Virginia Tech dipped into its past and straddled sports with its latest hire, adding former Hokies men’s basketball coach James Johnson as the football team’s director of high school relations.
Johnson, 51, spent eight years with the Hokies men’s basketball team, serving as an assistant coach on Seth Greenberg’s staff from 2007-12 before ascending to the head coach job after Greenberg’s firing. Johnson went 22-41 in two seasons before being replaced by Buzz Willams.
"We are super excited to bring J.J. back to Blacksburg," Hokies head coach Brent Pry said in a news release. "As we have gotten to know each other, I couldn't be more impressed by his infectious personality, ability to connect with student-athletes and mature approach to college athletics. His knowledge of Virginia Tech combined with nearly three decades successfully recruiting Virginia, the Carolinas, D.C., Maryland and Pennsylvania will be invaluable in his new role. We can't wait for him to get started and begin making an impact in our program."
After his time with Virginia Tech, Johnson spent time in basketball operations on Jim Larranaga’s staff at Miami and as an assistant for Kevin Keatts’ teams at NC State.
He and Hokies football chief of staff Michael Hazel crossed paths at Elon in the early 2000s. Hazel was a graduate assistant for the football program while Johnson was a men's basketball assistant.
A Powhatan native, Johnson was a three-year starter on Ferrum’s basketball team, a three-time conference defensive player of the year who was inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame in 2009.