Everyone who knows South Dakota State women’s basketball knows Aaron Johnston can coach.
But this past season might have just put an exclamation point on just how good he is.
The program lost two stars to graduation in Mayah Selland and Paiton Burkhard, then suffered through a rash of injuries that would normally throw a team into a rebuilding stage.
But that wasn’t the case with Johnston at the helm.
“Arguably this season he did his best coaching job ever,” said Justin Sell, the athletic director at SDSU. “Understanding your program and your team helps you to overcome challenges.”
The Jacks went 11-6 in non conference games this season and played four ranked teams in the National Champions No. 1 South Carolina, Washington State, Creighton and Gonzaga. When the Summit League schedule began, the Jacks and Johnston went undefeated in conference play.
There were many challenges this team had to face during this season. Now, a month out from the last game, the successful season can be better understood.
“A lot of the attention went to the injuries and adversity and rightly so, but ultimately we had a great year while that was happening,” Johnston said. “It took some of the attention away from all the good things our team was doing.”
Paige Meyer, a junior guard and Summit League Tournament MVP, said: “The adversity we faced made us better throughout the season. People stepped up into different roles and had success in those roles.”
Johnston has a rule to not compare his current and previous teams.
“We are maintaining a standard, we don’t like to compare ourselves to our past teams, but we talk about what we have done over the years as a standard,” Johnston said.
Another reason for the success of this team is the positive environment that Johnston fosters. Johnston, along with his coaching staff, care for their players on and off the court, making them all well rounded athletes.
“He balances their academics, community engagement and maximizes them as student athletes,” said Sell.
“Our coaches are direct and show us tough love, but at the end of the day they want what is best for each of us and what is best for this team,” said Madison Mathiowetz, a sophomore guard on the team.
Over the 24 seasons as a Jackrabbit, Sell hasn’t seen much change in Johnston’s coaching style.
“I don’t think his approach has changed at all,” Sell said. “He is very consistent with how he handles people.”
Johnston does many things in his program to ensure that he, his athletes and his coaching staff are on the same page.
“He knows how to assess each individual play style and pull them all together to work together as a team,” said Sell.
Honesty is one thing Johnston strives for throughout his program. He believes in having a conversational team, talking about things that are hard to talk about and talking about positive things that his players are doing and reassuring them.
“We want to hear them, listen to each other, hear each other and do what’s best for each other,” Johnston said. “I always want to be invested in people, never forgetting that what we do is trying to help young people pursue their goals and dreams.”
“He treats everyone in a very similar way and has the same expectations and clearly communicates those, he cleans out all the gray stuff and gets down to focusing on the task at hand,” Sell said.
“Our coaches do such a good job working in their positions,” Meyer said. “They always give us the feedback we need. The way he believes in all of us girls helps us to buy into his plan.”
Johnston coached at SDSU during the transition from Division II to Division I. This is a transition that would be difficult for any team to make. With Johnston at the head, it went about as smooth as it could have been and this gave the program hope that they would be able to be competitive at the next level.
“What he was able to do through the change from DII to DI should never be discounted,” said Sell.
In the 2000-01 season, Johnston took over complete control over the Jackrabbits and finished with a 15-12 record. Just two seasons later, Johnston and the Jacks hoisted the national championship trophy after defeating Northern Kentucky.
Six seasons later, the Jacks had their first ever Division I season where they finished 32-2 and made it to the second round of the Division I NCAA Tournament.
“Coach Johnston is so smart in the game of basketball,” Mathiowetz said. “He pushes us further than we could imagine, but does it in a way we believe we can do it.”
“We have been really fortunate to have him want to be a Jackrabbit for so long,” Sell said. “He has remained true to this place.”
The growth and success of Coach Johnston and the women’s basketball team has established a whole fan base behind the program.
“Having national success and so much support has been so important to our program and university,” Sell said.
“There is something special about the way SDSU supports women’s basketball,” Mathiowetz said. “The whole world is starting to see it, but Brookings has always seen it.”