Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Johnson Leaves for Alma Mater

For weeks Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert have considered leaving the Hoyas to turn pro. But as Georgetown’s star juniors contemplate their decision, the Hoyas lost a different key piece of their Final Four team yesterday, as Assistant Coach Sydney Johnson was introduced Monday as the new head coach at Princeton University.

Johnson, who graduated from Princeton in 1997 and worked under Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III for the past three seasons, takes over the Tigers after former Head Coach Joe Scott resigned in arch. Scott left Princeton to take on the top post at the University of Denver.

“I think highly of this university and this program,” Johnson said at yesterday’s press conference.

“I want to impress upon our young men about that program [at Princeton] and the great tradition here and how we’ll work hard every day as a group. I want tomorrow to be better than today, and if we can follow that, the rest will follow.”

Thompson, who graduated from Princeton and served as the Tigers’ head coach, said that he couldn’t be happier for Johnson.

“I’m ecstatic,” Thompson, who was an assistant at Princeton for Johnson’s final two seasons as a player there, told the Washington Post Saturday. “As John Thompson, Princeton class of ’88, this is a really exciting time.”

Johnson became the second assistant to leave the Hoyas for a head coaching position this offseason. Kevin Broadus was announced as the new head coach at Binghamton the week before Georgetown played in the Final Four, and although the Hoyas are now short on assistants – only Robert Burke remains – Thompson told the Post that he is in no immediate rush to fill the two openings.

The only three-time captain in Tiger history, Johnson takes over a struggling Princeton squad. In the three seasons since Thompson left to take over the Hoyas, Princeton has gone just 38-45, and 18-24 in the Ivy League. This season the Tigers finished last in the conference with a 2-12 record, only the second losing Ivy finish in program’s history.

“I think all the teams we play, you’re going to get everyone’s best game,” Johnson said. “I think this is a very competitive league and no game is an easy win. I just know the standard is very high and we are looking to keep it there.”

At just 32 years of age, Johnson becomes the youngest head coach in the Ivy League. He is also one of the most unproven, with all of his coaching experience coming from his time on the sidelines at Georgetown. Prior to joining Thompson’s staff, Johnson played professional basketball in Italy and Spain.

Johnson is one of the most successful players in Princeton history. A four-year starter and the 1997 Ivy League player of the year, he ranks in the top five at Princeton all-time in steals, assists and three-pointers. Johnson is also a member of the school’s 1,000 points club and was a key part of Princeton’s 43-41 upset of defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the 1996 NCAA tournament.

“I always thought from the very beginning when I recruited him that he had excellent leadership qualities,” Princeton’s Hall of Fame Head Coach Pete Carril – who was Johnson’s head coach at Princeton for three seasons – said in a press release. “As a coach, you apply all of those qualities and your experiences. He will do a fine job for Princeton.”

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