Trent Johnson Hiring Press Conference (4/10)

Trent Johnson was called a "quality coaching hire" when he was chosen on April 10, 2008 to be the LSU basketball coach.

As he enters season two of his tenure in Tiger Town, those words have proven to be accurate.

The basketball junkie who eats, sleeps (occasionally) and drinks college basketball during the months of August to April, took an LSU squad and molded and shaped them into one of the better programs in the history of the LSU program.

The Tigers finished with 27 wins, tied for the third most wins in a season, and won the Southeastern Conference regular season championship with a week to go with a record of 13-3. LSU returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006, advancing to the second round before falling 84-70 to North Carolina in the closest game the eventual national champions would have to play. In fact, LSU had a second half lead on the Gamecocks and the game was still in the balance entering the final eight minutes. In the opening round, LSU defeated nationally-ranked Butler in a classic first-round 8-9 seed game.

For their work this past season, the Tigers were obviously recognized nationally and justly rewarded, and so was their coach. Johnson was named the consensus 2009 SEC Coach of the Year and a finalist for four national coach of the year honors. Johnson completed a rare double in college basketball in being named Coach of the Year in two different leagues in consecutive seasons having been named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 2008 when his Stanford Cardinal advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. He also became the first LSU men's basketball coach to win the league title and take the team to post-season play in his first year at the school.

What was the reason for LSU's success? First, a veteran group of players made a commitment and understood what Coach Johnson's plan was to continue their development on and off the floor. They learned he was tough and demanding. They accepted new rules in some cases and quickly grasped both the on the court vision offensively and defensively and the off the court vision for an LSU player.

Trent Johnson's record of success continues here at LSU and this year a much younger squad will have to blend with a couple of veterans from last year's championship team. The coach will still be the fierce competitor who exudes and demands toughness from his team.

His devotion to the team, his protective beliefs toward his players and his loyalty to his former players is evident by the fact that four of his former players are now members of the LSU basketball staff. Johnson is a program builder and he has reestablished the base of the LSU program by spending much of the 2009 100th anniversary season visiting with former players and coaches to bring together the past, the present and the future of the program.

That's never been more evident than this past season when former members of the program turned out regularly to watch the Tigers play and Johnson's willingness to call alums and to invite them to be a part of the program. When words of praise were offered by many parties during the anniversary weekend, in true Johnson fashion, he deflected the praise on to the student-athletes whom he molded to perform as he hoped.

Johnson is charged also with the development of athletes both on and off the court. Off the court he is working hard to make sure student-athletes understand the "student" part of their days at LSU. At all three spots in his head coaching career, he has developed not just successful athletes and winning basketball teams, but young men who are having success in life.

In his 10 years combined as a Division I head coach at Nevada, Stanford and LSU, he has won 186 games and taken teams the last seven years to post-season play, including five NCAA appearances.

Johnson's no-nonsense style immediately won believers among fans at LSU who posted an average paid attendance of 10,373, an increase of 1,808 from the year before and the best paid attendance average since the 2000 season. LSU's paid attendance average for the eight SEC games was over 12,000.

The coach's challenge to Marcus Thornton to become a complete player was answered. He continued to be one of the program's greatest three-point threats but also a player that developed his all-around game, including defensive skills. For his efforts, Thornton earned consensus SEC Player of the Year honors.

LSU had two players earn consensus Coaches and Associated Press All-SEC first team honors for the first time since 1990 in Thornton and Tasmin Mitchell. Thornton would be drafted in the second round by the Miami Heat of the NBA and later traded to the New Orleans Hornets where he starred for the team in the summer league. Mitchell returns for his senior season after a strong junior campaign playing for LSU.

At Stanford

Johnson, who also served as a Stanford assistant from 1996-99, made an immediate impact when he returned as the head coach at The Farm in 2004. He was the only head coach in Stanford history to guide the Cardinal to the postseason in each of his first four seasons, with three NCAA Tournament berths in those four years, including a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2009.

In 2009, Stanford earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The team had wins over 22nd-ranked USC, 22nd-ranked Arizona State and an overtime victory at No. 9 Washington State during the course of the year.

In his first season at Stanford (2005), Johnson displayed his leadership in the face of adversity as Stanford dealt with a season-ending injury to its leading scorer while having only nine healthy players to complete the year. Despite that, it was a third place finish in the league and an NCAA Tournament trip for the Cardinal.

