Samba Johnson is in his second year as assistant coach on Longwood’s men’s basketball staff after joining the program in July, 2014. Johnson’s coaching career spans 18 years across 10 different campuses at the Division I, II, III, NAIA and junior college levels. He has served as assistant coach, head coach, director of basketball operations and recruiting coordinator for both men’s and women’s programs during his career.
Johnson is involved in every aspect of the Longwood program and serves as the primary coach of Longwood’s guards. He is also heavily involved in recruiting, scouting and player development, as well as the academic progress and personal growth of the program’s student-athletes.
Johnson was a member of Longwood head coach Jayson Gee’s staffs at Cleveland State as a graduate manager from 2010-11 and the director of basketball operations beginning in 2011-12. He also coached alongside Gee at the University of Charleston in 2001-02.
During his lengthy career, Johnson has handled duties in recruiting, on-court coaching, scouting, film breakdown, camps, budgeting, academic supervising and scheduling. Johnson, who was a point guard at Robert Morris and Chaminade University of Honolulu, will mentor Longwood’s point guards while also recruiting in the state of Virginia and monitoring the academic progress of the team.
Prior to Longwood, Johnson was assistant coach on the women’s basketball staff at Stetson in 2008-09, the men’s staff at NAIA Friends University in 2007-08, the men’s staff at NJCAA Casper College in 2006-07, the women’s staff at Ohio from 2003-06 and the men’s staff at Division II University of Charleston. He was recruiting coordinator for the Stetson and Ohio women and the Charleston men.
Johnson began his coaching career as an assistant coach at McCook Community College in 1996. He went on to earn a head coaching position at Penn State-New Kensington from 1997-2000 where he was named the Penn State Commonwealth Campus’s West Division Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2000 as well as the WPCC Coach of the Year in 1999.
He parlayed that success into his first Division I job as director of basketball operations at Duquesne in 2000-01. From there he returned to coaching as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator on Gee’s staff at Charleston in 2001-02 where he helped guide the program to a 25-7 record and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
Following his one-year stint alongside Gee at Charleston, Johnson was named head coach of the women’s basketball program at Division III La Roche College in 2002-03. He then returned to the Division I ranks as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator with the women’s program at Ohio where he stayed from 2003-06.
After his time at Ohio, Johnson served consecutive one-year stints at Casper College and Friends University, as well as with the Stetson women’s program. At Friends, Johnson won his first championship, claiming the 2008 KCAC Conference Tournament crown and earning a bid to the NAIA National Tournament. Johnson was then named director of The Fundamentals of Basketball Academy from 2009-10 before rejoining Gee at Cleveland State in 2010.
A decorated guard at Chaminade University of Honolulu, Johnson received his Bachelor’s of Business Administration in marketing in 1996 following a basketball career that included Pac-West second team and Hawaii Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-conference honors. He earned his master of arts in early childhood education from Cleveland State in May, 2013.
