500 and counting

Since recording his first win as head coach of the South Dakota State University women’s basketball team, Aaron Johnston M.S. ’05 has calmly led the Jackrabbits to new heights.

That first win, which came Feb. 19, 1999, against Omaha, was followed a few years later by the 2003 NCAA Division II national title and then his 100th win in February 2004. The wins kept piling up quickly after the Jackrabbits entered the NCAA Division I ranks.

SDSU won its first game in Division I Nov. 19, 2004, against Cal State-Bakersfield and then March 22, 2008, saw the Jackrabbits defeat TCU in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Johnston set the SDSU record for wins with his 302nd Jan. 10, 2013, vs. Oakland. He keeps adding to that total, having surpassed the 500-win mark Jan. 8, 2021, against Western Illinois in Frost Arena.

There have been hundreds of players who have been a part of the win total. One of them was Kristin Rotert ’11, who now serves as the team’s director of operations.

She said Johnston’s approach to the game and coaching is what sets him apart.

“In a lot of ways, playing for ‘A.J.’ was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He is so detailed in the way he coaches you. The importance he places on you on and off the court is unique. He trains you that the details matter, which sets you up in the program to have success every year,” said Rotert, who was the 2011 Summit League Basketball Championship most valuable player and was named The Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year and on the 2008 All-Newcomer Team.

“He is obviously incredibly intelligent and is very open to the feedback from his staff and players; always willing to adjust his plans and make adjustments in games,” she said. “He never cuts corners in his work. Every coach works hard, but the way that we prepare our student-athletes is like what nobody else does.

“As a player you have a lot of respect for the coaches, but when you see the inside workings—how hard people work, how committed they are to each other—you have a whole different level of respect,” Rotert continued. “Coaching is way more work than I could have ever imagined as a player.”

But it’s not all work for Johnston and the staff. Johnston accidentally received a fat lip from an errant water bottle during the Jackrabbits’ locker room celebration following the 2019 NCAA Tournament second-round win over Syracuse in Syracuse, New York.

“Watching the 2019 team get to the Sweet 16, watching him win No. 500 and being in the locker room for that—those special moments when we hit those special milestones,” Rotert said about her favorite memories of Johnston’s career.

When Johnston entered the locker room following the win over Western Illinois, the Jackrabbits shot confetti poppers, cheered and presented him the game ball. Another memory for the record books.