Most days, it’s still dark when Trent Johnson gets to work. “I live on campus, and I usually run or walk in the morning, around 4 o’clock or 5 o’clock,” the head men’s basketball coach says. “There are a lot of other coaches who play golf or have a social life, but I’m a no-maintenance person, and the ideal day for me is going to the gym, having practice, taking a jog. It’s coming to a point now where my wife will tell me, ‘You need to get away from Arrillaga [Family Sports Center] for a while.’ But I don’t look at it as a job; I enjoy what I’m doing.”
As he starts his third season, Johnson is looking at a team with a different makeup than years past. “This is the first time men’s basketball has not had a returning all-league player—or two—since 1993, when [Coach Mike] Montgomery’s team was 7-23,” he says. “But we’ve got 13 guys on scholarship, and there will be competition at each spot. Hopefully, we won’t be in a situation like we had my first two years here, where an injury or two really hurt us.”
The Cardinal lost three veteran playmakers to graduation: guards Dan Grunfeld and Chris Hernandez and forward Matt Haryasz. Senior guard Carlton Weatherby and senior forward Fred Washington, along with junior forward Taj Finger and junior center Peter Prowitt, will be expected to contribute mightily this year. At press time, Prowitt was recovering from a fractured right tibia and freshman Brook Lopez from back surgery.
All eyes will be on Lopez and his twin brother Robin, 7-footers from Fresno, Calif. As with Jarron and Jason Collins, both ’01 and now with the NBA, one plays center (Robin) and the other plays forward (Brook). “It became evident early on that they wanted to play basketball together, and Stanford was a place they always liked and wanted to attend,” Johnson says. “How fortunate are we? How fortunate am I?” Cardinal fans have the next four years to find out.
