Opportunity Knocks a Second Time : Volleyball: Adam Johnson, who missed the 1988 Games because of an ankle injury, is pursuing his Olympic dream again.

Adam Johnson didn’t have quite the same perspective on the U.S. Olympic volleyball team’s victory in the 1988 Seoul Olympics as did Scott Fortune, his former teammate at Laguna Beach High School.

But he hopes he’ll have a better vantage point in 1992.

Johnson sat at home last October, nursing an injured left ankle, and watched the gold-medal game against the Soviet Union on television. Meanwhile, Fortune came off the bench and scored the final point as the U.S. team won its second consecutive gold.

As Fortune and his teammates received their medals, Johnson couldn’t help being a little envious. All he had to show for a brief stint with the U.S. team was a sore ankle and a bruised ego.

Fast forward to the Sports Arena last Friday night. Fortune sat courtside with a sore ankle as Johnson had a team-high 17 kills to lead the U.S. national team to an exhibition victory over the Japanese national team.

Johnson’s ankle has healed and so has his confidence, both of which have taken a beating the past two years.

“It seemed like I missed a lot of opportunities the first time I was with the team,” Johnson, 24, said. “I just wanted another chance.”

His first opportunity came 10 months before the Olympics, when he left a successful college career at USC to train with the U.S. national team. He had hopes of making the 12-member Olympic roster as an outside hitter.

But his Olympic dream remained just that--a dream.

After two months with the team, Johnson landed on a teammate’s foot in practice one day. He heard a crunching sound and fell to the floor in pain.

“I blew out my left ankle,” he said. “We had been practicing the day before we were supposed to leave on a tour of Korea and China.”

The team left for China, but Johnson was going nowhere. Doctors placed his ankle in a plastic half-cast, which had hinges near the joint to allow some movement.

Still, Johnson thought he had a chance to make the Olympic team. He was walking three weeks after the accident and was going through light workouts after six weeks. He was playing by late spring. But the injury slowed Johnson’s progress. He also was battling for a position at outside hitter behind Steve Timmons and Karch Kiraly, two of the best players in the world.

Johnson’s playing time dwindled and so did his spirits. He was cut in August and returned to Laguna Beach.

It was at Laguna Beach that Johnson began playing volleyball in the eighth grade and later led a high school rich in winning tradition to three consecutive Southern Section championships from 1981-83.

When he returned, though, the people who once cheered him started doubting him.

“It was pretty hard for me,” Johnson said. “I was the NCAA Player of the Year (with USC) in 1986, and when I came home that summer, all the kids in Laguna treated me like a god. But when Fortune made the Olympic team and I didn’t, everyone was saying, ‘Why didn’t Adam make it? Isn’t he good enough?’

“They didn’t understand what was going on. It wasn’t so much that Scott was better than I was, but it was the positions we were after. The team was weaker at middle blocker (Fortune’s position) than at outside hitter.”

After working a few months at a local sporting goods store, Johnson decided to rejoin the national team in February at its training center in San Diego.

“My first goal is the ’92 Olympics,” he said. “I might give the Italian leagues or the beach circuit a try down the road.”

Johnson has the Italian and pro beach circuits to thank for opening a starting position on the Olympic team.

Seven of the 12 players on the 1988 team have left. Timmons and Kiraly joined the pro beach circuit in July. Bob Ctvrtlik of Long Beach and Jeff Stork of Topanga, both starters in 1988, will join the Italian leagues in November.

That leaves U.S. Coach Bill Neville with a patchwork lineup of talented young players such as Johnson and middle-blocker Mark Arnold, a former standout at Costa Mesa High School.

“Adam is in the mold of the person who could be a key swing hitter for us,” Neville said. “He gets from one side of the court to the other well and when that’s coupled with his ball control, it gives us what we need for our fast-break offense.

“And he’s got a good work ethic.”

Johnson said he’s excited about playing with the young team.

“We’ve just been thrown into this (situation),” he said. “We used to have guys like Karch and Steve to rely on in tough moments.”

And Johnson knows all about those.