Trent Johnson planning to dip to LSU

ESPN.com is reporting that Stanford basketball coach Trent Johnson has verbally agreed to be the new coach of LSU after a tenuous 4 years at Stanford. Coach Johnson got his first tournament wins with the Cardinal this season when the team made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001. The tournament wasn't so sweet after they lost to the Texas Longhorns, 82-62. Johnson has one more year remaining on a 5-year contract.

Well, I can't say that I'm really surprised about this. At the end of every season it seemed like he was always in danger of getting fired after quick exits from the NCAA tournament. Plus LSU can offer Johnson double what he's making currently at Stanford. Given a much higher salary, the stringent restrictions on the types of players he can recruit to Stanford, the high bar for academic eligibility, the Lopez twins leaving the program for the NBA, and that Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby didn't seem like he wanted to keep Johnson around for the long haul (his contract still hadn't been renewed), leaving seemed like the sensible thing for him to do. I definitely can't blame him for making that gwap. haha

I'm just mad because his timing definitely screws us over. I mean, ex-Stanford coach Mike Montgomery just accepted the job over at rival Cal. I'm sure Monty would have much rather come back to coach the Cardinal than the Bears. He had been some sort of consultant/liaison for Stanford the past couple of years too. Moreover, the team is right in the middle of recruiting season. In fact, Stanford had a recruit, Ryan Kelly, from North Carolina who was scheduled to fly out to the Bay Area today with his parents for an unofficial visit. Scout.com reported that once he heard about Trent Johnson leaving Stanford, he and his folks turned right around and went back home. They didn't even get on the plane and just canceled the whole trip! Bowlsby needs to find a replacement quick before more recruits follow suit.

It seemed like Coach Montgomery would have been the perfect guy for the job. Is there anyway he can back out of his deal with Cal? Sure it'll be much easier to recruit and keep players academically eligible at Cal, but he has such an affinity with Stanford that I think he'd be willing to deal with all the extra hassles that come with being a Stanford coach. I mean he dealt with it just fine for 18 years before leaving for the Golden State Warriors right?

I'm afraid that Stanford's going to have a tough time even keeping the next coach they hire because those hassles will still be there. I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard that Stanford cannot pay its coaches more than the highest-paid professor. It's in the bylaws or something like that. So unless one of the professors discovers the cure for AIDS, it's unlikely that the coaches will be paid significantly more in the future. They're going to need someone who both loves the school and has enough money where it's a non issue.

An already difficult next year for the Stanford program is looking even more rough...