James Johnson joined the University of Arkansas men’s basketball coaching staff in August 2013, bringing more than 25 years of coaching experience to Conway.

Most recently he served as athletic director and head basketball coach at Pasco Hernando Community College in New Port Richey, Fla. In his first season, Johnson led the Conquistadors to an impressive 19-12 record and solid showing in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Regional 10. While at Pasco, he sent several student-athletes to play at four-year universities.

Johnson coached nine years at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. As the head men’s coach at PSC, Johnson led his 2010-11 team to a runnerup spot in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)/Association of Independent Institutions (ALL) Conference. Two players on his team earned All-Conference honors. In his tenure at PSC and as an assistant coach, the team was runnerup in the United States Collegiate Athletic Assocation (USCAA) nationals in 2006. Over the course of his career at PSC, Johnson coached several honorable mention All-American candidates as well as Academic All-American candidates.

He has coached previously at the NAIA, NCAA Division I and semi-professional levels. For nine years, Johnson was an assistant coach at Western Washington University (1989-98) and a graduate assistant at Arizona (1994-96) under top D-I coaches Lute Olsen and Joan Bonvinici.

Johnson was born in Little Rock, Ark., earned his bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University in 1989 and completed his master’s degree in education in 1996 from the University of Arizona. He has four children, Timothy, Thomas, Tiffany and Trent.

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