Johnson will accept TCU job
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| Source says deal will be at least five years
By BEN LOVE
Tiger Rag Editor
LSU men’s basketball head coach Trent Johnson will accept the same position at TCU, sources officially confirmed for Tiger Rag Saturday.
According to the source, who is close to Johnson and the LSU basketball program, there will be a press conference held at the Fort Worth school on Monday to announce Johnson’s hiring.
He reportedly will receive a long-term deal spanning at least five years. No financial information as to Johnson’s new contract has been released as of yet.
Tiger Rag has also learned through various sources familiar with the situation that Johnny Jones, current head coach at North Texas and former LSU player and assistant, Jamie Dixon, head coach at Pittsburgh, and Reggie Theus, former NBA player and one-time coach at New Mexico State, are among the leading candidates to replace Johnson at LSU.
Former Tiger and NBA Developmental League coach Randy Livingston as well as former Tiger and Lady Tiger assistant Bob Starkey could also be included as assistants on the next LSU staff, particularly if Jones is hired as the head man, according to sources.
UPDATES
- Johnson officially signed on to become the next head coach at TCU early Saturday afternoon.
- LSU released a statement on its end Sunday afternoon detailing Johnson’s resignation from LSU (see below for release).
- Johnson held a 2 p.m. press conference Monday, introduced as the Horned Frogs’ coach.
LSU Release
Trent Johnson, who served as head coach of the LSU men’s basketball team for four seasons, has resigned from LSU to take another head coaching position, it was announced Sunday by Joe Alleva, LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics.
“Sometimes coaching changes work out well for all parties involved, and we will take this opportunity to seek out the best coach for the long-term future of LSU men’s basketball,” said Alleva. “We will move quickly but deliberately to find a coach who will lead our program with integrity and discipline, someone who will recruit effectively in order to build championship teams while inspiring success in academics, and someone who will energize our fan base. I wish Trent all the best in his new job.”
Johnson came to LSU in April of 2008 and led the Tigers to a Southeastern Conference title in 2008-09 with an overall record of 27-8 and an SEC mark of 13-3, winning a first round game in the NCAA Tournament. In the seasons that followed, the Tigers went 11-20 overall (2-14 in the SEC) in 2009-10, 11-21 overall (3-13 in the SEC) in 2010-11 and 18-15 overall (7-9 in the SEC) this past season with a first round loss in the National Invitation Tournament.
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Editor Ben Love is Tiger Rag’s lead reporter on LSU men’s basketball. Reach him at ben@tigerrag.com.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-rFT-uHm4w&feature=related
For A Few Dollars More a new LSU basketball man can start over. Hire a faster gun like we want.
I’m kind of surprised but I wish him good luck. I hope we are able to upgrade our basketball program.
I would love to see LSU finally win the National Championship in Basketball to go with the Football and Baseball Championships!
Geaux Tigers!!!
Only one signee, National Signing Day upon us & 4-5 scholarships available, what would anyone expect?
Good luck Coach Johnson at NTSU. You are a man of character, but it appears that there is no room for good guys in the SEC
Too bad he never was able to get the ‘program” built. Can’t compete with money thrown at their programs by other schools (Ky, Fla, Al, etc.) to get great and “one and done” academic specialists. Too bad. Doug is correct with his last statement that there is no room in the SEC for good guys, My vote goes to Jamie Dixon, a former player or coach (maybe both) at TCU. Wouldn’t it be ironic?
Johnson is a good coach. He will be missed. The program seemed like it was finally heading in the right direction, especially with how many returning players we’ll have. It will be interesting to see who the next head coach is. I doubt Jamie Dixon leaves Pitt.