COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — New Clemson men's basketball assistant coach James Johnson said Tuesday he was surprised when his former employers at Virginia Tech fired longtime coach Seth Greenberg.

Johnson was hired by Clemson coach Brad Brownell last week after five seasons on Greenberg's staff. Hokies athletic director Jim Weaver announced Greenberg's firing on Monday.

"Yesterday at Virginia Tech was a huge surprise to me," Johnson said.

Weaver said he and basketball administrator Tom Gabbard had made the decision to let Greenberg go last week after Johnson became the second assistant to leave the program since the end of the season.

Johnson said his departure from Virginia Tech was not because of any issues with Greenberg. He said after five seasons with the Hokies, he wanted to take another step in his career by joining Brownell at Clemson.

"This was a James Johnson move," he said.

He takes over for Rick Ray, who was hired as the head coach at Mississippi State earlier this month. Johnson said he and Brownell had known each other since the late 1990s, when he was an assistant at Old Dominion and Brownell held a similar position at UNC Wilmington.

"There are always those guys you think it'd be good to work for," Johnson said. "Brad was one of them with me."

Johnson is expected to help in recruiting the mid-Atlantic states and pick up some of Ray's responsibilities in Florida. Johnson's already been on the road talking to prospects about Clemson.

"I think I can do some good things here," he said, adding that Greenberg had done plenty of good things in nine seasons with the Hokies.

"He made a mark on that program. He's taken that program from being irrelevant to being one of the top contenders in the ACC year in and year out," Johnson said.

Johnson has worked at Elon, Penn State, George Mason and the College of Charleston along with Old Dominion and Virginia Tech. He wants to have his own program one day.

With Johnson's close ties to the Hokies, could he be a candidate for Greenberg's job?

"I don't know about that," Johnson said.

Johnson's not sure what direction athletic administrators want to go with the opening. If he receives a call, Johnson said he'd discuss it with his new boss in Brownell.

"He's my head coach," Johnson said. "He can tell me the right things to do."

Johnson has talked with Greenberg and said his former boss is doing as well as you might expect.

"He had put a lot of time of energy into the program," Johnson said. "I know it's tough for him and the family."

Johnson sees improvement in Clemson thanks to several young, talented players. He also thinks the Tigers can get back to the NCAA tournament after a run of five years was snapped this past season following a 16-15 record. The Tigers ended the season with a 68-63 loss to the Hokies at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Brownell said he hired Johnson because of his experience at many schools, his success at recruiting and because he's a person of high character who'll be a strong role model for Clemson players.

"We've competed against one another several times at multiple schools," Brownell said. "I've been extremely impressed by his work ethic."

Johnson said he's been well received by prospects since joining the Tigers.

"We're in a good spot," he said. "Clemson is on their minds."