Morgan City High grad will lead Southern basketball squad

The newly named Southern University men’s basketball coach once played for Morgan City High’s Tigers.

A recent ceremony at Southern introduced Kevin Johnson as the selection to be the school’s 15th head men’s basketball coach. The candidate was to be voted on by the
Southern University system board Wednesday morning.

“I want to thank President-Chancellor Dennis J. Shields; Myron Lawson, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors; Domoine Rutledge, Athletic Chair Board of Supervisors; and Director of Athletics Roman Banks and the rest of the Southern University committee who welcomed me during the search process,” Johnson said in a press release.

“I am extremely honored to be named Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Southern and I’m excited about being a part of Southern University. The rich history, winning tradition and unbelievable support of Jaguar Nation will keep us working to restore the standard. I can’t wait to get to work with the current players, start forming relationships with the next generation of Jaguars student-athletes, and engage with our passionate alumni as well as the great people of Jaguar Nation. Go Jags!”

A native of Morgan City, Johnson prepped at Morgan City High School, where he was an all-district selection for the Tigers. His brother, Dave Johnson III, was an All-American at Syracuse and a first-round NBA draft pick of the Portland Trailblazers in 1992.

Possessing more than 28 years of experience coaching and recruiting the state of Louisiana and regionally, Kevin Johnson just finished his fourth season as an assistant coach for Tulane men’s basketball and helped guide them to a 20-11 record and American Conference Tournament Semifinals appearance. He joined Ron Hunter’s staff in April 2019.

Before joining the Green Wave, Johnson spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette under head coach Bob Marlin, helping the program to 174 wins (19.33 per year) including a school record 27 victories in 2017-18. UL Lafayette reached the postseason five times including a bid to the 2014 NCAA Tournament, as well as a 2018 Sun Belt regular season title and NIT appearance.

The Ragin’ Cajuns won at least 21 games in four of his final six seasons in Lafayette, as the program averaged 22 wins per year during that span.
Johnson recruited, signed and developed nine different players who combined for 17 all-conference selections and four defensive player of the year winners at UL Lafayette, including four-time All-Sun Belt Conference honoree Shawn Long, who was also the league’s freshman of the year in 2013 and player of the year in 2016.

Another one of Johnson’s most noteworthy development successes includes Elfrid Payton, who was a lottery pick at No. 10 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft. Payton was a two-time first-team pick and the conference’s defensive player of the year in 2014.

Before his time at UL Lafayette, Johnson spent three seasons at Nicholls State, as the Colonels posted a 20-11 record and a 14-2 mark in the Southland Conference in just his second season in 2008-09.

That year, Nicholls reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 1994-95, and just the second time since the school transitioned to the Division I level in 1980. His main duties included overseeing the Colonels’ on-court defense and organizing recruiting efforts, which was highlighted by 2009 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year selection Fred Hunter.

With Johnson as the architect of Nicholls’ defense, the Colonels led Southland in rebounding defense during its 20-win campaign, holding teams to 29.5 rebounds per game. Nicholls was among the national leaders in two major categories that season, finishing 17th among NCAA Division I teams in steals per game (8.5) and 18th in scoring defense (60.2). Johnson recruited and coached two-time All-Southland choice and 2009 league co-MVP Ryan Bathie, as well as two-time all-conference selection Anthony Bose.

Johnson’s resume also included two years as an assistant at Louisiana Tech, one at Northwestern State, eight at Centenary, including six as head coach, and a year at Texas-Pan-American, his alma mater.

As a college athlete, Johnson scored 1,156 points for UT-Pan-American and averaged 16.1 points a game in his senior year.

After college, he played a year for England’s Leicester Riders and later became a player-coach for the Oldham Celtics, who won a league championship under Johnson, who averaged 33 points a game for the Celtics in 1990.