Noel Johnson enters her ninth season as the lead assistant coach at Texas State. Johnson came to San Marcos after serving as an administrative intern at her alma mater, Texas Tech. Johnson's primary duties in the program at Texas State include working with perimeter players, recruiting and budgeting, purchasing equipment, scheduling games and overseeing team managers.
Johnson served as an instructor in personal fitness and wellness classes as a teaching assistant at Tech, and she also took graduate courses in sports administration in that time. She also served as a coach and counselor for Head Coach Marsha Sharp's basketball camps from 1992 to 1997.
Johnson also has served as the Tournament Director of the Basketball Congress International League, where she served as site coordinator and was in charge of transportation duties.
A native of west Texas, Johnson is originally from Kelton, Texas, and was born in nearby Shamrock, Texas. Johnson lived in Kelton for 17 years before moving to Nazareth, Texas, as a junior in high school. She earned two letters at Nazareth High and was a part of two Texas Class 1A state titles.
From Nazareth, Johnson signed to play at Texas Tech, where she earned four letters and helped lead the Lady Red Raiders to four consecutive Southwest Conference Championships, four NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances and a National Championship. Johnson was a teammate of Houston Comets WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes at Texas Tech.
Johnson was selected to the All-Southwest Conference Team on three occasions, and earned All-Region honors once. In her time at Texas Tech, Johnson was voted to the all-time Lady Raider team at the final Southwest Conference post-season tournament, and became the school's all-time leader in three-point percentage. In addition to her success at Tech, Johnson is still the Southwest Conference's most prolific 3-point shooter, and was the first-ever recipient of the Jeannine McHaney Award, an honor given by Texas Tech to the female athlete who most displays classroom excellence, courage on the field and a commitment to excellence.
This past summer, Johnson was named to the Texas Tech Hall of Honor and will be inducted prior to the beginning of the 2005-06 season at ceremonies in Lubbock that will take place during the Texas Tech-Texas A&M football game weekend.
She graduated from Texas Tech University in 1995 with a bachelor's in exercise and sports science and a minor in English.
Johnson then earned her master's degree at Texas State in Education in 2002. Johnson's parents, Dean and Agatha, reside in Tulia, Texas. She has one sister and 2 nieces in Plainview, Texas, and one brother, a student at West Texas A & M University working on his degree to proceed to dental school.
