Temeka Johnson was hired as an assistant coach with the WKU women's basketball program in June of 2022 and is in her third season with the team coming into 2024-25.
The 2022-23 squad finished the season with 19 wins, earned second place in the CUSA regular season, played in the CUSA tournament championship game, and earned a WNIT berth. WKU broke multiple school records in 2022-23, topping the program high with 389 steals on the season and making 289 3-point shots for the year. The Lady Toppers also broke the single-game record for made 3-pointers, connecting on 16 threes at Middle Tennessee on Feb. 9. WKU finished the season ranked in the top 25 in the nation in six different statistical categories: third in 3-point attempts per game (28.8), sixth in bench points per game (29.0), seventh in steals per game (11.8), 13th in turnovers forced per game (20.3), 14th in 3-pointers made per game (8.8) and 18th in turnover margin (5.30 differential).
Acacia Hayes had an impressive debut season for the Lady Toppers, leading the team in scoring, averaging 11.2 points per game. She’s the first WKU freshman to lead the team in scoring since Crystal Kelly in 2004-05. Hayes was named to the CUSA All-Freshmen team and to the CUSA All-Tournament Team.
Johnson had a highly decorated playing career before moving into coaching. She was a point guard at LSU (2001-05) where she led the Tigers to two Final Fours, an Elite Eight, a SEC regular season championship and SEC Tournament championship. She is still the program's career assist leader with 945 career dimes which also ranks as the eighth most by a NCAA Division I player all-time. During her collegiate career, Johnson earned AP All-American Honorable Mention three times, All-SEC First Team twice and was named the SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player in 2003.
The New Orleans, Louisiana native was drafted sixth overall in the 2005 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics. She was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2005, ranking second overall in the league in assists that season. In 2009, Johnson earned a WNBA Championship with the Phoenix Mercury. She also played for the Los Angeles Sparks, Tulsa Shock and the Seattle Storm during her time in the WNBA. Johnson scored over 2,500 career points in the league.
During the WNBA offseasons Johnson played in leagues overseas including teams in Israel, Poland and Russia.
Most recently, Johnson was a high school basketball coach at John Curtis High School in Louisiana for three seasons. She led the team to back-to-back state championships in 2021 and 2022.
