Ricky Johns - Men's Basketball Coach - St. John's University Athletics

Ricky Johns

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
johnsg1@stjohns.edu
Phone:
3714

Ricky Johns was named an assistant coach at St. John’s in April 2023, joining the Red Storm after six seasons on staff at Iona.

In just two seasons with the Red Storm, Johns has helped the Red Storm return to positions of prominence on both the BIG EAST and national stages. After going 20-13 in Johns’ first year on staff and narrowly missing out on an NCAA Tournament bid, St. John’s enjoyed its best season in four decades in 2024-25. The Johnnies turned in a final mark of 31-5, matching a program record for wins in a single season. The Red Storm went 18-2 in league play, matching the BIG EAST’s single-season wins record and capturing the school’s first outright regular season conference crown since 1985. The Johnnies then rolled through the BIG EAST Tournament, claiming their first postseason league title since 2000. The Red Storm earned a no. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament before advancing to the Second Round for the first time in 25 years.

For his efforts in 2024-25, Johns’ mentor, Rick Pitino, earned BIG EAST Coach of the Year honors before claiming three separate national coach of the year honors. Two St. John’s players took home major BIG EAST Awards, as RJ Luis Jr. was named BIG EAST Player of the Year and Zuby Ejiofor was recognized as the league’s most improved player. Luis was a consensus Second Team All-American, the program’s first since Malik Sealy in 1992.

During his tenure in New Rochelle, Johns spent five of his six seasons as an assistant coach and was part of four MAAC tournament championships (2018, 2019, 2021, 2023), three MAAC regular season titles (2018-19, 2021-22, 2022-23) and three 20+ win seasons. A 2007 graduate of the University of Utah, Johns joined the Gaels for the 2017-18 campaign as director of basketball operations before being promoted to assistant coach the following year.

In his six seasons with the Gaels, Johns was instrumental in the development of 11 Iona student-athletes that earned All-MAAC honors, including back-to-back Player of the Year award winners in Tyson Jolly (2022) and Walter Clayton Jr. (2023). He also helped mentor 2021 MAAC Rookie of the Year Nelly Junior Joseph and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Berrick Jeanlouis.

Prior to his time with Iona, Johns spent two seasons as head coach of the Monroe College women’s basketball program. He guided the Mustangs to a 31-27 record, earning a Region XV Championship in 2016 and a District III Championship in 2017. He also worked three seasons with Monroe’s men’s basketball program as an assistant coach from 2012-15, mentoring multiple All-Region and All-American players, including a pair of Region XV Player of the Year honorees who continued their careers at Division I institutions.

A New York City native, Johns has playing experience at every level of basketball: high school, college, and professional.

Johns was a standout guard at Wings Academy High School in the Bronx and led the team to a PSAL Class B title in 2002. He went on to letter at Monroe College from 2003-05 and became one of the most accomplished players in program history. Johns scored 1,202 points in two seasons with the Mustangs. He also earned back-to-back Region XV Player of the Year and NJCAA Second Team All-America honors after averaging 20 points per game in each of his two years at Monroe. Johns continued his collegiate career at Utah, where he was named the team’s co-captain as a senior and averaged 7.5 points while shooting 40.3 percent from 3-point territory in 30 games.

Johns played professionally in Poland, Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina. He was also a member of the Jamaican National team, where he helped them win gold medals in the Caribbean Basketball Championships in 2006 and 2009.

Johns has experience serving as head coach for the International Basketball Academy. He was also a skills development coach at a Utah Pro Performance in Salt Lake City and an assistant coach at Juan Diego High School in Draper, Utah. Johns has worked various camps at the University of Utah, HoopGroup and Five Star Basketball.