Trent Johnson reportedly in at LSU

Despite rumors that UMass' Travis Ford, Ole Miss' Andy Kennedy, and VCU's Anthony Grant were the top 3 candidates to replace John Brady, it looks like the Tigers have landed Stanford's Trent Johnson.

Johnson took the Cardinal to the Sweet 16 this year and may best be remembered for his uncharacteristic - but nonetheless stupid - blowup in the 2nd round game against Marquette that saw him get ejected from the game. Stanford ended up winning on a last second shot or that would have been a much bigger story than it was. And, with both Lopez brothers bolting for the NBA, it's really not a surprise that Johnson was eager to get the hell outta Palo Alto.

Based on his coaching ability, this seems like a good hire for the Tigers. It seemed like some one with SEC connections - like Ford or Grant - would have been a more logical choice but LSU decided on Johnson. Priority numero uno will be to try and convince freshman sensation Anthony Randolph to stick around for another year. He could certainly use some offensive refinement and about 40 more pounds on his spindly frame. ***UPDATE: So much for that***

As for interim coach Butch Pierre, look for him to land squarely on his feet. My hunch is he'll be back in the SEC as an assistant coach somewhere if he can't land a smaller school head coaching job. He and his 5head did a great job rallying a talented group of LSU players after their souls had been sucked out by the force of nature that is John Brady.