Saint Louis University head women's basketball coach
Rebecca Tillett announced the addition of Ka'lia Johnson to the Billikens' coaching staff. Johnson reunites with Tillett after previously serving on her staff at Longwood.
"I am super excited to begin my journey with SLU. I want to thank Chris May, Dr. Janet Oberle, and
Rebecca Tillett for sharing what their vision is for the athletic department and how I can help execute those goals," Johnson said. "To have the opportunity to team back up with Coach Tillett is something that I knew was always possible, and I am really happy to be coaching with her again. She is an incredible leader and an amazing basketball coach. I truly believe in the value of strong leadership and being able to use the game of basketball to impact lives and those values align with what the community of SLU is all about. I can't wait to get started! Go Billikens!"
Johnson arrives at SLU after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Towson, where the Tigers posted a 20-11 record and reached the Coastal Athletic Association semifinals in 2023-24.
Before her time at Towson, Johnson was an assistant coach at Richmond during the 2022-23 season. The Spiders went 22-11 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.
From 2019 to 2022, Johnson was part of Tillett's staff at Longwood. During her three-year tenure, the Lancers posted significant improvements, going from 12 to 22 wins and earning their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022. That season, Longwood captured a share of the Big South Conference regular-season title and won the Big South Tournament.
Johnson began her coaching career as a graduate manager at UNC Greensboro, followed by a season as the video coordinator at VCU in 2018-19.
"Ka'lia loves to coach and mentor and is an ultimate competitor," Tillett said. "Her joy and passion for the game resonate with players and inspire them to pursue
arete. Her high-level championship experience as a point guard at Duke, combined with her dedication to studying the game, makes her an elite player development coach. She will spend hours in the gym with our players, helping them elevate individually and collectively. Her expertise will impact all areas of our program."
A standout player at Duke, Johnson helped the Blue Devils to four consecutive 20-win seasons, including an ACC Tournament title in 2013 and back-to-back Elite Eight appearances. Duke went 115-28 during her career. As a senior in 2014-15, she averaged 7.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game as the starting point guard. She recorded the seventh triple-double in program history with 18 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds against Old Dominion on Nov. 20, 2014.
Following her collegiate career, Johnson played professionally for two seasons. She averaged 19.4 points and a league-best 10.5 rebounds per game with BLK Slavia Praha in the Czech Republic before serving as team captain for Alte Kanti Aarau in Switzerland.
She received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Duke and a Master of Liberal Studies from UNC Greensboro.
