This one is getting weird, I think Trent Johnson is trying to convince Morgan to stay but you wouldn't know it from this article.
http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080509/SPORTS/805090325/1006
BATON ROUGE - New LSU basketball coach Trent Johnson does not believe in the fast break when it comes to making his decisions and to letting others make decisions that concern him.
This is why, after a full month on the job, he has not formulated a coaching staff yet. Former Louisiana Tech coach Keith Richard has started working as Johnson's top assistant and was in his office Thursday morning, but the rest of the staff remains up in the air.
Assistant coaches John Treloar and Butch Pierre, who both worked under former head coach John Brady, have standing offers to remain as assistants so long as they adhere to Johnson's coaching philosophy. But they have not yet let Johnson know if they will stay.
"I am excited to have both John and Butch still on board," Johnson said Thursday morning in a sit-down with reporters. "I want to keep them here as long as I can. But as you know, everyone has different philosophies, and they may want to take the opportunity to move on. They can both stay if they want to. But if they leave, is there a list of guys I'm interested in? No question."
Treloar, 51, has been an LSU assistant since 2004. He came to LSU after seven years as an assistant at Indiana. Before that, he was a head coach in the CBA at Wichita Falls, Texas, and in Chicago.
Pierre, 45, came to LSU with Brady before the 1997-98 season and has been the Tigers' recruiting coordinator. He replaced Brady on an interim basis last season and went 5-5. Before coming to LSU, he was an assistant at Kentucky State, UL and North Carolina-Charlotte. The Darrow native played point guard at Mississippi State.
There is a timetable for both assistants.
"We need to be in place by the first of August in terms of question marks," Johnson said.
Asked if Pierre could return at his same salary, Johnson chose not to comment. Pierre is one of the highest paid assistant college basketball coaches in the country at $190,000 a year and has turned down several assistant coaching jobs over the years, including some lower level head coaching jobs.
Neither Treloar nor Pierre could be reached for comment on Thursday.
Johnson is also being patient with LSU signee J'Mison "BoBo" Morgan, a 6-foot-10, 275-pound forward/center from South Oak Cliff High in Dallas who is the jewel of the Tigers' incoming recruiting class signed by Brady and Pierre. The class, which includes three others, is ranked 18th in the nation by Rivals.com.
Morgan is considered the No. 4 center in the nation and No. 25 prospect overall by Rivals.com, but his mother Bianca Morgan has said she no longer wants her son to go to LSU. UCLA is now in the hunt as Morgan recently told the Dallas Morning News that he felt the Bruins would provide "a better fit for me as far as exposure."
Johnson said he still has a chance at keeping Morgan.
"His mother wants him to do something else, but the kid has had great conversations with myself and our staff," Johnson told KALB TV in Alexandria Wednesday night while on a speaking tour with LSU football coach Les Miles. "It's just a matter of a young man sitting down and making a decision based on where he wants to be."
On Thursday, Johnson told reporters in Baton Rouge that he has spoken to Morgan's mother.
"I talk to everybody," Johnson said. "I talked to her yesterday (Wednesday) at 1 p.m. about more or less what had changed from the last time I was there."
Johnson said Morgan's mother was critical of him for not keeping in better phone contact - a criticism Johnson refutes.
"Any kid, 6-10 and 275 pounds, believe me, I've talked to him more times than you will believe," Johnson said. "Any time there's a coaching change, whether a kid is attached to an assistant coach or a head coach, there's going to be some reservations. We're not going to have a kid that doesn't want to be here."
Morgan's high school coach and AAU coach are also involved in his decision making.
"I think right now BoBo is getting pulled from all different directions," Johnson said. "It will take care of itself in the coming weeks. It makes it tough for a 17-year-old kid."
Morgan averaged 13.5 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots a game as a senior for South Oak Cliff, which won its fourth straight Class 4A state title this year.
"He's a very good young man, but is he by any means Shaquille O'Neal? No, he's not," Johnson said. "It's going to take it's time. I've never been in a situation where I'm going to beg."
