Introduction
Vickie Johnson (born April 15, 1972) is a former basketball player and former head coach of the San Antonio Stars. Upon the sale and relocation of the Stars, Johnson was hired by head coach Bill Laimbeer as an assistant coach of the Las Vegas Aces, the Stars' decedent team.
Early years
Johnson grew up in Coushatta, Louisiana. Johnson was a letter-man in basketball and track and field. In track and field, she was the Louisiana State Champion on the long jump as a senior.
College years
Vickie Johnson was a two-time All-American and Sun Belt Conference MVP at Louisiana Tech University. She led the Lady Techsters to the 1994 NCAA Championship Game, was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 1995 and earned Louisiana Player of the Year honors in 1996. She finished her career at Louisiana Tech with 1,891 career points and 831 rebounds and was inducted into the Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. She graduated from Louisiana Tech in 1996.
WNBA career
Johnson was selected 12th overall in the second round of the inaugural WNBA Elite draft in 1997, which was composed of professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues, usually international leagues.
She was a two-time WNBA all-star and was the first New York Liberty player to record 2000 points.
In June 2005 in honor of Johnson's 3,000 points scored, Sandy Levine, owner of the world-famous Carnegie Deli in Manhattan, created the VJ Classic sandwich, a 3,000 calories (13,000 kJ) belly-busting sandwich.
Johnson ended an eight-year career with the Liberty by signing with the San Antonio Silver Stars on February 9, 2006.
Johnson retired from play at the end of 2009 season.
Coaching record
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % | |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % | |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAS | 2017 | 34 | 8 | 26 | .235 | 6th in West | - | - | - | - | Missed Playoffs |
| Career | 34 | 8 | 26 | .235 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
European career
- 1996-1997: Tarbes Gespe Bigorre
- 1997-1998: W Bordeaux Basket
- 1998-2000: Lachen Ramat Hasharon
- 2000-2001: Elitzur Cellcom Holon
- 2004-2005: Trentino Rovereto Basket
- 2005-2007: MiZo Pécs
- 2007-2008: Galatasaray