Trent Johnson Linked to Arizona State Vacancy

Chris Karpman of SunDevilSource.com is reporting that Trent Johnson is on a short list of candidates that Arizona State has reached out to for their currently vacant head coaching position. Karpman reports that the University has also had contact with former St. John's head coach Steve Lavin, Buffalo head coach Bobby Hurley, Duke assistant Jeff Capel, and former Alabama head coach Anthony Grant.

Johnson is no stranger to the Pac-12, as he spent four seasons as the head coach at Stanford, from 2004-2008. He led the Cardinal to three NCAA Tournament appearances in his tenure, including a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2008. Johnson was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year that season. He is also familiar with the region, having spent five seasons at Nevada prior to being hired at Stanford. Johnson also spent three seasons each as an assistant at Utah, Stanford, and Washington. His daughter, Tinishia, graduated from Arizona State in 2005, where she participated on the Track and Field team.

Trent Johnson's contract at TCU is rumored to be for six years, with a base salary of approximately $1.5 million per season, plus incentives. That would leave three years remaining on the deal, meaning that Johnson would walk away from a significant amount of money, should he take a position at another university. Not to mention leaving his rebuilding project that is three years in the making.

For comparison, former Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek's contract included a salary of approximately $1.3 million last season, with bonuses and extensions allowing for as much as $1.9 million. Sendek was fired by Arizona State after nine seasons on Tuesday.

At this point, it seems unlikely that Johnson would leave TCU, considering he still has three years on his contract in Fort Worth. Arizona State would likely have to make a significant financial offer to nab Johnson, beating out other candidates such as Lavin, Hurley, and Capel.