Why college softball’s best pitcher turned down hundreds of thousands to stay at Belmont

Indeed, Johnson has as much claim to being the 2026 Michael Jordan of her sport as any of the other nine finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. She’s 27-2 with a 0.66 ERA, leading the nation in most major pitching categories and boasting wins at ranked SEC teams Georgia and Mississippi State, with a 1-0 loss at Tennessee. She recently received an AUSL Golden Ticket and went No. 3 in the draft to the Oklahoma City Spark.

But this is like Michael Jordan in a perpetual “flu game.” Though Johnson has kept her lupus symptoms under control this season, fatigue and the underlying threat of an attack are life constants. Just before the season, she went through 10 weeks of chemotherapy because the lupus was causing her kidneys to malfunction.

“There were people in this program who were carrying me,” she said, “when I didn’t think I could carry myself anymore.”

And that has altered the retrospective view of Johnson’s life decision of less than a year ago. The other key difference between Johnson and the other nine finalists is that she’s the only one who plays for a mid-major program.

She could easily be in the circle for one of the traditional powers in this 64-team bracket, with a lot more money in the bank and an opportunity to win a national championship — Johnson was in the transfer portal and pursued by several teams last spring, offers ranging from a low of $150,000 and a high of “just under $500,000,” she said.

That was the payoff for work that started as a grade schooler with Dave Leffew and his daughter, Amie, at their pitching academy, which eventually added Ryan Johnson as an instructor. Johnson excelled at everything she tried as a child, winning karate tournaments and science competitions alike.

“And she was always outsmarting us,” Kristen Johnson said. “Anytime you said ‘No,’ that was the start to a negotiation, like, ‘Hmmm, how can we come to a deal on this?’”

Softball became Johnson’s passion, in tandem with the pursuit of a medical career. Experiences with doctors and nurses, good and bad, amid the infuriating and exhausting navigation of lupus gave her early conviction on her career path.

The softball career went from Pitt to Bowling Green, but after a coaching change there, she chose Matthews — who had been recruiting her since high school, when Matthews was coaching Wright State.

Three seasons later, Johnson was Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and an NFCA All-American, with a 24-6 record and five pitches in her repertoire, her command and spin combining with velocity in the low 70s to torment hitters. Belmont pitching coach Emlyn Knerem furthered her development.

Johnson finished her redshirt junior year at Belmont with a 24-6 record, 1.52 ERA, a bachelor’s degree in nursing, lifelong friends and the distinct sense that other programs were watching her.

“I told (Matthews) there were people tampering with me,” Johnson said. “I finally had to tell people, ‘Hey, I’m still in season, I don’t want to be talking to you. I’ve got things to do.’”

When the season ended after the first NCAA Tournament win in program history, she had to decide whether to enter the transfer portal. The pivotal factor, she said, was that Belmont’s graduate offering in nursing was a doctoral program that would not mesh with her softball schedule. She had hard conversations with Matthews and her closest teammates.

“Your heart breaks a little bit,” said senior catcher Brenna Blume, whom Johnson credits with maximizing her skills in the circle.

“It kind of crushes you — Maya’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had,” Belmont sophomore infielder Rylee Spindler said.

“We have a very honest relationship with each other, and when you love someone to that degree, you hold out hope that it’s special enough,” Matthews said. “So yeah, the call was super emotional, and it comes down to wanting her to be happy. Sometimes in college sports these days, people are chasing it, and you worry about them finding the same kind of environment. Maybe that’s me being arrogant about our program, but that’s how I felt about it.”

All of them felt a bit different when they heard the dollar amounts that were being thrown around. Who could be blamed for cashing in like that? Belmont would proceed as mid-majors do in this era, left to try to replace a great player who has been lured away.

Johnson started a series of visits to some of the top softball programs in the country with one parent or another (they are divorced), and everyone was blown away by the resources on display. Some schools were eliminated because they did not have the kind of program Johnson needed to play and fulfill her goal of being a family nurse practitioner. Some had what she needed.

“And while all this is going on with these awesome opportunities, I’m sitting there missing Belmont,” Johnson said.

Then came an Instagram notification that the Belmont doctoral nursing program would be offering hybrid learning. Johnson reached out to Blume and asked her to reach out to Matthews to see whether she would even consider taking Johnson back. Blume said to Johnson what Matthews would say to Blume: “You aren’t just getting my hopes up here, are you?”

Of course, Belmont would take her back. Athletic director Scott Corley worked with school administrators to make sure the program would work with her schedule, and Belmont agreed to foot the bill for all three years, plus room and board. The athletic department couldn’t offer the straight cash that power programs were flaunting, but this was not nothing.

“My parents thought I was crazy at first, they were like, ‘That’s life-changing money,’” Johnson said. “But I’m going to have a doctorate, debt-free, and then make six figures. I’m doing just fine. Not to mention that coach Matthews believed in me when pretty much no one else did. And now, as I look back at the fall, there’s no way I could have gone through that with people I had only known for a few months. No way.”

The latest lupus attack, the effect on her kidneys and the chemotherapy made her consider something she hadn’t since picking up a softball at age 9: quitting the sport. And she was not kidding. It was that bad.

Blume prayed with her. Teammates took her to the hospital and waited up with her until 3 in the morning. They checked on her constantly as she spent weekends in bed, in agony. They made sure she was trying to eat. Matthews made sure she understood that any outcome was OK.

“Softball doesn’t matter that much,” Matthews said. “Let’s be serious. Obviously, I’ve chosen this profession, and I love it. But it just doesn’t matter. We’re not changing the world. It’s a game. So you start talking about someone’s life and health, it just trumps everything else that’s going on. I’m just so glad she came back and was with so many people who loved her.”

Every Bruin chipped in during those 10 weeks of chemo. When it was over, Johnson got stronger. She got her fastball back. She always does. She somehow emerged from that ordeal with her best stuff ever.

The Bruins can approach this weekend with confidence — even if Johnson is in the circle against No. 1 seed Alabama — and with the conviction that they’ve had a hand in their star’s ascent. She made sure of it. She isn’t just keeping score on the slights.

“I wrote a letter to every person on the team explaining to them how they’ve helped me,” Johnson said. “It was something different for each one, and they all need to know.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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