Sports were always a family affair for Kelli Johnson. The Moscow native grew up in an athletic house. Both her parents were coaches and taught physical education. Her father, Gary, also a Vandal, is a member of the 1966 Hall of Fame baseball team. She spent a lot of her youth in gyms and on baseball diamonds, learning and loving sports.
“I really grew up in the gym with them,” Johnson recalls. “My mom coached gymnastics so I was tumbling at an early age. I was on the baseball field with my father as a bat girl. I followed my brother around playing any and every sport I could. Some of my earliest pictures are of me around two years old, barely standing in the backyard with the pitchfork Seattle Mariners helmet taking batting practice or grounders with my dad.”
Johnson was a standout point guard at Moscow High School. Johnson’s Bears held a three-year undefeated streak, winning three straight state titles. As a senior, Johnson was the State A-2 Most Valuable Player by the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
Initially, Johnson thought that she would explore her out -of-state options for college. But Idaho’s persistent pursuit of Johnson felt like a perfect fit.
“My father played baseball at Idaho and my brother also went to Idaho. I grew up going to Vandal games and just being a Vandal fan. In that regard it was kind of a natural fit.
“Idaho was always there. I knew they liked me from an early age and really followed my career all the way through. My father had emergency bypass surgery and Idaho sent flowers. They really showed they cared. I wanted to go and play where I would be valued, not be just another number. It was not what I thought I would do but when it came down to it, it was the right fit.”
By the time Johnson stepped foot in Memorial Gym as a freshman in 1994, Julie Holt was the coach. She shifted Johnson to shooting guard, giving her the opportunity to start right away.
Johnson went on to start all 110 games in her career, currently the third most career starts in Idaho history. The Vandals totaled a 42-68 record during Johnson’s four seasons. Idaho saw improved win totals in all four seasons. Her freshman season the Vandals were just 5-21 overall. In Johnson’s senior season Idaho totaled 15 wins and back-to-back trips to the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament.
“I wish we would have done more in my career. I wish we would have gone to the NCAA Tournament. But I felt really good about where we were when I graduated. The program was ready to get to a point where it was competing. I take a lot of pride in that.”
While the team was not always putting up spectacular numbers, the same cannot be said about Johnson. Her transition to shooting guard proved to be a lucrative move. Her shooting skills increased year-after-year, making her one of Idaho’s all-time shooting threats. Johnson, as a junior, set the school record for most 3-pointers in a game with seven in an 84-46 victory over North Texas. Johnson broke the Idaho school record for career 3-pointers in her junior season. By the end of her senior year she had 207 career 3s, 81 more than Jennifer Clay’s previous record of 126.
Her record for 3s in a game stood strong for 19 seasons, getting matched a handful of times. Taylor Pierce, a freshman in 2015-16, broke the record with nine 3-pointers in a game last season. Johnson’s career 3-point record was untouched for 17 seasons. Since then both Stacey Barr and Christina Salvatore have dropped Johnson into third all-time.
“I am proud that my records lasted that long. I wish they were still standing. I know people are supposed to say, ‘All records are meant to be broken,’ but I took great pride in my 3-point record and most 3s in a game.
“I look back and it is funny. When I broke the career record I did not even know it. I broke it my junior year and no one told me. Coming into my senior year they were writing the media guide and they were like, ‘Oh by the way you broke the all-time 3-point record.’ So there was not a lot of fanfare when I broke it. ”
One of Johnson’s most memorable moments as a Vandal happened 20 years ago this February. The Vandals hosted Boise State in a pivotal Big West matchup. Vandal head coach Julie Holt was absent from the sideline, about to deliver her second child. Johnson scored 13 points and hit the game-winning shot with 3.5 seconds to play, giving Idaho the 67-66 win.
“I remember Julie went into labor,” Johnson recalled. “We were playing Boise State in an afternoon game. She was getting play-by-play updates from her nanny, while she was having a C-section. I hit the game-winner in the final seconds. That was pretty cool. That was one of my best moments.”
Johnson, a successful sports anchor and reporter for CSN Bay Area, has been covering the Golden State Warriors and the San Francisco Giants since 2014. She has also worked in the St. Louis, Washington D.C., and Houston markets.
“It is funny that I have covered a lot of baseball. I was the beat reporter for the Orioles. I covered the St. Louis Cardinals and the Nationals. I have worked football the most.”
She was the beat reporter for the Redskins for eight seasons and helped cover the Ravens during the playoffs. She started heading west and covered the St. Louis Rams during their Super Bowl run and was part of the coverage of Baltimore’s Super Bowl run in New Orleans.
“Now I’m here in San Francisco doing more Warriors with a little Giants mixed in. I have done more with football and baseball than I have with basketball, which is ‘my sport.’ I now say that ‘Baseball is my first love. Basketball is my true love and football is the love I have dated the most.’”
Working on a daily basis with Golden State, Johnson has a lot of interaction with a pair of basketball’s top shooters in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. So could Johnson’s 3-point touch matchup with the pair of NBA champs?
“That is a tough one,” Johnson laughed. “I am not going to win that one. I am a bit rusty right now. I would definitely have to get some time back in the gym.”
