Deidra Johnson is in her first season as an assistant coach at UTSA.

Johnson comes to UTSA after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Marshall, where she also served as the recruiting coordinator during the 2011-12 campaign. In addition to her duties as recruiting coordinator, Johnson coached the guards and the group accounted for the top six scorers on the team. The unit also hit 32 percent of its 3-point attempts, which led Conference USA, and the group helped the Thundering Herd hold their opponents to just 56.1 points per game by averaging 10.5 steals per contest.

Johnson mentored the team’s post players in her first season, including Tynikki Crook, who was named second-team all-conference after leading the circuit in scoring at 16.2 ppg.

“I’m very excited to join UTSA's staff,” Johnson said. “I feel like the future of athletics is very bright here. I admire all the success that Coach Rippetoe-Blair has had at UTSA and that certainly helped make this an attractive position.”

“Deidra is an excellent addition to our program” head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair said when she announced her hiring. "She has an excellent background and worked extremely hard to get to this point. There is no doubt in my mind that Deidra will make our program better as we move forward.”

Before departing after a pair of seasons at Chipola (Fla.) College, Johnson signed the No. 3 recruiting class in the country and coached 10 players that earned Division I scholarships and three that went on to play professionally, including Latoya Williams, recently of the WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars. She also coached guards and helped coordinate recruiting during the 2007-08 season at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.

Johnson began her collegiate career at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, where she was named first-team All-NJCAA Region VI and first-team All-NJCAA Bi-State East. After graduating with an associate’s degree in 2002, she continued her playing career at Oklahoma State the next two seasons. The McNeil, Ark., native earned a spot on the Big XII Commissioner’s Honor Roll and National Dean’s List before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2004.