. Working with them honestly motivates me going into my senior season year. I definitely watch every move because I plan on stealing them and using them for myself.”

“Besides GR3, what other pros, if any, have you had the opportunity to meet with?”

Yogi Ferrell, Edmond Sumner, Alex Poythress, Trevon Bluiett, Kelan Martin, PJ Thompson, Tyler Wideman, Dakota Mathias and a ton more.

“This seems like an awesome opportunity. How did you discover this internship?”

“It was easier than one would think. I was scrolling through Instagram before class one morning and came across one of Joey’s videos. I thought to myself, ‘That would be an awesome way to spend my summer!’ After class, I messaged him on Instagram and he replied very fast – the rest kind of fell into place from there.”

“How do you think this internship experience will benefit you in the future?”

“After graduation, I would love to get into coaching basketball at the college or high school level and help kids get better at basketball. One day, I want to become a head coach at the college level. If I have the opportunity to have a professional career, I would definitely explore it. I think the internship experience helps me in multiple ways. I’m learning first hand from a person who genuinely cares about improving his clients. It’s also great to learn from someone that sees the little things or the small details in the game of basketball. Like myself, he actually studies the game and watches everything. Throughout the summer, I’ve seen how much work Joey puts into his company. We call it ‘The Grind’ because he’s at the gym from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. almost every day. I really think I could go on for days about what I learned this summer.”