According to Doogie --- Ben Johnson new assistant to Pitino

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Daize said:
No way an assistant is hired simply because of possibly recruiting connections to a single recruit, right? Also if Ben is a Villa 7 dude, wonder what other top Villa 7 assistants there are that would fit the profile of one that would excite if hired as lead assistant?
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Ben Johnson was not hired for Reid Travis. If Dave Thorson is hired you might ask that question. But he's obviously a really good coach on his own merits as well.
I'm guessing Reid needs clues who Ben Johnson even is...."oh, the guy who scored 2,000 points at my school...wow" I'm also guessing that doesn't lead to "I'm going to Minnesota for sure now." I could be wrong...Ben, might have been watching him in AAU or maybe he stops in to help Coach Thorson every summer. Maybe you are onto to something because Dave Thorson coached both guys. Ben is way more qualified than just that connection IMO. Could be just me.

Also, Pitino might be house sitting in someone's home but he doesn't have a house. He likely doesn't have an apartment and if he does, he likely doesn't have furniture and therefore is unlikely to invite anyone over. I don't doubt they met...just doubting it was at Pitino's house.

I like the Ben Johnson hire. I like that he went to school at Northwestern. All the people I have met in my life who went to school at the Big Ten's NW are pretty sharp.
 


Daize said:
No way an assistant is hired simply because of possibly recruiting connections to a single recruit, right? Also if Ben is a Villa 7 dude, wonder what other top Villa 7 assistants there are that would fit the profile of one that would excite if hired as lead assistant?
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Actually it's not all that uncommon. You wouldn't expect to find it in the B1G, but certainly at lesser schools. I don't know if it was ever more than idle speculation, but the reigning czar of AAU basketball in Chicago was mentioned as a candidate to join Illinois in some capacity. I even thought that might be one reason why all of a sudden we got 2 top recruits out of Chicago. Everyone knows Minnesota is clean and not as likely to be scrutinized.
 

howieramone said:
Actually it's not all that uncommon. You wouldn't expect to find it in the B1G, but certainly at lesser schools. I don't know if it was ever more than idle speculation, but the reigning czar of AAU basketball in Chicago was mentioned as a candidate to join Illinois in some capacity. I even thought that might be one reason why all of a sudden we got 2 top recruits out of Chicago. Everyone knows Minnesota is clean and not as likely to be scrutinized.
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The fact that Johnson was already a Big Ten level assistant is evidence enough that he wasn't just brought on for his recruiting connection to Travis.
 

MadtownGopher said:
The fact that Johnson was already a Big Ten level assistant is evidence enough that he wasn't just brought on for his recruiting connection to Travis.
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You connected the dots wrong. I was giving a history lesson.
 


I hope the Ben Johnson rumor is confirmed today. If you read through his bio and articles when he joined the Nebraska staff he is a rising star in the coaching profession. If he does indeed agree to move to MN, Coach Pitino has added an excellent coach to his staff. It will be interesting to see who fills the final coaching spot.
 

60's Guy said:
Also, Pitino might be house sitting in someone's home but he doesn't have a house. He likely doesn't have an apartment and if he does, he likely doesn't have furniture and therefore is unlikely to invite anyone over. I don't doubt they met...just doubting it was at Pitino's house.
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You do know that businesses can rent furnished condos/homes on a temporary basis for people until they purchase their own house. I agree that he most likely has not yet purchased and moved into his own house, but he could easily be living in what most people would call a house.
 

alchemy2u said:
You do know that businesses can rent furnished condos/homes on a temporary basis for people until they purchase their own house. I agree that he most likely has not yet purchased and moved into his own house, but he could easily be living in what most people would call a house.
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I'd be blown away if he wasn't in some nice "University" house or condo, fully stocked, right now.
 




60's Guy said:
Ben Johnson was not hired for Reid Travis. If Dave Thorson is hired you might ask that question. But he's obviously a really good coach on his own merits as well.
I'm guessing Reid needs clues who Ben Johnson even is...."oh, the guy who scored 2,000 points at my school...wow" I'm also guessing that doesn't lead to "I'm going to Minnesota for sure now." I could be wrong...Ben, might have been watching him in AAU or maybe he stops in to help Coach Thorson every summer. Maybe you are onto to something because Dave Thorson coached both guys. Ben is way more qualified than just that connection IMO. Could be just me.

Also, Pitino might be house sitting in someone's home but he doesn't have a house. He likely doesn't have an apartment and if he does, he likely doesn't have furniture and therefore is unlikely to invite anyone over. I don't doubt they met...just doubting it was at Pitino's house.

I like the Ben Johnson hire. I like that he went to school at Northwestern. All the people I have met in my life who went to school at the Big Ten's NW are pretty sharp.
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I once took a freshman level Geology class with Ben Johnson at the U. I was a freshman, Ben was a junior. Nice guy, but definitely not "sharp." If only the guy could have learned to drive to the bucket more often, he could have been something.
 


HouseOfHagen said:
I once took a freshman level Geology class with Ben Johnson at the U. I was a freshman, Ben was a junior. Nice guy, but definitely not "sharp." If only the guy could have learned to drive to the bucket more often, he could have been something.
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Let's hope rock formations don't come up on the recruiting trail.
 

HouseOfHagen said:
I once took a freshman level Geology class with Ben Johnson at the U. I was a freshman, Ben was a junior. Nice guy, but definitely not "sharp." If only the guy could have learned to drive to the bucket more often, he could have been something.
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I'm sure in the one class you had with him you could really determine how smart he was. Please.

