cleary and johnson

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SoCalHoops Coaching News

Coaching Merry-Go-Round:
Cleary To Boise, Johnson To UCI--(May 14, 2002)

More catching up on movement of coaches.....The first move dates back to mid-April, and the second one came about two weeks ago, but a lot of people may have missed both changes.... So, better late than never... Tim Cleary, an assistant at UC Irvine for the past three seasons, was tapped by former Oregon assistant Greg Graham, who got the Boise State head coaching job. And when Cleary left UCI, that created a void which Pat Douglass had to fill, and he hired Mike Johnson, who was formerly one of Bobby Braswell's key assistants. Mike has been out of coaching for the past year, but we want to welcome him back to SoCal. Here are the two press releases announcing these two coaching changes:

MIKE JOHNSON NAMED ASSISTANT COACH

IRVINE, Calif. --- Mike Johnson has been named an assistant men’s basketball coach at UC Irvine, announced by Anteater head coach Pat Douglass.

Johnson, who begins his new post in June, previously served as associate head coach at Cal State Northridge from 1992-2001. He is a graduate of Purdue University.

“Mike has a world of experience and helped orchestrate the successful seasons that Cal State Northridge had as a member of the Big Sky Conference,” Douglass said. “We are elated to have a person with his experience and abilities, and he will help us with the development of the Anteater basketball program.”

At UC Irvine, Johnson replaces Tim Cleary, who accepted an assistant coaching position at Boise State.

Here's the official press release from Boise State on the hiring of Cleary:

Graham Rounds Out Coaching Staff with Hire of Tim Cleary From UC Irvine

Boise, Idaho -- Boise State men’s basketball coach Greg Graham put the finishing touches on his coaching staff Tuesday when he hired Tim Cleary. Cleary comes to Boise State from UC-Irvine where he spent three seasons working for the Anteaters. At Irvine, Cleary recruited, scouted, helped with opponent preparation, and directed the Anteater basketball camps. He also helped lead the Anteaters to back-to-back NIT appearances, as well as back-to-back Big West Conference regular season championships in 2001 and 2002. At Boise State Cleary will be involved in individual workouts, scouting, and will be Boise State’s primary on-the-road recruiter.

“Tim is the final piece to a coaching staff I’m very pleased with,” Graham said. “His recruiting ties in California will be very important to our continuing recruiting effort.”

Before coaching at Irvine, Cleary spent two stints at Chico State and one season at Cal Poly Pomona. In his second stay at Chico State he was the Wildcats recruiting coordinator, while scouting and doing game preparation. At Cal Poly Pomona his two major responsibilities were recruiting and running basketball camps for the Broncos. Cleary also served as a graduate assistant at Chico State after playing at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

“I’m very excited to have an opportunity to become a member of the coaching staff at Boise State,” Cleary said. “Having coached against Boise State for two years in the Big West Conference I believe that there is definitely potential to be very competitive in the WAC. I also feel strongly that under the leadership of coach Graham the program will undoubtedly enjoy great future success.”