Ben Johnson to Xavier

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This whole situation starts to feel like that scene in Saving Private Ryan where the medic is trying to piece the guy's abdomen back together and the patient gets shot in the head.
 

It's official ->

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Ok, so now, even I am starting to get concerned.


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What is the reason, more money, better job title?
 



I see people upset over these changes. I don't understand this thinking. We just hired a good recruiter with a proven history as a coach. I think this is exactly what needed to be done. Changes!!! What has this staff done that gives u warm fuzzy?? Was it the offensive sets u were so impressed with? Defensive? Best thing is to get fresh voices new idea's .
 

Just another quiet off-season for Gopher basketball.

Obviously, unless Johnson spills his guts, we may never know the inside story.

But, as we speculate, there are two basic reasons why a relatively young assistant coach switches jobs.
1. sees an opportunity to advance his career.
2. doesn't like his current situation.

I'll say this - when you're an assistant for one of the youngest head coaches in D1, you could wait a long time for a shot at the head coaching job. So, this could be Johnson looking for a situation where he has a better or quicker path to advancement.

so, this certainly does NOT mean that Johnson is disgruntled, or has issues with Pitino or the Gopher program. And, if he does have issues, I suspect he is too classy to say it publicly.
 

Or since this staff has sucked so far on the court. No defensive or offensive strengths. Coyle said u need to make changes and try improve your staff and get some new ideas. We are 1-1 on upgrades so far let's see who replaces Ben. I am excited about the changes.
 

Assistants move on all the time, but losing two in three days is alarming. The question now is does Richard go for another local guy? We are pretty provincial in Minnesota and the local connection is important for fans, if not players.

FWIW, one of the best decisions Belein ever made was cleaning house with assistants in year 2 or 3 at Michigan. They weren't doing the job and he sent two of them packing at the same time. He upgraded substantially, improved local recruiting and has been to a couple national championships since.

If Richard does as well on hire 2 as hire 1, we'll be in good shape.
 



This is coaches getting out ahead of what easily could be the firing of the head coach after next season.


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short ornery norwegian said:
I'll say this - when you're an assistant for one of the youngest head coaches in D1, you could wait a long time for a shot at the head coaching job. So, this could be Johnson looking for a situation where he has a better or quicker path to advancement.

so, this certainly does NOT mean that Johnson is disgruntled, or has issues with Pitino or the Gopher program. And, if he does have issues, I suspect he is too classy to say it publicly.
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What?

Quick. Give me 5 examples of coaches leaving due to age and an assistant getting promoted to the head coaching job.
 

Well it could be coaches jumping or as other have said - it could be Richard told them to look as he wanted to make changes.
 

It is too bad that Thorson went to drake
 

gopherhoopsguy said:
I see people upset over these changes. I don't understand this thinking. We just hired a good recruiter with a proven history as a coach. I think this is exactly what needed to be done. Changes!!! What has this staff done that gives u warm fuzzy?? Was it the offensive sets u were so impressed with? Defensive? Best thing is to get fresh voices new idea's .
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Exactly. We just watched a season where our staff failed to adapt to the players available and failed to adequately prepare against teams. Tino is starting to surround himself with established, veteran coaches. Perhaps we will see this team be prepared to play. I'm starting to gain some hope for next season.
 

gopherhoopsguy said:
Or since this staff has sucked so far on the court. No defensive or offensive strengths. Coyle said u need to make changes and try improve your staff and get some new ideas. We are 1-1 on upgrades so far let's see who replaces Ben. I am excited about the changes.
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Upgrades will not be known until results are in.
 

I can't imagine Ben Johnson making this move if he was confident in the Gophers prospects for next year. I also wonder if our apparent lack of contact with grad transfers/players in general has been due to our 2 recruiters looking for a landing spot.
 

Don’t think Thorson....

XMan said:
It is too bad that Thorson went to drake
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Was wanted either. The job was open when Thorson was free. Ben may not have liked being passed over for lead asssistant? Just spitballing.

Kinda hoping I’m right because leaving a job in your home town for a lateral move does not say much about the Pitino/Johnson relationship.
 


Personally, I think flipping assistants from time to time is a good idea. Can introduce new ideas, mindsets, and spirit. I also think its good for assistants to change their scenery from time to time and have no issues with BJ deciding to move on to a different environment. Best of luck to him.
 

It could truly be that he was given more money and a promotion!!! Guys, people leave their hometowns for those things. Not always a sign of negative stuff, could be he was approached by Steele and offered the position because he is a nice up and comer? Stop being so doom and gloom, some things are as simple as they seem. Plus other experience for him to take the MN job someday.

What I am interested in seeing now is if we hire another guy out on the East coast again to keep that pipeline. Would still love to have McHale back since Thorson did take the asst. job at CSU. Wonder if someone like Ryan Saunders would be willing to come back from the NBA if we are looking for a young former Minnesotan. Erik Crawford from Northern Iowa?

Good luck Ben and hope to have you back someday!!
 

EG#9 said:
I can't imagine Ben Johnson making this move if he was confident in the Gophers prospects for next year. I also wonder if our apparent lack of contact with grad transfers/players in general has been due to our 2 recruiters looking for a landing spot.
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Maybe a raise and wanting to take care of his family? Pitino is young and not going anywhere and Johnson wants to be noticed by more professionals in his trade? I think that we read too much into this.
 

macgopher said:
Maybe a raise and wanting to take care of his family? Pitino is young and not going anywhere and Johnson wants to be noticed by more professionals in his trade? I think that we read too much into this.
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Could it be that Jeter leap frogged over him as far as responsibility is concerned and this job had better long term prospects.
 

**** with all this happening you would have thought we were good this past season.
 

Put me in the camp of some fresh blood will be good. It's not like Gophers have lit the world on fire with Johnson & Young. I like the Jeter hire, now let's see who Pitino gets to replace Johnson. Pitino is a smart man. He knows this coming season is an important one in his career trajectory.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Put me in the camp of some fresh blood will be good. It's not like Gophers have lit the world on fire with Johnson & Young. I like the Jeter hire, now let's see who Pitino gets to replace Johnson. Pitino is a smart man. He knows this coming season is an important one in his career trajectory.
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Why are people assuming that Pitino wanted Ben to leave or that Ben was worried that Pitino would be here a long time. Xavier has a damn good history of coaches getting big jobs and asst. coaches taking over. That is not the case here. Coaches here usually turn out poorly and take big steps down and with nothing left for the staff. Do love the Jeter hire and really like the roster especially in another poor year in depth of quality in the Big 10. Gophers should be top 3-4.
 

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