Introduction
Trent Aubrey Johnson (born September 12, 1956) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball team. Johnson had previously been the head coach at Louisiana State University, Stanford University, and University of Nevada.
Early life and education
Johnson was born in Berkeley, California. He graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle, Washington in 1974 and played at Boise State University from 1974 to 1978. He received his bachelor's degree in physical education from Boise State in 1983.
Coaching career
Nevada
The University of Nevada, Reno hired Johnson as head coach for Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball on March 7, 1999. This culminated in the 2003–04 season, when Johnson guided the Wolf Pack to a 25–9 record and its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985. Led by stars Kirk Snyder, Marcelus Kemp, and Nick Fazekas, Nevada defeated Michigan State and Gonzaga in the opening rounds of the tournament, before falling to eventual tournament runner-up Georgia Tech in the Sweet 16.
Stanford
Stanford University hired Johnson as head coach of Cardinal men's basketball on May 25, 2004. In his four seasons at Stanford, Trent Johnson had a record of 80–48 (.625). He led the Cardinal to three appearances in the NCAA tournament and one NIT appearance. Johnson's 2007–08 team advanced to the Sweet 16 as a No. 3 seed before finishing with a 28–8 overall record. He was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year following the regular season. Johnson’s teams also reached NCAA Tournament in 2005 and 2007.
LSU
On April 10, 2008, Johnson left Stanford and was named the 20th head coach of LSU Tigers men's basketball. Johnson would go on to win the SEC Coach of the Year award during his first season after compiling a 13–3 regular season record and outright SEC regular season title. His 26–7 overall record, along with the SEC title, would be enough to earn his team its first NCAA tournament berth since 2006. The next two years resulted in poor finishes with 11–20 records both seasons. The 2011–12 season was better as LSU finished 18–14 and received an NIT bid.
TCU
Johnson resigned as head coach at LSU to be named head coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) on April 9, 2012, heading into TCU's inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference after moving from the Mountain West Conference.
In four seasons, Johnson went 50–79 in four years at TCU, and his teams never finished higher than ninth in the Big 12. TCU went winless in Big 12 play in the 2013–14 season. However, Johnson's tenure at TCU included some upsets of top-25 teams, including a 62–55 home upset of #5 Kansas on February 6, 2013. In the 2014–15 season, TCU began the season 13–0 and made the 25th spot on the AP Poll for the week of December 22, for the program's first top-25 ranking in 16 years. TCU finished 18–15 that season after going 4–14 in Big 12 play. This would be Johnson's only winning season at TCU.
On March 13, 2016, TCU fired Johnson.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada Wolf Pack (Big West Conference) (1999–2000) | |||||||||
| 1999–00 | Nevada | 9–20 | 6–10 | T–3rd (East) | |||||
| Nevada Wolf Pack (Western Athletic Conference) (2000–2004) | |||||||||
| 2000–01 | Nevada | 10–18 | 3–13 | 9th | |||||
| 2001–02 | Nevada | 17–13 | 9–9 | T–5th | |||||
| 2002–03 | Nevada | 18–14 | 10–6 | T–3rd | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2003–04 | Nevada | 25–9 | 13–5 | T–1st | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||||
| Nevada: | 79–74 (.516) | 41–43 (.515) | |||||||
| Stanford Cardinal (Pacific-10 Conference) (2004–2008) | |||||||||
| 2004–05 | Stanford | 18–13 | 11–7 | T–3rd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2005–06 | Stanford | 16–14 | 11–7 | T–4th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2006–07 | Stanford | 18–13 | 10–8 | 6th | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2007–08 | Stanford | 28–8 | 13–5 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||||
| Stanford: | 80–48 (.625) | 45–27 (.625) | |||||||
| LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2008–2012) | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | LSU | 27–8 | 13–3 | 1st | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2009–10 | LSU | 11–20 | 2–14 | 6th (West) | |||||
| 2010–11 | LSU | 11–20 | 3–13 | 6th (West) | |||||
| 2011–12 | LSU | 18–14 | 7–9 | 8th | NIT First Round | ||||
| LSU: | 67–62 (.519) | 25–39 (.391) | |||||||
| TCU Horned Frogs (Big 12 Conference) (2012–2016) | |||||||||
| 2012–13 | TCU | 11–21 | 2–16 | 10th | |||||
| 2013–14 | TCU | 9–22 | 0–18 | 10th | |||||
| 2014–15 | TCU | 18–15 | 4–14 | 9th | |||||
| 2015–16 | TCU | 12–21 | 2–16 | 10th | |||||
| TCU: | 50–79 (.388) | 8–64 (.111) | |||||||
| Total: | 276–264 (.511) | ||||||||
| National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||