Athletics

The Athletic Department at Philander Smith College offers quality programs for both men and women. We enjoy the support of our students and the community at-large with our competitive programs in basketball, volleyball and track and field. 

Be sure to check our season schedules for each sport and make plans to join us for a spirited time in the name of Panther athletics!

Philander Smith College participates in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).


Ticket Prices

General Admission - $8.00
Students with School ID - $6.00
PSC Students with ID - FREE
Children 10 & under - $4.00


2010-2011 Student-Athletic Handbook

Panther Coaching Staff

 
James E. Johnson

James Acklin

Assistant Basketball Coach

(501) 370-5261 Office

(501) 370-5260 Fax

Brandon Greenwood '04  (not pictured) Head Women's Basketball Coach bgreenwood@philander.edu (501) 370-5261-Office (501) 370-5260-Fax	Dennis Jones '96  (not pictured) Head Track and Field Coach (501) 370-5261-Office (501) 370-5260-Fax
Devon N. Thompson '02 Head Volleyball Coach/ Sports Information Director dthompson@philander.edu (501)975-6063 Office (501) 370-5260 Fax	Tonya Jones-Isaac Athletic Administrative Assistant/ tjones-isaac@philander.edu (501) 370-5348-Office (501) 370-5260-Fax

COACHING STAFF BIOS

JAMES E. JOHNSON
Athletic Director & Head Men's Basketball Coach

James E. Johnson serves as athletic director and head men’s basketball coach.  Named to the post of athletic director in August 2007, he oversees each sports program and the entire coaching staff.

 As the head men’s basketball coach, in his first season he posted a record of 11-16 and developed two USCAA honorable mention all-America candidates, one of them an Academic All-America candidate.  
 

Johnson was an assistant coach at Philander Smith when the 2006-07 men’s team placed second in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Tournament and he assembled the 2007-08 second place champion women’s basketball team by recruiting a host of talented players and hiring a knowledgeable coach. 

His previous coaching experience includes working at the NAIA,  NCAA Division I and semi-professional levels.  For nine years he was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Western Washington University (1989-98) and a graduate assistant at the University of Arizona (1994-96) under top Division I coaches Lute Olsen and Joan Bonvinici.  Additionally, he spent four years on the coaching staff of the semi-pro Yakima Sunkings (1989-93) in Yakima, Washington.

Johnson's first head coaching position came in 1998 at Tucson High Magnet School in Arizona.  After which, he was named athletic director/physical education director and head boys basketball coach at Tucson Urban League Charter School.  After just two years there, he posted two winning seasons and added three new sports, boy's and girl’s basketball, and soccer, as well as developed the school’s first PE program. 

After three years away from collegiate sports, in 2002 Johnson become a men’s assistant basketball coach and PE instructor at Pima Community College. The following year, the native Arkansan returned home to Little Rock.    

 Coach Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University in 1989 and completed his master's degree in education in 1996 from the University of Arizona. The 1983 Central High graduate is the son of two Philander Smith alumni, Thomas Rainey '67 and Florine Johnson '70. 

JAMES ACKLIN
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach

James Acklin joined the Philander Smith College basketball staff as an assistant coach in July of 2009. Because of his passion for coaching, Acklin has been a long-time volunteer with the AAU National Teams, specializing in working with point guards. 

He is a graduate of Little Rock Central High School where he lettered in basketball from 1980 to 1983. Married for more than 20 years, he and his wife are the parents of two children.

BRANDON GREENWOOD '04
Head Women's Basketball Coach

Brandon Greenwood, a native of Little Rock, Ark., graduated from Central High School where he helped the team to a state championship. After high school he accepted a basketball scholarship to Philander Smith College where he played for four years. After completing his degree in 2004, he was a graduate assistant coach for the men’s basketball team.

In the 2008-09 season Greenwood was hired as the men’s assistant basketball coach at Philander Smith College and  the following year, he was named head women's basketball coach. 

In addition to his duties at Philander Smith, Greenwood serves as basketball coach for Terry Elementary School in the Little Rock School District.

DENNIS JONES '96
Head Track and Field Coach

Little Rock native Dennis Jones graduated from Hall High School in 1975. He later attended Philander Smith College where he earned his bachelor of science degree in psychology. 

Jones was the assistant basketball coach for the girls team at Little Rock Central High School from 1997-1999. During that time the girls went on to win their first conference championship. He also coached the women’s basketball team at Philander Smith College from 1992-1994. During that tenure, the Lady Panthers were ranked #1 in the nation (1992-93) and #2 the following season. Additionally, Jones has taught and coached at Fuller Junior High and, in 2006, started a teen counseling program at Little Rock's Penick Boys and Girls Club.
 
Jones is also a paraprofessional with the North Little Rock School District at Rose City Middle School where he provides community-based classroom instruction for special needs children. He also assists with coaching the girls's basketball and track teams at the middle school. At Philander Smith, Jones is also an assistant coach of the women’s basketball program. 

DEVON N. THOMPSON '02
Head Women's Volleyball Coach/
Sports Information Director 

Devon Thompson, a 2002 graduate of Philander Smith College, became only the second head coach in Panther history when she was named head women's volleyball coach in 2008.

As a four-year player (1997-2000) at Philander Smith, Thompson earned the most dedicated and hard working award and helped her team to third place at the National Small College Athletic Association Volleyball Tournament in 1997. After graduatuation, she landed her first coaching job at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (2002-2005) as an assistant volleyball and bowling coach while attending graduate school for her master's degree in secondary education. 

Coach Thompson has also held positions with the City of Little Rock's Parks & Recreation Department and the Little Rock School District. At Philander Smith College, she serves dually as the sports information director for the Athletics Department.

She is the proud parent of one son, Javion.

TONYA JONES-ISAAC
Athletic Assistant Administrator

Tonya Jones-Isaac, a native of Waynesboro, Ga., holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where she helped lead the UALR Trojans to a Sun-Belt Conference title in 1994. Other honors include serving as team captain in 1994 and 1995 and winning the conference title in women’s long jump at the '94 Indoor Championships before going on to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships. 

Jones-Isaac joined Philander Smith College in a part-time role as administrative assistant in October 2007. Currently, her primary responsibility is to assist the athletic director, but she is also the NAIA Champion of Character Representative for Philander Smith and volunteers as an assistant volleyball coach. Jones-Isaac also plans and coordinates the College's annual Geese Ausbie Classic Tournament in addition to the yearly Athletic Banquet.