Kenny Johnson’s Return To Indiana Men’s Basketball Coaching Staff Is Official

Indiana men’s basketball made it official on Tuesday as former assistant coach Kenny Johnson has rejoined the Hoosiers’ staff under Darian DeVries.

“Kenny has been a difference making on the recruiting trail throughout his entire career,” DeVries said in an Indiana press release. “He has been able to attract the highest levels of talent wherever he has been. His track record of putting players in the NBA, specifically lottery picks, speaks for itself.”

When Johnson was on Tom Crean’s staff from 2012-14, he helped Indiana produce a pair of top 20 recruiting classes.

In 2013, Indiana had a top five class as Noah Vonleh, Troy Williams, Stanford Robinson, Devin Davis, Luke Fischer and Collin Hartman all came aboard.

Yogi Ferrell, Hanner Mosquera-Perea, James Blackmon and Robert Johnson were also players recruited when Johnson was on the staff.

After Indiana, Johnson left to join Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville as associate head coach. He was at Louisville from 2014-17. Johnson was later caught up in the FBI turmoil that engulfed Louisville in 2017 and was fired in the wake of the scandal along with the rest of Pitino’s staff.

Johnson's career resumed at La Salle in 2018, but was fired in 2020 after the NCAA launched its investigation into Louisville. Johnson was alleged to have paid recruit Brian Bowen $1,300.

He left to join Archie Miller’s staff at Rhode Island in 2022 and stayed for two years before he spent a year on Ed Cooley’s staff at Georgetown for the 2024-25 season.

While at Rhode Island, Johnson was given a two-year show cause penalty related to his time at Louisville and was restricted from some recruiting activities.

Prior to his first stint at Indiana, Johnson, an Oxon Hill, Md. native, worked at Towson for one season, but his reputation came from his time as a high school coach and the AAU Nike Team Takeover program, which produced 53 Division I players and four NBA players.

Johnson is married to his wife, Montoya, and has three sons, Amare, Mekai and Kash, and one daughter Akylah.