Charlene Johnson Position: Director of Athletics Institution: South Carolina State University

Guiding the South Carolina State University athletics program is Charlene Johnson. The 2006-07 athletic season marks Johnson's twenty-third year as a member of the South Carolina State University Department of Athletics, making her one of just two staff members with 20-plus years of service to SCSU athletics.

Prior to being named director of athletics, Johnson served seven years (1996-2003) as senior women's administrator and associate athletics director. During her tenure as director of athletics, three different SCSU teams have brought home conference championships, with two earning NCAA tournament appearances. The men's tennis squad captured Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles in both 2004, 2005 and 2006, earning consecutive trips to the NCAA Tennis Championships; the Lady Bulldog tennis team also won an MEAC title in 2005 and 2006 and its first trip to the NCAA tournament; and the Bulldog football team shared the 2004 MEAC championship.

As the school's associate athletics director/senior woman administrator, Johnson assisted in the role of planning, directing, and coordinating all areas of the department. Her efforts have extended beyond the South Carolina State University campus as she has served on several NCAA committees.

Johnson, who earned a bachelor's (1980) and a master's (1987) at South Carolina State, began her illustrious career in athletics at the university in 1983 when she became the first woman appointed to a full-time coaching position.

Since that time, she has served in several capacities, including head volleyball coach, head women's tennis coach, and assistant women's basketball coach in addition to the two stints as the interim director of athletics. Johnson became a part of SCSU athletic history early on, when as a player for the Lady Bulldogs, she helped the team capture the 1979 AIAW National Championship with a 73-68 triumph over Dayton at Fargo, North Dakota. Her five points in the game proved to be the team's winning margin.

Later, as a valued member of the SCSU women's basketball coaching staff, Johnson helped the Lady Bulldogs remain one of the top women's basketball teams in the Southeast. In 1990, Johnson guided the Lady Bulldog volleyball team to its sole Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship, garnering her MEAC Coach of the Year honors. The honor was not her first as she had previously earned Coach of the Year honors for women's tennis in 1986.

In recognition of her numerous achievements, both as an athlete and as an administrator, at S.C. State University, Johnson occupies a place in the University's Athletic Hall of Fame. She was inducted as an administrator in 1998 and received special recognition in 2000 as a member of the 1979 AIAW National Championship team in 2000.

She is married to Virgin Johnson, Jr., and they are the proud parents of two children: Taylor and Virgin (Trey), III.