Fox Valley basketball mourns passing of Johnson
Ron Johnson was at the forefront of a halcion period in boys basketball during his 41-year tenure as a head coach at Kaneland and St. Charles high schools.
"It was truly a golden era," said longtime Batavia coach Jim Roberts. "(Johnson) was part of the fabric of high school basketball in the Fox Valley."
Their legendary careers simply require surnames for area basketball fans to recall their exploits.
There was Chesbrough at Elgin, Kivisto at East Aurora, VanDerSnick at Batavia, Johnson at St. Charles and the twin greats at West Aurora, McDougal and Kerkman.
"When you have coaches like that, it's no wonder there were so many great teams, great players and great games," Roberts said.
Johnson, who amassed 710 victories between 1957 and 1998, passed away Sunday.
The Elburn resident ranks No. 18 on the all-time list for most basketball wins by a boys basketball coach in Illinois.
"It was just incredible," West Aurora great Jay Bryant said of the Upstate Eight Conference during his playing days. "It was the best I have ever seen."
Johnson coached his final game against West Aurora and Kerkman as the Blackhawks' 1997-98 team was also the reigning AA state runner-up.
West Aurora ended the Saints' season at the 1998 East Aurora sectional.
"I hated to see him leave the game," Kerkman said of Johnson. "I doubt if he had any enemies, except for maybe the coaches he beat all the time. He was an even better person than a basketball coach."
St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin played for Johnson a decade before a second high school in the community opened.
"I haven't been able to figure out the words since I was notified (of his death)," Poulin said of his former coach. "The thing about Coach was, he allowed you to have fun and enjoy your time playing basketball. He always had a great perspective. (As a coach), he always kept me grounded when I was too high or too low. He is gone, but I've got a lot of memories."
Johnson directed the Saints to 20 regional titles and two sectional crowns.
"He was a coach's coach," Roberts said of Johnson.
"Playing Ron Johnson teams, you always knew they would be ready to play," Bryant said.