Eugene Raymond Johnson (February 14, 1902 – December 27, 1989) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. Some sources list him as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the 1936 United States Olympic Basketball team and other sources give that honor to

Jimmy Needles James R. Needles (March 3, 1900 – July 22, 1969) was an American basketball coach best known for being the United States' first Olympic basketball coach in 1936. Born in Tacoma, Washington in 1900, Needles studied at the University of San Fran ...

and state that Johnson was the assistant coach. His innovations in basketball include being credited with creating the full court press.

Basketball

Wichita University

In 1928, at the age of 26, Johnson was named head coach at Wichita University (now called

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

) in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. Johnson's teams compiled a record of 74 wins and 24 losses in his five years as head coach of the "Shockers". He led the Shockers to a Central Intercollegiate Conference co-championship in 1933 (his last season at the school) and the team finished second three times and third once.

McPherson Globe Refiners (AAU)

After coaching at Wichita University, Johnson left for a coaching career in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

, coaching the McPherson Globe Refiners to a national title and later coaching the Wichita Vickers.

USA Olympic Basketball

Johnson was an assistant coach of the first United States Olympic basketball team in 1936. Several of his players in his AAU teams, including his brother Francis Johnson.

Kansas Wesleyan

In 1938, Johnson went to

Kansas Wesleyan University Kansas Wesleyan University is a private Christian university in Salina, Kansas. Founded in 1886, it is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. About 800 students attend KWU, with approximately 700 of them studying on the 28-acre campus. Th ...

to become the head basketball coach. He led the team to several conference championships and as of 2005 holds the second-most wins for a single season at the school.

College football

Johnson was the tenth head football coach at Kansas Wesleyan, serving for five seasons, from 1938 until 1942, and compiling a record of 19–16–9. In 1940, the team was declared conference champions of the

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second oldest in the United Stat ...

by outscoring their opponents for the season 131 to 46 and by winning every home game.

NIBL

In 1955–56 and 1956–57 Johnson coached the Wichita Vickers of the AAU

National Industrial Basketball League The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) be ...

. In 1957–58, he coached the Kansas City Kaycees and in 1959–60 he coached the NIBL Seattle

Buchan Bakers The Buchan Bakers was an amateur basketball team located in Seattle, Washington and competed in the National Industrial Basketball League. The Bakers were one of the most popular teams of the Amateur Athletic Union, rising to fame in 1957 when the ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Gene 1902 births 1989 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas College men's basketball head coaches in the United States College of Emporia Fighting Presbies football players Emporia State Hornets basketball players Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes football coaches Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes men's basketball coaches Wichita State Shockers men's basketball coaches People from Emporia, Kansas