AP source: LSU's Johnson to be named TCU coach

TCU is set to hire LSU's Trent Johnson as its next basketball coach.

A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Saturday night that Johnson will be introduced on the Fort Worth campus as early as Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made.

Johnson has spent the last four seasons at LSU, where he was 67-64 after previously taking Nevada and Stanford to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.

TCU, which is moving next season from the Mountain West Conference to the Big 12 is replacing Jim Christian.

Christian left last week to return to the Mid-American Conference as coach at Ohio University. He won at least 20 games in each of his six seasons at Kent State, taking the Golden Flashes to two NCAA tournaments before moving to TCU.

In four seasons at TCU, Christian was 56-73. The Horned Frogs were 18-15 last season, their first winning season since 2004-05 ending with a second-round loss at Oregon State in the College Basketball Invitational tournament.

LSU was also 18-15 last season, losing to Oregon in the first round of the NIT.

TCU is apparently increasing the salary it has paid its men's basketball coaches in the past. Christian made about $590,000 last season

Last August, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved a one-year contract extension to 2015 for Johnson, who stayed at his pay of $1.5 million a season. That was after the Tigers were a combined 22-41 the previous two seasons.

When Johnson got to LSU in 2008, he had a team filled with seniors. The Tigers went 27-8 and won the SEC regular season championship his first season, but went 22-41 combined the next two years.

Johnson went to LSU from Stanford after taking the Cardinal to three NCAA tournaments in four seasons. Stanford was 28-7 and went to the NCAA round of 16 in 2007-08, his final year there.

Nevada also went to the round of 16 in Johnson's final season, 2003-04 when the Wolf Pack was 25-9. He was 79-74 at Nevada from 1999-2004.

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AP Sports Writer Brett Martel contributed to this report from Baton Rouge, La.