East Carolina has added to its men's basketball coaching staff with the addition of former NBA player and Fresno State assistant coach Tyler Johnson. The news was reported by CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein on Thursday.
Johnson was a standout player at Fresno State from 2010-14, when ECU head coach Michael Schwartz was an assistant coach under Rodney Terry.
Schwartz is heading into his fifth year with the Pirates' program, having compiled a 61-69 overall record in Greenville thus far. His coaching staff experienced some turnover already this offseason, with former associate head coach Riley Davis taking a job at Tyler Junior College after spending the previous four years as Schwartz's top assistant.
Nick Matson, who was with ECU's staff in Schwartz's initial year in 2022-23, returned to take the associate head coaching role in Greenville. Matson spent the last three years between Texas and New Mexico State.
East Carolina also added Western Carolina assistant coach Andre Gray to the coaching staff this offseason. Gray, Matson and Johnson join a group that also features assistant coaches Josh Giardina, IJ Poole, and Michael Perry.
Matson and Schwartz both coached on Fresno's staff when Johnson was a player.
Johnson, 34, was an All-Mountain West Conference selection as a senior in 2014. The Mountain View, Calif., native went undrafted, but ended up carving out a nice NBA career, playing professionally from 2014-23. He spent time with the Miami Heat (2015-19), Phoenix Suns (2019-20), Brooklyn Nets (2020-21), Philadelphia 76ers (2021-22), and San Antonio Spurs (2022), before playing overseas for the Brisbane Bullets in Australia.
During his time in the NBA, Johnson played in 354 regular season games with 78 starts. He averaged 9.8 points per game and shot 36 percent from 3-point range.
He started his coaching career at Fresno State this past season, serving as an assistant.