Johnny Pelham

Johnny Wilson Pelham was born on January 25, 1967, in Macon Georgia, to Wynn and Brenda Pelham.  Wynn was an attorney, and Brenda was an English teacher.  Brenda was an All-State basketball player during her high school days, back when girls’ teams played 3 on 3.  Johnny has two younger sisters, Selena Hale and Christina Warren.  Johnny grew up in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and began playing basketball as an 8-year-old.

Heavily influenced by his uncle Coach Jesse Hobbs, a legend in southern Georgia, Johnny found his way onto school teams in Dacula, being coached by Eddie Martin, Rollie Pastrick, Rusty Griner, and A.B. McMillan.  He made the varsity squad at Dacula High School as a freshman and became an Atlanta Journal Constitution 1st team All-State performer by his senior year.  He was named Gwinnett County Super 5 as a senior and AJC 2nd team All-State as a junior.

After his high school graduation in 1985, Johnny signed with Middle Georgia Junior College in Cochran, Georgia.  As a sophomore, he averaged 21 points per game and was named All-Georgia JUCO.  In the first year of the three-point line he shot 38% from the new arc.  He then moved on to play at Jacksonville State University for Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame Charter Class inductee Bill Jones.  Johnny averaged 10 points per game in his two-year career there.  His senior year was special, as the team reached the N.C.A.A. Division II Final Four.  After his eligibility was complete, Johnny moved into a graduate assistant position for the next couple of years, helping his mentor Coach Jones and the Gamecocks return to the N.C.A.A. Elite Eight in 1990.

Johnny started his high school coaching career as the head varsity boys’ coach at Mellow Valley High School in Cragford, Alabama.  His team had a record of 17-11 and lost in the Sub-state game to eventual state champion Notasulga.  He also served as head softball coach for the Eagles.  After a year there, he went back to his home state of Georgia to become the head varsity basketball coach and assistant football coach at Jackson County High School in Jefferson.  He turned a struggling program around and won 17 games after the team had won just 4 games the previous two seasons combined.

In 1993, then-principal Frank Smith hired Johnny as the head varsity boys’ basketball coach at Albertville High School.  He had a tremendously successful tenure there which included 85 wins in four years, 4 area championships, 3 Elite Eight appearances, and another Sweet 16 appearance.  The Aggies, led by Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 inductee Alex Beason, won the Marshall County Championship in 1996 and Johnny was named Coach of the Year.

Johnny left A.H.S. after the ’96-’97 season to return to Jacksonville State as an assistant on Bill Jones’s staff during Coach Jones’s final year of coaching.  He then was hired at Buckhorn High School in New Market, where he spent the next six years as varsity boys’ head coach.  The Bucks won three area championships and had a Sweet Sixteen appearance in his six years there.  Johnny was named The Huntsville Times All-Metro Coach of the Year in 2000.

In 2004 Johnny was hired as the first varsity boys’ head coach at the newly formed Asbury High School.  He has also served as athletic director and assistant principal during his time there.  He has watched the school grow from a 1A school to one of the largest 3A schools in the state.  Johnny’s teams at Asbury have been very successful.  The Rams reached the Elite Eight twice and the Sweet Sixteen once during Johnny’s 18 years as head coach.  He was the Marshall County Coach of the Year in 2006.

In addition to his duties as head coach, Johnny has spearheaded the overall athletic program at Asbury High.  The athletic department has grown exponentially with the addition of football, baseball, softball, cross-country, volleyball, and golf.  Facilities have been upgraded including construction of the Rams’ football stadium.  Asbury athletes and teams have excelled in numerous sports under Coach Pelham’s leadership.  He retired from his coaching duties after the 2021-22 season with 529 wins as a varsity head coach.  He continues as the school’s athletic director.

On October 26, 1991, Johnny married the former Paige Abernathy of Spring Garden.  They have two daughters Jessica Pankey and Josie Sullivan and a son Josh Pelham.  They also have two grandchildren Baleigh Grace and Jonah Pankey.

In 1997, Johnny was named the Jacksonville State University Young Alumnus of the Year.  He served for many years on the A.H.S.A.A. Basketball State Tournament Committee. He owns a 213-acre cattle farm in Asbury, which is where he spends most of his time these days.