'A difference maker on the recruiting trail': IU basketball announces hire of assistant coach Kenny Johnson

The Indiana basketball program has officially announced the hire of assistant coach Kenny Johnson on Tuesday afternoon.

Johnson, which TheHoosier.com reported was joining Indiana’s staff last month, has been on the recruiting trail for Indiana over the last month.

Johnson will be joined by Rod Clark of Tennessee, Drew Adams of Cincinnati and Nic Norton of West Virginia as the assistant coaches for Indiana’s inaugural staff under Darian DeVries.

Kenny Johnson spent two years from 2012-14 at Indiana under head coach Tom Crean.

Below is the full release from the Indiana basketball program.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries announced the addition of assistant coach Kenny Johnson to his staff on Tuesday. 

“Kenny has been a difference maker on the recruiting trail throughout his entire career,” DeVries said. “He has been able to attract the highest levels of talent wherever he has been. His track record of putting players in the NBA, specifically lottery picks, speaks for itself.”

Johnson spent the 2024-25 season as an assistant coach for Ed Cooley at Georgetown. The Hoyas won 18 games, including league victories over Creighton and Xavier, and advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural College Basketball Crown Tournament. Georgetown brought in the 17th ranked recruiting class in the country in the offseason, according to 247Sports.

Prior to his stint on the Hilltop, Johnson spent two seasons (2022-24) as an assistant coach at Rhode Island under Archie Miller. He spent a pair of seasons (2020-22) as head coach and athletic director at National Christian Academy, a nationally ranked program in Fort Washington, Md.

Before jumping to the prep ranks, he spent a couple seasons (2018-20) as an assistant coach at LaSalle on the staff of head coach Ashley Howard.

Johnson served as an assistant coach (2014-16) and associate head coach (2016-17) at Louisville under Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino. The Cardinals went 75-26 overall and 36-18 in the ACC during his three-year run. U of L reached the NCAA Tournament twice, including a run to the Elite Eight in 2015.

During his first stint with the Hoosiers (2012-14), Johnson was an assistant coach under head coach Tom Crean. Indiana went 46-22 overall and 21-15 in the Big Ten. IU won the Big Ten Championship and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament during the 2012-13 season. The Hoosiers brought in top 20 recruiting classes in each of his two seasons in Bloomington.

The Oxon Hill, Md., native began his college coaching career as an assistant coach at Towson (2011-12) under head coach Pat Skerry. Johnson helped the Tigers put together a top five Mid-Major recruiting class. 

He began his coaching career in 2002 as the associate head coach at Eleanor Roosevelt High School while eventually becoming the associate head coach at St. Paul VI Catholic High School for four years (2007-11).

While a high school coach, Johnson also served more than six years as a director and head of travel and logistics for the nationally recognized Nike Team Takeover AAU organization and was the head coach of its 16 and under age group during that stint. The program produced more than 53 Division I players and four future NBA players during that time.

He has coached numerous NBA players including NBA All-Stars Victor Oladipo and Donovan Mitchell, 2019-20 Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell, All-Rookie selection Cody Zeller, and long-time NBA veterans Josh Hart, Jerami Grant, Terry Rozier, Noah Vonleh, Damion Lee, and Jordan Nwora.

Johnson attended Oxon Hill High School where his playing career was cut short due to several knee injuries in his second year of varsity basketball. As a senior at Oxon Hill in 1994, he was named Science and Technology Student of the Year.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in cell, molecular biology and genetics in 1999 at Maryland, where he was a Benjamin Banneker Scholarship recipient. He worked as a protein chemist/molecular biologist at Human Genome Sciences in Rockville, Md., after graduation.

Johnson is married to his wife, Montoya, and has three sons, Amare, Mekai and Kash, and one daughter Akylah.

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