Liberty assistant basketball coach Derek Johnston joined the Flames’ coaching staff under Ritchie McKay in May 2018, but the coach he played and coached under for 9 years will be roaming the visitor’s sideline when Lipscomb’s Lennie Acuff comes to town.
After a long and illustrious career at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, Lennie Acuff was named head coach at Lipscomb this past season. Johnston played fur Acuff and then was an assistant coach under him prior to joining McKay and the Flames in 2018.
“He’s a heck of a basketball coach, but an even better person,” Johnston said of Acuff. “I got to spend 9 years with him between my playing career and working for him and with him. The way he pours into his players and his staff, honestly, is one of the reasons I’m here to day.”
Acuff won 437 games in 23 seasons at UAH, including 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament at the Division II school, and he finally got his chance to coach at the Division I level this season.
“I was incredibly excited for him because of the person he is,” Johnston said of his former boss. “He was one of the best coaches in the country no one ever heard of. For him to get that opportunity, one that probably he deep down wanted at some point, was incredibly excited for him.”
In 2018, Acuff called McKay when the Flames had an opening on the staff and he suggested Johnston.
“That’s been one of the best hires of my career,” McKay said of Johnston. “He’s an outstanding teacher, fabulous hire by us, and we’re the benefactor of that.”
It will be a different feeling for Johnston when he faces his former coach in the Vines Center on Saturday.
“There will be a few times I know what he’s thinking,” Johnston said of Acuff. “I don’t know, I think once the ball goes up it will be another game.”
