Augustana University Athletics

David Johnson transferred to Augustana in 1983 from Fergus Falls Community College; D.J. immediately made friends and fans on and off the court with his ready smile and sure shot.

In just two seasons on the basketball team, he compiled impressive statistics in 56 games. He scored 1202 points for a career average of 21.5, and is currently fourteenth on the career scoring list. (He was ninth at the end of his career.) D.J. owns third and fourth place on the one year scoring chart with 614 points in 1984-85 and 588 points as a junior. He was named All-NCC in both 1984 and 1985, was MVP of the Holiday Tournament in 1984, and was also named All-Region both years.

Shooting mostly from the perimeter, D.J. made 268 of 526 attempts. He was the first Viking, and the second in NCC history, to score 400 points in conference play. As a senior, he was fifth in scoring average for the NCC with 22.3 and second in field goals made with 187.

Remarkably, there are people who have not experienced one of those famous Augie versus State games as a child. D.J. was one of them. He wrote about his recruiting trip to Augie, and attending a pep rally in the Huddle before the SDSU game in 1983. He says, "Coach John Thomas stands on top of a table and gives a big speech about me as a recruit. Then I go to the game. Augie versus State. 10,000 fans going nuts, and they are slinging frozen jackrabbits on the floor. That's when I told myself, I gotta go to school here!"

D.J. graduated from Augie in 1985 and played pro basketball in Australia. He was MVP of the Southeastern Australia Basketball League in 1988 and also of the championship game when he scored 70 points. In 1992 he earned his master's degree in Sport Management from the United States Sports Academy.

In 1993, he was inducted into three Halls of Fame, including as a charter member of the Fergus Falls Community College Hall of Fame. He was also inducted in the Minnesota Community College Hall of Fame and the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame.