Tara Johns was named an Assistant Coach with WKU in August of 2024 and will be entering her first season with the Lady Toppers in 2024-25.
Johns came to The Hill from USF where she was assistant coach and director of operations for two seasons. Johns, formally Arnold, played at WKU during the 2009-10 season before transferring to Morehead State and finishing out her playing career at Lindsey Wilson. She's a native of Frankfort, Kentucky.
Before coaching at USF, she worked at the university as an executive administrative specialist working with USF's Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly in 2021.
Prior to that, she was an assistant coach at Northwest Florida State College where the team won the 2020-21 NJCAA National Championship. In her time with the team, Johns helped lead the squad to a 51-6 record and consecutive Panhandle Conference titles. In 2020, Johns earned the WBCA Thirty Under Thirty award for being one of the top coaches in the nation under 30 years old.
Johns was an assistant coach at Wabash Valley College from 2018-19. The Warriors won 32 consecutive games before falling in the NJCAA Elite Eight during her time with the program. She was also at Morehead State (2016-18), helping guide the Eagles to a 42-21 record as director of operations.
She is a 2014 graduate of Lindsey Wilson, earning a bachelor's degree in communications. She holds a master's degree from WKU in recreation and sports administration with a concentration in media and branding. During that time, she worked with the Hilltopper Sports Properties team as a radio and television commentator for women's basketball games.
