Daniel Johnson Named Head Women's Basketball Coach

Blackburn College has hired Daniel Johnson to be the next Head Women's Basketball Coach.  "We're thrilled to welcome Coach Johnson to the Blackburn team. "He provides a wealth of experience and a lot of passion to the program," said Blackburn College Athletic Director Rob Steinkuehler.  "We're excited to see the influence Coach Johnson will have on the young women in the program through his leadership style and enthusiam," added Steinkuehler.

Prior to Blackburn College, Johnson started the program at Penn State Shenango that included building the roster, schedule, budget, uniforms, equipment and other necessities to start the program from its foundation.

Before Penn State Shenango, Johnson has been coaching high school in Florida for the past three years. While there, he coached two McDonald's all-American nominees and his teams finished multiple times in the top 20 in the state for 3A. Before that, Johnson was at the University of Maine at Fort Kent where he recruited a team with no returning
student-athletes in four months. He also arranged three games against NCAA D1 teams (Marshall, Maine and UMass) over the next two years. He led his team to a finish of 16-11 and finished ranked 10 in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) D1 Coaches Poll. 

Before that, Johnson was at Malone University as an assistant coach. Experiences there included learning NCAA D2 structure, assistiing  in the day-to-day operations of the program and assisted in the recruiting of 15 NCAA eligible recruits for the class of 2016 and helped to implement a JV program. Other duties included being in charge of academic success of all women’s basketball athletes, scheduling of NCAA D1 opponents for exhibition and regular season games with substantial guarantees included, and in charge of film exchange, reviewing film and creating scouting reports.

Before Malone, Johnson re-started the program at Crossroads College. The team was formed with only two girls with previous basketball and athletic backgrounds. We competed against teams at our level (NCCAA D2) and NCAA D3 and NAIA level teams. Also, out of four eligible student-athletes, all four made Academic All-American.

Johnson was at Kent State University at Tuscarawas before Crossroads where he took a team that was previously 8-36 over the past two years to an improvement of 9-13. His team reached the Conference Quarterfinals. In those losses, they were to one NCAA D2, one NCAA D3 and one NAIA D1 teams and a win
over one NCAA D3 team. The team also had scrimmages against a top 20 NAIA D1 and two NCAA D2 programs.

Before coaching collegiately, Johnson held various prep positions in Florida. Johnson coached Lake Worth Christian to two District Runner-Ups, one State Sweet Sixteen, two all-state players, and nine all-county players. One of his players was an all-state player and all-county. As Head Girl’s Coach Brevard HEAT – District Runner-Up and
made it to the Regional Quarterfinals. Two of his players made the all-county team. As the Head Girl’s Coach at Hope Christian, he brought first district playoff win to program in school history. As the Head Boy’s Coach at Hope Christian playing an independent schedule and five seniors received college scholarships and four made all-county. As an Assistant Boy’s Coach - District Runner-Up at Central Florida Christian, won the Regional Quarterfinals to make it to the
State Sweet Sixteen.

Johnson received an Associate in Science in Medical, Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration concentrating in Human Resource Management and received a Master of Arts in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University in Irvine, California. He also served in the Florida Army National Guard followed by the United States Navy where he
received a Joint Service Commendation Medal authorized by the Secretary of Defense and National Defense Medal. Coach Johnson also has High School Athletic Director experience and as a Head Coach in Cross Country, Volleyball, and Track and Field with State Qualifiers.