# Aaron Johnston (basketball)

Aaron Johnston (born (1974-08-28)August 28, 1974) is an American basketball coach who has been the head women's basketball coach at South Dakota State University since 1999. Johnston has led the Jackrabbits to the NCAA Division II in 2003.

## South Dakota State

Aaron Johnston started at South Dakota State working with the men's basketball team as a graduate assistant under then head coach Scott Nagy. He moved to the women's basketball team as an assistant coach under Nancy Neiber. During the 1999–2000 season, Neiber took a leave of absence and Johnston took over as interim for the final six games. During those six games, he went on to defeat the #2 ranked and eventual NCAA D-II Runner up; North Dakota State.
Johnston became head coach of the Jackrabbits on June 30, 2000, making him the seventh head coach in SDSU women's basketball era. In three of his first four years as head coach, he led South Dakota State to the Elite Eight three straight years, and won the NCAA D-II national championship over Northern Kentucky 65–50.
Since joining the Summit League in the 2007–08 season the Jackrabbits have made the postseason every year (11 NCAA, 4 WNIT).
He also coached one year for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's and women's golf team.

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| South Dakota State (NCC Division II) (1999–2004) ||||||
| 1999–2000 | South Dakota State | 4–2* | 4–2* | 4th | |
| 2000–01 | South Dakota State | 15–12 | 9–9 | T—5th | |
| 2001–02 | South Dakota State | 28–9 | 12–6 | T—2nd | NCAA D-II Elite Eight |
| 2002–03 | South Dakota State | 32–3 | 14–2 | T—1st | NCAA D-II Champs |
| 2003–04 | South Dakota State | 26–7 | 11–3 | T—1st | NCAA D-II Elite Eight |
| South Dakota State (NCAA Division I independent) (2004–2007) ||||||
| 2004–05 | South Dakota State | 21–7 | | | |
| 2005–06 | South Dakota State | 19–9 | | | |
| 2006–07 | South Dakota State | 25–6 | | | WNIT Quarter-finals |
| South Dakota State (Summit League) (2007–present) ||||||
| 2007–08 | South Dakota State | 23–7 | 16–2 | 1st | WNIT First Round |
| 2008–09 | South Dakota State | 32–3 | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA Second Round |
| 2009–10 | South Dakota State | 22–11 | 14–4 | 2nd | NCAA First Round |
| 2010–11 | South Dakota State | 19–14 | 12–6 | T—3rd | NCAA First Round |
| 2011–12 | South Dakota State | 24–9 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA First Round |
| 2012–13 | South Dakota State | 25–8 | 14–2 | 1st | NCAA First Round |
| 2013–14 | South Dakota State | 26–10 | 13–1 | 1st | WNIT Semifinals |
| 2014–15 | South Dakota State | 24–9 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA First Round |
| 2015–16 | South Dakota State | 27–7 | 13–3 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round |
| 2016–17 | South Dakota State | 23–9 | 12–4 | T—2nd | WNIT Second Round |
| 2017–18 | South Dakota State | 26–7 | 12–2 | 2nd | NCAA First Round |
| 2018–19 | South Dakota State | 28–7 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen |
| 2019–20 | South Dakota State | 23–10 | 13–3 | 2nd | Postseason not held |
| 2020–21 | South Dakota State | 21–4 | 14–0 | 1st | NCAA First Round |
| 2021–22 | South Dakota State | 29–9 | 17–1 | T—1st | WNIT Champions |
| 2022–23 | South Dakota State | 29–6 | 18–0 | 1st | NCAA Second Round |
| 2023–24 | South Dakota State | 27–6 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA First Round |
| 2024–25 | South Dakota State | 29–3 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA |
| South Dakota State: | South Dakota State: | 627–194 (.764) | 307–58 (.841) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 627–194 (.764) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||
*Named interim coach for the final six games.

## Players drafted into WNBA

* Megan Vogel (2007 WNBA draft) 2nd Round, 19th overall
* Macy Miller (2019 WNBA draft) 3rd Round, 36th overall