In a move that has hoops fans across the nation scratching their heads, LSU has hired Trent Johnson as its next head coach.
Johnson just completed his most successful season at Stanford, where he led his team to the Sweet 16.
Check that.
It’s hard to lead your team anywhere when you are watching over 28 minutes of the game from the locker room.
Surely you remember the scene: With his team down by one to Marquette, in the second round of the tournament, Johnson was hit with his second technical and sent to the showers with over three minutes left in the first half.
His team was clearly rocked a bit, as the one-point deficit quickly grew to 11.
Johnson wound up missing one of the best games of March Madness, as Brook Lopez hit a short jumper with 1.3 seconds left to complete an exciting one-point overtime win over Tom Crean's former team.
Trent Johnson is stiffing his team for the second time in two weeks, bolting for the SEC conveniently on the heels of the Lopez brothers’ intentions to declare for the NBA draft.
But the bigger question seems to be: Why in the world is LSU hiring this man?
Johnson is West Coast through and through.
Born in California, Johnson played his college ball at Boise State from 1974-1978. After coaching in Boise’s high school ranks for five years, Johnson then served as an assistant at Utah, Washington, and Stanford.
The closest he has gotten to the East Coast was a brief stint as assistant coach at Rice.
Most recently, Johnson served as head coach at Nevada for five years and four years at Stanford.
He is 51-years old.
While there seems to be several red flags around this hiring, two pop out immediately.
The first is Johnson’s age. I have no problem with a team hiring a 51-year old as its head coach. But that 51-year old better be a slam dunk, and Johnson simply isn’t.
In his nine seasons as head coach, he has been to the tournament only four times. He has one conference championship (at Nevada). Johnson's overall record is 159-122.
Secondly, the geography factor. A West Coast guy since birth, Johnson simply has no experience with SEC basketball, or the region itself, for that matter.
Recruiting is recruiting, but clearly other coaches will use Johnson’s unfamiliarity with Southern basketball against him.
It seems that LSU jumped the gun on this one, as there are still several qualified coaches out there. While Travis Ford and Oliver Purnell both turned down LSU’s overtures, the big mystery remains to be Anthony Grant, who has plenty of SEC experience. It is still not certain at this time whether Grant was not interested in the LSU job or vice versa.
Trent Johnson is a great guy and all of that nonsense, but he is not the answer for LSU.
The talent in the state of Louisiana will be enough for Johnson’s teams to be competitive, but don’t expect any conference or national championships from LSU anytime soon.
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6 months ago
Another opinion:
"With a long-term strong connection to the Gulf South Region, the state of Louisiana and New Orleans, Southern California men’s basketball coach Tim Floyd has always been an LSU fan to a certain degree.
'Trent is one of my favorite guys in the business,' said Floyd, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., who played at Southern Miss for his father Lee Floyd and then at Louisiana Tech. Tim Floyd coached at the University of New Orleans and later the New Orleans Hornets.
'I have a great deal of respect for Trent as a coach, but even more as a man. I don’t think there’s a better man in our business. LSU is getting a great coach. He’s great with Xs and Os, he’s very demanding and he does things the right way. I’m really happy for him and for LSU because I think it’s a great fit.'
If anybody should know, Floyd would.
Besides his friendship with Johnson, the two have coached head-to-head seven times since Floyd arrived at USC in 2005-06. The Trojans have won four of those games, and four of the seven meetings have been settled by six points or less."
6 months ago
Another opinion:
"With a long-term strong connection to the Gulf South Region, the state of Louisiana and New Orleans, Southern California men’s basketball coach Tim Floyd has always been an LSU fan to a certain degree.
'Trent is one of my favorite guys in the business,' said Floyd, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., who played at Southern Miss for his father Lee Floyd and then at Louisiana Tech. Tim Floyd coached at the University of New Orleans and later the New Orleans Hornets.
'I have a great deal of respect for Trent as a coach, but even more as a man. I don’t think there’s a better man in our business. LSU is getting a great coach. He’s great with Xs and Os, he’s very demanding and he does things the right way. I’m really happy for him and for LSU because I think it’s a great fit.'
