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Athletic greatness comes in all shapes and all sizes.

It doesn't come naturally, but is achieved from hard work, diligence and adversity along the journey.

There's opportunity and there's always struggle.

There is triumph and there is defeat.

And there is always a story behind the glory.

Crossing over the Red River on Louisiana Highway 371, you'll approach a large sign that reads welcome to the shadow, Home of Champions.

Here, Vickie Johnson began her journey to basketball greatness.

Vickie Johnson was a legendary high school player.

She was just always in the paper.

And everyone always talk about, man, where is this girl going to go to college?

Help, maybe Louisiana Tech.

And sure enough, coach Leon Barr Moore's Lady Texters came calling.

She was just coachable.

She was easy to coach.

Vickie Johnson has left her mark both on the court as a player, but also as a coach, a journey that would take her from small town Louisiana to the Big Apple and basketball courts across the globe.

Vickie Johnson, 2025 Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer, played all over the world that people from all roles of life, and yet a very humble beginning in Louisiana.

And your career started on clay did it not outdoors on clay?

Well, not quite clay, dirt.

Not even as good as clay.

Now, it was actually in the backyard of one of my cousins house.

We played this is against guys, right?

Against guys, the rim of of a bike rim.

We nailed it on the.

Wow.

And that's how I started later on in life.

We moved, and I actually bought that land from my mother and built her up here.

So what did you learn from those days of give and take against guys in the neighborhood and your own kinfolk?

I think the biggest thing I took was, the challenge of it.

They're telling me that basketball was only for guys.

Girls couldn't play it, and I wanted to prove them wrong.

And every time they say I couldn't, I did.

And I think that's what I took was just being driven and the challenge of it.

And then just being consistent and disciplined throughout my career.

Now, your uncle, aka played a part in quasi coaching you as you started to develop.

Yeah.

He did.

My Uncle John is the youngest brother of my father.

He play semi-pro, and he was like, are you serious about it?

And I was like, yes, sir.

He was like, all right, I'll show you and teach you everything.

And I know.

And he did.

I went to tournaments with him.

He drove me afterwards.

I would have had I had to take stats, and just taught basketball.

And then he taught me how to, to play one on one.

With three dribbles, if you can score and three dribbles, then give up the basketball.

And also, he taught me about, commitments, you know, and standing it when it's hard, when it's difficult.

Vicky from Kolkata.

Yes.

Small town America?

Yes.

By anybody's standards, yes.

With its advantages and disadvantages for sure.

Not far from Ruston, Louisiana and Louisiana Tech's dynasty had already been established at that point.

What was the what were the circumstances that brought you to Louisiana Tech and made you dream that you could be next in contending for a national championship?

It started, at the age of nine.

I had opportunity to watch, Louisiana Tech versus, USC.

Kim McKee was on that team.

And I told my mom, I said, one day I'm gonna play for that team, the team that has the stars down the side and that was Louisiana Tech.

And, everyone told me that it wasn't possible.

I was like, well, I'm gonna work.

And that was my goal.

And, so I play a U. And, I called their AI, and, and I verbally committed to Louisiana Tech, my sophomore year from to Chateau, Louisiana.

Vinnie Johnson fitting right into that storied tradition.

Vicky was a two time Sunbelt Conference Player of the year and led the Lady Texters in scoring for three straight seasons.

That Ole left hand would go up and score the basketball force and then go the other end and defend.

Coach always put Vicky on the best perimeter player that we were playing against.

Johnson.

Great game.

He would challenge me in a way where I didn't understand at the time, and every day he stayed on me.

And to this day, I am who I am because of the tough coaching, the discipline that he taught me and how to be consistent in what I want.

Vicky was just hard to stop, and she was a left hand guard that could knock down the shot up from mid range, three point.

That's a great play by Vicky Johnson.

But you forget that she's left handed.

She was a founding member of the WNBA, selected by the New York Liberty in 1997.

The league's inaugural season.

The thing I remember most about meeting Vicky Johnson was her forearm in my hip.

