Jessica Johnson has been named the new Niles girls varsity basketball coach following the resignation of Phil D’Amico earlier this month according to Vikings Athletic Director Jeff Upton.

Johnson is a 1991 graduate of Niles High School and played for the Vikings under coach Jim Arnold.

She has spent the last two seasons as the Niles JV girls basketball coach and is currently the Dean of Students at Niles High School.

“I am excited for the energy and professionalism that coach Johnson brings to our program,” Upton said. “Having her in school as dean of students has been a huge help with our students. It is always great having successful Viking Athletes return with a willingness to help our program. When coach D’Amico encouraged Jessica to coach our JV team a couple of years ago he predicted she would be the next varsity coach. I believe coach Johnson is well prepared to take over our program.”

D’Amico, who coached Niles to a 21-22 record in two seasons, resigned due to a sudden personal family issue with an elder member of his family according to Upton.

Johnson takes over fully knowing the challenge that is ahead of her.

“I am very familiar with the current state of our basketball program,” she said. “We had many good players graduate last year, however our team has worked hard over the off season and we are working to eliminate costly errors and improve our fundamentals.

“We have been working to establish goals with our athletes, and continue our offseason preparation. I am excited and challenged to take over the program, I look forward to building the program back to success. We have work to do, and we will work hard to obtain success.”

Johnson and the Vikings begin preparation for the 2016-17 season Nov. 7. Niles opens it season Nov. 29 at Edwardsburg.