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Trent Johnson's decision to leave Stanford for LSU is not just a case of a coach leaving a program on the slide for more money and a new opportunity. As Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News explains, Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby delayed extending Johnson's contract for unclear reasons, creating a situation in which he felt underappreciated and open to looking for other jobs.

If these reports are to be believed, then Bowlsby handled this situation extremely poorly. He said throughout the season that he would absolutely get a contract worked out right when the season ended, but nothing has happened in the two weeks since Stanford was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament. Bowlsby had several opportunities to get this deal done in the fall or during the season, but he kept delaying it and then didn't even get the work done when no more excuses could be made.

Now, it's important to note that these are still rumors. However, these rumors come from people very close to the program and have some pretty clear validity. Johnson often stated that Stanford was his dream job. It's obviously possible that he was lying, but almost everyone who's ever come in contact with the man has characterized him as a straight shooter who believes in Stanford's true commitment to academic excellence from athletes. Put simply, it would have taken a lot of ill will to get him to leave the school. Bowlsby showing no love for the Pac-10 Coach of the Year probably would have been enough.

More on Bowlsby's huge error after the jump.

Bowlsby's dawdling gives Stanford few options at a crucial point for the program. The soon-to-be-drafted Lopez twins helped bring the Cardinal back to national prominence, but the Cardinal need to keep recruiting well in order to sustain that success. Johnson was making headway with several elite and near-elite recruits in the Class of 2009, and it's unclear what will happen now. Whatever the case, he was a tireless recruiter who committed to the program's need to find academically-qualified players throughout the country. It's difficult to find coaches with that kind of work ethic and knowledge of the program's unique relationship with the admissions office.

With no Lopez twins and legendary coach Mike Montgomery now at its biggest rival, Stanford was already in a rough situation. Bob Bowlsby just put them in an even bigger hole.