Marshaan Johnson’s invention is about to make waves
Marshaan Johnson patented the Whetball in 2018 and hopes to make a splash in aquatic fitness.
Story and photos by Azhae’la Hanson Reporter
Sometimes, the little things you pick up in class follow you until the right moment. In Marshaan Johnson's case, a high school chemistry lesson on buoyancy would follow him decades into the future and inspire him to invent a tool that could make a splash in aquatic fitness.
Johnson created a basketball that can be dribbled underwater.
It’s a standard-sized water-filled basketball that weighs about ten pounds outside of water. When plunged into the pool, it can be dribbled like any other regular basketball, slightly heavier, so athletes have resistance to improve their dribbling speed.
He played basketball for Minneapolis Community and Technical College from 2008 to 2010 and rode the bench during his first season. The following year, however, Johnson became a starter and placed in the top 35 in the country for blocked shots. The major difference between those two seasons, Johnson says, was getting in the water.
“I was coming off the bench, I played with some great players at MCTC, and I was just trying to find a way to keep up,” Johnson said. “ I worked at Lifetime Fitness over the summer so I could access the equipment. I met a trainer who put me in the pool. It was my first time doing any kind of training in the water, and it changed my life. I got super quick.”
That summer, it dawned on Johnson. He was always a curious kid, running to find materials to recreate the whimsical gadgets that he saw in cartoons. This time in college, it was his vision that inspired him to cut up basketballs and rummage through the junk drawer to create something he’s never seen before: a basketball that you can dribble underwater.
Within two days, Johnson whipped up a prototype that would become the Whetball.
The ball is 10 pounds and designed to be filled with the right amount of water so the buoyancy is right to be used as a regular basketball underwater.
“I was like, okay, what do I know about water? I know things move in water depending on buoyancy and density, I got that from my 11th-grade teacher at North when I was a teenager,” Johnson said. “So I went home, I grabbed the ball, experimented with some stuff, and eventually I just figured out that if I can get what's inside the ball to match or be a little less than what water is, I can get it to move through water how I wanted it to.”
He said it’s a labor of love created with love for his mentors, community, and the game of basketball. He’s applying pressure and buoyancy, doing everything he can to stay afloat and become a self-made man.
It took eight years after Johnson graduated from college to patent the ball successfully, and he’s even had close run-ins with Shark Tank, a famous startup investment show. In April, a North News reporter watched as spectators marveled at the Whetball during a demonstration at the V3 Center in North Minneapolis; It was clear that Johnson had something special on his hands.
Even so, one of Johnson’s biggest obstacles with the Whetball is manufacturing, marketing, and money.
His manufacturing power currently only consists of himself. He spends his spare time filling each Whetball to the right buoyancy by hand in his bathtub.
As Johnson works towards his dream of making Whetball a household name, his current manufacturing processes are him and his bathroom. He sits in his bathtub and fills each ball to the right buoyancy.
He works with limited resources, and funding is sparse. He said his biggest lesson in all of this is perseverance and adaptability.
“I just do what I can do with the things that I have,” he said. “And I think that’s kind of the story of being Black in the U.S., right? Ingenuity, creativity, adaptability.”
He sees these qualities not as burdens but as blessings. He quotes his father, who would tell him, “All the great things - like inventions or ideas - come from passion and necessity.”
So, what is that necessity for Johnson?
“I don’t think it will bring world peace,” he joked. “But I feel this necessity to make an impact, to make sure that every opportunity that I didn't have as a player, I can provide to other people.”
While he works on the bigger picture with the Whetball, he’s giving inner-city youth access to it at the V3 Center.
Xaviohn Ivey and Kamar Thomas are two student athletes in Johnson’s youth training program, the 612 Project. The two placed highly in the high school state tournament this season at their respective schools and came off great seasons, ready to train for the following one. That’s when they met Johnson.
“I wanted to get faster.”
“I wanted to get stronger with the ball.”
They both said.
The two entered Johnson's training program, used to the typical basketball drills on the court. They said they were surprised when they were told they would be in the water. Then, an even bigger surprise was when Johnson handed them a basketball, and it weighed 10 pounds.
Johnson uses the Whetball in his youth training program, the “612 Project” at the V3 Center in North Minneapolis.
“We ran a drill underwater,” Ivey said. “It’s a crazy experience, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s hard, but it’s exciting because I think my handles will get better. This upcoming season will be tough, they won’t be ready for me.”
Johnson believes that all young athletes, especially those who may not be able to develop their talents due to a lack of resources, deserve to have the best tools for training right in their backyard community centers. He didn’t have that until college, and if he never got it, he says the Whetball probably would never have happened.
With inspiration from his community and his own cleverness, Johnson hopes to write his name in the stars.“The concept of the ball came from that desire and need,” he said. “It became a symbol of my ability to put passion and desire into something real. “It allowed me to push through jobs that weren’t fulfilling, to keep going even when I was behind on rent,” he said. “Because I needed to survive so I could put this into the world.”