I guess I can determine your basketball knowledge based off of one post. And let's just say your b-ball brains are lacking. "If only the guy could have learned to drive to the bucket more often, he could have been something." What could have he become? He maxed out his abilities. His lack of athleticism was what held him back, not "learning to drive to the bucket more often."
 



60's Guy said:
Ben Johnson was not hired for Reid Travis. If Dave Thorson is hired you might ask that question. But he's obviously a really good coach on his own merits as well.
I'm guessing Reid needs clues who Ben Johnson even is...."oh, the guy who scored 2,000 points at my school...wow" I'm also guessing that doesn't lead to "I'm going to Minnesota for sure now." I could be wrong...Ben, might have been watching him in AAU or maybe he stops in to help Coach Thorson every summer. Maybe you are onto to something because Dave Thorson coached both guys. Ben is way more qualified than just that connection IMO. Could be just me.

Also, Pitino might be house sitting in someone's home but he doesn't have a house. He likely doesn't have an apartment and if he does, he likely doesn't have furniture and therefore is unlikely to invite anyone over. I don't doubt they met...just doubting it was at Pitino's house.

I like the Ben Johnson hire. I like that he went to school at Northwestern. All the people I have met in my life who went to school at the Big Ten's NW are pretty sharp.
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Highly likely Ben was recruiting Reid for Nebraska, whether they had a chance for him or not. I think you are right that this does not make it an automatic for the Gophers, but it is one more link between recruit and program. Hope this is true. It would be a great hire for the Gophers and I'm sure a direct response to the masses knowing that we need a local connection. I am so glad little Ricky reads our advice on this board!
 

I never said I knew how smart he was. I said he's not "sharp" based on my experience in taking the same class. He was a nice guy and we talked several times, but he didn't come across as anything close to "sharp." It doesn't take an MD to come up with the conclusion. I think he'll be a great hire and I'm just pointing out my experience with him.

He could have become a much better player. Johnson's strength was getting to the basket. He just didn't do it enough, in my opinion.
 

Hopefully Johnson leads to Reid (De La Salle connection) and Reid leads to Tyus (now that they are on the same AAU team) and Tyus leads to Okafor (package deal). Then Vaughn sees wht's going on and just just decides to join the party, maybe with Rodney Williams nudging him as well.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
The issue with Ryan wasn't whether it would have been fine for him to be on the staff, it's whether he was qualified to be an assistant coach (big difference).
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This is not correct based on what I've heard from mutual friends of Flip. U of MN has policies in place guarding against nepotism. Ryan's hire would have required a Sr. VP at the U of MN to sign off. A little more effort - but not a problem.

So Ryan was not the deal breaker. Nor was Teague unwilling to let Ryan have a position on the staff. The issue was the staff in general and Flip just did not get positive vibes from how the discussion was going. That's why he backed out.

There is no damage here. I've been told by the same folks that Flip is as loyal and 100% behind the program as he ever was. And, quite frankly, it's better for Teague to not have a coach with such superior name recognition and fan loyalty than what Teague has been able to generate so far in his very short tenure.
 


Daize said:
No way an assistant is hired simply because of possibly recruiting connections to a single recruit, right? Also if Ben is a Villa 7 dude, wonder what other top Villa 7 assistants there are that would fit the profile of one that would excite if hired as lead assistant?
Click to expand...

Kansas hired Danny Manning's dad to be an asst. As for Travis, I would guess he's going to a school like Stanford, one with higher academic standards.
 

Halsey Hall said:
Kansas hired Danny Manning's dad to be an asst. As for Travis, I would guess he's going to a school like Stanford, one with higher academic standards.
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I've read that Reid is really interested in the Carlson School of Management at the U.
 


I like Ben Johnson.

Keep in mind that more than likely the Gophers job is just a stepping stone for Pitino. If Pitino turns the team around don't be surprised if he leaps for a bigger name school. Having another young guy on staff who could potentially step in years down the road and take over the team could be a good thing to have.
 

Ls2 said:
That's too bad that he's looking at being a d-bag ;)
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The best player on our team is featured in Carlson brochures and literature. I also believe EE is in Carlson, it's actually helped us get a few recruits.
 


GIP...check the sarcasm smiley at the end.
 



UST82Gopher said:
This is not correct based on what I've heard from mutual friends of Flip. U of MN has policies in place guarding against nepotism. Ryan's hire would have required a Sr. VP at the U of MN to sign off. A little more effort - but not a problem.

So Ryan was not the deal breaker. Nor was Teague unwilling to let Ryan have a position on the staff. The issue was the staff in general and Flip just did not get positive vibes from how the discussion was going. That's why he backed out.

There is no damage here. I've been told by the same folks that Flip is as loyal and 100% behind the program as he ever was. And, quite frankly, it's better for Teague to not have a coach with such superior name recognition and fan loyalty than what Teague has been able to generate so far in his very short tenure.
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Yeah, it's looking like that is the situation with Flip/Ryan now.

However, my point was that the arguments over Ryan Saunders (which now appear to be over nothing, like you pointed out), weren't bashing him because he is Flip's son. They were not wanting him as an assistant because he isn't qualified.

But yeah, like you've pointed out, that is a non-issue. I was just discussing the framework of that past argument.
 



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