Earned four letters in basketball
All conference, first team center four years
Set 24 basketball records at WSU
Drafted by the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks in 1975
Gus Johnson is generally regarded as the best center in the history of men’s basketball at Winona State. He is the all-time career leader at WSU in points scored (1,698), rebounds (1,603), blocked shots (606), and he shot 52% from the field during his four-year career.
His teams posted an 82-24 overall record, which included four consecutive conference championships from 1972 to 1975, a 44-4 conference record, two NAIA District 13 championships and appearances at the NAIA National Tournament in 1973 and 1975.
Gus holds four consecutive conference rebounding titles from 1972 to 1975 and is the conference all-time rebounding leader with 819 in 48 games. His single-game achievement of 32 rebounds and season-average of 17.5 rebounds per game are school, state and conference records. He also holds ninth position in the conference all-time career scoring record with 788 points.
“The Big Cat” never missed a game as a center for the Warriors and was named most valuable player at WSU and in the conference in 1975. He was a first team NAIA All-District recipient three times and won third-team NAIA All-American honors in 1975.
Gus is currently an investigator with the Chicago, Ill. police department. He was a detective school commander and is a police department specialist in shooting and firearms technology. He is active in the Chicago South-end Jaycees and served as their vice president in 1982 to 1983.
