by Kent Lowe
LSU Sports Information
Originally published in LSU vs. Georgia GameDay Program (Oct. 25, 2008) | Buy Your Copy Now
When LSU Athletics Director Joe Alleva stepped to the podium April 10 and announced the new head coach of the LSU Tigers would be Trent Johnson, people praised LSU for making a choice that would benefit the program for years to come.
While casual fans may not have realized that LSU’s 20th head men’s basketball coach was a strong hire, those who were students of the game knew this was a quality coaching hire with a resume’ of success that was unequaled.
His record of success shows that this is a fierce competitor who exudes toughness and demands it of his players. But while making those demands, he is devoted to his players and very protective of his team. His loyalty to former players is evident by the fact that two of his former players are now members of the coaching staff.
Trent Johnson is a program builder. He is the newest link to the 100-year tradition that is LSU men’s basketball, visiting with former players and coaches to bring together the past, present and the future of the program.
In taking over the LSU program, after very successful stints at Nevada and Stanford, he has in his short time brought an understanding to the players of how hard they must work, and he is developing an understanding by the players of what they must accomplish and be both on and off the court.
“I think you will be really proud of the players on this team up to this point,” Johnson said at a pre-season function prior to the start of practice last week. “One of the things I talked to (the players) about during individual meetings is I thought they did an excellent job in the short four-and-a-half month period that I’ve been here of changing the culture and changing the negativity that surrounds our basketball program.
“This is a group, to a man, that has really bought into what we’ve asked them to do, not what I’ve asked them to do but what we’ve asked them to do and what you want them to do. They really bought in. They’re working extremely hard. They understand ?we’ as opposed to ?me.’ They understand the importance of the legacy of this program and the history of this program. That’s really important to me because I think it’s important to every basketball coach.”
As he has proven in his previous head coaching tenures, Johnson has developed not just productive athletes and winning basketball teams, but young men who are having success in life.
“All I’ve asked them is when things get tough during the course of this year — and there is going to be some adversity — that they stay the course and that they stay together,” Johnson said. “I’m a firm believer that adversity doesn’t build character, it rebuilds it. One thing that we as a staff and I demand from them is that they respect each other, respect the LSU uniform and respect the history of this program.”
Johnson has won 159 games in the last nine years as a head coach and taken teams the last six years to post-season play, including four NCAA appearances. He made an immediate impact when he arrived at Stanford as head coach 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 berth last season in the NCAA Sweet 16.
In explaining the philosophy that he will attempt to instill in his Tigers, he described a style that LSU fans can surely embrace.
“Well, to me, it’s real simple,” Johnson said. “You have to defend. You have to rebound. You have to take care of the basketball with a sense of urgency. One of the things that we are going to do, and it’s going to be demanding and this team wants to do it, is if there’s a loose ball, if there is not an LSU player on it, he’s going to be in the vicinity. He’s going to be on his way to get it. If there’s a rebound to be had, we’re going to be in the vicinity where we are going to get it.
“The one thing that is different in college basketball as opposed to those years when Kentucky was the barometer is it’s really hard to win a game at this level. It’s really hard. All I know is that every time we step on the floor, we’re going to compete extremely hard and be competitive.”
The Tigers open the 2008-09 season with a 1 p.m. game at the Pete Maravich Center against Jackson State on Nov. 15 in the first half of a basketball-football doubleheader with the LSU-Troy football game that night at 7 p.m.
LSU will play a record 21 home games this season, including the special 100th anniversary game against Arkansas on Jan. 31 when the All-Century Team will be announced (voting for that team continues through Nov. 30 on LSUsports.net).
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