"I had to get my confidence back" said Young. "I was out of sync in L.A. and their hitters made me pay for it. In L.A. I wasn't able to throw strikes. Tonight, I was."
Yesterday's news about the hiring of Sydney Johnson produced a number of articles, most of which used only the quotes and facts provided in the Princeton Athletic Department press release. Exceptions include the Daily Princetonian, who talked to former Tiger Sean Gregory '98 about Johnson, the Trenton Times and the Washington Post, who each provide brief quotes from Georgetown coach John Thompson III.
"It's going to be an unbelievable boon to the program," Gregory said. "When Sydney Johnson walks into your home and you're an 18-year old kid, it's going to make an impression."
"I'm ecstatic," said Thompson, who was an assistant at Princeton when Johnson played there. "As John Thompson, Princeton class of '88, this is a really exciting time."
Guess now I know what the guy who was filming my interview with Bill Bradley was using the footage for. Look for some clips from my discussion with Senator Bradley at the end of this piece. Watch more of these short films (including Jon Stewart and Bradley discussing playing at Dillon Gym) here.
PRINCETON--Sydney Johnson ’97, who as a player was named Ivy League Player of the Year and as a coach helped lead a team to the NCAA Final Four, has been named the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green ’40 Head Coach of Men’s Basketball at Princeton.
Johnson, 32, will be formally introduced as head coach at a press conference on Mon., April 23, at noon in the Class of 1956 Lounge at Princeton Stadium. A free live video stream of the press conference will be available at GoPrincetonTigers.com.
“As a player at Princeton, Sydney Johnson was the embodiment of heart, passion, class and dignity,” says Gary Walters ’67, Princeton’s Director of Athletics. “We are delighted that he will bring those same qualities back to Princeton as our head men’s basketball coach.”
“I had a lot of excitement and nervous energy when I accepted the position,” says Johnson, “but that has quickly turned into a feeling of relaxation of knowing that this is the right place to be. It’s great to be here, and the challenge now will be to move forward.”
Johnson, the only three-time captain in Princeton history, was the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year and a 1996 and 1997 first-team All-Ivy League selection. He has most recently been an assistant coach at Georgetown, where he helped lead the Hoyas to the 2007 Final Four.
Johnson played professional basketball for seven seasons in both Italy and Spain before joining John Thompson III’s coaching staff at Georgetown in 2004. In his three seasons as an assistant coach at Georgetown, the Hoyas had a 72-30 overall record and advanced to postseason play each season.
The Hoyas won both the BIG EAST tournament and regular-season championships in 2007 before reaching the program’s first NCAA Final Four since the 1984-85 season. Georgetown finished 30-7 overall and won 19 of its last 21 games before falling to Ohio State in the national semifinals.
Georgetown reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2006, defeating Northern Iowa and Ohio State before falling to eventual national champion Florida 57-53 in the third round. In Johnson’s first season as an assistant coach, 2004-05, the Hoyas won 19 games and reached the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
“Sydney is a star as a person and as a basketball coach,” says Thompson, who also was an assistant coach at Princeton during Johnson’s junior and senior seasons.
“I’m not sure I have enough words to describe how much I learned in three years at Georgetown from Coach Thompson,” said Johnson. “He’s not only a mentor and a role model both on and off the court but a great example of the kind of person I hope to emulate and the kind of person that makes Princeton proud.”
At Princeton, Johnson was a four-year starter who is considered one of the finest all-around players in team history. He ranks in the top five at Princeton all-time in steals, assists and three-point shots and is also one of 26 1,000-point scorers in team history.
Johnson was the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year after leading the Tigers to an undefeated Ivy League season and a 24-4 overall record. Johnson, who averaged 9.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a senior, is the only player to ever win the award while averaging fewer than 10 points per game.
In 1996, Johnson led the Tigers to an Ivy League championship and was a key part of Princeton’s 43-41 upset win over defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament, hitting three second-half three-pointers in that game and leading the team with 11 points. In the Ivy League playoff game against Penn five days earlier, his three-point shot with 51 seconds left in overtime put the Tigers ahead for good.
The program’s all-time leader in steals with 169, Johnson was a two-time first-team All-Ivy League selection. He finished his Princeton career with 1,044 points, now 24th on the team’s all-time list, though he was perhaps better known for his defensive ability than for his offensive prowess.
“Sydney was the best defensive player I ever coached at Princeton,” said Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody, who was an assistant coach at Princeton for 14 seasons and then Johnson’s head coach in 1996-97. “He was a tremendous player and a great leader, and he worked as hard every day as any player I’ve been around.”
“I always thought from the very beginning when I recruited him that he had excellent leadership qualities,” says Naismith Hall of Fame coach Pete Carril, Johnson’s head coach at Princeton for three seasons and a member of the advisory committee that helped select Johnson as head coach. “As a coach, you apply all of those qualities and your experiences. He will do a fine job for Princeton.”
Johnson, who also ranks fifth all-time at Princeton in both three-point shots (162) and assists (280), was also a two-time Academic All-Ivy selection and the winner of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 1997.
