June 9, 2006
RENO, Nev. - Kwanza Johnson will join the Wolf Pack men's basketball staff as an assistant coach, Nevada head coach Mark Fox announced Friday.
Johnson comes to the University of Nevada after spending the past season at Eastern Illinois University. He returns to the Western Athletic Conference after serving as a member of the coaching staff at the University of Tulsa for four years from 2001 until 2005. Johnson helped guide the Golden Hurricane to the 2002 WAC regular-season championship and the 2003 WAC Tournament title, while Tulsa advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in both the 2002 and 2003 campaigns.
"We are extremely excited to have a coach of Kwanza's caliber join our staff," Fox said. "He will be a valuable addition to our program because of his coaching and playing experience."
Prior to Tulsa, Johnson was an assistant coach at Arkansas-Little Rock in 2001, helping the Trojans improve from four wins to18 in his one season there. He also was an assistant coach at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo (2000) and an administrative assistant at Tulsa for two years (1998-99).
Johnson played at Tulsa and was a member of teams that advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1994 and 1995. He was a team captain and was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Defensive team in 1995. Johnson began his collegiate playing career at Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla., where he was the junior college Region II Player of the Year and was named to the national junior college all-tournament team in 1993.
Johnson earned his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Tulsa in 1995 and his juris doctorate from the Tulsa College of Law in 1999.
He and his wife, Kim, have two daughters, Kaitlyn (5) and Kendall (1).
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