Greensboro College Alumnus and Trustee Receives Lifetime Achievement Award for High-School Basketball Coaching

Freddy Johnson '77GREENSBORO, N.C. – Freddy Johnson, a 1977 Greensboro College graduate and the longtime boys’ basketball coach at Greensboro Day School, has won the 2020 Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement in Coaching High School Basketball.

The award is presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Johnson, who currently serves on the college’s Board of Trustees, became the head boys’ basketball coach at Greensboro Day School in 1977 and has compiled an overall record of 1,080-300, a winning percentage of 78.2%. He is the winningest coach in North Carolina high school basketball history, reaching the 1,000-win milestone in November 2017.

His teams have appeared in 19 N.C. Independent School Athletic Association State Championship games, winning a record 11 state championships. His teams have also won 27 conference championships, and he has been the Conference Coach of the Year 23 times.

Johnson was the USA Today North Carolina Coach of the Year in 2015 and the BallisLife.com National Coach of the Year in 2017.

Johnson has coached in seven all-star games, including the 1997 Capital Classic All-Star Game, the 2013 McDonald’s All-American Game, and the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic. He is an inductee into four Halls of Fame, including the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

The Morgan Wootten Award winners were selected by a nationally based committee of Hall of Famers, national high-school media members, tournament directors and others who have significantly impacted the game. The 2020 Morgan Wootten Awards for Lifetime Achievement in Coaching High School Basketball will be presented April 1 in Houston.

The award, presented by the Elks Hoop Shoot, is named after Morgan Wootten, who served as the head coach of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., for 46 years and is one of four high-school coaches enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The annual award recognizes two outstanding high school coaches, one for boys’ basketball and one for girls’ basketball.

Located in Springfield, Mass., the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the game of basketball at every level – men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches and contributors, both domestically and internationally.

Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and, spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.

Founded in 1838 and located in downtown Greensboro, the college enrolls about 1,000 students from 29 states and territories, the District of Columbia, and seven foreign countries in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and six master’s degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features a 17-sport NCAA Division III athletic program and dozens of service and recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.greensboro.edu.

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Media Contact:
Lex Alexander, Director of Communications
lex.alexander@greensboro.edu

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Joshua Fitzgerald photo

“I loved the GC Honors program and Greensboro College. I felt safe and a sense of genuine belonging at the college. I worked closely with my thesis advisor and professors who helped inspire me to define my path and passion of interest. That path has led me to my doctoral studies in Engineering Mechanics.”

- Joshua Fitzgerald, Class of ’19, Mathematics Major

Joshua currently studies astrodynamics at Virginia Tech University and is an Engineering Mechanics Ph.D. Candidate.