He also holds the school record with 11 consecutive three-point shots, which included a team record 6-for-6 performance from behind the arc against Columbia on Feb. 28, 1997.
Professionally, Johnson had a fine career in Europe after graduating from Princeton with a degree in history in 1997. In 1998, he was a starter for Gorizia Pallacanestro in Italy and helped his team capture the Italian Second Division championship. The following year, he won another league title while playing for Reggio Calabria, and he concluded his playing career in 2004 by winning a league title with Siena.
A native of Towson, Md., outside Baltimore, Johnson attended Towson Catholic High School before spending a postgraduate year at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia in 1992-93. At Towson Catholic, he was the MVP of the Baltimore Catholic League tournament in 1992.
Johnson’s older brother Stephen also played Division I basketball for the University of California at Berkeley.
He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, a two-year old son Jalen and an infant daughter Julia, who was born in February.
Johnson will begin his duties at Princeton immediately. He replaces Joe Scott ’87, who resigned March 20 to become the head coach at the University of Denver.
——————————————————–
The Sydney Johnson File
Name: Sydney A. Johnson
Age: 32 (born April 26, 1974)
Hometown: Towson, Md.
College: Four-year starter at Princeton, graduating in 1997 with an A.B. degree in history.
Coaching Experience:
2004-07: Assistant Coach, Georgetown University
Playing Experience:
Seven professional seasons in Italy and Spain; teams won three league championships
Notable: The only three-time captain in Princeton men’s basketball history … the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year … a two-time first-team All-Ivy selection … the program’s all-time leader in steals (169) … fifth all-time at Princeton in both three-pointers (162) and assists (280) … ranks 24th all-time at Princeton with 1,044 points.
Family: Wife Jennifer, son Jalen (2), daughter Julia (two months)
This just in: Jeff Goodman at Fox Sports is reporting that Sydney Johnson (right) will accept the job of Princeton men's basketball coach "according to multiple sources close to the situation."
The article gets Johnson's age wrong (he turns 33 next week), says Johnson worked for John Thompson III at Princeton (he didn't) and lists Johnson as Princeton's only three-time STARTER, not the only three-time captain in the program's history.
Hopefully the rest of the facts are correct!
Update:CBS Sportsline is now posting similar news, writing that "a formal announcement is expected shortly."
Chris Young pitches for the Padres tonight at Colorado. 9:05 pm ET first pitch.
The Associated Press and The Hoya have both picked up the Daily Princetonian's report about Sydney Johnson. Update:ESPN now has the AP story up on the front page of their web site, but provides no additional information.
The Princeton Packet writes about the lack of information as of 5:00 pm ET on Thursday, but knows that this selection will set a tone for the future of the Tigers.
The Star Ledger's M.A. Mehta builds off yesterday's blog posts with this morning's article about the Princeton coaching search.
San Antonio is back in action, with the Missions falling 10-4 at Midland. Will Venable was 0-3.
Check this post's timestamp to see if there are news updates throughout the day.
The Denver Post has a q&a with new head coach Joe Scott.
Princeton athletic director Gary Walters has released the following statement:
"As of now, the Princeton men's basketball coaching search remains ongoing."
Following the lead of the Daily Princetonian, M.A. Mehta from The Star Ledger tracked down Coach Pete Carril earlier today for a quote about Sydney Johnson. Carril had the following to say:
"I always thought from the very beginning when I recruited him out of Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia that he had leadership qualities," Carril told The Star-Ledger this morning. "As a coach, you apply all of those qualities and your experiences.
"He was a very good defensive player, captain of the team. He was very unselfish and just a good all-around player. He'll be fine. He'll do a nice job. If he's the choice and he accepts, it'll be a fine choice."
Update: In a amendment to their first post on the subject The Star Ledger is now quoting a source who calls the Daily Princetonian's initial report about Sydney Johnson "premature."
The Georgetown Hoyas were honored at halftime of the Magic/Wizards game on Tuesday night.
princetonbasketball.com has learned that Georgetown assistant and Princeton standout Sydney Johnson has been offered the head coaching job at Princeton. As of earlier today Johnson had not yet accepted the job, but was expected to. The Daily Princetonian is also reporting this news, citing "individuals close to the program and the search."
Johnson '97 was a three-time captain of the Tigers and was named Ivy League Player of the Year after his senior season. Johnson, 32, has been an assistant at Georgetown the last three years after returning stateside following a successful seven year professional basketball career in Spain and Italy.
The Wisconsin State Journal adds another candidate to the list of possible Princeton coaches.
The Princeton Athletic Department provides some further detail on the awards and award winners from last night's basketball banquet.
Georgetown's Jeff Green says there is a '70-30' chance he will return to the Hoyas next season instead of heading off to the NBA. Roy Hibbert puts his odds at '50-50.'
Gregg Lange writes about the 1966-67 Princeton Tigers, calling that squad the program's best ever.
Jeff Peterson has given an oral commitment to Iowa and has until Monday to sign a letter of intent.
Air Force assistant and former Falcon A.J. Kuhle plans to join Joe Scott's staff at Denver once his contract is finalized. A source says former Princeton assistant Robert Burke was a candidate for the Air Force job, and that discussions reached the negotiation stage before Jeff Reynolds was hired.
