LSU Selects Trent Johnson as New Men's Basketball Coach

It has been reported by The Daily Reveille that Louisiana State University will hire Trent Johnson from Stanford as the new men's basketball coach later today. Details have not been released at this time due to finalizing Coach Johnson's contract, however, a news conference has been called for 3:00 pm. CST this afternoon to make the announcement official.

Trent Johnson has led the Cardinal team to a 52-40 overall record in three of his four years tenure at Stanford as the Men's Head Basketball Coach. The team made it to round 16 in this year's NCAA Tournament and has several other appearances in the NCAA Tournaments in previous years. Johnson served as the Assistant Coach at Stanford during 1996-1999, coaching for three seasons with a 78-20 overall record. He led the Cardinal team to a trip to the Final Four in 1998, which was the school's second trip to the Final Four in history.

Johnson coached for five seasons at Nebraska before being named the Head Coach at Stanford. He claimed an overall 79-74 record there and turned the program around, giving the Wolf Pack their very first trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 2004.

Johnson is 51 years old, is married to his wife, Jackie, with whom they have two children ages 24 and 21. Johnson will be adding a page to the history book at LSU, as he will be the first African American to coach the LSU men's basketball team.

Johnson will be replacing the former Head Basketball Coach, John Brady, who was fired in February of this year. LSU's record was 13-18 this past season.

Butch Pierre, the former Assistant Basketball Coach of the Tigers was named the Interim Head Coach for the remaining of the 2007-2008 season. Pierre ended the season with a 5-5 overall record for the games he served as Interim Head Coach. Pierre did an excellent job of rebuilding the spirit of the Tigers (and fans) when he took over late in the season.

Johnson will make a great Head Basketball Coach for the LSU team. He has the know-how, the experience and the will to revamp this basketball team and move forward. And that is exactly what LSU needs right now! I'm sure the players and fans will all welcome him with open arms and warm southern hospitality.

Sources:

The Daily Reveille: http://media.www.lsureveille.com/media/storage/paper868/news/2008/04/10/News/Stanford.Mens.Basketball.Coach.To.Come.To.Lsu-3315548.shtml

Stanford: http://gostanford.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/johnson_trent00.html

USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2008-04-09-johnson-lsu_N.htm