 Johnson in 2020 | |
| Washington Mystics | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1974-04-26)April 26, 1974 (age 50) Lansing, Michigan, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | |
| College | Princeton (1993–1997) |
| NBA draft | 1997:undrafted |
| Playing career | 1997–2004 |
| Coaching career | 2004–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1997–1998 | Nuova Pallacanestro Gorizia |
| 1998–1999 | Viola Reggio Calabria |
| 2000–2002 | S.S. Felice Scandone |
| 2003–2004 | Montepaschi Siena |
| As coach: | |
| 2004–2007 | Georgetown (assistant) |
| 2007–2011 | Princeton |
| 2011–2019 | Fairfield |
| 2020–2021 | Air Force (AHC) |
| 2024 | Chicago Sky (assistant) |
| 2025–present | Washington Mystics |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As head coach:
As player:
| |
Sydney Johnson (born April 26, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of theWashington Mystics of theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA). A 1997 Princeton alumnus, Johnson played for thePrinceton Tigers men's basketball from 1993 to 1997.[1]
As a player, he was a member of the1995–96 Ivy League champions and the undefeated (in conference)1996–97 Princeton Tigers. He earnedIvy League Men's Basketball Player of the Year recognition for the undefeated 1997 team. He continues to hold theIvy League records for consecutivethree-point shots made and most single-game three-point shots made without a miss. He also holds Princeton's record for careersteals. His college career was marked by many memorableovertime performances, game-winning shots and game-clinchingfree throws. Nonetheless, his greatest recognition came for his defense. During a seven-year professional playing career, he won three championships in Europe.
After transitioning into coaching, Johnson began as an assistant coach atGeorgetown, where he was part of the2006–07Big East Conference champions. In 2007, he became the youngest head coach in the Ivy League when hired by Princeton. Over his four-year tenure, he led the Tigers to the 2011 Ivy League title and an NCAA tournament appearance. He then served as head coach for theFairfield Stags from 2011 to 2019. Johnson worked as associate head coach atAir Force during the 2020–21 season.
Beyond collegiate coaching, Johnson coached3x3 basketball forUSA Basketball and worked as an assistant coach for theChicago Sky in the WNBA.
Johnson spent much of his childhood in Baltimore.[2] He played his sophomore and junior season ofhigh school basketball atMoorhead Senior High School inMoorhead, Minnesota.[3] Johnson transferred from Minnesota toTowson Catholic High School prior to his senior season.[4][5] During the early signing period from November 13 through November 20, 1991, Johnson, who was considering severalIvy League schools as well asNortheastern University, verbally committed toBoston University.[6] On December 1, 1991, Boston University announced that Johnson signed aletter of intent.[7] During his senior season, Johnson lead Towson to the Baltimore Catholic Basketball League Championship.[8] Following the season, he earned Baltimore Catholic Basketball League All-league first-team recognition.[9] He was also selected to participate in the Rodney Beasley East vs. West All-Star Games, sponsored by the Baltimore Metro Coaches Association.[10] He was also a second team All-metro selection and following his 1992 graduation attended theFork Union Military Academy in Virginia for apostgraduate year.[11] In April 1993, after playing a year a Fork Union, Johnson signed a letter of intent withHerb Sendek'sMiami (OH) team, but upon being accepted byPrinceton University in June of that year, he revoked his letter.[12]
Johnson showed strong leadership skills early at Princeton and is the only three-time captain in university history.[13] During his freshman year, he was twice named Ivy League Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week for the1993–94 team.[14][15][16] That season the 11–3 Tigers could not match thePenn Quakers who were led byJerome Allen andMatt Maloney.[17] Johnson provided heroics for the1994–95 Tigers on a couple of occasions. On December 27, 1994, he hit whatThe New York Times described as "a falling-down 3-point basket with three seconds left in regulation". The basket forcedovertime. At the end of the third overtime period Johnson converted two foul shots with three seconds left to cement a 71–66 victory overTexas A&M.[18] Later that season, he set a career-high with a 25-point performance againstHarvard in a double-overtime victory.[19] He recorded seven steals in a game againstBrown on February 3, 1995, which is one shy of the school record.[20] Again the Tigers could not get pastPenn.[17]
