WSU men’s basketball hires assistant coach, program’s first GM
Greg Woods
June 13, 2025
The Spokesman-Review
PULLMAN — Washington State has a new coach on staff.
The Cougars have hired Orlando Johnson as a new assistant coach and general manager, according to a Friday release, giving Johnson his first coaching opportunity after a decade-plus professional career as a player. A California native, Johnson grew up playing in the same youth basketball scene as WSU head coach David Riley.
“I’m incredibly excited to be here and be part of this team and staff,” Johnson said via release. “It’s a true honor to step in as general manager, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. Reuniting with Dave, a childhood friend and teammate, makes this experience even more special to start a new beginning here at Wazzu. I look forward to contributing to our roster decisions and supporting the continued development of our student-athletes here on and off the court.”
Johnson, who retired in January after a short stint with a Mongolian professional league called The League, played his college ball for Loyola Marymount and UC Santa Barbara. He was selected in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings, who traded Johnson to the Indiana Pacers, with whom he spent two seasons.
In the years that followed, Johnson bounced around the NBA and overseas organizations, playing for a Spanish team called Laboral Kutxa Vitoria, the NBA G-League’s Austin Spurs, a Philippine club named Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and several other organizations, including ones in Russia, China, Lebanon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Taiwan and Australia.
In parts of five seasons, Johnson appeared in 103 NBA games, averaging 3.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game, playing in 89 of those games with the Pacers from 2012-2014.
But this will be the coaching debut for Johnson, 36, who grew up in Seaside, California, a smaller town about 115 miles south of San Francisco.
“Orlando is a great addition to our staff and the culture we are building at WSU,” Riley said of Johnson, also via release. “We’ve been friends since we played AAU together growing up. Orlando brings invaluable experience from the professional level and global basketball scene to our player development and Cougar program.”
To make room for Johnson on staff, Riley and the Cougs are shuffling around personnel. Director of Operations Sean Suchomel is departing the program of his own volition for a different job, a WSU spokesperson confirmed to The Spokesman-Review, prompting current assistant coach Blake Fernandez to move into an operations role. That opens up a spot for Johnson on the five-slot assistant coaching staff.
WSU’s other four assistants include Jerry Brown, Donald Brady and Pedro Garcia Rosado (all of whom followed Riley from Eastern Washington to WSU last spring) as well as George Galanopoulos, who joined Riley’s staff last summer after spending the previous season as associate head coach of the G-League’s Rip City Remix, an affiliate of the Portland Trailblazers.
As GM, the first WSU has ever hired, Johnson will also have a hand in roster management, a meaningful role as the House vs. NCAA settlement’s approval paves the way for schools to begin directly compensating players via an annual revenue-sharing pool. It’s unclear what kind of financial commitment WSU is planning on making to the men’s basketball team.
Greg Woods: Washington State beat writer for The Spokesman-Review
