Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1998
Yes, the guard from Weirsdale, Fla., did become affectionately known as "the Smiling Deacon" because of the grin that he seemingly always wore on the court throughout his brilliant career. Of course, he had plenty to smile about.
Wake Forest teams won 78 games and advanced to two NCAA tournaments with him in the lineup. As a senior, he led the Deacs to 14 consecutive wins to open the 1981 campaign and a ranking of third in the country, the highest regular-season standing for a Wake squad until 1996.
Individually, Johnson was named All-America in that senior year while attaining first-team All-ACC honors after being a second team all-league selection as a sophomore and junior. He scored 1,749 points as a Deacon (12th all-time) and became one of the program's all-time great playmakers with 460 assists, the seventh-highest total in school history. His total of 204 steals ranks third.
That career concluded in dramatic fashion when the 12th-rated Deacons defeated No. 3 Virginia 73-66 in overtime in Johnson's final home game on Feb. 25, 1981 - an evening that ended with him on the shoulders of adoring fans, clipping down the nets in old Memorial Coliseum.
Johnson continued to excel in the NBA as a first-round draft pick by the Washington Bullets. He scored nearly 5,000 points with the Bullets and Houston Rockets before playing three years in Italy, then returning to the U.S. and helping the Phoenix Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals.
Johnson was an assistant coach with the Suns from 1996-97 until his promotion to head coach on Feb. 17, 2002. He directed the team the remainder of that season and all of 2002-03.
