South Carolina Basketball: Ranking the best head coaches in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Basketball’s No. 3 Greatest Head Coach of All-Time:
Frank Johnson
Frank Johnson (1940-1943, 1946-58) was the first great Gamecock head coach. Johnson had a terrific start to his coaching tenure in Columbia, putting together back-to-back winning seasons in a tough Southern Conference before abruptly resigning after just two games in the 1942-1943 campaign to join the military.
After spending over three years fighting in World War II, Johnson returned to Columbia and was immediately given his old job back. He picked up right where he left off with 5 of the next 6 seasons being winning ones for the Gamecocks. South Carolina began a transition to the ACC shortly after that, however, and the Gamecocks struggled.
Before retiring at the end of the 1957-1958, Johnson led the Gamecocks to one last run in his penultimate season. The 1956-1957 South Carolina basketball team went 17-12. It was the last winning season in Columbia for five seasons and one of just two winning seasons before the 1966-1967 year that was Frank McGuire’s breakout year as head coach.