North Carolina State University Athletics
Paula Johnson Named Assistant Coach at Wichita State
5/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
May 30, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State women's basketball graduate assistant, Paula Johnson was recently named assistant coach at Wichita State. She was hired by former Wisconsin head coach, Jane Albright to the Shockers' women's basketball coaching staff.
"We are all very excited for Paula," said NC State head coach Kay Yow. "She will be working with a great coaching staff. Wichita State is a wonderful place to begin her coaching career as a full time assistant. We are very happy for her and her fiance Ryan."
Johnson spent the past two seasons working as a graduate assistant with Yow. In addition to her hard work as a coach in training at NC State, Johnson was also a player while at Brevard College in Brevard, N.C.
"Paula is an exceptional young coach and she has had great experiences at each level of college basketball," Albright said. "She is a woman of great character, great leadership skills, and has a great knowledge of the game. Paula will assist in all aspects of our program and be involved heavily in offensive and defensive evaluation and strategy, camps, game preparation, and academics."
Johnson earned her master's degree in mathematics education and worked countless hours with intercollegiate summer camps with the Wolfpack, as well as at Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Furman.
Prior to her position as a graduate assistant, she spent a month in Cape Town, South Africa, during the summer of 2000, as part of the International Sports Federation Missionary. Johnson was involved in holding clinics at schools and community centers while also competing in exhibition games against local universities and club teams. She also started the first Youth Basketball of America (YBOA) for girls age 15-and-up in Transylvania County at Brevard, N.C.
As an undergraduate at Brevard, she earned a B.A. in both math and exercise science, while finished summa cum laude. As a player, Johnson was named NAIA collegiate all-conference in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC). She was also named to the NJCAA all-region team and selected as a two-time "Most Valuable Player" for the Tornadoes. Johnson earned several academic accolades while at BC, including the Distinguished Academic All-American, President's Award and several AAC Academic all-conference team honors.
