Early on, Bill Fennelly knew he had something special.

When the ISU women’s basketball coach first got freshman Seanna Johnson on campus, he knew the kind of person he was bringing into the program and what she could bring to the team with her ability. But even those qualities hadn’t totally manifested themselves to what they would become.

Not yet, anyway.

“I think what Seanna’s done is nothing short of amazing, the way she’s played for our team,” Fennelly said. “You look at her and you see her walk in the building and you’re like, ‘Oh, you’re the starting four-man and you’re going to play in the post and you’re going to rebound and you’re going to have to guard big kids?’

“But she does it.”

Johnson has also found a way to score the ball, too, averaging 10.2 points per game, and shooting 43.2 percent from the field in 30.7 minutes per game of action. However, it is her ability to crash the boards that has made her stand apart.

Standing at 5-feet 10-inches, Johnson is playing the post for Iowa State when her natural position is built more like a perimeter threat. Night in and night out, though, she has found a way to amass 202 rebounds this season, rounding out to 8.4 per game.

That average leads the next closest player, Hallie Christofferson, by exactly one rebound per game. Johnson’s willingness to adapt to the role of someone who goes after the ball wasn’t met with much push back, but that’s not to say it’s been easy.

“It’s been a transition for me,” Johnson said. “I never played the post in high school, but it’s a task for me. It’s my role as a player, coming in to rebound, knowing I can rebound well and get great position.”

In Iowa State’s seven-player rotation, only Christofferson stands at 6 feet tall, but what Johnson lacks in size, she tries to make up in technique. The desire to do what is asked of her is a bonus, too.

“[The goal is to] get her on the wing more and we just don’t have that luxury right now,” Fennelly said of Johnson. “We explained that to her early, and she was like, ‘Coach, as long as I get to play I don’t care where I play.’ She’s just been a great addition.”

The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native has also helped Iowa State etch its name into the school record books for Big 12 conference weekly awards. Johnson garnered her fourth Big 12 Freshman of the Week award Feb. 17, bringing Iowa State’s total to seven this season when combined with the three Jadda Buckley has earned so far.

All season long, the Cyclones have been looking for players to step up in moments to take pressure off Christofferson, who requires a lot of attention from other teams. Point guard Nikki Moody has answered the call recently, and maybe it will be Johnson’s turn next.

“We don’t have a lot of kids that make ‘Wow’ plays, there’s not a lot of women’s players that make them, but she makes them,” Fennelly said. “Whether it’s a rebound, taking it to the basket, but she’s done an amazing job.”