Johnson-Klein takes minor league job

Ex-Fresno State coach to be GM in Oklahoma.

Published online on Monday, Jul. 21, 2008

Stacy Johnson-Klein, the former Fresno State women's basketball coach who sued the university for sex discrimination and won, is back in basketball.

Just not in coaching. Or with a women's college team.

Johnson-Klein has accepted a job as general manager of a minor league men's basketball team in Oklahoma, the Lawton Fort Sill Cavalry of the Continental Basketball Association.

And as she prepares to put Fresno behind her, Johnson-Klein also is seeking a movie and book deal from her experiences here, hiring celebrity attorney Gloria Allred to help broker a deal. Allred did the same for Amber Frey, the former lover of convicted murderer Scott Peterson.

Johnson-Klein confirmed her new job Thursday afternoon but referred further questions to Allred. Johnson-Klein is scheduled to be introduced at a news conference today in Lawton, Okla., where she began her coaching career 11 years ago at Cameron University.

Johnson-Klein will oversee the entire operation of the CBA franchise, with emphasis on marketing and ticket sales, but will not take part in coaching or basketball personnel moves, owner Mike Brown said.

Signed to a yearly contract for a six-figure salary, Johnson-Klein is expected to move out of her Clovis home in the next few weeks, said her Fresno attorney, Warren Paboojian.

Last month, Johnson-Klein settled with California State University, Fresno, for $9 million following a highly publicized trial. A jury originally awarded her a $19.1 million judgment.

Paboojian said no universities have shown interest in hiring Johnson-Klein for any women's basketball job because of the allegations and testimony from her trial. He added that Johnson-Klein remains interested in coaching college women's basketball but believes her reputation has been tarnished by Fresno State.

Johnson-Klein is being hired to help revive a Lawton Fort Sill Cavalry team that nearly folded midseason before the franchise was bought by Brown's group.

The team lost about $350,000 in its first season, according to co-owner John Zelbst in an Associated Press article published May 1.

Brown said the team liked Johnson-Klein because of her work as head women's basketball coach at Cameron 1997-2000.

During Johnson-Klein's 21/2 seasons at Fresno State, the Bulldogs played in front of some of the largest crowds in program history.

"The way we see it, all the things she was involved with in the past are just that, in the past," said Brown, referring to Johnson-Klein's legal issues at Fresno State. "She did such a great job at Cameron, and we followed her career along the way. She's a hard worker and a great promoter.

"And in minor-league sports, you need to have people who hustle and work hard and know how to please their season-ticket holders. She has a great track record of doing that."

The Lawton Fort Sill Cavalry is the CBA's defending champ and is coached by former NBA All-Star Micheal Ray Richardson.

The CBA had 10 teams last year, but that number is down to six for the upcoming season that starts in December.

The CBA had been the development league for the NBA for 20 years until 2001, when the league declared bankruptcy under the primary ownership of Isiah Thomas.

The NBA attempted to buy the CBA from Thomas but was rejected. The NBA then launched its own minor league, the NBA Development League.

Later in 2001, the CBA and teams from the International Basketball Association merged and operated under the CBA's names and logo. But franchises have struggled to stay financially afloat each year since.