UNO legend and 13-year NBA veteran Ervin Johnson has returned to the Lakefront to rejoin his alma mater — albeit with some new branding.
LSU New Orleans announced Friday the hiring of the 1993 UPI All-American and first-round NBA Draft pick as a new assistant coach for the program where he enjoyed a decorated college career that earned the retirement of his No. 40 jersey and inductions in to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (2013) and Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame (2018).
The Jonesville native and Block alumnus joined then-coach Tim Floyd’s program as a walk-on in 1989 and worked his way into the Privateers’ all-time leader in rebounds, blocked shots and field-goal percentage among 26 school records he set during his career.
UNO won 87 games, including three Sun Belt championships, and earned two NCAA Tournament appearances and another in the NIT with Johnson on the roster.
Johnson was selected No. 23 overall by Seattle, where he played his first three seasons and developed into the Supersonics’ starting center for the 1996 NBA Finals team alongside Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Detlef Schrempf and Hershey Hawkins in the lineup.
He signed with the Denver Nuggets the following offseason before longer tenures with the Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, each of whom with he played key rotation roles in deep playoff runs.
Johnson joins the staff of third-year coach Stacy Hollowell, who led Loyola to the 2022 NAIA national championship before tenures as an assistant at Ole Miss and Texas Southern.
UNO joined the LSU System earlier this year and rebranded from its traditional name and blue-and-silver color combination to LSU New Orleans and the system’s purple and gold.