Basketball Court Dedicated to Coach A. Z. Johnson

Tucker High School will dedicate its basketball court to legendary coach A. Z. Johnson on Saturday, Dec. 8.

A reception open to all who wish to honor the late coach will be held at the school from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. prior to the boys’ basketball game.  

Former students, players, and friends who are interested in attending the reception should RSVP the Tucker High School Foundation at contact@tuckerhighschoolfoundation.org for confirmation of attendance with name, graduation year, and title such as basketball player, cheerleader, student, or fellow coach. Contact can also be made at 770-458-5700.

Coach Johnson taught and coached in DeKalb County for 32 years—11 years at Chamblee High School and 21 years at Tucker High School. During those 32 years he became one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in the state of Georgia with an overall record of 501 wins versus 274 loses.   

A graduate himself of Tucker in 1937, Coach Johnson attended Oglethorpe University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies and scored 1597 points on the university’s basketball team. Because he was the university’s leading scorer during his career, Coach Johnson was inducted into Oglethorpe’s University’s Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1997 the Atlanta Tipoff Club awarded Coach Johnson its Lifetime Achievement Award as a result of his successes both as a player and as a coach, and in 2000 the Georgia State Legislature passed a resolution honoring his exemplary life both on and off the court.

Because this year marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of Coach Johnson’s graduation from Tucker and the fiftieth anniversary of his return to Tucker as a teacher and coach, Tucker High School, with unanimous approval from the DeKalb County Board of Education, will pay tribute to Coach Johnson and his many achievements by naming its basketball court after him.