Love, Basketball and a Sonic Stall: How two UNK coaches became lifelong teammates

By TYLER ELLYSON

UNK Communications

KEARNEY – On Saturday night, after the final horn sounds and the postgame activities are wrapped up, Drew and Nicole (Ohlde) Johnson will do what they’ve done for years.

They’ll drive to Sonic.

The plan isn’t fancy, and it never has been. Burgers, some tots and ranch, maybe mozzarella sticks to share – all eaten in the vehicle, parked just off Second Avenue. What began years ago as a practical solution for two young coaches working late nights in small-town Kansas has become a Valentine’s Day tradition that has followed them everywhere basketball has taken them.

“Valentine’s Day always seemed to fall on a game night, and we always went to Sonic,” Nicole explained. “It was one of the only places open that late.”

Now married and coaching together at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, the Johnsons will celebrate another romantic holiday the same way they always have – quietly, together and on the heels of a game. The Lopers host Emporia State at 2 p.m. Saturday, leaving little room for candlelit dinners in the middle of February.

“This is our way of saying, hey, it still matters to us, but it’s late in the basketball season and some important games are going on,” Drew said. “We still want to do something together, but it doesn’t need to be this extravagant day.”

SHARED ROOTS

Their Sonic tradition began in Clay Center, Kansas, a community of about 4,200 where Drew was teaching and coaching.

Nicole, a Clay Center native, had recently finished her WNBA career and was living in Manhattan, about 40 miles away, when she began helping with the girls basketball program. Through mutual friends – and a shared life in gyms and film rooms – the two started spending time together.

She saw someone who met life with optimism and energy, always on the go and searching for solutions. He was drawn to her compassion and the way she creates deep connections with the people around her.

“We both enjoy being around people, having fun and just spending time with others,” Nicole said.

Shortly after they first met, Drew asked Nicole out.

“I didn’t know for sure if it was a date,” she said with a smile. “But obviously it was.”

They had dinner at a brewery in Manhattan and watched a movie neither of them remembers. What stuck was how easily things clicked – a shared outlook on life, a mutual love for basketball and personalities that balanced each other from the start.

“I think we just kind of see life the same way,” Drew said. “It’s something to be pursued, enjoyed and made the most of. And, of course, there’s the basketball connection.”

The couple married on May 30, 2015, in Clay Center, with a reception held in an old elementary school gym in nearby Morganville – the same place where they ran basketball workouts together. “It fit us perfectly,” Nicole noted.

Since then, their coaching paths have stayed intertwined. They co-founded Ohlde Elite, an AAU program, and worked side by side at Bethel College and Newman University in Kansas, where they helped rebuild the women’s basketball programs. During their tenure, Bethel reached the NAIA national tournament for the first time in school history and Newman played in its first-ever MIAA Tournament game.

A native of Valley Center, Kansas, Drew was hired as the eighth head women’s basketball coach in UNK history in May 2023, taking over a team that advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament three straight seasons. Nicole serves as the Lopers’ head assistant.

“We enjoyed our time at the stops before this, but UNK is a premier place in Division II basketball and the MIAA,” Drew said. “Being able to coach here and build on the program’s success was really important to us.”

“Kearney also feels a lot like the communities we grew up in,” he added. “When we moved here, like three of our neighbors brought us cookies and welcomed us into the house. Those family values, those Midwestern values are really important to us, too, and I feel like they’re really showcased at UNK and in Kearney as a greater community.”

FINDING BALANCE

That sense of familiarity extends beyond the front door. It also carries into the gym, where the Johnsons navigate a dynamic that draws curiosity wherever they go.

They’re often asked: How does it work – being married and coaching together?

“I feel like when we tell people we coach together, people either tell us, ‘Oh, that’s amazing,’ or, ‘I could never work with my spouse,’” Drew said. “There are definitely moments that can be hard since we spend so much time together in a competitive environment, but for the most part it goes pretty smoothly.”

For the Johnsons, the keys have been clear separation and mutual trust. When they’re on the court, they’re coaches. When they’re at home, they’re partners and parents. One role doesn’t bleed into the other.

