Sydney Johnson ’97, the head coach of men’s basketball, resigned April 4 to take the same post at Fairfield University in Connecticut. The University immediately began a national search for his successor, according to Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67.
Johnson, a three-year captain as an undergraduate, returned to Princeton in 2007 after assisting John Thompson III ’88 at Georgetown for three seasons. His first Tiger team stumbled to a 6–23 record, but the program then made a steady climb. In 2009–10, the Tigers were 22–9 overall and 11–3 in the Ivy League. This season, Princeton finished 25–7, 12–2 in Ivy play, and earned a share of the league title and an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2004.
“Obviously we’re disappointed that [Johnson] is not staying to carry on the tradition of Princeton basketball,” Walters said in a statement. “But as a Princeton basketball alumnus, we wish him well as he takes another career step.”