Clemson announces Johnson hired as new assistant basketball coach

CLEMSON — Clemson officially announced the hiring of James Johnson to fill the assistant coaching vacancy on its staff Thursday.

Johnson had been the top assistant coach at Virginia Tech under Seth Greenberg since 2007.

The Virginia native and former Ferrum standout was an assistant on George Mason’s staff during the program’s Final Four run in 2006. Johnson was also an assistant coach at the College of Charleston in 2002-03 under Tom Herrion when the Cougars went 25-8 overall and won the regular season championship in the Southern Conference.

Johnson is regarded as an excellent recruiter, and Clemson coach Brad Brownell hopes he will help the Tigers’ recruiting efforts in Maryland and Virginia. The Hokies’ 2011 class was ranked No. 12 nationally by ESPNU, No. 13 by Rivals and No. 15 by Scout.

“I’ve known James for a long time, we’ve competed against one another several times at multiple schools,” Brownell said. “I’ve been extremely impressed by his work ethic and the fact that he’s worked for some very good coaches. He has good recruiting ties in our breadbasket. He will help us in some Mid-Atlantic areas.”

Johnson replaces Clemson associate head coach Rick Ray, who became the head coach at Mississippi State earlier this month.

SoCon tennis
Eighth-seeded Georgia Southern topped No. 9 Davidson 4-1 in the first round of the Southern Conference women’stennischampionships. The Eagles advance to face top seeded UNCG today.

Elon defeated Wofford, 4-0, and will play the College of Charleston today. Appalachian State swept Western Carolina, and will play Furman today at 3 p.m.

On the men’s side, No. 8 seed Chattanooga edged No. 9 seed Davidson, 4-3. The Mocs play the College of Charleston today.

Tenth-seeded Georgia Southern upset No.7 Wofford, 4-2, and will play No. 2 seed Samford.

The Citadel (5-18) lost to Elon, 4-0 in the late match.

Big South tennis
Charleston Southern’s women defeated Campbell, 4-0, in the first round of the Big South tennis tournament in Asheville, N.C.

The Bucs (16-3, 7-1 Big South) captured the doubles point with wins in the top two positions. They also sealed the victory with wins in the one, three and six singles spots.

The No. 2 seed Bucs will play No. 3 seed Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m. today in the semifinals.

Football
The Charleston Man of War football team will hold its first combine at Stoney Field on Saturday.

Football players 18-and over are eligible. Registration will be held from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The fee is $15 and includes a $5 donation to the Shaw Community Center in Charleston. The combine will begin at 10 a.m. and is expected to conclude at 3 p.m., at which time dance team tryouts will begin.

More information is available at www.charlestonmanofwar.com.