Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Director of Strength and Conditioning
One of the three foundations of Johnson's strength and conditioning philosophy is sport specificity - maximizing athletes' movement and capabilities within their individual sport. Johnson's three-pronged philosophy - a "melting pot" formed from wide-ranging, high-level experiences in the strength and conditioning, sports performance and fitness realms - boils down into one simple goal - to make "technically proficient athletes."
"If an athlete can move efficiently in the weight room under load, then they're going to move efficiently on the basketball court, soccer field or lacrosse field," said Johnson.
He oversees a GW Strength and Conditioning Department that not only works to maximize the performance of student-athletes from all 27 varsity athletics programs, but also serve as a trendsetter in the industry. "We want to place GW on the forefront, be highly regarded and thought of as forward-thinking in utilizing new-age methodology and technology," said Johnson, who recently served as a keynote presenter at the Stronger Team Huddle basketball strength and conditioning educational summit at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.
While possessing a varied background, Johnson has carved his niche in basketball, a sport he played as an undergraduate at NCAA Division III Marywood University where he earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science in 2007. He went on to complete his master's degree in kinesiology at Bridgewater (Mass.) State College in 2009 before working with the basketball, hockey and lacrosse programs at Division I Boston College and Bryant University. Johnson holds numerous gold standard strength and conditioning certifications such as the NSCA CSCS, NSCA CPT, USA Weightlifting Club Coach, USA Track and Field Level 1 and NASM PES.
Most recently the Strength and Conditioning Coach for Montrose Christian School's nationally prominent basketball program, Johnson trained former Mustang and current GW men's basketball student-athlete Kevin Larsen, and is also familiar with Patricio Garino and Miguel Cartagena from Montverde (Fla.) Academy, regular opponents of Montrose.
While his and his staff's primary goal is to maximize performance enhancement in GW's student-athletes, Johnson maintains perspective when it comes to his goal as an educator. "I'm building bodies, but also building minds. I want to be a positive mentor, to teach and lead our student-athletes to be successful inside and outside the lines. I am invested in every athlete I train - seeing them accomplish their goals means the world to me because I know how much it meant to me when I was in their position."