If anybody should know, Floyd would.
Besides his friendship with Johnson, the two have coached head-to-head seven times since Floyd arrived at USC in 2005-06. The Trojans have won four of those games, and four of the seven meetings have been settled by six points or less."
6 months ago
Another opinion:
"With a long-term strong connection to the Gulf South Region, the state of Louisiana and New Orleans, Southern California men’s basketball coach Tim Floyd has always been an LSU fan to a certain degree.
'Trent is one of my favorite guys in the business,' said Floyd, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., who played at Southern Miss for his father Lee Floyd and then at Louisiana Tech. Tim Floyd coached at the University of New Orleans and later the New Orleans Hornets.
'I have a great deal of respect for Trent as a coach, but even more as a man. I don’t think there’s a better man in our business. LSU is getting a great coach. He’s great with Xs and Os, he’s very demanding and he does things the right way. I’m really happy for him and for LSU because I think it’s a great fit.'
If anybody should know, Floyd would.
Besides his friendship with Johnson, the two have coached head-to-head seven times since Floyd arrived at USC in 2005-06. The Trojans have won four of those games, and four of the seven meetings have been settled by six points or less."
6 months ago
Valid opinion. However:
As great a man as Trent Johnson may be, he simply isn't that great of a coach. Xs and Os aside, his teams have been average at best for the majority of his career.
Not sure where Floyd sees the "great fit" at LSU. What is he basing this on?
As for Tim Floyd himself, the guy has never been beyond the Sweet 16 either. I know he is considered a great coach, and I wouldn't argue with that, but he is not on the elite level of coaches, which is why his opinion about a close friend should be dismissed.
I'd be interested to know how many of Floyd's and Johnson's match-ups were between two ranked teams.
Out of curiosity, what source is this?
6 months ago
Good luck to Trent Johnson. He needs an opportunity like anyone else in the coaching field. what about his age? Sound mature and seasoned to me. There is always a sex or age basher around. If the nations can consider voting for a 70 something President, certainly we can consider hiring an experience coach for a college team.
Go Trent!!
6 months ago
Needs an opportunity? The guy just won Coach of the Year in the Pac-10. He makes a lot of cash. It's not like he is desperate for a job.
But between his age (and for the record, the article does read "I have no problem with a team hiring a 51-year-old as its head coach") and his West Coast ties, it seems like an odd fit at best.
I am surely not the only one with this opinion. In fact, I am willing to bet the majority of people who follow the Pac-10 and SEC are equally as surprised.
If that makes me an "age-basher," then so be it.
from 5 months ago
Well, you did kick that old guy in the groin that one time.
5 months ago
I think this is a good hire for LSU. I am not saying I think he will win a National Championship tomorrow, but I think he will do fine and keep LSU competitive. If he can bring LSU to the NCAA on a consistent basis, that will be considered a success. He just can't have the horrible years between great runs. I was also expecting LSU to go after a up-and-coming coach, but from what I understood, new AD Alleva wanted someone from a high academic school background. As far as Anthony Grant goes, I am still confused. There was suppose to be this huge bidding war between LSU and SC, and neither seemed to move in that direction. Still strange to me.
5 months ago
South Carolina went the Darrin Horn route based on Eddie Fogler's recommendation. Fogler is still somewhat of a god at SC, so his opinion mattered a great deal. Plus Horn has 5 years of head coaching experience vs. Grant's two.
Regardless, I still don't know why SC didn't at least interview, and why LSU didn't make a huge push.
Johnson will no doubt bring the Tigers back to a competitive level (and several tournament appearances), but it just seems like they were hiring for "respectability," and not for the same approach as the football team. So many schools now are highly competitive in both football and basketball, and I thought LSU would use this hire to get into that level.
5 months ago
Comparing Johnson to the other candidates, there really isn't anyone else who I'd consider a better candidate right now. 159-122 is still respectable and a Pac-10 coach of the year award ain't too bad. Quite frankly, I was wondering what he was thinking in leaving Stanford to coach LSU. No matter what people might say, this is definitely a step down in prestige if you compare these programs in the past 10 years.