In 2007, the Cardinal squad again reached the NCAA Tournament in a year that included five wins over Top 25 clubs, including a 75-68 win over No. 2 UCLA when Stanford overcame a 17-point deficit.

Johnson at Stanford developed great players who again excelled both on and off the floor, headlined by the Lopez twins who were both first round selections in the 2008 NBA draft. Brook was the 10th selection of the New Jersey Nets and Robin was the 15th selection of the Phoenix Suns. Several student athletes in his Stanford tenure also earned academic honors, including Dan Grunfeld who made the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American team twice.

At Nevada

Johnson's first college head coaching position came at Nevada as he revitalized the Wolfpack program in his five years there (1999-04). It was there that Johnson displayed his coaching and recruiting expertise as he transformed the struggling Nevada program to a conference powerhouse.

Prior to his arrival Nevada had never won an NCAA Tournament game. In 2003, Johnson was named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year when his team won 18 games, advanced to the championship of the WAC Tournament and an NIT bid. In 2004 his team posted a school record tying mark of 25 wins, tied for the first time for the WAC regular season title and won the WAC Tournament Championship. Nevada posted upset victories in the 2004 NCAA Tournament over Michigan State and Gonzaga before being edged by national runner-up Georgia Tech in the Sweet 16.

His success at Nevada, including the recruitment and development of standouts Kirk Snyder and Nick Fazekas. Snyder, a WAC Player of the Year, was the 16th player chosen in the 2004 NBA draft by Utah. Fazekas was a three-time WAC POY who was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks.

 
Coaching Roots

Johnson's three years as a Stanford assistant before becoming a head coach coincided with the start of one of the most successful runs in school history. The Cardinal advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1998 and twice (1997, 1998) reached the Sweet 16. The Coach contributed to the development and recruitment of some of Stanford's greatest players including future NBAers Brevin Knight, Mark Madsen, Casey Jacobsen and Jarron and Jason Collins.

Before his stint at Stanford, Johnson served as an assistant coach at Utah (1986-89), Washington (1989-92) and Rice (1982-96). At Washington, he recruited 1992 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Mark Pope, and at Utah, he signed Josh Grant, the 1990 WAC MVP and Naismith Award finalist.

Johnson got his coaching start at the prep level, serving as an assistant coach at Boise High School from 1980-85. While at Boise High School, Johnson coached the sophomore "B" team while also serving as an assistant to Greg Hordemann on the varsity squad.

During his successful playing career at Boise State (1974-78), Johnson finished in the top 10 in scoring and rebounding. In 1976 the Broncos won the Big Sky Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In his junior year, Johnson was named Boise State's Most Valuable Player and in his final season was named All-Big Sky.

Johnson earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education in 1986 and in October 2009, was named a recipient of Boise State's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Johnson also played professionally for the Washington Lumberjacks of the Western Basketball League.

He was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and has served on the NABC Special Committee on Recruiting and Access.

Johnson, who was born in Berkeley, Calif., and calls Seattle, Wash., his home, is married to Jackie and they have two children: a daughter, Tinishia, 26, and a son, Terry, 22.

Trent Johnson brought a wealth of experience to his new job at LSU and it showed in the way the team played and the way it was coached. His knowledge of the game excited longtime LSU fans and former players. He has seen the potential of the program and is busy putting his mark on it.

But most importantly, he can't wait to be on the floor coaching players in the game of basketball and the game of life - at LSU.

The Johnson File
Year: Second
Birth Date: September 12, 1956
Birthplace: Berkeley, Calif.
Hometown: Seattle, Wash.
High School: Franklin, HS
College: Boise State ('86)
Wife: Jackie
Children: Tinishia (26), Terry (23)

College Coaching Experience
1986-89: Assistant Coach Utah
1989-92: Assistant Coach Washington
1992-96: Assistant Coach Rice
1996-99: Assistant Coach Stanford
1999-04: Head Coach Nevada
2004-08: Head Coach Stanford
April 10, 2008 - Head Coach LSU

Conference Players of the Year During Coach Johnson's Head Coaching Tenure
Nevada
Kirk Snyder - 2004

LSU
Marcus Thornton - 2009

Coach of the Year Honors
2003 - Western Athletic Conference
2008 - Pac-10 Conference
2009 - Southeastern Conference

Head Coaching Record: