Don Johnson (basketball)

After graduating from El Monte High School in El Monte, California, Johnson attended Fullerton College from 1948 to 1950, and he was named the Eastern Conference's most valuable player for the 1949–50 season. He played college basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles. It was early in Bruins coach John Wooden's tenure at the school, about a decade before he would win the first of 11 national championships. Johnson led the Bruins to two Southern Division championships in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), He averaged 5.8 rebounds in 1951–52, He was named a third-team All-American by the Helms Athletic Foundation and earned honorable mention from UPI. He and teammate Jerry Norman, the Bruins' co-captains, were unanimous selections for the PCC All-Southern Division team. In 61 career games, Johnson averaged 9.8 points. Standing at and , Johnson was among the bigger guards in that era. Wooden said that he "was a well-rounded basketball player. He played good defense, passed the ball well, could drive to the basket and was a pretty good outside shooter." Like a smaller guard, he could bring the ball up, and was also able to defend forwards due to his rebounding ability. ==Coaching career==

In 1954, Johnson became a teacher at El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, California. As their varsity basketball coach, he led them to the playoffs six times in his 12 seasons. He joined Cypress College when it opened in 1966. Johnson led the Chargers to state championships in 1977 and 1980 along with seven conference titles. Seventeen times they won 20 or more games in a season and reached the state semifinals four times. neither of whom had much basketball experience before joining Cypress. Eaton and Nater both set NBA records. The Eaton holds the NBA single-season records for total blocks (456) and blocks per game (5.6) as well as the career record for blocks per game (3.5). The Nater is the only player to lead both the American Basketball Association and NBA in rebounding, and he also holds the NBA record for defensive rebounds in a half (18). Johnson was never attracted to head coaching opportunities at four-year colleges, preferring the purer coaching environment of junior colleges. Johnson remained at Biola until his death in 2019. ==Legacy==

Johnson was inducted into the Orange County Hall of Fame in 1996, the Fullerton College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010, Cypress honored him in 2009 by renaming its basketball court "Don Johnson Court". ==Personal life==

Johnson's father, Jack, was a basketball coach at El Monte High. Johnson's mother, Cecile Sparks, played basketball at the University of Kansas for James Naismith, the game's inventor. They had three children. Johnson died on February 6, 2019, at the age of 88. ==Notes==