Four-time LSU women’s basketball All-American Temeka Johnson is a member of the 2025 LSU Athletics Hall of Fame induction class and will be formally enshrined on Friday, September 19, at the Manship Theater in downtown Baton Rouge.
The other members of the 2025 class are men’s basketball coach John Brady, who directed the Tigers to the 2006 Final Four; men’s golf coach J. Perry Cole, who guided LSU to NCAA national championships in 1940 and 1942; gymnast Rheagan Courville, a 23-time All-American; men’s basketball forward Ronald Dupree, who helped lead the Tigers to the 2000 NCAA Sweet 16; and women’s basketball All-American Cornelia Gayden, the most prolific three-point shooter in school history.
After being away from the Maravich Center basketball court for 20 years, Temeka Johnson’s journey comes full circle as she earns her place in the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame. She joins five other Tiger legends in the Hall of Fame class that will be inducted on September 19, but Johnson’s journey and path are uniquely her own.
Johnson, a New Orleans native, created a lasting impact upon the LSU women’s basketball program. A product of Bonnabel High School, the 5-foot-3 point guard arrived in Baton Rouge in 2001 ready to redefine leadership, hard work and dedication for the Tigers.
Though small in stature, Johnson was determined to succeed at the highest level in college.
“I was small and always came up against so many people that always told me what I couldn’t do,” Johnson said. “That has made me feel that every area of my life is a success. Graduating from LSU, having an opportunity to play with some of the best, being able to play for (legendary LSU coach) Sue Gunter, helping to bring excitement and energy to Baton Rouge when I was playing, helping to grow women’s basketball. I’m proud to have played my position as small as I was to the best of my ability, to give other people hope.”
Johnson was a four-time LSU All-American (2002-05) and the winner of the 2005 Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation’s best point guard. She is No. 1 on LSU’s all-time assists list with 945, a mark that is No. 8 in NCAA Division I history.
She holds the LSU record for assists in a game (17 vs. Georgia on March 5, 2005) and she posted four 15-assist games during her career. Johnson helped lead the Tigers to LSU’s first Final Four appearances in 2004 and 2005, as she was an NCAA Regional All-Tournament selection in both seasons.
Johnson credits much of her success at LSU to Gunter, who inspired her to greatness.
“Coach Gunter would say, ‘T, when you feel as if you have given everything you have and you don’t feel like you have anything left, make sure you dig deeper and give a little bit more,” Johnson recalled.
Johnson earned her LSU degree in 2004, and she was voted 2005 WNBA Rookie of the Year with the Washington Mystics. She won a WNBA championship with the Phoenix Mercury in 2009, and along with playing in the WNBA through 2015, her pro basketball career featured overseas competition in Israel, Poland, Russia and Spain until she retired from the game in 2017.
After her remarkable basketball career, she became a coach at McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, then at John Curtis Christian in River Ridge, La., where she led her team to two state championships. She also coached at the college level as an assistant at Western Kentucky.
Of all her accomplishments, Johnson said she is most proud of her creation of the Heaven Opens People’s Eyes (H.O.P.E) Foundation. The H.O.P.E. Foundation’s mission is to provide inspiration to young people, families and communities by providing the tools necessary to increase self-esteem, physical activity and a unified community spirit.
“When I was playing, all types of people would tell me that watching me play made them feel capable of doing anything,” Johnson said. “Giving people hope inspired me to form my foundation. Being able use my platform to give back to underserved communities, to give hope to those that may need it is important to me. I was told so many times that I gave people hope. I want to bring that to as many people as possible.”
From becoming a record-breaking point guard at LSU to WNBA champion, coach and community leader, Temeka Johnson’s full circle journey into the Athletics Hall of Fame reflects her incredible impact on and off the court.
“For me, success is being the best version of yourself that you can be,” Johnson said. “That’s an everyday challenge. It’s an everyday journey to become the best version of yourself. Accomplishing that every day, one day at a time, is the key to success.”