Will Venable goes 0-3, as the Missions are shut out.
Princeton held its awards banquet at Jadwin Gym tonight.
The worthy recipients of honors at the 2006-2007 banquet included:
Class of 1959 Bob Rock Sixth Man Award - Edwin Buffmire.
B.F. Bunn Trophy - Kyle Koncz.
Friedman Memorial Award Trophy - Justin Conway.
The heartfelt speeches by the three seniors and the good feelings that came from seeing so many people who care about Princeton basketball in the same room made for a meaningful end to the season and created many positive feelings as a new chapter of Tiger basketball is about to begin.
Jeff Peterson (left) says he will decide between Iowa, Saint Louis and Princeton 'in the next day or so.'
Update: Saint Louis just fired their head coach, another twist in this saga. Two of Peterson's finalists are schools without coaches and one is a school coached by someone who did not recruit him.
Princeton recruit Bobby Foley scored seven points for the victorious North in the 804 North vs. South All-Star Game. Foley also made it to the finals of the 3-Ball contest, where he lost 9-8.
6'2" Del Campo senior and golf/basketball standout Eric Salazar has been accepted at Princeton and mentions he may try to walk on to the basketball team this fall.
Chris Young was surprisingly wild against the Dodgers last night and lasted just two innings. Young faced five batters in the third but retired none of them. The Padres lost 9-3.
C. Young (1-1) - 2.0 IP 7 H 5 ER 5 BB 2 K 4.30 ERA. 84 pitches, 47 strikes.
"I was terrible," Young said, flatly. "I never found my rhythm, never found my groove. Sometimes you can figure it out and find it. I couldn't make the adjustment. I dug us in too deep."
The Trenton Times grasps for new details trying to get information on the Princeton coaching search. While I'm not at liberty to share what I know, lets just say that some of the people they mentioned have already interviewed for the job, but there are a number of people that they haven't unconvered yet who have been seen around Jadwin in the last couple of days. Sorry for the tease.
princetonbasketball.com was founded on April 28th, 1998 in an attempt to provide fans of the Princeton Tigers and Ivy League basketball with the best on-line source for up-to-date news and information. We have since expanded to launch a companion site, Georgetown Basketball News.
As these sites have continued to grow we have increased our coverage to include additional teams with Princeton connections - the Richmond Spiders, Denver Pioneers, Oregon State Beavers, Fairfield Stags and Mercer County Community College Vikings - plus former Tigers playing professional baseball and basketball all over the world. This site is not directly affiliated with the Friends of Princeton Basketball, Princeton University or the Princeton athletic department.
Sun. 11/10 vs. Florida A&M
Sat. 11/16 at Butler
Wed. 11/20 vs. Lafayette
Sat. 11/23 at Rice
Tue. 11/26 vs. George Mason
Sat. 11/30 at Bucknell
Sat. 12/7 vs. FDU
Wed. 12/11 at Rutgers
Sat. 12/14 at Penn State
Fri. 12/20 vs. Portland*
Sat. 12/21 vs. Pacific*
Tue. 12/31 vs. Kent State
Sat. 1/4 at Liberty
Sat. 1/11 at Penn
Sun. 1/26 vs. Kean
Fri. 1/31 at Harvard
Sat. 2/1 at Dartmouth
Fri. 2/7 vs. Columbia
Sat. 2/8 vs. Cornell
Fri. 2/14 at Brown
Sat. 2/15 at Yale
Fri. 2/21 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. 2/22 vs. Harvard
Fri. 2/28 vs. Yale
Sat. 3/1 vs. Brown
Fri. 3/7 at Cornell
Sat. 3/8 at Columbia
Tue. 3/11 vs. Penn
2,503 - B. Bradley, 1962-65
1,625 - I. Hummer, 2009-13
1,550 - D. Davis, 2008-12
1,546 - K. Mueller, 1987-91
1,451 - P. Campbell, 1959-62
1,441 - C. Robinson, 1979-83
1,428 - B. Earl, 1995-99
1,365 - B. Scrabis, 1985-89
1,321 - G. Petrie, 1967-70
1,292 - H. Haabestad, 1952-55
1,277 - G. Lewullis, 1995-99
1,239 - B. Taylor, 1970-72
1,207 - S. Goodrich 1994-98
1,133 - F. Sowinski, 1975-78
1,130 - R. Hielscher, 1991-95
1,122 - C. Thomforde, 1966-69
1,099 - T. Manakas, 1970-73
1,090 - J. Wallace, 2001-05
1,088 - C. Belz, 1956-59
1,079 - B. Hauptfuhrer, 1973-76
1,076 - B. Roma, 1976-79
1,071 - C. Mooney, 1990-94
1,064 - A. Hyland, Jr., 1960-63
1,062 - L. Brangan, 1957-60
1,057 - A. Hill, 1973-76
1,054 - D. Mavraides, 2007-11
1,044 - S. Johnson, 1993-1997
1,031 - J. Hummer, 1967-70
1,010 - W. Venable, 2001-05