“What happens at the game doesn’t have to carry over to the house,” Drew said. “And what happens at the house doesn’t have to carry over to basketball practice. I think that’s really important. Life does move in several different directions, not just basketball, and you have to know how to make that transition.”

That balance is aided by the ways their personalities differ. Drew is emotional and expressive, quick to ride the momentum of a big play. Nicole is calm and composed, bringing steadiness when things speed up.

“Our marriage also works because I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and Nicole is pretty even-keeled,” Drew said. “Those two things balance each other well. If we were both riding the waves of emotion all the time, it’d probably be pretty volatile either on the court or at home.”

This dynamic is easy to spot for those around the program.

“They’re a perfect balance,” freshman center Lynnae Green said. “Drew is more vocal, and Nicole is laid back. Their personalities are almost opposite, so it works perfectly.”

Redshirt freshman forward Abby Richter sees that contrast play out in real time during games.

“Nicole grounds him. She’s the one pulling him back to the sideline when he steps onto the court,” Richter said with a laugh.

Green agrees, noting that Nicole’s presence helps steady the moment when emotions run high.

“She brings him back down to earth,” Green said. “She kind of humbles him in a way.”

Both players appreciate how the Johnsons’ honesty and clear communication shape the team culture, as well as the different perspectives they bring to situations. This creates a closeness within the program.

“It’s definitely a family-like environment,” Richter said. “They’ve gained like 16 children.”

LEADING TOGETHER

The parents of two young boys, ages 8 and 4, the Johnsons approach coaching the same way they approach home life – collaboratively, intentionally and as a team. It’s always “we,” never “I.”

“Our basketball philosophies are the same, but I do think we’re different,” Nicole said. “The things that are his strengths are my weaknesses, and things that are my strengths might be his weaknesses. That’s why we work really well together.”

For instance, Drew has long aspired to be a head coach and is comfortable taking on difficult conversations. Nicole, by her own admission, prefers a different role – one that complements his.

“Drew is obviously a really good leader, and he’s OK having those hard conversations. He’s willing to take that burden on himself,” Nicole said. “And I hate hard conversations. He’s the one who makes me have them at home.”

As a head coach, Drew knows how fortunate he is to have Nicole by his side. Before they met, she was a first-team All-American and two-time Big 12 Player of the Year at Kansas State, where she set program records in career points, rebounds and blocks. The 6-foot-5 post was selected sixth overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft. She won a WNBA championship with the Phoenix Mercury in 2009 and earned two gold medals as a member of the USA Basketball World Championship for Young Women team.

“Having somebody with Nicole’s background and experience on staff has been awesome,” Drew said. “She’s seen a lot of different ways to play and coach the game, and her connections are extremely valuable during recruiting. She could be a head coach if she wanted to be, but we’ve always talked about doing this together.”

Like any good partnership, there are limits, too.

Despite a shared profession – and a lifetime around the game – the Johnsons have learned there are certain lines best left uncrossed. They definitely don’t play basketball against each other.

“No,” Drew said, without hesitation. He tried it once – and lost. “And I’m a sore loser.”

“We will never do it again,” Nicole added with a laugh. “Because I won, and it almost ended right there.”

Those boundaries extend beyond the court. The Johnsons have separate offices, a small but intentional detail that helps create separation in a world where basketball already occupies so much space.

“Not everything is perfect,” Nicole said, smiling. “But I think that’s how marriages work, too, right?”

Away from the gym, their focus shifts quickly to their two sons, Dax and Cooper. Free time is spent at youth sporting events, throwing a football around the yard, riding bikes, coloring with chalk and gathering with neighbors – a rhythm that feels familiar, grounded and distinctly Midwestern.

“We’re not too crazy or wild,” Nicole said.

And on Valentine’s Day, after the game is over and the crowd clears, that rhythm leads them to the same place it always has.

A Sonic stall on Second Avenue. A simple meal in the vehicle. A tradition born out of late nights and necessity – and sustained by a partnership built on balance, trust and the quiet understanding that, even in the middle of basketball season, it still matters.