Blast to the past: Indiana men’s basketball hires ex-Crean assistant coach Kenny Johnson
Indiana men’s basketball head coach Darian DeVries speaks during his introductory press conference March 19, 2025, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. DeVries hired Kenny Johnson to his staff Friday.
Indiana men’s basketball is hiring Kenny Johnson as an assistant coach, a source confirmed to the Indiana Daily Student on Friday. The Indianapolis Star’s Zach Osterman first reported the news.
Johnson previously spent two seasons at Indiana, serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under Tom Crean from 2012-14. Johnson left the Hoosiers for the University of Louisville after the 2014 season
The Oxon Hill, Maryland, native stayed with the Cardinals through the fall of 2017, when he — along with head coach Rick Pitino, athletic director Tom Jurich and assistant coach Jordan Fair — was fired amid an FBI investigation and corruption scandal centered around providing benefits to recruits.
Upon his exit from Louisville, Johnson went to La Salle University in May 2018. He was fired two years later after a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA accused Johnson of giving $1,300 to a recruit or someone closely associated with a recruit.
Johnson returned to coaching in 2022, joining former Indiana head coach Archie Miller at the University of Rhode Island. Johnson joined Georgetown University’s staff for the 2024-25 season and is now headed back to Bloomington.
After starting his basketball coaching journey in 2002, Johnson spent the next nine years as an assistant at several high schools in Maryland. His college coaching career began in 2011 as an assistant at Towson University.
Johnson is the second assistant coach hired by new Indiana head coach Darian DeVries, joining Nick Norton. 