As a junior, he was named Ivy League Player of the week for the second weekend in February as he led the team on both ends of the court.[21] The following week, he posted 21 points againstYale, which established his season-high.[22] Even after Allen and Maloney graduated, Princeton's only two losses were toPenn.[17] After Princeton and Penn ended the 1995–96 season tied as Ivy League Co-Champions, Johnson made the decisive three point shot with one minute and four seconds remaining in overtime in theone-game playoff, corralled a defensive rebound, added a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left and then made a steal.[23][24][25] The win ended an eight-game losing streak to Penn.[25] The win earned the team the conference automatic bid to the1996 NCAA tournament and following the gamehead coachPete Carril announced his retirement.[23][24] The thirteen seeded team was matched against thedefending national champion UCLA Bruins in its first round pairing. He was the team's leading scorer with 11 points in the 43–41 first round victory overUCLA in the 1996 NCAA Tournament. The team fell behind 41–34 with over six minutes remaining. His 3-of-7 three point shooting performance included a shot to bring the team to within 4. He also made the game-tyinglayup to knot the score at 41.[26][27] He also defendedToby Bailey's last second shot after Princeton took the lead with 3.9 seconds remaining.[25] During the game, UCLA jumped out to a 7–0 lead at the first TVtimeout,[1] and Johnson's leadership held the team together early when UCLA looked strong.[28]
As a senior, his new head coach,Bill Carmody described him as a shutdown defender.[29] He was 1997 Ivy League Men's basketball Player of the Year. Johnson earned the award for his defense and was the first winner with a single-digit scoring average.[30][31] He scored 15 on February 22, when Princeton clinched the Ivy League regular season championship by defeatingDartmouth.[32] The following week, he established Ivy League records for most consecutivethree-point field goals made, with 11, and the most single-game three-point field goals made with no misses (6 for 6) againstColumbia Lions men's basketball on February 28, 1997, andCornell Big Red men's basketball (first 5) on March 1, 1997.[20][33][34] He had twelve points in the regular season finale during which Princeton tied the school record with its nineteenth consecutive win.[35] In the1997 NCAA tournament opening round matchup against theCal Bears, when a final second pass was intercepted, he attempted to shoulder the blame with the press.[36] He retired as the Princeton University all-time leader insteals.[20] His 169 total steals were fifth in Ivy League history at the end of his career and was eleventh at the end of the2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.[34] He retired second in Princeton history in career three point shots and fourth in career assists.[20] When Johnson established his Ivy League three-point shot records, the three-point line was at 19 feet 9 inches (6.02 metres), but for the2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, theNCAA men's basketball three-point line was extended to 20 feet 9 inches (6.32 metres).[37] For the2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, the line was further extended to 22 feet 1.75 inches (6.75 metres).[38][39] As of February 12, 2024[update], Johnson's 11 consecutive three-point shots record stood alone in Ivy League history, but 3 subsequent players had tied his 6–6 single-game performance (Christian Webster —Harvard -vs- Appalachian St., March 27, 2010;Siyani Chambers —Harvard -vs- Vermont, Dec. 21, 2013;Devin Cannady —Princeton -vs- Fairleigh Dickinson, Nov. 26, 2017). Although Johnsons career steals total had fallen to 12th in the Ivy League, it remained the highest total by a Princeton Tiger.[40]
After writing his senior thesis onKenyan education under British colonial rule and graduating with abachelor's degree in history, Johnson declined thepostgraduate scholarship that he was awarded and played five years in Italy followed by two in Spain.[1] Johnson played professional basketball in theLega Basket Serie A andLegadue Basket inItaly andLiga Española de Baloncesto inSpain, one season each forGorizia Pallacanestro A2,Viola Reggio Calabria,Adecco Milano/Ducato Siena,Casademont Girona andMontepaschi Siena.[41][42] He played two seasons with the Avellino in Italy from 2000 to 2002.[43] He had a seven-year professional career before becoming a coach.[1][44] In 1998, he won an Italian Second Division championship as a starter for Gorizia Pallacanestro. In 1999, he earned another league championship with for Reggio Calabria, and in his final professional season in 2004 he earned a league title with Siena.[45] With Reggio Calabria, he teamed withBrent Scott,Brian Oliver, andManu Ginóbili to win a championship.[17]