I respect your opinion and I think you make several valid points (though 51 isn't that old), but I'll have to disagree with the fact that Trent Johnson being from the West will hurt him. Hey, as you said, recruiting is recruiting.
Football is a little different, but look at a guy like Les Miles. He's from the Cleveland area, a Michigan Man through and through, and he also coached at Oklahoma State and Colorado. To my knowledge, he had never had much interaction with the South until he took his position in Baton Rouge. He was not that great of a recruiter at Oklahoma State, but it seems like neither that nor his unfamiliarity with the region has hindered his ability to recruit and coach effectively.
Urban Meyer - another Ohio product who coached at Bowling Green and at Utah - went to Florida and had little problem dealing with the different region.
LSU basketball is different because in both above cases, the football teams were already good, but I'd be willing to venture that geographical region has little or no effect on the coach's ability to succeed. Especially in basketball, where it is much more common for a player to play for a school far away from home.
If I were an LSU fan, I'd be excited. If Trent Johnson can pull guys like Kirk Snyder, Nick Fazekas (two studs at Nevada), and the Lopez twins he should do alright for himself in LSU.
from 5 months ago
Daqvid, I agree with just about everything you said. I don't think TJ will have a problem recruiting because of it being in the south. I haven't heard one LSU fan that wasn't excited about the hire. The guy has been to the Sweet 16 twice in the last 5 years.
However, I wouldn't say he is taking a big step down in taking over at LSU. While Stanford has been to more NCAA tourneys in the last 10 years than LSU, they both have had just about equal success. I know getting into the tourney is a big accomplishment, but LSU has been to a Sweet 16 and a Final Four in the last 10 years, Stanford has been to a Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight during that same time frame. Especially when you look at the sucess over the last 5 years for teams like Texas (Sweet 16, 2 Elite Eights), Florida (back to back NC), Kansas (2 Elite Eights, NC), Duke (2 Sweet 16s, Final Four), and North Carolina (Final Four, Elite Eight, National Champions). LSU would be a step down from these programs, but I think they are pretty equal to Stanford.
from 5 months ago
You're right about that Corey. I think I just assumed Stanford had done better during that time frame. I remember Big Baby leading his team to the Final Four, but I just figured they weren't very good during the rest of that time frame.
Maybe LSU seems less prestigious to me because it has always been viewed as a football school first and basketball school second. When I think of SEC basketball, I think of Kentucky, Florida, and Arkansas. I just never acknowledged the fact that LSU puts out some talented teams every now and then. They are pretty equal programs. I'm just wondering...why would he leave his home area (which you would think would be a dream job) to go to LSU? Did he get a lot more money or does he just like some good cajun food?
from 5 months ago
Reports are saying that Stanford did not want him back for some reason. They did not offer an extension. I think he originally used LSU for some leverage for a pay raise, and Stanford never responded. So he took off.
5 months ago
Now that's what I'm talking about, David. A 6-paragraph comment disagreeing with the premise of my article without calling me or my opinions stupid. I love it. Your comment should be a case study on how to intelligently respond to an article.
All very valid points.
To counter, however:
Louisiana in general produces all kinds of athletes, and football has traditionally never had a problem keeping that talent home. LSU also has no competing BCS school in the state, making it that much easier to woo players. Not sure Les Miles plays as large a role as people would like to think.
As for Urban Meyer, that dude is simply a recruiting nut-job.
I think TJ will do a fine job of bringing in players and making the team competitive. But for all the Snyders, Fazekases, and Lopezes, he only has one conference championship. He was 79-74 at Nevada. One good season got him the job at Stanford. The year before this season, Stanford ended up 6th in the Pac-10. Once again, he used one good season to take another job.
As for his Coach of the Year award, Seth Greenberg won the ACC and his team didn't even make the tournament. Billy Gillispie won the SEC award, and UK's season was nothing spectacular. Meanwhile, Billy Donovan has never earned SEC Coach of the Year. Conference awards seem very arbitrary, in my opinion. Did Johnson really do a better job of coaching then Ben Howland or Tony Bennett?
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