Brooklyn Nets promote B.J. Johnson to assistant GM, reshuffle performance team
As one might expect after a 32-50 season, the Brooklyn Nets have made some changes, particularly in the performance team. In a press release Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets announced a number of staff changes, highlighted by the elevation of B.J. Johnson, the director of player evaluation, to the role of assistant GM and a reshuffle of Brooklyn’s performance team to be led by veteran British sports scientist Ben Williams and holdover Dan Meehan.
Johnson, who came to the Nets six years ago from USA Basketball, replaces Jeff Peterson, now the general manager of the Charlotte Hornets. He joins the team’s other assistant GM, Andy Birdsong. Johnson is essentially Mr. Outside, Birdsong Mr. Inside.
Johnson has won rave reviews as a talent evaluator. In 2019, while the Nets were wooing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Johnson was pushing Nic Claxton who the Nets took at No. 31 with as New York Knicks pick. As the Nets press release notes, Johnson played a “leading role in the evaluation and selection” of Claxton, now the Nets starting center.
In addition, the Nets officially announced that Justin Bokmeyer as director of basketball operations replacing Ryan Gisriel who followed Peterson to Charlotte. Bokmeyer’s hire had been previously reported as has some of the other staff changes.
In the reshuffle of the performance team, Sean Marks added a number of new faces as well as retaining Meehan who has been with the team for six years and had previously been director of sports science. Williams essentially replaces Les Gelis. His title is director of high performance and will be in charge of “overseeing all aspects of the Nets’ performance team.”
Williams, who’s been working with the Nets since early in the summer, comes from the Queens Park Rangers in the English Football League Championship, the level just below the English Premier League in English soccer. Known as an innovator, he’s previously worked in a number of other sports, including cycling and ocean (yacht) racing. He has no experience in basketball.
Beyond Williams and Meehan, the Nets have new faces in several performance-related jobs:
Geoff Staton joins the Nets as head athletic trainer. He comes to Brooklyn after spending the last five years (2019-24) as the head athletic trainer for the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team under former New Jersey Nets head coach John Calipari who left UK after last season.
Noah John has been elevated to head strength and conditioning coach after spending a year in the same job with the Nets G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.
Serra Tumay begins her first season with the organization as the team’s performance dietitian. She has also served in the same role for the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer,
The Nets also used the press release to highlight promotions of several veteran staffers, Makar Gevorkian who has been a capologist for the team the past four seasons has been elevated to vice president of basketball operations alignment & strategic planning while Glenn DuPaul, beginning his 11th season as a player personnel analyst, is now a vice president of basketball analytics.
On the coaching side, new assistant Dutch Gaitley rounds out the team’s coaching staff. He comes to the Nets from Sacramento Kings where he was director of player development working with Jordi Fernandez. Also as reported, Jim McDonnell ,who has been a video coordinator the past two seasons, has been elevated to head video coordinator replacing Travis Bader, now an assistant coach. Foster Loyer, one of college basketball’s all-time leading free throw shooters, will serve as his assistant. Loyer is the son of former New Jersey Nets assistant John Loyer. Kyle Pope joins the video assistant corps from the College of William and Mary.
Nets promote B.J. Johnson as GM Sean Marks reshuffles front office - Brian Lewis - New York Post
Nets promote B.J. Johnson to assistant general manager and announce other front-office changes ($) - C.J. Holmes - New York Daily News
Nets name new assistant general manager in B.J. Johnson ($) - Evan Barnes - Newsday
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Here’s their full biographies, provided by the team:
B.J. Johnson, who begins his eighth season with the Nets organization, has been promoted to assistant general manager. In his new role, Johnson will lead all amateur scouting efforts for the organization. Johnson will continue to oversee Brooklyn’s NBA Draft preparation after playing a leading role in the evaluation and selection of a number of Nets prospects, including recently re-signed starting center, Nic Claxton (31st overall pick in 2019). He spent the last two seasons (2022-24) as the Nets’ senior director of college scouting and player evaluation. The Greensboro, N.C., native was previously promoted to director of player evaluation after beginning his Nets tenure as coordinator of player evaluation in 2016. Johnson spent 11 years with USA Basketball, including seven years as the men’s national team assistant director. Johnson worked with all levels of USA Basketball’s men’s teams, with his primary focus on developing the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team program. Johnson began his career with USA Basketball in 2005 as manager of competitive programs, where he was involved with all facets of the men’s and women’s programs, including player personnel and basketball operations during trials, training camps and competitions. Johnson attended Villanova University, where he was a member of the men’s basketball team and graduated in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a minor in Chinese.
Makar Gevorkian enters his fifth season in Brooklyn and has been promoted to vice president of basketball operations alignment & strategic planning. He most recently served as the team’s director of salary cap for two years (2022-24). The Los Angeles native was previously a salary cap and strategy associate and basketball operations assistant after joining the franchise in 2020. Prior to beginning his career in the NBA, Gevorkian worked for two law firms, where he specialized in private equity mergers, acquisitions and emerging companies. He earned his law degree from the University of Chicago and was admitted to the California Bar after graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a minor in applied mathematics.
Glenn DuPaul is in his 11th season with the Nets and has been promoted to vice president of basketball analytics. In his new role, DuPaul’s primary responsibilities will continue to revolve around player personnel decisions. DuPaul began his tenure in Brooklyn in 2014 as the organization’s director of basketball analytics. In addition to his experience with the Nets, DuPaul worked as an analytics consultant for France’s silver medal winning men’s basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Prior to beginning his career in the NBA, the Macungie, Pa., native worked in professional baseball for two seasons as a member of the Kansas City Royals’ analytics department. DuPaul graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in business/managerial economics.
Justin Bokmeyer enters his first season with the Nets as director of basketball operations. He comes from Major League Soccer where he spent two years as the first general manager of MLS NEXT, the top youth player development program in North America. Bokmeyer previously worked within the NBA’s international basketball operations department, where he helped grow the NBA Academy program and played a key role in the development of the Basketball Africa League. Prior to beginning his career in the NBA, Bokmeyer spent two years as the director of lacrosse operations at West Point. The El Cajon, Calif, native served in the United States Army for 11 years on active duty, including as a platoon leader and company commander. Bokmeyer earned his Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University after attaining his bachelor’s degree in business management and legal studies at West Point, while serving as captain of the Black Knights’ lacrosse team. He played two years of professional lacrosse for the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse.
Ben Williams begins his first season in Brooklyn as director of high performance, where he will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Nets’ performance team. In a career spanning 18 years, Williams has become a high performance and innovation leader and has worked with elite organizations including Queens Park Rangers Football Club of the English Football League Championship, INEOS Grenadiers Pro Cycling, INEOS Brittania, OGC Nice Football in France’s Ligue 1, Red Bull, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Manchester City in England’s Premier League. He has supported athletes and teams en route to multiple world and Olympic honors and recently led the successful World Hour Record cycling project for INEOS Group. Williams is a PhD researcher in sport and exercise science and prior to beginning his career in sports, he served in the British Army.
Dan Meehan is in his eighth season in Brooklyn and has been elevated to the role of assistant director of high performance. Meehan began his career with the Nets as head strength and conditioning coach and after two seasons, he was promoted to director of sport science, serving in that role for five seasons. Prior to joining the Nets, Meehan spent six years as head strength and conditioning coach/sport scientist for the North Melbourne Football Club in Australia. The Melbourne, Australia, native also worked in the same capacity for the Melbourne Tigers of the Australian National Basketball League for one season. Previously, Meehan spent five years as a physical preparation coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport in Melbourne, working with Olympic and World Championship medalists in numerous sports. Meehan received his Bachelor of Exercise Science degree and honors research degree from Australian Catholic University in Melbourne.
Geoff Staton joins the Nets as head athletic trainer. He comes to Brooklyn after spending the last five years (2019-24) as the head athletic trainer for the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team. In addition to his stint with the Wildcats, Staton has extensive experience as an athletic trainer with a variety of collegiate athletic programs at the University of South Florida (2017-18), University of North Carolina (2014-17) and High Point University (2010-14). Staton also previously served as an assistant athletic trainer with the Phoenix Suns during the 2018-19 season and as an athletic trainer with USA Basketball’s U19 Men’s World Cup Team in FIBA competition in the summer of 2017. The Greensboro, N.C., native earned a master’s degree in athletic training from Kentucky after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science with a concentration in athletic training from North Carolina.
Noah John begins his first season in Brooklyn as a strength and conditioning coach after being elevated from the Nets’ NBA G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, where he spent the 2023-24 season as head strength and conditioning coach. Prior to joining the Nets organization, John worked for the Toronto Raptors’ NBA G League affiliate, Raptors 905, as an assistant for the sports performance team. He holds a master’s degree in exercise science and is currently completing his PhD in biomechanics at the University of Toronto. John is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Certified Performance and Sports Scientist (CPSS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Serra Tumay begins her first season with the organization as the team’s performance dietitian. She has also served in the same role for the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, while managing Tohum Nutrition LLC, a nutrition counseling and consulting service. Tumay has previously worked as the head of nutrition for Aston Villa FC, the Olympic sports performance dietitian at UCLA and as a performance nutrition intern with the Cleveland Browns. She earned her master’s degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University after attaining her bachelor’s degree from New York University, where she was a four-year (2009-13) member of the women’s soccer program.
Dutch Gaitley begins his first season as an assistant coach with the Nets. He comes to Brooklyn following two seasons (2022-24) with the Sacramento Kings, where he served as an assistant coach and director of player development. Gaitley previously acted as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets for four seasons (2018-22). The Haverford, Pa., native began his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, where he held several titles over his five-year (2013-18) tenure, culminating as the team’s head video coordinator starting in 2016. Gaitley spent time as a video coordinator for one year (2012-13) at Lehigh University following a graduate assistant season (2011-12) at Temple University, where he earned a master’s degree in sports management. Gaitley began his collegiate academic and athletic career at Monmouth University. He was a four-year (2006-10) member of the men’s basketball team and received a bachelor’s degree in applied communications.
Jim McDonnell enters his third season with the Nets and his first as head video coordinator. He was promoted from assistant video coordinator and began his Nets tenure as a video assistant. McDonnell came from Phoenix, where he served as a video coordinator for the Suns for one season (2018-2019). He spent three years (2019-22) as director of operations for the Fairfield University men’s basketball team after playing professionally overseas in Israel. The Jackson, N.J., native attended Temple University, where he played for the men’s basketball team and earned a master’s degree in engineering management and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with a minor in political science.
Foster Loyer has been promoted to assistant video coordinator after joining Brooklyn last season as a player development and video assistant. He began his professional career after spending five collegiate years at Davidson College (2021-23) and Michigan State University (2018-21) as a member of the men’s basketball programs. His tenure included a trip to the Final Four with the Spartans in 2019. The Clarkston, Mich., native was a three-time Academic All-American and earned a degree in communications studies from Davidson.
Kyle Pope joins Brooklyn for his first season as a video assistant. He comes from The College of William & Mary, where he spent the last year (2023-24) as the director of operations for the men’s basketball program. Pope previously served as a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball team at East Stroudsburg University for two seasons (2021-23) while earning his master’s degree in exercise science. Pope was a two-sport athlete at Saint Vincent College, where he was a captain for two years for both the men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse programs.
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