LSU has reportedly hired Stanford basketball coach Trent Johnson to replace Tigers’ former coach John Brady. Johnson has reached a verbal agreement on a five-year contract with LSU and was expected to take a red-eye flight Wednesday to Baton Rouge after a Stanford banquet, according to Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News. Stanford Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby told The Associated Press in a Wednesday afternoon e-mail that Johnson was given permission to talk to LSU but had not yet resigned. “LSU notified me that they wanted to talk with him [Wednesday] morning as I was leaving Tampa [following the women’s Final Four],” Bowlsby said. “The position probably pays twice what ours does, so I expect he feels he has to listen. Trent [Johnson] has not informed me that he has accepted another position.” Johnson reportedly spoke with LSU officials this past weekend in San Antonio, Texas at the Final Four. Wilner said Johnson will be announced as the Tigers’ coach at a 3 p.m. press conference today. “Repeated attempts to Johnson’s cell phone were unanswered, and messages were not returned,” wrote Randy Rosetta of The Advocate. Wilner said Johnson declined to comment when contacted by cell phone. Several calls to Stanford and LSU’s athletic departments and media relations officials went unanswered. Those able to be contacted said they had no official information. “I don’t know anything about it,” said Stanford Senior Associate Athletic Director Earl Koberlein. “I’ve just been hearing rumors on the Internet.” LSU Senior Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent said Wednesday at 4:40 p.m. that the LSU athletic department had no comment and said a press conference had not been scheduled.
Multiple LSU players told The Daily Reveille they had not heard about the hire as of early Wednesday afternoon, but they said a team meeting had been called Wednesday for 2:15 p.m.
If reports are true, Johnson would be the first black permanent coach of a men’s sport at LSU. Former women’s basketball coach Pokey Chatman and current women’s tennis coach Tony Minnis are the only black coaches in school history.
Johnson led the Cardinal to a 80-48 record and three NCAA tournament appearances during his four-season tenure, including this season’s Sweet 16 run.
Before taking the Stanford job, Johnson compiled a 79-74 record coaching Nevada, leading the Wolfpack to a Sweet 16 during his final season with the team.The former Boise State player had 13 years of college coaching experience as an assistant before taking the Nevada job in 1999.
The Berkley, Calif. native’s name gained steam as a potential candidate for the Tigers’ vacancy when Stanford did not extend his contract and other candidates for the LSU job issued statements dispelling rumors linking their names to the opening.
Multiple coaches linked to the LSU vacancy had released statements by Tuesday taking their names out of contention.
Perhaps the most notable man to back out was Massachusetts coach Travis Ford.
Ford, rumored as LSU’s top choice for nearly a week, issued a statement Tuesday.
“I would like to make clear that I do not want to be considered for the head job at LSU,” Ford said in an e-mail release. “There has been a lot of misinformation circulating abut me and the job at LSU.”
The reports of Johnson moving to LSU come on the wake of Stanford sophomore big men Brook and Robin Lopez and LSU freshman forward Anthony Randolph declaring for the NBA draft.
LSU junior guard Greg Terrebonne said early Wednesday afternoon that while he had not heard anything about Johnson being hired, if the rumors are true he is “just happy that we have a new coach, so we can start preparing ourselves to succeed next year.”
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected].