The Arizona Wildcats basketball team made another addition to their 2013-14 roster on Tuesday as head coach Sean Miller announced Chris Johnson as part of their team.
The Gilbert, AZ native is the older brother of Arizona junior guard Nick Johnson who has been one of the faces of the program for the last couple of seasons.
“Having recruited Nick and coached him for two years, I know that he and Chris come from a good family,” Miller said on Tuesday. “I’m confident that Chris will work hard every day, be a good teammate and be an asset to the culture of our program.”
Chris Johnson began his college career at Grand Canyon University where he played for two seasons. In 2011-12, he averaged 7.5 points and 3.2 rebounds for the Lopes coming off the bench. He attended Cal State San Bernardino in 2012-13 but play basketball.
He played high school ball at Highland high school in Gilbert where he averaged just under 12 points per game in his senior for the Hawks. Teamed up with his younger brother Nick that season, the Hawks lost only four games all season and number one seed in the state tournament before losing to St. Mary’s in the state championship game.
The Wildcats also made additions to their coaching staff Tuesday. Miller announced that they added former basketball great of the program Joseph Blair as a undergraduate assistant coach as he is back on campus to receive his degree.
“Welcoming Joseph Blair to our staff as an undergraduate assistant coach is a win-win for our program,” Miller said. “Joseph is a great ambassador for Arizona basketball, and helping him complete his undergraduate work goes hand-in-hand with our Players Program philosophy. At the same time, our current players will benefit from his work ethic, knowledge of the game and passion for Arizona basketball.”
Blair averaged 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Wildcats from 1993-96, helping lead Arizona to a pair of Pac-10 titles and the 1994 Final Four. He is the second former player to join the coaching staff this offseason. Miller added Damon Stoudamire this summer as well.
Finally, former undergraduate manager David Miller, who has been with Arizona for the last three seasons in that role is now the graduate manager who will aid the coaching staff in individual and team workouts, in addition to various operational and video duties.
