Kwanza Johnson spent the 2022-23 season with the California men's basketball program, serving as the Golden Bears’ Coordinator of Video & Recruiting Operations following his most recent of two stints at the University of Tulsa from 2019-22.
Johnson brought with him 20-plus years of collegiate coaching experience to Berkeley, including stops at Tulsa, TCU, Georgia, Nevada, Little Rock and Eastern Illinois.
Johnson most recently spent four seasons with his alma mater, Tulsa, as an assistant coach on Frank Haith’s staff. The Golden Hurricane won the 2020 American Athletic Conference regular season championship with a record of 21-10. In conference play, Tulsa went 13-5 and had two players named to All-Conference teams.
A 1995 graduate of Tulsa, Johnson got his start as an administrative assistant under Bill Self for the Golden Hurricane (1997-99) and after a year as an assistant at Cal Poly, he returned to a spot on the Tulsa coaching staff for his first stint with the Golden Hurricane from 2001-05.
Johnson spent two seasons (2016-18) as the associate head coach at Little Rock and he spent the previous three years (2013-16) as an assistant coach at TCU. During the 2014-15 season, the Horned Frogs were one of six programs to start 13-0, which remains the best start in program history.
Prior to his time in Fort Worth, Johnson spent time as an assistant coach on Mark Fox’s staff at Georgia (2009-13) and Nevada (2006-09). With the Bulldogs, he helped the squad to the NCAA Tournament in his second season on campus. Georgia would go on to win 21 games in 2010-11, which were the program’s most in nine years and the Bulldogs broke into the national rankings for the first time since 2003.
Several frontcourt players excelled under Johnson’s tutelage at Georgia, including Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie, who both earned All-Southeastern Conference honors before being selected in the 2011 NBA Draft. Johnson also worked with 2013 SEC Player of the Year Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who went on to be selected eighth overall in the 2013 NBA Draft.
In his three seasons at Nevada, the Wolf Pack totaled 71 wins and won a pair of Western Athletic Conference titles. The squad appeared in the postseason all three years, including an NCAA Tournament bid in 2007.
There, Johnson helped tutor Nick Fazekas, a first-team All-America pick and WAC Player of the Year in 2007, along with JaVale McGee, who was an all-conference pick and selected in the NBA Draft a year later.
Johnson also worked as an assistant at Eastern Illinois (2005-06) before his first stint at Tulsa from 2001-05.
An Oklahoma City native, Johnson was a star on the court during his playing days and came to Tulsa after two seasons at Rose State College. He was named the top JUCO player in the state before choosing the Golden Hurricane and he helped lead Tulsa to a pair of Missouri Valley Conference titles and back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances.
Johnson was elected a team captain as a senior and was named to the league’s All-Defensive Team that season, as well. In all, he totaled 405 points, 300 rebounds, 90 assists and 66 steals in 63 games for the Golden Hurricane.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from TU in 1995 before adding a Juris Doctor degree from the Tulsa College of Law in 1999. He and his wife, Kim, have three children, Kaitlyn, Kendall and Kalli.
LAST UPDATED: April 13, 2023
