Anthony Johnson enters his second season as an assistant coach with the Youngstown State men’s basketball staff in 2025-26.
During his first season Youngstown State, Johnson helped the Penguins to their third straight 20-win season with an overall record of 21-13 and a 13-7 mark in Horizon League play. Youngstown State, who won a Division I record of eight straight games, also advanced to the Horizon League Championship game for the first time in program history.
The Penguins made 299 3-pointers on the season, which ranked second on the single-season list, and scored 2,599 points for an average of 76.4 points per game.
Three players earned Horizon League postseason recognition in 2024-25. EJ Farmer led the Penguins with 15.1 points per game while Nico Galette posted 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and both were named to the All-Horizon League Third Team. Gabe Dynes led the nation with 104 blocks and ranked second with 3.06 blocks per game, and he was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team.
Prior to joining the Penguins, Johnson was a part of Chris Beard’s staff at Ole Miss as the director of player development, following a two-year stint as an assistant coach at USC Upstate.
At USC-Upstate Johnson helped make an immediate impact, as his first year with the Spartans was one of the best in their Division-I era. The Spartans earned the number two seed in the Big South basketball tournament and set a program record for conference victories as a Big South member with 10. They did the same in year two, with double-digit league wins, and reached the tournament semifinals in back-to-back years.
In 2021-22, Johnson helped develop two all-conference players including Big South Freshman of the Year selection Jordan Gainey, as well as All-Big South second team selection Bryson Mozone. In 2022-23 Gainey earned All-Big South first team honors, and Justin Bailey was named to the Big South All-Freshman Team.
Prior to his time at USC Upstate, Johnson was the director of development and recruiting at Georgia Southern.
Johnson spent the 2019-20 season as the director of player development and video coordinator at the College of Charleston, assisting with recruiting, video editing, scouting, and academic progress.
Johnson also served on Beard’s staff as a graduate assistant coach at Texas Tech in 2018-19 during the Red Raiders’ 31-7 Final Four campaign that culminated in an overtime battle against Virginia in the National Championship game.
Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree in parks, recreation and tourism management with a minor in sociology from Clemson in 2012 and earned his master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies at Texas Tech in May of 2019.
During his prep career, he was a three-year basketball letterwinner at James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C. He was selected to the all-region, all-area and was a two-time all-tournament team selection. After graduation, Johnson was a two-year basketball letterman at Lees-McRae College before transferring to Clemson.
