Butler women's basketball head coach
Kurt Godlevske is happy to announce an addition to the coaching staff. Gabby Johnson was recently hired as an assistant coach and will join the program prior to the upcoming 2021-22 season.
"I want to welcome Gabby to Butler University and to our women's basketball program," Godlevske stated. "Gabby has a strong basketball background that includes head coaching experience. She has tremendous contacts across the country and is a strong recruiter. I love her self-motivation and believe her impact will be immediate for our program. Welcome to Butler Coach Johnson!"
Johnson joined the Valpo women's basketball program as an assistant coach prior to the 2018-19 season and completed her third season on the bench in 2020-21.
In her second year on staff, Johnson helped guide one of the nation's most impressive year-over-year turnarounds. The 2019-20 Valpo squad jumped 171 spots in the RPI to 133 - the largest leap by any Division I program in the nation.
The 2019-20 Crusaders finished with a 17-12 overall record, 10.5 games better than the previous year - tied for the sixth-best increase nationally. The 17 wins marked the largest win total for the program since the 2006-07 campaign, and included a pair of top-100 RPI wins, the first-such wins for Valpo since March 2013.
In 2020-21, Valpo went 12-13 overall with a 7-9 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. Their non-conference slate was highlighted with wins at Illinois (62-59), at Purdue (52-47) and at home vs. Xavier (88-83). Valpo would win one game in their conference tournament before exiting in the quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Drake.
Johnson joined Valpo's staff after a tenure as the head coach at Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. that began in 2012. A graduate of Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky., Johnson was an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky University from 2010-2012. The Norse posted consecutive winning seasons and reached the Division-II NCAA Tournament in 2012.
Johnson started her coaching career at her alma mater as an assistant during the 2009-2010 season, helping the team to a 26-4 record and Division-III NCAA Tournament berth. As a student-athlete, Johnson won three Presidents Athletic Conference regular season championships, two tournament titles and finished third in program history in career assists. During her time as a team captain, the program compiled a 57-4 record. Overall during her career, she helped Thomas More to a 99-16 mark.
