Mathew Johnson - Men's Basketball Coach - Princeton University Athletics

Mathew Johnson

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
mat.johnson@princeton.edu

COACHING HONORS

2x National Champion (2024, 2023)
Big East Tournament Champion (2024)
Big East Regular Season Champion (2024)
12 All-Conference players coached
Nine NBA players coached

COMING HOME
A native of Columbus, New Jersey, Mathew Johnson returned to his home state and joined the Tigers’ staff as an assistant coach in June 2025. Johnson spent the previous six seasons working under Dan Hurley at the University of Connecticut.

SUCCESS AT UCONN
Johnson’s time with the Huskies was defined by winning. Along with the two national titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances, the Huskies won the Big East Regular Season and Tournament Championships in 2024. UConn went 149-52 for a winning percentage of 74.13% during his time on staff.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Johnson has worked with nine players who made the NBA, including 2024-25 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. Additionally, players Johnson has worked with have been named all-conference 12 times. At UConn, Johnson shared responsibility for the on-court skill development of all guards in the program and led individual and group skill instruction in the off-season. He also met with student-athletes weekly to analyze practice and game film.

NBA Players Coached (9)
Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer, Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson Jr., Adama Sanogo, Tyrese Martin, James Bouknight

All-Conference Players Coached (12)
All-Big East At UCONN
2024-25: Solo Ball (Second Team), Alex Karaban (Second Team)
Liam McNeeley (Third Team)
2023-24: Tristen Newton (First Team), Cam Spencer (First Team)
2022-23: Adama Sanogo (First Team), Jordan Hawkins (First Team)
2021-22: R.J. Cole (First Team), Adama Sanogo (First Team)
2020-21: James Bouknight (First Team)

AAC All-Conference At UCONN
2019-20: Christian Vital (First Team), James Bouknight (Third Team)

AS A RECRUITER
Johnson assisted in the recruitment of top-five recruiting classes at UConn in 2025 and 2023. He collaborated with and supported the assistant coaches with daily recruiting efforts and planned and executed the operations of official and unofficial visits on campus.

PLAYING EXPERIENCE
Johnson was a four-year letterman and a two-year captain at the University of Tampa. He ended his career ranked fourth all-time in program history in assists and was part of a Spartan team that went to the NCAA Tournament in 2014. Johnson was a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honoree and was named to the three-time Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Commissioners Honor Roll three times.

PERSONAL
Johnson married his wife Cyanna in 2019. They have two sons, Micah and Cayden.

EDUCATION
University of Connecticut, M.S. in Sport Management
University of Connecticut, Gifted Education and Talent Development Certification
University of Tampa, B.S. in Accounting

COACHING EXPERIENCE
Princeton University, Assistant Coach (2025 – present)
University of Connecticut, Video and Scouting Coordinator (2022 – 2025)
University of Connecticut, Program Assistant (2021 – 2022)
University of Connecticut, Graduate Assistant (2019 – 2021)