Deidra Johnson will begin her second season as an assistant coach at UTSA this fall. She works with both the guards and post players.
In her inaugural season on the Roadrunners bench, Johnson helped UTSA lead the Western Athletic Conference in scoring defense (57.7 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.379), while the Birds ranked fourth in blocks (3.4) and steals (9.7) per game. Under Johnson’s tutelage, Whitney Wright led the team with 39 blocks to set the school’s all-time record (105), while Kamra King earned third-team all-conference honors after leading the team in scoring (9.3 ppg) for the second consecutive season.
Johnson came to UTSA after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Marshall, where she also served as the recruiting coordinator during the 2011-12 campaign. In addition to her duties as recruiting coordinator, Johnson coached the guards and the group accounted for the top six scorers on the team. The unit also hit 32 percent of its 3-point attempts, which led Conference USA, and the group helped the Thundering Herd hold their opponents to just 56.1 points per game by averaging 10.5 steals per contest.
Johnson mentored the team’s post players in her first season, including Tynikki Crook, who was named second-team all-conference after leading the circuit in scoring at 16.2 ppg.
Prior to her time at Marshall, she spent a total of three seasons at the junior college level.
Before departing after a pair of seasons at Chipola (Fla.) College, Johnson signed the No. 3 recruiting class in the country and coached 10 players that earned Division I scholarships and three that went on to play professionally, including Latoya Williams, recently of the WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars. She also coached guards and helped coordinate recruiting during the 2007-08 season at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.
Johnson began her collegiate career at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, where she was named first-team All-NJCAA Region VI and first-team All-NJCAA Bi-State East. After graduating with an associate’s degree in 2002, she continued her playing career at Oklahoma State the next two seasons. The McNeil, Ark., native earned a spot on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and National Dean’s List before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2004.