Hall of Fame
PHIL JOHNSON
Hometown: Grace, Idaho
Sports: Men's Basketball/Track & Field
Years: 1960, 1962-63
Phil Johnson spent three seasons playing basketball at Utah State and helped the Aggies advance to the NCAA Tournament in both 1962 and 1963. As a senior captain during the 1962-63 campaign, Johnson averaged 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds as he helped USU to a 20-7 record and its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. During his senior year, Johnson scored in double-figures 11 times, including a career-best 23 points against Colorado State. As a junior, Johnson averaged 9.5 points and 7.8 rebounds as he helped Utah State to a 22-7 mark, including a 1-2 record in the NCAA Tournament, one of just five teams in school history to win an NCAA Tournament game. During his junior season, he scored in double figures 14 times and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds against Wyoming. Johnson also averaged 11.8 points on the USU freshman team during the 1959-60 season and spent the 1960-61 campaign playing at Weber Junior College, before transferring back to Utah State for his final two seasons under then-head coach Ladell Andersen. Along with basketball, Johnson was also a high jumper for then-head coach Ralph Maughan on USU's track teams as a freshman in 1960 and again as a senior in 1963 with a personal-best jump of 6-08.00 (2.03m). Following his playing career, Johnson spent the 1963-64 season as a graduate assistant for USU's freshman team. He then spent four years as an assistant coach at Weber State under then-head coach and USU alum Dick Motta as the Wildcats finished at the top of the Big Sky Conference in 1965, 1966 and 1968 and made the 1968 NCAA Tournament. Johnson spent the next three seasons (1969-71) as Weber State's head coach, leading the Wildcats to three-straight Big Sky regular season championships and three-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. Johnson was named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in each of those seasons as he compiled a 68-16 record, including a 39-5 (.886) conference mark, a winning percentage that still ranks first all-time in Big Sky history. During his first year as Weber State's head coach at the age of 27, Johnson was named the NCAA District VII Coach of the Year. Johnson then moved to the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he coached with various teams for 40 years (1971-2011). His first coaching job in the NBA was with the Chicago Bulls in 1971 under Motta, while his first head job was with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings (1973-78) at the age of 32 as he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1975 after guiding the franchise to its first playoff appearance in eight seasons. He was also the head coach of the Sacramento Kings from 1984-87. Johnson spent most of his time in the NBA with the Utah Jazz (1988-2011) and was named the NBA's top assistant coach four times (2002, 2004, 2007, 2010) by the league's general managers. During his time with the Jazz, Johnson helped the team to eight division titles, 21 playoff appearances and two Western Conference Championships. Johnson was inducted into the Weber State Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, honored as the Utah State Alumnus of the Year in 1997 and elected into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
