Monday, June 20, 2011

DES MOINES, Iowa--Stan Johnson has been named an assistant coach for the Drake men's basketball program, head coach Mark Phelps announced Monday. Johnson spent the previous three years at the University of Utah as an assistant coach for the Utes.

"I am excited to welcome Stan and his family to our Drake family," said Phelps. "He is a man of character and integrity with outstanding experience as a high-level recruiter and excellent on-floor coach. He shares our philosophy of making the players on campus the most important part of our program. Stan is committed to excellence from the smallest detail to the most involved project, and is a perfect fit with our players, staff and the entire Drake community."

Johnson brings eight years of experience as an assistant coach to his new position with the Bulldogs men's program.

"I was really impressed with the vision of (Athletics Director) Sandy Hatfield Clubb and the direction of Coach Phelps with his program," Johnson said. "The eagerness of the staff at Drake and the character and talent of the guys within the program was amazing to me. Drake is a big-time place and I'm excited about the big-time things we can accomplish with Drake basketball."

During his three-year stay at Utah Johnson was part of a staff that coached the Utes in 2008-09 to a 24-10 record, a share of the Mountain West Conference Championship and the postseason conference tournament title. Utah finished the season ranked No. 25 in the AP poll and earned a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region, at the time the highest seed ever given to a Mountain West team.

The 2008-09 Utes also ranked No. 1 in the MWC in opponent field-goal percentage and recorded a school-record 166 blocked shots. In 2009-10 Utah led the MWC in opponent three-point field-goal percentage, set another school record for blocked shots (186) and recorded 172 steals.

Johnson came to Utah after a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge in 2007-08. The Matadors finished 20-10 overall and earned a share of their first Big West Conference regular season championship with Johnson on the staff.

Prior to his year at Cal State Northridge, Johnson spent three seasons (2004-07) on the bench at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo. The Bearcats were 50-30 in that period, with three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in school history. The 2005-06 squad posted a 27-5 record, including a school-record 14 wins in a row to open the season. Southwest Baptist captured the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association title that year and made a trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament, finishing No. 6 in the national rankings.

Johnson started his coaching career at Bemidji (Minn.) State University in 2003-04. In his lone season at Bemidji, Johnson helped coach the Beavers to a 20-10 mark and their first-ever 20-win season. Bemidji State was 14-2 in conference play that season, earning a berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament and leading the nation in 3-pointers per game, with 11.7.

As a player, Johnson was a three-year letterman at Southern Utah University. He was a team captain and starter in 2000-01 and helped lead the Thunderbirds to the Mid-Continent Conference (now Summit League) title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they dropped a close, 68-65 decision to No. 3 seed Boston College. Johnson was a three-time member of the Mid-Continent Conference All-Academic Team and earned a bachelor's degree in communications from SUU in 2003.

Johnson played his senior season of college basketball at Bemidji State (2002-03), where he served as a team captain and earned honorable mention all-conference accolades. He averaged 13.5 points and distributed a team-high 114 assists during his one season with the Beavers. Johnson is a graduate of Taylorsvlle (Utah) High School.

Stan and his wife Brittany have a two-year-old daughter, Brooklynn, and a one-year-old son, Myles.