SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.—SUNY Potsdam Hall of Famer Rich Johns '72 has been named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Legacy All-American. Johns earned the ITA honor for his "on-court collegiate tennis achievements and his off-court contributions in the sports world and beyond."
 
Johns began his collegiate career at SUNY Adirondack in Glens Falls in 1967. In the no. 1 singles position, he went undefeated and won both the Northeast Collegiate College Singles Championship and NJCAA Region 3 Title. Johns was seeded 15th out of 162 players at the NJCAA National Championships before bowing in the third round of the tournament. He was named Adirondack's Outstanding Student Athlete for 1969.
 
The South Glens Falls native transferred to Potsdam in 1969 and joined the Bears. He never lost a conference match in the top singles position in his Potsdam career. He was conference runner up in 1971 before winning the Bears' only SUNYAC Singles Championship in 1972. A travel ban by then New York Governor Rockefeller prevented Johns from competing in the NCAA Championships in California that year and prematurely ended his collegiate career.
 
After Potsdam, Johns served both as an elementary and middle school teacher in Saratoga Springs. He was also a tennis coach in the district for 38 years. Johns' girl's program won 17 league titles, nine sectional team titles and holds the Section II Class AA record with 85 consecutive wins and a 107-2 mark.
 
Johns has earned numerous other awards and honors during his career, including the 1985 and 2011 USTA Eastern Section High School Coach of the Year Award. He claimed the 2009 USTA National Starfish Award in recognition of his "no-cut" tennis program and positive impact on hundreds of players. Johns was also the 2010 Racquet Sports Industry National High School Coach of the Year. Potsdam inducted him into the Bears Hall of Fame in 1986. He joined the SUNY Adirondack Hall of Fame in 2013 as an individual and 2014 as a teammate. Johns also claimed his spots in the South Glens Falls Bulldog Hall of Fame and Saratoga Springs High School Hall of Fame in 2014. The New York State Basketball Hall of Fame honored him with the John Cahill Award for Community Service in 2018.
 
Johns is the founder of Act With Respect Always, a 501c3 charitable organization. It's "a pay it forward movement stressing the importance of one's personal character." Johns' work with his organization earned him the 2023 NYS School Administration Association Excelsior Award for his leadership and continued work in the field of education.