Ray Johnson was named to B.J. Foster's coaching staff in July 2016.
Johnson is basketball royalty in San Diego. As the boy's basketball coach at nearby El Camino High School for 33 years, Johnson holds the most wins (763) in CIF-San Diego Section history.
Before coming to CSUSM, Johnson spent two seasons from 2014-16 at NCAA Division I Loyola Marymount on Mike Dunlap’s staff.
At El Camino, Johnson produced 23 Avocado League crowns, 16 trips to the CIF-San Diego Section finals, eight CIF-San Diego Section titles and 14 visits to the CIF State Championship playoffs. In his two stints at El Camino (1980-08, 2010-13), Johnson went 763-229 (.769) overall.
His career earned him induction into the California High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2011. He was the 2004 California State Coach of the Year and the National Coach of the Year Runner-up by the National High School Coaches Association. He was the Division I State High School Coach of the Year in 2003 and was inducted into the San Diego Hall of Sports Champions in 2002 with the Basketball Coaching Achievement Award.
Johnson got his first foray into college basketball during the 2009-10 season as an assistant coach at Fairleigh Dickinson in New Jersey.
Between 2004-06, Johnson served as the start-up coach of the San Diego Wildcats, an American Basketball Association (ABA) professional basketball team, in which he was responsible for recruiting, tryouts, scheduling and acquiring facilities for practices and games. He led the Wildcats to a 19-7 record and the first-ever playoff win in San Diego pro basketball history.
While leading the Wildcats, he coached and evaluated talent in free agent camps for the National Basketball Association (NBA), Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and ABA.
In 2000, Johnson led the USA Olympic Basketball West Under-18 Team to a silver medal.
He started his coaching career as an assistant coach at his alma mater, California Baptist in 1974 before moving over to J.W. North High School (1976-77). In 1978-79, he was the assistant coach at Oceanside High School.
He also coached girl's basketball at El Camino from 1983-87, winning three league titles.
Johnson earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Physical Education at California Baptist, a Master's Degree in Education from United States International University, and a Lifetime Special Education Teaching Credential from the University of California.
| Collegiate Assistant Coaching Record |
| Team |
Year |
Record |
Postseason/Honors/Notes |
| CSUSM |
2016-17 |
18-10 |
|
| Loyola Marymount |
2015-16 |
14-17 |
|
| Loyola Marymount |
2014-15 |
8-23 |
|
| Farleigh Dickinson |
2009-10 |
11-21 |
|
| Total |
4 seasons |
|
|
