Jay Johnson enters his ninth season with the Southern Utah women's basketball program in 2026-27 and his first as associate head coach, as the Thunderbirds return to the Big Sky Conference.
Since joining the Thunderbirds in 2018, Johnson has been instrumental in developing SUU's guard play, scouting, and player development, helping guide the team through one of the most successful stretches in program history.
In 2025-26, Johnson was part of a staff that took a Southern Utah team picked unanimously to finish last in the WAC preseason poll to a top-three conference finish, a 19-13 overall record and an 11-8 mark in league play. The Thunderbirds tied the program record with 14 home wins, lost just once in Cedar City and beat every team in the WAC at least once. SUU led the conference in scoring at 72.3 points per game and in three-point percentage at 33 percent before earning the second WNIT berth in program history. Four Thunderbirds earned postseason honors in the program's final WAC season: Ava Uhrich on the All-WAC First Team, Brooklyn Fely and Sierra Chambers on the All-WAC Second Team, and Devyn Kiernan on the All-WAC Freshman Team.
The 2022-23 campaign was a breakthrough. In the program's first season in the Western Athletic Conference, Southern Utah went 23-10 overall and 16-2 in league play, setting a program record for conference wins. The Thunderbirds captured both the WAC regular season and tournament championships to earn the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history, capping SUU's fourth consecutive winning season.
In 2021-22, Johnson was part of a staff that led the Thunderbirds to 18 wins and 14 conference victories, the second-most in school history. That year also marked the first time since 1993-96 that Southern Utah posted three straight winning seasons. In the shortened 2020-21 season, Johnson helped guide the program to an 11-9 overall record and a 6-5 finish in Big Sky play.
In 2019-20, he helped lead the Thunderbirds to 18 wins, their most since 2013-14, along with 11 conference victories. The team had the second-highest scoring season in school history, averaging 70.5 points per game and setting a program record with 197 three-pointers made. That season, Johnson worked closely with Rebecca Cardenas, who led the Big Sky in scoring at 17 points per game and earned conference Defensive Player of the Year honors and First-Team All-Big Sky selection.
Johnson made an immediate impact in his first season in Cedar City in 2018-19, helping Southern Utah double its conference win total from the year before and post its highest overall win total since 2014-15. The Thunderbirds also won their first Big Sky Conference Tournament game in four years and picked up notable non-conference wins over BYU, San Diego and Utah Valley.
Before coming to Southern Utah, Johnson served as Director of Women's Basketball Operations at Saint Mary's College for the 2017-18 season, handling video coordination, social media, team management, travel and logistics for road trips, and practice facility scheduling both at home and away. He attended Saint Mary's from 2013-17 and graduated in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in finance.
With a track record of success, a reputation for developing talent, and a commitment to building a winning culture, Johnson has been vital to SUU's transformation into a championship-caliber program.