Johnson was then brought on as an assistant to the newly appointed head coach atGeorgetown, John Thompson III, in 2004.[46] The team was coming off of a losing record and made it to a2005 National Invitation Tournament.[1] The team reached the Sweet Sixteen round of the2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[47] During his tenure at Georgetown, he helped coach the team to an overall 72–30 record over 3 seasons and the2006–07 team the2007 Big East regular season championship, the2007 Big East men's basketball tournament championship, and a trip to theFinal Four of the2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[41][48]
When Scott abandoned his struggling Princeton team to coach at Denver in 2007,athletic directorGary Walters hired Johnson to take over the program.[49][50] Johnson emerged from a field ofPrinceton offense veterans that included Mike Brennan, Robert Burke,Craig Robinson,Bill Carmody,Armond Hill,Chris Mooney, andMitch Henderson.[51] Johnson's demeanor as a coach was said by players to be more benevolent than his predecessor,Joe Scott, who left for theUniversity of Denver after compiling a losing record in three years at Princeton.[52] He was regarded as an inexperienced coach because he only had three years of experience as an assistant coach.[1][44] He became the youngest coach in the Ivy League.[1] Johnson inherited a team that had gone 2–12 in conference the prior season and 38–45 overall during the prior three season.[52] Among the lowlights that the team had achieved during the Scott era was a 21-point performance that tied the record for fewest points since the inception of the three-point shot and theshot clock.[53][54] The team had ranked last in the nation in scoring in both 2006 and 2007.[55] Although race is an issue among collegiate coaching ranks, in Johnson's first year, he was one of six African-American men's basketball head coaches in the 8-team Ivy League.[56] Johnson employs the Princeton offense.[57] Former Tiger starsBrian Earl andScott Greenman were among Johnson's assistants at Princeton.
After a tumultuous first season of rebuilding during which it posted a 3–11 record, Princeton began to show great improvement in 2008–2009. Even with only three games left on their schedule and a 7–4 conference record, they still controlled their own destiny for a possible postseason bid.[53] They finished 13–14 with an 8–6 record in the Ivy League, which tied them withYale for second place. Along the way, the Tigers defeatedFordham,UNC-Greensboro, andLehigh during their non-conference schedule and also notched wins overHarvard twice. One highlight of the season was an early season victory over eventual Ivy League champsCornell who had possessed a 19-game Ivy League winning streak.[57][58][59] The Ivy League does not name a coach of the year in any sport, butCollegeinsider.com named Johnson Ivy League Coach of the Year.[60]
During Johnson's third season, the2009–10 team rebounded from a 2–4 start to win 20 of its final 25 games and earn a berth in the2010 College Basketball Invitational. Princeton's 22 wins were its most since 1999, as were its two postseason wins, and the postseason berth was its first since 2004. In the March 17, opening round game at home, Princeton defeated theDuquesne Dukes 65–51.[61] The game was Princeton's first postseason appearance since the2003–04 team went to the2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and the first postseason victory since the1998–99 team won two games in the1999 National Invitation Tournament.[62] On March 22, the team defeatedIUPUI 74–68 in doubleovertime atIUPUI Gymnasium inIndianapolis, Indiana.[63] The Tigers had previously won in the postseason in Indianapolis when the Johnson-led 1995–96 team pulled off a first round upset of the national defending champion UCLA in the 1996 Tournament.[64] In the tournament semifinals the team was defeated bySaint Louis University 69–59 atChaifetz Arena inSt. Louis, Missouri on March 24.[65][66] Johnson again earned Collegeinsider.com Coach of the Year.[67]
