Garfield (Ricky) Johns enters his first season at the helm of the Monroe College women's basketball team in 2015-16.  He accepted the position over the summer after serving the College as a head coach of the Academy and as an assistant coach with the men's team.  Johns also played for the men's team from 2003-2005.


New Rochelle, N.Y. - Coach Johns was one of Monroe's greatest basketball players.  He is the second leading scorer in Mustangs history with 1202 points.  Johns earned Region XV Player of the Year honors as a freshman and sophomore, while averaging 20 points per game, which earned him NJCAA Second-team All- American honors. From there, he went to play collegiately at the University of Utah.
  
Coach Johns has earned his stripes at every level of basketball:  high school, college, and professional.  In 2002 he was a standout guard at Wings Academy High School in the Bronx and led them to a class B title.  After attending Monroe College, Johns went on to the University of Utah, then a member of the Mountain West Conference.  In his senior year at Utah, Johns was named a co-captain and averaged 7.5 points per game, while shooting 40.3% from behind the three-point line in the 30 games he played. 
  
Following college, Johns played professionally in Poland, Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina.  He was also a member of the Jamaican National team where he helped them receive gold medals in the Caribbean Basketball Championships in 2006 and 2009. 
  
He is passionate about the game of basketball, and has contributed his knowledge in player development and team/game preparation on to his players. More importantly, he is an effective communicator who strives to be a role model and mentor to the traditional students as well as student-athletes.  His goal is not only to have his players maximize their athletic potential but to help groom them into become outstanding people.

Johns has been the Head Coach for the International Basketball Academy and the Assistant Coach with Monroe's Men's Basketball program since 2012.  Prior to Monroe, he was a skills development coach at a Utah Pro Performance in Salt Lake City, and was an assistant coach at Juan Diego High School in Draper, Utah.  Johns has also worked various camps at the University of Utah, HoopGroup and Five Star basketball. 
 
In addition to his duties as basketball coach, Johns works at the college as the Assistant Director of Residential Life.