Boys basketball: South Elgin names Johnson new coach

Brett Johnson's goal for quite some time was to be a head boys high-school basketball coach.

Johnson accomplished that goal Thursday when South Elgin athletic director Jason Ward announced him as the school's new head boys basketball coach.

Johnson, a 2002 Elgin High graduate, takes over for Jim Cook, who resigned his position after one season at the helm due to family reasons.

"I'm very excited," Johnson told the Daily Herald Thursday night. "It's something I've always wanted to do and I enjoy being at South Elgin. I'm glad Jason Ward had the confidence in me to do a good job with these players."

Johnson takes over a South Elgin team that went 13-17 a year ago.

"It's going to be a challenge but I am up for the challenge," he said. "I coached with Chaz Taft (former South Elgin coach and current Fenton coach), Matt Petersen and Jim Cook. Chaz comes from the Mike Bailey (former Elgin High assistant and Chicago St. Patrick head coach) and Jim Harrington (former Elgin and South Elgin head coach) background and I learned a lot from him and feel I have a good background handling players on and off the court."

Johnson has been a math teacher and coach at South Elgin since 2008. He was a sophomore boys assistant coach for a season, the head sophomore coach for two seasons, the head freshmen coach for five years and last season was the freshman "B" coach.

"Last year was a very good experience for me," he said. "I was dealing with a different level of kids and learned a lot about myself as a coach. My demeanor changed and that year helped prepare me for being a head coach."

Johnson played four years at Elgin, including the last two at the varsity level under former Maroons' coaches Mike Miller and Dave Gilliland (Elgin won regional titles both years). He later played at Carthage College in Kenosha.

"It's nice to be back in U-46 and being able to give back to the community with the type of kids I grew up with," he said. "It's a humbling thing. I'm going to be able to help kids who I was just like in high school, the only difference being I was at Elgin."

Johnson said the program will benefit from his familiarity with the players given Cook's departure date from the program. Cook stepped down 11 weeks before the first fall practice.

"It's sad to see coach Cook go. He did a lot of good things with the parents and getting the community more involved," he said. "I understand family comes first. It's going to be an easy transition. All the kids know who I am. The current juniors I coached as freshmen and there are a handful of seniors who I also coached when they were freshmen. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to work with all the players and help them take things to the next level. The kids are excited for me taking over. They know I love the game and they know what I want to do and they know how committed I am to the basketball program at South Elgin."

Johnson's goal is to bring long-term stability to the program. He's the third head coach in the program in as many years.

"This is a great opportunity for me," he said. "I'm looking forward to coaching all the kids in the program and helping them get better. I want to build consistency at South Elgin. I plan on sticking around here for a while."