Custom Search DURHAM, N.C. – Vashion Johnson will be returning to the North Carolina Central University softball program for the third time, this time as head coach, NCCU Director of Athletics Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree announced on Wednesday (August 31).
Johnson
Johnson, who served as an assistant softball coach for NCCU on two occasions, returns to the Triangle after helping win a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) softball championship as an assistant coach at Florida A&M University in 2016. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Lady Eagles from 2014-15 and as a volunteer from 2000-01.
“It’s an honor and a blessing to be back at NCCU for the third time,” Johnson said. “I am excited for the opportunity to lead this program to the next level. I really love this program and there are no words to explain how excited I am to be back here at NCCU, a place where I’ve wanted to be a head coach for so many years.”
Johnson has eight years of NCAA head coaching experience in his tenure at Slippery Rock University from 2004-11. Under Johnson, The Rock broke over 42 school records and he is the program’s all-time wins leader with a 184-156 career record. Johnson guided SRU to the NCAA tournament in 2008 and had a total of five winning seasons.
After Slippery Rock, Johnson returned to NCCU and was part of the Eagles’ coaching staff that set the program’s Division I era record for wins with 18 in his last season. He then left to FAMU and won a MEAC title in his only year with the Rattlers.
In addition, the veteran coach of 17 years has been in collegiate dugouts at Presbyterian College (2013), Montreat College (2012) and North Carolina A&T State University (2002); as well as high school head coaching experience at Harvest Baptist High School and local Immaculata Catholic High School.
Johnson also served in the U.S. Marines and is a Desert Storm veteran. He received an honorable discharge from the Marines in 1996 after serving in ground support hydraulics for GSE and Cobras.