Utah Valley University Athletics

Michael Johnson enters his third season as the director of basketball operations at Utah Valley.

In just his second season with the team, Johnson helped the Wolverines to a history-making 2020-21 season. After returning just two players, welcoming 16 newcomers, and being picked seventh in the WAC preseason polls last season, Utah Valley finished atop the league standings and won the WAC regular season title. The championship is only the second WAC title in UVU history and its first since the 2014 season. The Wolverines were one of the most unselfish teams in the nation last season, averaging 16.8 assists per game, which ranked 11th nationally. UVU's 2020-21 team was the only team in the WAC to defeat every team in the league. 

Four UVU players earned All-WAC honors in 2021, including first team, second team, and honorable mention awards. Fardaws Aimaq became the first player in UVU history to earn both WAC Player of the Year honors and the WAC Defensive Player of the Year award. Aimaq became the first player in 40 years to average 15 rebounds a game and was the nation's leader in total rebounds, rebounds per game, and defensive rebounds per game. Aimaq also earned All-District honors and was named a finalist for both the Lou Henson Player of the Year award and the Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year award. Aimaq won Riley Wallace Award, which is given annually to the top transfer in Division I college basketball.

In his first season at UVU, Johnson helped the Wolverines through injuries and adversity to pick up 11 wins, including a 68-62 win at North Dakota State, which finished the season with a 13-1 home mark, won the Summit League, and was on its way to the NCAA Tournament. UVU was the only team to defeat the Bison at home during the 2019-20 season. The Wolverines played tough on the road during the 2019-20 season, picking up impressive wins at North Dakota State, UAB, Wyoming, and Grand Canyon.

The 2019-20 team was the first since the 2013-14 WAC Championship UVU team to sweep Grand Canyon, picking up a 73-69 win GCU and a 92-80 win over the 'Lopes at home. The Wolverines also nearly knocked off No. 9 Kentucky on the road, coming back from a 16-point deficit to cut the UK lead to just one point, 68-67, with 3:26 to play. UVU's TJ Washington scored 22 points and was featured on ESPN SportsCenter's Top-10 plays after the game that night.

During Johnson's first season, UVU broke the all-time single season team blocks record with an impressive 157 swats. Emmanuel Olojakpoke broke the single season individual UVU blocks record with 81 swats and set the single season UVU field goal percentage mark at 69.1 percent. UVU's Brandon Averette earned WAC All-Newcomer Team honors.

Johnson's first season at UVU was cut short due to the corona virus. The Wolverines were unable to play in the WAC Tournament because of the pandemic.

Johnson joined the Wolverines after working the two years as an assistant coach at the College of Idaho. During his two seasons at the College of Idaho, Johnson helped lead the Yotes to two-straight Cascade Conference Tournament titles and a pair of semifinal appearances at the NAIA Division II National Championship in both 2018 and 2019. 
 
The Eagle, Idaho native earned a golf scholarship at Weber State University where he was named team captain in 2014 and 2015. He was honored as WSU's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2015. He worked as a student manager/assistant for the WSU men's basketball team (2015-16), helping the program win a Big Sky Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Johnson served as an assistant coach for the boys' basketball team at Eagle High School for the 2016-17 season. 
 
Johnson earned a bachelor's degree from Weber State in business administration in 2015. He is married to wife Katie.