Coach Freddy Johnson “One of the greatest of all time”
Coach Freddy Johnson of Greensboro Day is one of the greatest coaches of all time. Coach Johnson was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, graduated from Greensboro Grimsley in 1972 and from Greensboro College in 1977. He played two years at Greensboro College and starting coaching at the YMCA when he was 15 years old. Simply put, Freddy Johnson was born to coach. After graduating from Greensboro College in 1977, Johnson was a volunteer assistant coach for one year at Greensboro Day School. After his one year tenure as a volunteer assistant, Johnson was named the head coach for Greensboro Day. From that point on, a dynasty was in the making.
Entering his 43rd season as head coach at Greensboro Day, Johnson has accumulated an impressive resume. He has won 1049 games to only 295 loses with the majority of those losses coming at the beginning of his coaching career. Coach Johnson is currently the winningest coach in North Carolina history and has won almost 80% of all his games. In addition, he has won 11 NCISAA state championships and finished runner-up eight times. This means Coach Johnson played for the coveted state championship 19 of the 42 years he has coached for a remarkable 45%. Coach Johnson has won back to back to back state championships and is poised and ready for a 4-peat. Greensboro Day returns an ACC backcourt duo of Carson McCorkel (UVA) and Cam Hayes (NC State) to make Coach Johnson’s Bengals one of the most talented teams in the state. In addition, Coach Johnson has also picked up the service of Brock Williams and Jaydon Young making Greensboro Day one of the deepest and most talented backcourts in the country.
Coach Johnson has been named Conference COY 23 times, selected to coach the McDonald All American game, Capital Classic and the Jordan Classic. He has a proven track record and has been one of the most successful coaches of all time. More importantly, Coach Freddy Johnson has does this at one school and one school only, Greensboro Day School. This is actually unheard of in our day and time. That being said, Coach Johnson has developed one of the most amazing coaching resumes at any level, but his effect goes way beyond the basketball court. He is true gentleman of the game and has become a role model and even a father figure to many of the players who has played for him over the years. He is the Dean Smith of high school basketball. When you play for Freddy Johnson and Greensboro Day, you form this lifetime bond that goes beyond basketball, you become part of the Greensboro Day School family and that alone speaks volume. Players that attend Greensboro Day School want to be coached and be part of a winning foundation and tradition. Coach Johnson’s team first attitude is engrained with the players before they even step onto campus. They all “buy in” and are willing to sacrifice points and playing time in order to play for something bigger. They know Coach Johnson will prepare them for the next level, whether it is basketball, academics or in the game of life.
