After leading the Golden Eagles to a fourth consecutive trip to the conference tournament for the first time in program history in 2024-25, Torino Johnson returns for his seventh season as the head coach of Cal State LA’s women’s basketball team. Johnson has quickly transformed the Golden Eagles into one of the top women’s basketball programs in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and NCAA West Region during his tenure.
Johnson led the Golden Eagles to an 18-10 overall record and a 13-9 mark in CCAA play last season. It marked the first time in program history that Cal State LA has made four straight trips to the conference tournament and the 18 wins give the Golden Eagles 55 over the past three seasons, the most for the program since 2012-14.
The Golden Eagles were ranked ninth in the final NCAA West Region poll and narrowly missed a first-ever third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Cal State LA got off to a sensational start and went 5-0 in non-conference wins over Seattle Pacific, Western Washington, Concordia, Azusa Pacific and Central Washington. The Golden Eagles were 7-1 after eight games, but suffered a key injury in the ninth game and had to regroup. That’s exactly what they did, battling admirably while short-handed throughout the rest of the season. The Golden Eagles ended their season in a first-round conference tournament loss to No. 3 seed Chico State.
Johnson has led Cal State LA to an 81-62 overall record in his first five seasons as the head coach, including a 64-43 record in conference play. Cal State LA has collected 19 All-CCAA, 2 All-Region, 1 All-American, 2 CCAA Freshman of the Year awards, 1 CCAA Elite 13 Award for academic achievement and 9 CSC Academic All-District awards during his tenure. In addition, his teams have earned Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic honors in two seasons.
Johnson guided the Golden Eagles to a 17-13 overall record in 2023-24 in a season that was an impressive follow-up to a historic season in 2022-23. He had the team playing its best basketball at the end of the season, leading the Golden Eagles to an 11-3 record over their final 14 CCAA games and to some spirited competition in postseason games.
After reaching the CCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed, Cal State LA beat tournament host Cal State San Bernardino, 78-64, in the first round before falling to eventual champion Cal State San Marcos in overtime in the semifinals.
The Golden Eagles then made a repeat appearance in the NCAA West Regionals for the first time ever and put up a great battle as a No. 8 seed in a narrow first-round loss at No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific. Cal State LA was making just the fourth NCAA appearance in program history and Johnson has already led the Golden Eagles to half of them.
He did a masterful job of holding things together as the Golden Eagles suffered a series of excruciating defeats that could have derailed the season. Cal State LA dropped an incredible seven games by one point or in overtime, yet Johnson’s team displayed remarkable resiliency and was battling for conference and region supremacy at the end.
Cal State LA owned victories during the season over No. 1 Azusa Pacific, No. 2 Cal State San Marcos and No. 5 Chico State, all teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Most notable was a 76-73 win at home over Cal State San Marcos on Feb. 17 that snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Cougars dating back to 2017.
Johnson continued the Golden Eagles’ upward trajectory as one of the most improved teams in the country after leading the program to a 20-win season for the first time in a decade and for only the fourth time in program history in 2022-23.
Cal State LA recorded an overall record of 20-10 and came just one victory away from tying the program record for most wins in a season. Johnson led the Golden Eagles to a third-place finish in the CCAA for a second straight season, this time with a 16-6 record that established a new program record for conference wins in a season.
The Golden Eagles won a first-round conference tournament game over Sonoma State before falling to eventual tourney champion Cal State San Marcos in the semifinals.
Cal State LA earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA West Regional and fell to No. 4 seed Montana State Billings in a hard-fought battle to end the season.
Johnson has also overseen a tremendous uptick in academic achievement as the team recorded a new high in grade point average. After the season, Cal State LA was among those schools honored by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association for having a team grade point average above a 3.0.
After sitting at 2-3 early in the season, the Golden Eagles caught fire and went 15-3 over their next 18 games to surge into a top conference spot. Cal State LA enjoyed a seven-game winning streak for the first time since the 2005-06 and all seven wins were by double-digit margins.
