Transformational Purpose Statement: I build relationships with student-athletes to empower them to become leaders in our community and pursue their best in sports and in life.
Tharen Johnson enters his 7th year as the head boys basketball coach at Farmington High School and his 19th year overall with the varsity program.
Johnson’s first year coaching basketball in Farmington was the 2004-2005 season as the sophomore coach and then spent the next 11 years as the varsity assistant and junior varsity coach before becoming the varsity head coach in 2016. In that stretch he helped build Farmington boys basketball from a one win team in 2005 to a Missota conference championship in 2009, its first conference title since 1962. During Coach Johnson’s tenure in the program, Farmington boys basketball had its top three winningest seasons in school history recording 20 victories in 2009, 19 wins in 2014, and 21 wins in 2022. Johnson helped develop five players who went on to be 1,000 point career scorers and has had players move on to play in the Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3 levels of college basketball.
In 2022, the Farmington basketball team reached the section championship for the first time since 2000. The team set the school record for most wins in a season with 21. They also set the school record for most points in a single game with 112. Farmington recorded back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1999-2000 and ended up second place in the South Suburban, the highest finish since joining the conference in 2014. Johnson was recognized as the 2022 section 1AAAA coach of the year. The boys basketball team also earned section 1AAAA team academic champions for their work in the classroom.
Johnson has spent the last 19 years as a math teacher at Farmington High School. In that time Johnson has also coached middle school and 9th grade football as well as serving three years as a varsity football assistant coach.
Coach Tharen Johnson is a 1999 graduate of St. Cloud Tech High School. He went on to attend St. Cloud State University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics education. While attending SCSU, Johnson met his spouse Deborah. Tharen, his wife Deb, and three children; Blake, Reed, and Kailey reside in the community and are excited for the future of Farmington basketball.
