Longtime suburban boys basketball coach Ken Johnson passes away

Ken Johnson could be described as mild-mannered, unassuming, small in stature. At the same time, he was a hurricane.

Johnson had the rare distinction of taking two different schools downstate in basketball, 20 years apart — Hinsdale Central in 1972, then Stevenson in '92.

Johnson died last week at 81. He remained active in coaching well beyond his basketball years, helping coach the Stevenson bowling team with his wife, Gina.

“He was a pretty intense guy,” said Paul Swan, Johnson's top assistant at Stevenson. “But also quiet and unassuming and humble. What Ken did at Stevenson was amazing. I learned so much from him. He was just so unique.”

Johnson's philosophy of basketball was pretty straightforward — full-court press and fast tempo at all times.

He took over at Stevenson in 1990 during a very competitive era in the North Suburban Conference, filled with successful coaches like Max Sanders at Libertyville, Dennis Kessel at Mundelein and Darrel Bader at Warren.

One memorable game for Johnson was a Waukegan sectional semifinal against Carmel in 1992. If a Corsairs possession lasted a certain length of time, Johnson would send a defender to double-team the ball, which usually led to an open layup.

Asked about it later, Johnson admitted he'd rather concede a layup than let the pace of the game slow down. Sure enough, Stevenson's relentless pressure forced a late flurry of turnovers in the fourth quarter to narrowly avoid an upset.

Oddly enough, a week later at the Northwestern supersectional against Chris Collins and Glenbrook North, Johnson did take the air out of the ball. The Patriots stalled out a couple overtime sessions for the last shot until finally winning in the third overtime on a pair of free throws by current Fremd baseball coach Chris Piggott. The victory sent Stevenson downstate for the first time, ending in a loss to Peoria Richwoods in the quarterfinals.

“It was so much fun,” Swan said. “I was just thinking back to those days, those years. The way we played the game was fun to play. All out effort all the time. He was able to get kids to play way harder than they ever thought they could.”

Johnson was just 27 when he took Hinsdale Central to Assembly Hall and dropped a heartbreaker to East Aurora in the Class AA quarterfinals. That was the first year of the two-class system in Illinois, when the famous Thornridge team led by Quinn Buckner won the title.

Johnson later won two regional titles when he coached at Larkin from 1973-80. He then had a short stint in college coaching at Wisconsin, working under Bill Cofield, before becoming athletic director at Stevenson.

Johnson grew up in Elburn, attended Kaneland High School, then played basketball at Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

Visitation is Thursday from 4-8 p.m. at Conley Funeral Home in Elburn.