Recently hired NC State men’s basketball coach Kevin Keatts may be close to adding his first assistant coach: former Virginia Tech head coach James Johnson.
Johnson is a name that The Wolfpacker’s Jacey Zembal dropped on the premium State of Basketball message board Monday evening (thread), and The Raleigh News & Observer’s Joe Giglio confirmed the likelihood of his hiring Tuesday afternoon.
The move makes sense. They were teammates at Ferrum College in Virginia, where Johnson was a star from 1989-93 and Keatts played from 1991-95. Johnson is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. He was also an assistant at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., for a year (1996-97), and a year later Keatts arrived at the famed prep school.
Johnson was a collegiate assistant at Old Dominion (1997-2000), Elon (2000-03), College of Charleston (2002-03), Penn State (2003-05), George Mason (2005-07) and Virginia Tech (2007-12). He left Blacksburg to become an assistant at Clemson, but his stint with the Tigers was very brief.
VT head coach Seth Greenberg was fired less than two weeks after Johnson left, and the Hokies lured Johnson back as Greenberg's replacement. In two seasons at the helm, Johnson went 22-41 before being let go.
He rejoined Jim Larranaga, who formerly was Johnson’s boss at George Mason, as Miami’s director of basketball operations for the past two seasons. Johnson was a member of the George Mason staff when the program made its improbable run to the Final Four in 2006.
More of The Wolfpacker’s coverage on the hiring of Keatts:
• Column: NC State basketball gets high grade for Kevin Keatts hire
• Podcast: Breaking down the hire with 1983 NCAA Champion Ernie Myers
• Reflecting back on the coaching search
• Recruiting analyst Eric Bossi praises NC State’s hire of Keatts
• Photo gallery of the introductory press conference
• Kevin Keatts has been winning for decades
• NC State basketball players are excited about Kevin Keatts
• Video reel: Kevin Keatts’ introductory press conference
• Audio: New NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts introductory PC
• New coach Kevin Keatts has lengthy to-do list
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