And a reality check.

Oh, man.

She's really, really strong.

Tell me about this, though.

What part of shatter.

What part of Louisiana did you take with you when you're playing in the WNBA on national television, and when you're playing in Europe, was there any part of Louisiana that was important to you, that stayed with you, that you acquainted other people with?

I think I, I think, 100%, that's who I am.

I'm a hard worker.

I'm dedicated.

I'm loving.

I'm given.

But I learned that from all the people who have shaped my life.

My great grandfather was amazing.

He was ahead of the house.

My great uncle.

I grew up with my, great grandfather.

First cousins and brothers.

But my mom, my mom, gave me the opportunity to drink, to dream, just to drink.

That's a beautiful thing.

Whatever you want to do, do it.

But be committed to it.

Don't ever give up.

Your word is the only thing that you have.

Stick to it.

And then my grandmother.

She was my protector.

She told me about God, and she said, wherever you go in life, make sure that you lean on God and you trust him.

And then my high school principal showed me possibilities because she's an alumni for Louisiana Tech, and she took me many nights to to watch the Lady Texas play.

And so she gave me the possibility of dreaming and dream in bed.

And so those women really shape who I am.

And then my mom, one of my mom's best friend, Suzy.

Show me what true love was outside of my race.

Because what she gave to me and what she gave to my mom in my family was just love with no expectations whatsoever.

And then the the man in my family, they were the protectors.

To this day, they still are my oldest brother.

My father left when, I was two.

My oldest brother was like a father figure to me, and he took me everywhere after he told me that basketball wasn't for girls once.

I was dedicated and, committed to it.

He.

He took me everywhere, and he protected me playing the game of basketball was is what I did.

It's not who I am.

You know, Vicky, why do you think you're so receptive to those things.

Because it's rare.

Because I'm from Kolkata.

You say I'm not good enough.

I'll be the number one player in the country.

And then I'll go to New York and I'll be all star in New York.

I'll go to San Antonio with a team that only want three games in.

Two years later, we're in the championship.

I'm not afraid of a challenge.

And I think I get that from Louisiana.

She became the first player in NBA history to collect 4000 points, 1000 rebounds and 1000 assists in a career that spanned 13 seasons.

I got a lot of points off of her passes.

I know that, so I helped her in the assist category.

She helped me in the in the points category.

Vicky Johnson the other way for the easy two.

From there, she transitioned into coaching, beginning with the San Antonio Stars as an assistant and then head coach.

She would make coaching stops with the Las Vegas Aces, Dallas Wings, Atlanta Dream, and Team USA.

And she just has this unwavering confidence, to get the job done, whatever it might be.

A trailblazer, mentor and pioneer.

Vickie Johnson's career reflects excellence, resilience and a lifelong dedication to raising the bar for women's basketball.

She just excelled in everything that she did.

Everything about her first class.

She's a good one.

I don't think they make them like B.J.

anymore.

She's definitely one of a kind.

Solidifying her place among Louisiana's greatest.

She joins her college coaches, Mulkey and Barmore, as a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

So let's wrap it up with this.

Tell me something that most people don't know about Vickie Johnson.

That.

Then I'm a funny person.

I'm not always serious.

Like my players, my teammates, Becky Hammon or Christine Robinson.

They always say, you know, we were so afraid of you.

Like, in a way where we knew we had to perform because the way you look at us or whatever.

But I love to have fun and now that, taking the time off from the W at the 28 years, I just want to spend time with my family.

I want to take up golf.

I just want to enjoy my my home, my family, watch movies, go walking in the park, go fishing.

Because I, I spend, w, 13 years in the w 15 years overseas.

I coach 14 years in a w. So I was, I was always away from my family, and now I appreciate the presence of my family, because once I retired from the W and 2009.

Well, my grandmother had passed.

My great uncle had passed.

Great grandfather, my youngest brother.

All those people had passed.

And so now what do I have to show for it?

You know, because I play for them.

This this Hall of Fame is for them.

And all they put into me.