Cal State LA had its first All-American since 2003 when Nicole Flennaugh earned honorable mention from the WBCA and Lily Buggs earned first-team All-Region honors from the Division 2 College Commissioners Association and became the first player since 2013 to earn All-Region accolades. Flennaugh also earned the conference’s Elite 13 Award for academic achievement by having the highest grade point average at the championship site.
The big 2022-23 season was a nice follow-up to the brilliant return to play Johnson directed for the Golden Eagles in 2021-22.
Johnson led the Golden Eagles to a third-place finish in the CCAA, which matched the best conference finish in program history. Cal State LA went on to win a first-round game in the CCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 and the Golden Eagles built a double-digit halftime lead against eventual champion Cal State East Bay in the semifinals in another strong showing.
After starting the season with a 4-8 mark, the Golden Eagles got hot down the stretch and won eight of its last 10 regular-season contests to finish third in the conference with a 12-7 record. Cal State LA finished the season with an overall record of 14-13.
The Golden Eagles claimed the CCAA Freshman of the Year award for a second straight season when Buggs won the honor in voting by the conference’s head coaches and Cal State LA placed four players on the All-Conference team.
After the season, Cal State LA was among those schools honored by the WBCA for having a team grade point average above a 3.0.
It was a sensational return to competition for the Golden Eagles after the 2020-21 season was canceled by COVID.
Johnson, a talented coach with a lengthy record of success, began the process of rebuilding the Golden Eagles in earnest when he took over as the head coach prior to the 2019-20 season. Johnson had spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Cal State LA.
Johnson has instituted a prolific offensive attack that shattered program records in 3-point shooting. The 2019-20 team set new single-season marks for 3-pointers made with 190, 3-pointers attempted with 532 and 3-point percentage made with .357. The previous mark for 3-pointers made had stood since 2002-03 and is now at 227 after the 2023-24 team established a new standard.
Johnson led the Golden Eagles to a three-game improvement from 2018-19 and to a four-game increase in CCAA victories. Cal State LA finished just one game out of a conference tournament spot.
In addition, the Golden Eagles earned just the second CCAA Freshman of the Year award in program history and the first since the 2003-04 season when Flennaugh nabbed the honor. It was the first major conference award for the Golden Eagles since a Newcomer of the Year award in 2011-12.
Johnson was a steadying force as the top assistant coach during a challenging 2018-19 season that saw the Golden Eagles slip to a 9-18 overall record and miss the CCAA Tournament. Johnson was active revamping Cal State LA’s lineup with a solid group of returners and a promising list of newcomers.
In his first year with the Golden Eagles, Johnson helped lead Cal State LA to a 14-15 overall record, including a 13-9 record in conference play in 2017-18. The Golden Eagles had just one senior on their team and yet finished just one game out of third place in the CCAA. Cal State LA had a 9-4 record at home and qualified for the CCAA Tournament.
Before coming to Cal State LA, Johnson was one of the most decorated and influential high school coaches in California while transforming Palisades Charter High School into a Southern California power. He led his teams to four Los Angeles City CIF Championships in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016 and his teams made seven California State tournament appearances. He concluded his high school coaching career with an overall record of 203-134.
Johnson earned multiple coaching accolades from his peers and was a four-time recipient of the Los Angeles City Section Coach of the Year (2012, 2015-17) and was the Cal-High California State Coach of the Year in 2016.
In addition to his success at Palisades Charter High School, Johnson supported Team USA as a court coach in 2015, giving him the opportunity to develop and train USA Olympic Players and future collegiate student-athletes. Following that experience, he piloted the Los Angeles region USA Basketball Open Court basketball program. The national program provided safe spaces for boys and girls 18-years-old and under to learn and play pick-up basketball on select Saturday evening.
Johnson is a lifelong learner and prides himself on relationship-building. His coaching mentors include George Raveling, Rich Sheubrooks, Gary Colson, Jim Burson, Colleen Matsuhara, and the late John Wooden.
Johnson is a Southern California native who attended Manual Arts and Susan Miller Dorsey High schools in Los Angeles. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Sports and Health Sciences with a coaching concentration from American Public University in Charles Town, West Virginia.
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