Terry Johnson enters his fourth year as an assistant coach with the Purdue men’s basketball program in 2024-25.
Johnson came to Purdue after a successful stint as an assistant coach at Ohio State. In his four years at Ohio State, Johnson has helped transform the Buckeyes into a national power on the court while serving as an outstanding recruiter in Columbus.
A year ago in his third season at Purdue, the Boilermakers recorded one of their best seasons in school history with a 34-5 overall record, a Big Ten regular-season title and a spot in the National Championship game. Shifting to the defensive side of the ball, Johnson was instrumental in guiding a defense to rank 12th nationally in defensive efficiency, the highest mark for the Boilermakers since 2000 (11th) and the third-highest ranking in the last 13 years. Under his tutelage, center Zach Edey became a semi-finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award and was a member of the Big Ten’s All-Defense Team.
Johnson’s second year was once again highlighted by one of the nation’s top offenses, ranking 12th nationally in offensive efficiency, led by the National Player of the Year Zach Edey. The Boilermakers reached No. 1 for the second straight season, won the Big Ten championship by three games and earned the school’s fourth No. 1 seed in school history. The Boilermakers accomplished that with a pair of freshman guards in the backcourt – Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer.
During Johnson’s first year at Purdue, the Boilermakers reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history, posted a 29-8 overall record and reached the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five tournaments. Johnson was critical in the development of sophomores Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey as both were named all-Big Ten and received All-American mentions. Ivey was selected No. 5 in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, while Edey will return for his junior season as a preseason national Player of the Year candidate.
During his four seasons at Ohio State, Johnson helped the Buckeyes to an 87-44 record during the span, while reaching three NCAA Tournaments, including second-round appearances in 2018 and 2019 and a No. 2 seed in the 2021 tournament and making the Big Ten Tournament title game in March.
In 2019-20, the Buckeyes were ranked as high as No. 4 nationally before ending the season ranked No. 7 in the final AP Top 25 poll. Ohio State finished with a 21-10 record that included nine Quad-1 victories. He was instrumental in the development of First-Team All-Big Ten selection E.J. Liddell, and the Buckeyes boasted the fourth-most efficient offense in America.
In his first year in Columbus, Ohio State finished the 2018 season with a 25-9 overall record. The Buckeyes recorded a 15-3 Big Ten Conference regular-season record to help the Buckeyes to a second-place finish in the league standings.
Ohio State completed the 2018-19 campaign with another 20-win season and a second-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament Second Round after a defeat of Iowa State in the NCAA First Round game in Tulsa.
Heading into the 2020 Big Ten Tournament, which, along with the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled, the Buckeyes built an overall record of 21-10 with a league mark of 11-9, good enough for a tie for the No. 5 spot in the league standings. The Big Ten was considered the best league nationally and the toughest top-to-bottom in perhaps the history of the league in 2020, only to be outdone in 2021.
Johnson arrived in Columbus after 10 seasons as an assistant at Butler, where he helped the Bulldogs to eight NCAA Tournaments, including consecutive Final Fours in 2010 and 2011, four regular-season conference championships and three conference tournament titles. The Bulldogs ranked in the Top 25 nationally eight times in those 10 seasons, had seven players garner Academic All-America honors and sent two players to the NBA. In 2015, Johnson was invited to the Villa 7 Consortium, which brings together university athletics directors and the country’s elite assistant coaches in an effort to prepare the next generation of college basketball leaders.
Johnson played both basketball and baseball at Lincoln Trail from 1992-94, where he was named all-conference in both sports and was named an honorable mention All-American in basketball. From there, he went to Lamar University and again played both sports from 1994-96, leading the basketball team in assists and steals two years in a row. Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree from IPFW in 1998, earning all-conference, team MVP and Co-Male Athlete of the Year honors while playing baseball for the Mastodons. Johnson went on to play baseball professionally for the Tri-City Posse of the Western League for two years and the Anderson Lawmen of the Heartland League for another season. In addition, Johnson earned his master’s degree in sports administration from Western Kentucky in 2011.
Johnson and his wife, Kristen, are parents of three boys, twins Jalen and Jordan, and Caden.