In 2010, Johnson tweaked the motion Princeton offense to be a bit more uptempo, resulting in more possessions and higher scores.[55] On March 5, 2010, the2010–11 team had a chance to clinch an outright2010–11 Ivy League men's basketball season championship, but lost toHarvard who clinched a share of the title.[68] Following the game, Johnson made his team sit on the bench and watch the Harvard fans celebrate.[69] On March 8, Princeton defeated Penn to force a one-game playoff at thePayne Whitney Gymnasium inNew Haven, Connecticut.[70] On March 12, Princeton earned the Ivy League's automatic bid to the2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, making theNCAA Division I men's basketball tournament for the first time since 2004 and 24th time in school history by defeating Harvard 63–62.[71] Princeton was awarded the number thirteen seed and a first round match against theKentucky Wildcats.[72] Kentucky had eliminated Ivy League representativeCornell the prior season.[73] Kentucky emerged victorious by a 59–57 margin on a last second layup.[74][75] He was named as a finalist for theHugh Durham Award, theBen Jobe Award, and theSkip Prosser Award.[76]
In April 2011, Johnson accepted a head coaching position at Fairfield University, replacingEd Cooley.[77][78] He coached the2011–12 Stags to the semifinals of the2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament where they lost toMercer, after defeatingYale,Manhattan andRobert Morris to finish with a 22–15 record.[79] Mercer went on to win the tournament.[80] For the second season in a row, he was a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award.[81] The2012–13 team started the season 10–10 (2–6) before winning five consecutive and seven out of eightMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference games. The team then lost its two final conference games to finish 9–9 in conference. Eventually the team finished 19–15 (9–9).[82]
On March 11, 2019, Fairfield fired Johnson.[83][84] He finished at Fairfield with an eight-year record of 116–147.[85]
Johnson was named associate head coach on former Princeton basketball playerJoe Scott's staff atAir Force for the 2020–21 season.[86]
Johnson served as aUSA Basketball scout for the February 2020 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying Team. He later served as head coach of the July 2023 3x3 Men's U23 Nations League Team and the gold medal winning2023 FIBA 3x3 U23 World Cup team. Then he served as an assistant coach for the2025 AmeriCup Qualifying Team in February 2024.[87]
On February 26, 2024, Johnson was added to the staff of theChicago Sky as an assistant onTeresa Weatherspoon's coaching staff.[88]
On December 23, 2024, Johnson was named head coach of theWashington Mystics.[89][90]
Johnson's history professor father, Leroy, divorced from his mother when Johnson was young. He grew up in a series of college towns.[17] Johnson's father played basketball forIndiana in the late 1950s.[28] He was also one of the first Americans to play professionally in France.[17] His brother Steve was on theCalifornia Bears team that defeated the two-time defending championDuke Blue Devils men's basketball team in the1993 NCAA tournament.[2] While at Princeton, Johnson was a member of theCap and Gown Club.[91] Johnson met his wife Jennifer (née Zarr) Johnson when they were freshmen in Princeton'sFirst College. When he was initially hired by Princeton the couple had two children: 2-year-old son, Jalen, and newborn daughter, Julia.[17]
Johnson had been very involved with the university as a whole during his head coaching career, participating in a task force charged with surveying the impact of Princeton'seating clubs on campus life, and sitting with his players in the student section at many homefootball games.[92]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton Tigers(Ivy League)(2007–2011) | |||||||||
| 2007–08 | Princeton | 6–23[93] | 3–11 | T–6th | |||||
| 2008–09 | Princeton | 13–14[93] | 8–6 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2009–10 | Princeton | 22–9[93] | 11–3 | 2nd | CBI semifinal | ||||
| 2010–11 | Princeton | 25–7[93] | 12–2 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| Princeton: | 66–53 (.555) | 34–22 (.555) | |||||||
| Fairfield Stags(Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)(2011–2019) | |||||||||
| 2011–12 | Fairfield | 22–15 | 12–6 | T–3rd | CIT semifinal | ||||
| 2012–13 | Fairfield | 19–16 | 9–9 | T–6th | |||||
| 2013–14 | Fairfield | 7–25 | 4–16 | 10th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Fairfield | 7–24 | 5–15 | T–10th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Fairfield | 19–14 | 12–8 | T–4th | CIT first round | ||||
| 2016–17 | Fairfield | 16–15 | 11–9 | 5th | CIT first round | ||||
| 2017–18 | Fairfield | 17–16 | 9–9 | T–5th | |||||
| 2018–19 | Fairfield | 9–22 | 6–12 | T–9th | |||||
| Fairfield: | 116–147 (.441) | 68–84 (.447) | |||||||
| Total: | 182–200 (.476) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
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