Vickie Johnson
Vickie Johnson (born April 15, 1972) is an American former basketball player and assistant coach of the Atlanta Dream.[1] She was previously the head coach of the Dallas Wings in the WNBA.[2] Johnson is the former head coach of the San Antonio Stars.[3] Upon the sale and relocation of the Stars, Johnson was hired by head coach Bill Laimbeer as an assistant coach of the Las Vegas Aces, the Stars' decedent team.[4]
| Atlanta Dream | |
|---|---|
| Position | Assistant Coach |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | April 15, 1972 Coushatta, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Listed weight | 150 lb (68 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Coushatta (Coushatta, Louisiana) |
| College | Louisiana Tech (1992–1996) |
| WNBA draft | 1997: 2nd round, 12th overall pick |
| Selected by the New York Liberty | |
| Playing career | 1997–2009 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Number | 55 |
| Coaching career | 2011–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1997–2005 | New York Liberty |
| 2006–2009 | San Antonio Silver Stars |
| As coach: | |
| 2011–2016 | San Antonio Stars (assistant) |
| 2017 | San Antonio Stars |
| 2018–2020 | Las Vegas Aces (assistant) |
| 2021–2022 | Dallas Wings |
| 2023–present | Atlanta Dream (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at WNBA.com | |
Early years edit
Johnson grew up in Coushatta, Louisiana. Johnson was a letter-man in basketball and track and field. In track and field, she was the Louisiana State Champion on the long jump as a senior.
College years edit
Vickie Johnson was a two-time All-American and Sun Belt Conference MVP at Louisiana Tech University. She led the Lady Techsters to the 1994 NCAA Championship Game, was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 1995 and earned Louisiana Player of the Year honors in 1996. She finished her career at Louisiana Tech with 1,891 career points and 831 rebounds and was inducted into the Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. She graduated from Louisiana Tech in 1996.
WNBA career edit
Johnson was selected 12th overall in the second round of the inaugural WNBA Elite draft in 1997, which was composed of professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues.
She was a two-time WNBA all-star and was the first New York Liberty player to record 2000 points.
In June 2005 in honor of Johnson's 3,000 points scored, Sandy Levine, owner of the world-famous Carnegie Deli in Manhattan, created the VJ Classic sandwich, a 3,000 calories (13,000 kJ) belly-busting sandwich.
Johnson ended an eight-year career with the Liberty by signing with the San Antonio Silver Stars on February 9, 2006.
Johnson retired from play at the end of 2009 season.[5] She ended her career with the most games played out of all of the draftees from the 1997 Elite Draft (410 games played) with Wendy Palmer (9th pick of the Elite Draft) having the 2nd most games played at 311.
Johnson's final WNBA game ever was played in Game 3 of the 2009 Western Conference First Round on September 21, 2009 against the Phoenix Mercury. Despite Johnson's incredible performance of 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, the Silver Stars would lose the game 92 - 100 and be eliminated from the playoffs.[6]
Coaching record edit
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
European career edit
- 1996-1997: Tarbes Gespe Bigorre
- 1997-1998: W Bordeaux Basket
- 1998-2000: Lachen Ramat Hasharon
- 2000-2001: Elitzur Cellcom Holon
- 2004-2005: Trentino Rovereto Basket
- 2005-2007: MiZo Pécs
- 2007-2008: Galatasaray
References edit
- ^ "Atlanta Dream Hires Vickie Johnson as Assistant Coach". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
- ^ "Dallas Wings Name Vickie Johnson Head Coach". WNBA.com. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ "Stars promote Vickie Johnson to head coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
- ^ "Aces Hire Vickie Johnson, Kelly (Schumacher) Raimon as Assistant Coaches". WNBA.com. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
- ^ Vickie Johnson Announces her Retirement at the End of 2009 Season
- ^ "San Antonio Silver Stars at Phoenix Mercury, September 21, 2009".
External links edit
- WNBA player profile
- WNBA chat transcript