Trent Johnson out as Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach after two seasons
Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson is out after two seasons, the Daily News learned Wednesday.
Johnson was named interim coach in July of 2021 while former coach Mark Gottfried and his staff were on administrative leave until December 2021. Gottfried and the school eventually parted ways, and Johnson’s interim tag was lifted in March 2022.
The Matadors went 7-25 this past season. In his two seasons at the helm, the team went a combined 14-48 overall. They won just seven Big West Conference games, going 7-29.
BREAKING: Cal State Northridge men's basketball coach Trent Johnson has been let go.
Johnson was named interim coach after Mark Gottfried's staff was put on leave in July 2021. Johnson's interim tag was lifted last summer and went 7-25 this season.
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) March 29, 2023
With Johnson’s dismissal, the school will begin a search for the program’s fourth coach since 2018. Reggie Theus went 44-105 from 2013-18 and Gottfried went 37-51 from 2018-21.
CSUN’s last winning season was 2008-09 when it went 17-14 under Bobby Braswell, who served as the team’s coach for 17 years, from 1996 to 2013.
In addition to all of the losses this season, the program saw two players leave the team mid-year. Junior guard John Wade III and junior forward Adam Afifi did not finish the season with the Matadors. Wade played his last game on Dec. 31 against Cal State Fullerton. Afifi played his last game on Nov. 29 at Boise State.
Sophomore guard Atin Wright was the team’s only bright spot, averaging 17 points per game and earning All-Big West honorable mention honors.
However, Atin announced Tuesday that he will enter the transfer portal.
“Recruitment (is) 100% open. Looking for a new home,” Atin tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
Sophomore forward Fidelis Okereke has also entered the transfer portal.
The men’s basketball job isn’t the only CSUN coaching position that has seen a lot of change in recent years. The school has had four different athletic directors since 2018, including two as the interim A.D. Shawn Chin-Farrell is in his first year as Director of Athletics.
Dr. Erika D. Beck became the school’s new president in January 2021. Beck replaced Dr. Dianne F. Harrison, who served as the school’s president from 2012 to 2021.
Harrison, a graduate of the University of Alabama, was enthusiastically involved in hiring Gottfried for the head coaching position in 2018, citing their shared Alabama ties. Gottfried was a standout at Alabama as a player before eventually coaching the program from 1998 to 2009.
In April 2021, Gottfried and his staff were placed on administrative leave by CSUN amid an internal investigation into potential rules violations. He and CSUN mutually agreed to part ways shortly after he was handed a show-cause penalty for the violations at North Carolina State. Had Gottfried returned, CSUN would have had to convince the NCAA that he should not be sanctioned while his show-cause order was in effect.
The basketball program has gone a combined 95-204 since the 2012-13 season, including two home losses to non-NAIA/NCAA program Bethesda University, in 2016 under Theus and in 2021 under Johnson.