Louisville Basketball: David Padgett adds former top coach Trent Johnson to staff
By Taylor Sturm
The Louisville Cardinals have added a familiar college basketball name to their staff in the wake of the FBI investigation, former TCU Horned Frogs, LSU Tigers, Nevada Wolfpack, and Stanford Cardinals’ coach Trent Johnson.
Amidst the pay-to-play scandal that has rocked the entire college basketball and has already had far-reaching consequences, the Louisville Cardinals are quietly making positive decisions towards their future post-Rick Pitino.
It was announced by Jeff Goodman of ESPN that the Cardinals would add highly-experienced coach Trent Johnson to their staff.
Johnson was the former coach of both the TCU Horned Frogs and the Stanford Cardinals, as well as the LSU Tigers and Nevada Wolfpack. He led Nevada to the Sweet 16 with wins over teams like Michigan State and Gonzaga, helped lead the Cardinals to three NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Sweet 16, helped win the SEC regular season title at LSU, and then floundered in the Big 12 with TCU.
He also boasts Pac-12 Coach of the Year and SEC Coach of the Year honors.
While Johnson’s pending arrival might be partially to do with the termination of former assistant coach Jordan Fair, Johnson will bring with him a ton of experience and a hope that the program can move on from allegedly being at the center of this scandal.
Next: Everything we know about the FBI investigation so far
The stain that this has left on the Louisville program will last for a long time, but that does not mean that the Cardinals can recover – and the arrival of Johnson is a sign that they will recover.