SAN FRANCISCO – One of the leading members of the mid-1960's men's basketball teams that brought USF back to prominence, USF Hall of Famer Ollie Johnson has gone above and beyond in his dedication to the Hilltop. In this week's edition of Tuesday Testimonials, USF Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director, Frank Allocco, talks with Johnson about successes, dedication, and high honors.

Johnson begins by talking about his basketball roots, where his basketball passion started on the intense playgrounds of Washington, DC in lieu of modern outlets like CYO and AAU programs. He then talks about the success of his high school team, which spawned lots of Division I talent.

As a highly-recruited high school prospect, Johnson was considering heading west to play for San Jose State out of high school. But fate intervened, and Johnson delves into the story of how he came to play for USF instead. 

Johnson's teams made three straight runs deep into the NCAA tournament, and he gives insight into how the team was built, what the NCAA Tournament landscape looked like a half century ago, and what it was like to run into the UCLA juggernaut in three successive years.

He has been honored three times since leaving USF, and Johnson details what it meant to him to be enshrined in the USF Athletics Hall of Fame, see his jersey number retired alongside the names of Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, and Mike Farmer, and experience his entire team induction into the Hall of Fame this February. 

Johnson concludes by talking about his work with nonprofit boards, his time as a member of the USF Board of Trustees, and why he considers the USF community to be his family.

You can watch the episode on YouTube, and you can catch past episodes on the Tuesday Testimonials YouTube playlist.