Trent Aubrey Johnson (born September 12, 1956) is a former American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach. Johnson had previously been the head coach at Cal State University Northridge,

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, and

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded ...

Early life and education

Johnson was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. He graduated from Franklin High School in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington in 1974 and played at

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

from 1974 to 1978. He received his bachelor's degree in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

from Boise State in 1983.

Coaching career

Nevada

The

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

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 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

. Led by stars Kirk Snyder, Marcelus Kemp, and

Nick Fazekas Nicholas Ryan Fazekas (born June 17, 1985) is an American-born Japanese former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack. Early career Fazekas attended Ralston Valley ...

, Nevada defeated

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

and Gonzaga in the opening rounds of the tournament, before falling to eventual tournament runner-up

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

in the Sweet 16.

Stanford

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 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

LSU

On April 10, 2008, Johnson left Stanford and was named the 20th head coach of

LSU Tigers men's basketball The LSU Tigers men's basketball team (aka. The Louisiana State University Tigers team) represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The Tigers are currently lead by head coach Matt McMahon. They play their ho ...

. 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

(TCU) on April 9, 2012, heading into TCU's inaugural season in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

after moving from the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

. In four seasons, Johnson went 50–79 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 Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

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.

Louisville

On October 11, 2017, the University of Louisville hired Johnson to fill the assistant coach opening created by new Louisville head coach David Padgett's promotion. Trent Johnson signed a nine-month contract to join David Padgett's interim staff. Louisville will pay Johnson $300,000 in salary in a deal that runs through June 30, the customary last day of men's basketball contracts at Louisville. Johnson was not retained as assistant coach by new head coach Chris Mack following the season.

California

Johnson served as the Deputy Analyst and Director of Player Development at Cal from 2019 to 2021.

Cal State Northridge

Following

Mark Gottfried Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach, basketball podcaster, and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors men's basketba ...

and his staff being placed on leave, Johnson was named the interim head coach of the Matadors. After the season, Cal State Northridge removed the "interim" tag and officially named Johnson the seventh head coach in school history. On March 30, 2023, Johnson announced his resignation as head coach of the program.

Head coaching record

References

External links