Bulldog Basketball Hall Of Famer Tanya Johnson Retires After Highly-Decorated Prep Coaching Career

Photo Courtesy Lake County News-Sun (online)

Big Rapids, Mich. - Former Ferris State University women's basketball standout, Bulldog Athletics Hall of Famer and Big Rapids native Tanya Johnson recently announced her retirement this past week after 36 years as one of Illinois' most successful prep coaches in history.

Johnson ended her prep coaching career with a career record of 766-296 overall across four schools, finishing with the seventh-most wins in state history. She finished her career as one of only 10 coaches in state history to notch more than 700 victories.

During her prep coaching career, Johnson posted a 17-9 mark at Elmwood Park in 1981-82 in her first head coaching job. She then went 202-64 in 10 seasons at Nortfield's Marillac High School before it merged with Loyola Academy where she went on to register a 355-95 record over 14 seasons, highlighted by state championships in Class AA in 1996-97 and 1997-98. Her 1997-98 team finished with a school-record 36-1 mark.

Johnson closed out her career by posting a 192-128 record in 11 years at Zion-Benton after taking over the program in 2009. Overall, she led Zion to five 20-plus win seasons.

Over her 36 seasons as a coach, Johnson led her squad's to 19 regional titles, seven sectional titles, four trips to the state finals and three trophies. She was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005 and was also a 2005 Bulldog Athletics Hall of Fame inductee. Most recently, she was recognized as a Mecosta County Area Sports Hall of Fame selection and honored back in her hometown of Big Rapids in 2017.

The 6-foot-2 Tanya Johnson was one of the early Bulldog women's basketball greats. She presently remains listed high on both FSU's career rebounding (677) chart and field goal percentage (.489) lists. In addition, she is one of only a handful of players in Bulldog history to score 750 or more career points and currently ranks among the program's all-time leaders on Ferris' career scoring chart with 780 points.

Johnson guided Ferris to the school's first three winning seasons from 1974-77, including a 10-6 mark in 1975-76. A two-time (1975-76) team Most Valuable Player, Johnson twice led Ferris in scoring under head coach Monica Folske and set the school record for career rebounding average (10.7 per game). Her 16.6 points per game scoring average in 1976-77 ranks as one of the best performances ever by a Bulldog junior class member.

The Big Rapids, Michigan native later played for the Milwaukee Does, New Jersey Gems and Chicago Hustle, all teams in the first women's professional basketball league. Johnson was FSU's MVP and leading scorer each of the first two seasons of the program.

Johnson recorded her 500th career coaching win in her 22nd season as a prep coach during the 2004-05 season. Only two other female basketball coaches in Illinois state history had reached the 500 win plateau at the time.

Visit this link for Johnson's 2005 Bulldog Athletics Hall of Fame Profile:
Tanya Johnson