FORMER FERRIS BASKETBALL PLAYER NOTCHES CAREER MILESTONE

Tanya Johnson Wins 500th Career Game As A Prep Head Coach

Johnson, who tallied 780 points along with 677 rebounds during her Bulldog playing career from 1974-78, recorded her 500th win in her 22nd season as a coach when she led her Loyola Academy (Ill.) Ramblers from suburban Chicago past Maria 68-19 in the opening round of the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division Tournament. Loyola picked up its 20th-straight win and improved to 25-1 overall this campaign with the victory.

"This is for the players," Johnson said. "I feel older having won that many. Five hundred wins means the program has been really strong. We've had some really good people who turned out to be good basketball players, too. And of the ones who weren't as talented, we've had so many with huge hearts who were overachievers."

After a one-year stint at Elmwood Park (Ill.), where she was 17-10, Johnson compiled a 202-64 mark before Marillac (Ill.) High School closed in 1994. At Loyola, she has racked up 281 wins and lost only 67 times. Her only losing season came in 2001-2002 when the Ramblers went 12-18.

Only two other female basketball coaches in Illinois state history -- Dorothy Gaters of Marshall and Carol Plodzien of Fremd -- have reached the 500 win plateau. Johnson led Loyola to back-to-back Class AA state championships in 1997 and '98 and the Ramblers established a single season state record for victories with 36 in 1998. She also coached the Illinois Player of the Year in 1998-99.

The 6-2 Johnson was one of the early Bulldog women's basketball greats. She presently remains sixth on both FSU's career rebounding (677) chart and field goal percentage (.489) lists. In addition, she is one of only 20 players in Bulldog history to score 750 or more career points and currently ranks 19th on Ferris' career scoring chart.

Johnson guided FSU to the school's first three winning seasons from 1974-77, including a 10-6 mark in the 1975-76 campaign. A two-time (1975-76) team Most Valuable Player Award winner, Johnson twice led Ferris in scoring under head coach Monica Folske and continues to hold the school record for career rebounding average (10.7 rpg). Her personal career-high 16.6 points per game scoring average in 1976-77 currently ranks as the fifth-best performance ever by a Bulldog junior class member.

The Big Rapids native later played for the Milwaukee Does, New Jersey Gems and Chicago Hustle, all teams in the first women's professional league. She will be inducted into the Illinois High School Basketball Association Hall of Fame in April 2005.

Note: Courtesy information provided by the Pioneer Online Press (Wilmette Life edition).