Johnson was a two-year starter on the Rockford Rabs football team and a three-year star on the basketball team. He led the Big Seven in scoring his junior and senior years.
Even with those accomplishments, Johnson needed a break and he got one when former Rockford HS star and ex-NFL player Rex Enright got the head basketball coaching job at Georgia in 1931. Enright enticed Johnson to head south in 1932 and he never left.
Johnson enrolled at Georgia for the 1932-1933 school year. He became eligible for varsity sports in 1933-1934 and again excelled in everything he tried.
In football, Johnson took over as a starting guard late in the 1933 season and held on to the position the rest of his time at Georgia. His senior year, he was picked as a first team All-SEC lineman by the Associated Press.
In basketball, he was a star. He started every game over three years, leading the Bulldogs in scoring all three seasons. He was third in the SEC in scoring as a junior and second as a senior. AP writers picked him for the first team All-SEC team as a junior and second team as a senior.
In 1936, to help out, Johnson joined the baseball team after basketball season ended and earned a letter as a left-handed pitcher.
Johnson was already 25 when his playing career ended at Georgia and Enright kept him on staff as an assistant coach. In 1938, when Enright left to be athletic director and head football coach at South Carolina, Johnson was named interim head coach until the new staff took over. He parlayed that job into a head coaching role at Mississippi. After one year there, Enright hired Johnson to join the coaching staff at South Carolina.
In 1940, Johnson took over as head basketball coach and stayed in that - except for a stint in the U.S. Army in World War II - until stepping down after the 1957-1958 season. He coached one All-American in Grady Wallace in 1957.
| Rockford Rabs football career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Touchdowns | Record | Honors |
| 1927 | 2 rushing | 6-2-1 | |
| 1928 | 2 rushing, 1 receiving | 5-4-1 | 2nd team All-Big 7 halfback |
| Career | 4 rushing, 1 receiving | 11-6-2 | |
| Rockford Rabs basketball career | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | G | Points | Avg. | Record | Honors |
| 1926-27 | 22 | 136 | 6.2 | 19-3 | |
| 1927-28 | 21 | 199 | 9.5 | 19-2 | Big 7 leading scorer, 1st team All-Big 7 |
| 1928-29 | 18 | 168 | 9.3 | 10-8 | Big 7 leading scorer, 1st team All-Big 7 |
| Career | 61 | 503 | 8.2 | 48-13 | |
| Georgia Bulldogs football career | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Record | Honors |
| 1933 | 8-2 | |
| 1934 | 7-3 | |
| 1935 | 6-4 | AP 1st Team All-SEC Guard |
| Career | 21-9 | Johnson took over as starting guard late in 1933 |
| Georgia Bulldogs basketball career | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | G | Pts. | Avg. | Record | Honors |
| 1933-34 | 17 | 121 | 7.1 | 9-8 | |
| 1934-35 | 19 | 195 | 10.3 | 11-8 | 3rd in SEC in scoring, AP First Team All-SEC |
| 1935-36 | 20 | 234 | 11.7 | 10-10 | 2nd in SEC in scoring, AP 2nd Team All-SEC |
| Career | 56 | 550 | 9.8 | 30-26 | |
* Lettered in baseball (left-handed pitcher) for Georgia in 1936.
| College basketball coaching record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conference | W-L |
| 1938 | Georgia | SEC | 8-5 |
| 1938-39 | Mississippi | SEC | 10-16 |
| 1940-41 | South Carolina | Southern | 15-9 |
| 1941-42 | South Carolina | Southern | 12-9 |
| 1942-43 | South Carolina | Southern | 2-0 |
| 1946-47 | South Carolina | Southern | 16-9 |
| 1947-48 | South Carolina | Southern | 12-11 |
| 1948-49 | South Carolina | Southern | 10-12 |
| 1949-50 | South Carolina | Southern | 13-9 |
| 1950-51 | South Carolina | Southern | 13-12 |
| 1951-52 | South Carolina | Southern | 14-10 |
| 1952-53 | South Carolina | Southern | 11-13 |
| 1953-54 | South Carolina | ACC | 10-16 |
| 1954-55 | South Carolina | ACC | 10-17 |
| 1955-56 | South Carolina | ACC | 9-14 |
| 1956-57 | South Carolina | ACC | 17-12 |
| 1957-58 | South Carolina | ACC | 5-19 |
| Career | 187-193 | ||
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