[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E72-E73]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING COACH JERRY JOHNSON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 28, 2021

  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Coach Jerry 
C. Johnson, the basketball coach and athletic director at the 
historically Black Lemoyne-Owen College, who coached the Magicians to 
Memphis' only NCAA Championship title in 1975 and died Sunday at the 
age of 102. Coach Johnson won 821 games over 46 seasons at LeMoyne-
Owen, where he also coached swimming and track and field, and taught 
health and physical education courses. Many of the students he coached 
and mentored went on to illustrious national recognition, including 
eight who became NBA players. Coach Johnson, who came to the college in 
1958, was the first Black basketball coach to win a Division III 
national title and LeMoyne-Owen was the first Historically Black 
College and University to win that recognition. The LeMoyne-Owen 
Magicians remain the only men's college basketball program in 
Tennessee, and the only sports program in the city of Memphis, to win 
an NCAA championship. In my own interactions with Coach Johnson, I was 
always impressed with his quiet demeanor and self-effacing attitude, 
even though he was as much a star in the Memphis basketball world as 
anyone. Off the court, he was just a good man, caring about people in a 
quiet and compassionate manner, reaching out to help players, former 
players, and students without regard to their athletic ability or 
gender. He offered a helping hand and his heart reached so many. Known 
as strict but fair, Coach Johnson, an Oklahoma native, had an unusual 
connection to the game of basketball: he learned it from Hall of Famer 
John McClendon, the former Cleveland State coach who served as the 
first Black coach of a professional sports team, and McClendon learned 
the game from James Naismith, the inventor of the modem game of 
basketball. Coach Johnson was the focus of a

[[Page E73]]

newly released independent documentary, ``1st Forgotten Champions,'' 
which was directed by Memphian Morreco Coleman and covered the 1975 
Division III NCAA championship. The documentary recently premiered in 
California, Nashville and Memphis. Johnson was a member of the Memphis 
Sports Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the 
Fayetteville State University Athletics Hall of Fame and the Southern 
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. I extend my profound 
condolences to his son, Jerry Jr.; his daughter, Wandra Haywood and her 
husband, Samuel, of Gainesville, Florida; his six grandchildren; and 
his seven great-grandchildren. Coach Johnson will be remembered as a 
gentle giant and a gentleman. He led an exemplary life.

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