Going into this season, Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson didn’t publicly speculate on how his latest remade roster would fare in the expanded Big Ten Conference.
But Johnson did express confidence his senior-laded squad would play as if there were no tomorrow because the majority of key players are in their final year of eligibility.
“There’s urgency now,” Johnson said in September. “They’re going to be all-in and invested.”
The Gophers were the preseason pick to finish last in the 18-team league, and with an 0-2 start, they currently sit in the basement with two companions. That was predicted.
But after the Gophers’ 82-67 loss to Indiana on Monday, Johnson said his veteran-led team needed to show “urgency all the time … effort all the time.” That was unexpected.
Given what Johnson said three months ago, Monday’s damning quote from Bloomington was alarming given how a lack of intensity had just been addressed internally after a 90-72 home loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten opener last week.
On Monday, Johnson stayed in the visiting locker room in Assembly Hall for more than 30 minutes and missed his postgame radio interview on KTKL-AM. Play-by-play commentator Mike Grimm said he has never had a head coach miss a postgame chat in his 19 years on the air.
Johnson is in Year 4 at his alma mater and his current team does not, at this point, look like it will advance to the Big Ten tournament; only 15 teams of the 18 teams will make it come March. It appears much further from the U’s first NCAA tournament berth since 2019.
Ten Big Ten wins are often considered a benchmark for making March Madness, but will this Minnesota team even reach five this season? If Minnesota is shut out of postseason play, does Johnson remain the Gophers’ coach for next season?
The buyout to move on from Johnson near the end of the current season is approximately $3 million, according to contract terms reviewed by the Pioneer Press. If let go after his fourth season, Johnson would be owed 75 percent of his base annual salary ($1.95 million) over the final two years of his term, which is currently set to end after 2026-27 season.
Johnson’s salary sits outside the top 60 in the country for men’s basketball coaches, and while college athletics department budgets are tightening given incoming changes, a $3 million sum is not considered exorbitant.
Athletics director Mark Coyle has told the Pioneer Press in multiple interviews over the previous year that he wants the men’s basketball program to be “relevant.”
That is interpreted to be a program at least challenging for an NCAA tournament berth, while also acknowledging the historic struggles Johnson faces with the men’s basketball program. Over the previous 25 years, the U has managed only six seasons with a .500 or better record in Big Ten play.
Relevance also includes fan interest, and crowds at Williams Arena have been sparse this season. More people were inside The Barn for Michigan State in the conference opener, but the announced attendance (8,424) was quite generous in the 14,625-seat arena.
Compared to other nonconference games, there was a better turnout for Central Michigan on Nov. 25, but a significant portion of them turned out to be parents of the young girls performing a dance recital at halftime and left before the second half started.
Johnson nearly turned a corner with his team a year ago, finishing 9-11 in Big Ten play and advancing in the NIT. Then wing Cam Christie went to the NBA, and center Pharrell Payne transferred to Texas A&M and point guard Elijah Hawkins left for Texas Tech. Both Payne and Hawkins received significant six-figure NIL (name, image and likeness) compensation at their new schools.
“Part of our success last year was that guys played their way up,” Johnson said in reference to that trio. “There is a reason why we had the year we had. We had some pretty talented players. When you win, guys have the opportunity to play their way up.”
The concept of playing up, however, should include Minnesota given its perch in the Big Ten. The U’s NIL fund is not as robust as other programs, but Johnson believes his staff and the collective Dinkytown Athletes have allocated their resources well. All-Big Ten forward Dawson Garcia turning down $1 million paydays elsewhere to remain at the U for approximately $600,000 was huge for the Gopher program.
“The money piece? It’s everything. It’s the only thing. I’m gonna be honest about it,” Johnson said before the Michigan State game. “One thing I’ve been proud of is we have been pretty smart and wise with how we’ve done this. Just in terms of return on your investment. I think we have been pretty good.”
After Michigan State coach Tom Izzo beat Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis last March, he said if the U kept that roster intact they could challenge for a conference championship. Alas, it broke apart.
Perhaps Coyle sees college sports’ tectonic plates shifting under Johnson’s feet and deems it out of his control.
Yet more movement is coming. College sports are entering the revenue-sharing era, when players will be paid directly by the schools.
“Hopefully the rev share piece can help kind of even the playing field a little bit,” Johnson said. “… As a head coach (and) you are putting together a team, I’ve got my (general manager) hat on every day. You have to factor that in because that is the new recruiting.”
Revenue sharing will raise the floor for the Big Ten, but NIL has removed the ceiling and isn’t going away. Does Coyle see Johnson as the right coach to lead in this new period of direct payments to players?
Regardless of leadership, the Gophers’ roster will undergo a fifth straight remodeling after the season. Seven of the nine players in the current rotation are seniors.
True freshman Isaac Asuma has been precocious in his first college games. Fellow true freshman Grayson Grove is redshirting, and third-year sophomore Kadyn Betts still hasn’t received consistent minutes. Junior big man Frank Mitchell has been starting games but has been more of a project; he is on a list of transfers who have not quite worked out so far.
Three high school players — primarily given three stars by recruiting services — are signed to join the U next year.
Minnesota’s current roster has been hit with injuries. Starting guard Mike Mitchell, the U’s best shooter and a primarily ball handler, missed seven games with an ankle sprain and was still working himself back into shape in the opening two Big Ten games. Toledo transfer guard Tyler Cochran, believed to be a top defender, has been sidelined all year by foot surgery and might be able to return within the next month.
Johnson also cautioned months ago that Hawkins was getting benched in nonconference play a year ago before becoming one of the top assist men in the nation.
The Gophers also have a long way to go with 20 regular-season games remaining, 18 in conference play. The U’s first two opponents — Indiana and Michigan State — were both picked to finish in the top five in the Big Ten this season, so high level competition might be contributing to the struggles. Maybe brighter days are ahead.
But if the Gophers continue to struggle this winter, hard questions will have to be answered come spring.
