Tommie Johnson enters his second season with the Pioneers in 2018-19.
The program earned its first winning record since the 2011-12 campaign, going 16-14 and 7-7 in Summit League play during the 2017-18 season. Heading into the Summit League tournament Denver scored the No. 4 seed.
In his first season, DU averaged 70.6 points per game and 8.5 3s made per game. The team averaged 40.9 rebounds per game and helped set an NCAA record for made 3s per game (36) with Western Illinois on Jan. 24.
Denver led the Summit League in rebounds per game and finished 46th in the NCAA. The squad also finished second in rebounds (1,226), third in rebound margin (3.7), turnovers forced (15.9), and steals per game (7.5). Denver's 8.5 3s per game finished 27th in the nation.
in 2017-18, Claire Gritt was named the Summit League Freshman of the Year, All-Newcomer Team and Honorable Mention. Meanwhile, Jordyn Alt was also named Summit League Honorable Mention.
Johnson came to the University of Denver women’s basketball program from Sand Creek High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he served as head coach of the girl’s basketball team for one season.
In his only year at the helm of the program, two athletes were voted to the Pikes Peak Athletic Conference (PPAC) All-League team and one was named All-Area Gazette honorable mention.
Prior to his time at Sand Creek, Johnson was an assistant coach at New Mexico Junior College on the women's basketball staff before being called back to Colorado to coach high school.
Johnson also served eight seasons as the top assistant on Colorado State University-Pueblo’s men’s basketball coaching staff as the key recruiter. He helped guide the ThunderWolves to winning seasons in seven out of eight years along with hosting the first two home playoff games in the Division II era of the school. Johnson helped sign three junior college All-Americans during his time at CSU-Pueblo as well as multiple Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) All-League athletes, including a defensive player of the year.
Additionally, Johnson spent time coaching at Colorado College, Cheyenne Mountain High School (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and was active in both boy’s and girl’s AAU basketball in the state of Colorado.
Johnson played collegiate basketball at Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colo., helping his team to back-to-back South Region IX championships in 1999 and 2000. He transferred to the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and helped lead the Mountain Lions to their first-ever RMAC Tournament appearance in 2001.
Johnson and his wife, Africa, are the proud parents of one daughter, Tomia.
