Boys’ basketball head coach David “Tee” Johnson, who in four years helped transform Jackson-Reed into a regional powerhouse, announced that he is leaving to become an assistant coach at the Division l University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Coach Tee finished with an overall record of 112-24, including two DCIAA championships, two DCSAA finals appearances, and two DCIAA coach of the year awards. During his reign, the Tigers reached a national ranking of 19th in the 2023-24 season, the highest ever for the team, and ended the 2024-25 season ranked 38th.
“Every year I’ve been here I’ve improved my craft,” Coach Tee said in an interview with The Beacon. “I tell the guys all the time, comfort kills, so on this new journey, I’ll just do my best and never try to get comfortable so I can continue to grow in the business.”
UMass Lowell finished as runners up in the America East Conference in 2023 and 2024, but fell to sixth and was eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament. Since their jump to Division I basketball in the 2013-14 season, the Riverhawks have never won their conference and have never appeared in the NCAA men’s tournament.
Coach Tee will be joined at UMass Lowell by a strong recruit out of the Class of 2025—JR’s own JJ Massaquoi. “I think it’s a blessing that he’s going to be with me in college,” Massaquoi said. “I actually saw the news on Twitter first, and I was like, ‘Whoa, this is crazy,’ because I knew he was trying to get a college job, but I wasn’t expecting it to be with me.”
Massaquoi is not the only Tiger to play at UMass Lowell. Ayinde Hikim, who graduated in 2019 and played under Coach Tee when he was a JR assistant, played at UMass Lowell for three years. This helped build the relationship between Coach Tee and the UMass Lowell program, specifically head coach Pat Duquette.
“I built a relationship with Duquette there to make sure that Ayinde was on track to be a good player and student and graduate from there, and the relationship came from there, and he’s been following me ever since,” Coach Tee said. “He loved the job I did here as coach, and my ability to build relationships with players around the DMV.”
In only a few years, Coach Tee has achieved one of the best reputations out of any basketball coach in the DMV. In addition to coaching JR, he has also been the coach of the 17U team for Team Durant, one of the top AAU programs in the region and the country, where he has helped develop players from around the region.
“I’m so excited for the opportunity, but I hate to leave,” Coach Tee said. “This is a place I call home, a place of family, and because of the community that we’ve built, I’m going to miss it. But I’ll continue to support Jackson-Reed, and show support and love, regardless of how far I go.”
Despite Coach Tee’s departure, players and staff said they are excited to see what he does at the college level. “I just felt pure happiness,” said senior guard Pete Newman. “I’m really happy for him, and he really deserves the job, and I can’t see a better coach for the job.”
“I am so sad but I’m happy for him too. I want coaches to have opportunities like that,” Athletic Director Patrice Arrington said. The AD has already sent out a email to possible coaching prospects. Then, a search committee will start looking at resumes.
Current assistant coach Bill Bourgouin, will be taking over as interim head coach. Arrington expressed confidence in Bourgouin, saying, “he knows this program inside and out,” and adding, “[the basketball team] won’t skip a beat.”
“Obviously it won’t be the same without him, but we learned a lot from him during his time here,” sophomore forward Lane Mahan said. “We’ll be able to use what we learned to continue playing like we did before, and even though he is leaving, we want to be as good as we have been in the past.”•