Ben Johnson is a Disaster

[Spaulding!No!]

Help is coming in the portal, young one...

Gopher season ticket holder since 1993 and I am done. Non competitive and I am over wait for next year. There is no next year. I pay my hard earned money on this crap show. No more. Why would our great inexperienced coach start and give major minutes to this piece of ***+ player - Henley when he knew or should have known he was gone to transfer at seasons end. There is NO chance that the barn will be fun again. Thanks for wrecking the program

It’ll be great there again. Just gotta clean house of the current high school basketball class AA coaches and hire a bonafide flamethrower.

 

[MennoSota]

You have no idea how young I am, or old for that matter. I repeat, get help soon!

Help is coming in the portal young one.

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[MennoSota]

Ridiculous. There are many second year coaches who were/are successful. It was his job to keep the players that were here two years ago before they transferred than get get good recruits and coach up whatever players he had and he has failed miserably. Let’s ride him for five more years and we can start from scratch each year. How many 14th place finishes in the big ten before you say no more. At least we have many scholarships open to recruit Talen Cooper likes

The world is coming to an end. The program is being shut down. All is lost.

 

[Holy Man]

Gopher season ticket holder since 1993 and I am done. Non competitive and I am over wait for next year. There is no next year. I pay my hard earned money on this crap show. No more. Why would our great inexperienced coach start and give major minutes to this piece of ***+ player - Henley when he knew or should have known he was gone to transfer at seasons end. There is NO chance that the barn will be fun again. Thanks for wrecking the program

Program wasn’t great when he arrived. He didn’t wreck it. May be involved in putting it into a semi permanent coma, but he didn’t wreck it.

 

[Hates Monikers]

Yeah, I think we all know what the chances of hiring the right coach are. Monson, Tubby, Pitino, BJ. Maybe Tubby was the closest we got and he never once got above .500 in the Big Ten.

Ben is our best bet right now and also our only coach for now. I hope he nails it in the portal and I know you do as well. Personally, I think he has a 5-6 win team right now with Payne, Garcia, JOJ, Carrington and Christie as the core. Needs to get the right guys to make it 8+

And yes, I am assuming some good offseason improvement by both players and coaches.

Just because we haven't hired the right coach the past few chances doesn't mean we can't do it right next time or we should stop trying. Both Pitino and Johnson were ridiculous reaches for a Big Ten program. We're one competent, experienced coach away from becoming relevant. We need the will and AD to make it happen. We all deserve to be skeptical about whether we have either.

 

[SonoranGopher1]

Just because we haven't hired the right coach the past few chances doesn't mean we can't do it right next time or we should stop trying. Both Pitino and Johnson were ridiculous reaches for a Big Ten program. We're one competent, experienced coach away from becoming relevant. We need the will and AD to make it happen. We all deserve to be skeptical about whether we have either.

You sir, are ridiculous to compare Ben Johnson to Richard Pitino. I’ve been watching Gopher basketball since the Clem Haskins days and I promise you, the Pitino days were better than glen monson, tubby smith, and Ben Johnson. Not sure what y’all are asking for but it seems like insanity to me at this point. Get Johnson out and hire a real basketball coach

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

You sir, are ridiculous to compare Ben Johnson to Richard Pitino. I’ve been watching Gopher basketball since the Clem Haskins days and I promise you, the Pitino days were better than glen monson, tubby smith, and Ben Johnson. Not sure what y’all are asking for but it seems like insanity to me at this point. Get Johnson out and hire a real basketball coach

?? Was Glen Monson related at all to Dan Mason, the football coach?

 

[AZGopher8]

Program wasn’t great when he arrived. He didn’t wreck it. May be involved in putting it into a semi permanent coma, but he didn’t wreck it.

I am impressed at your optimism!

 

[Gold Rush]

I have to admit with the Gophers being this terrible I don't even care about college basketball these days. I am not watching the NCAA basketball tournament --- I didn't ever think this was possible even a few years ago. So thanks to the people that ruined Gopher basketball -- you took away something I really enjoyed.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

You sir, are ridiculous to compare Ben Johnson to Richard Pitino. I’ve been watching Gopher basketball since the Clem Haskins days and I promise you, the Pitino days were better than glen monson, tubby smith, and Ben Johnson. Not sure what y’all are asking for but it seems like insanity to me at this point. Get Johnson out and hire a real basketball coach

Glen Monson may be a real person, but he has not coached gopher basketball. The Tubby Era was objectively more successful than the Pitino Era.

 

[goldengophers]

I have to admit with the Gophers being this terrible I don't even care about college basketball these days. I am not watching the NCAA basketball tournament --- I didn't ever think this was possible even a few years ago. So thanks to the people that ruined Gopher basketball -- you took away something I really enjoyed.

I was thinking the same thing last night, there has been a halo effect on my love for the tournament and the tournament has been a lifelong sports love.

 

[MennoSota]

I have to admit with the Gophers being this terrible I don't even care about college basketball these days. I am not watching the NCAA basketball tournament --- I didn't ever think this was possible even a few years ago. So thanks to the people that ruined Gopher basketball -- you took away something I really enjoyed.

 

[bga1]

Glen Monson may be a real person, but he has not coached gopher basketball. The Tubby Era was objectively more successful than the Pitino Era.

The Tubby era was more successful in wins than the Pitino era. However, that era was very damaging as well. Tubby went 6 years without ever going above .500 in the Big Ten. This further tarnished our program with the perception that even a HOF coach could not win here. IMO it made it even tougher to get a quality coach in here.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

The Tubby era was more successful in wins than the Pitino era. However, that era was very damaging as well. Tubby went 6 years without ever going above .500 in the Big Ten. This further tarnished our program with the perception that even a HOF coach could not win here. IMO it made it even tougher to get a quality coach in here.

I always assumed the reason why Teague had to go so far down his list was related to how Tubby was fired. If I look at a school that has had the limited success we had, and then see that making the tournament and winning a game to get to the round of 32 won't save my job if the AD decides the doesnt think highly of my next recruiting class and thinks I look too disinterested based on the way I sit on my stool on the raised court, that doesnt seem like a very supportive environment. If I'm an up and coming coach, I'm open to a challenge, I'm not open to an environment where I might be fired immediately after having one of the most successful post season outcomes in recent program history.

 

[bga1]

I always assumed the reason why Teague had to go so far down his list was related to how Tubby was fired. If I look at a school that has had the limited success we had, and then see that making the tournament and winning a game to get to the round of 32 won't save my job if the AD decides the doesnt think highly of my next recruiting class and thinks I look too disinterested based on the way I sit on my stool on the raised court, that doesnt seem like a very supportive environment. If I'm an up and coming coach, I'm open to a challenge, I'm not open to an environment where I might be fired immediately after having one of the most successful post season outcomes in recent program history.

I think the turning point with Tubby was probably that the U was unwilling to help him with an ounce of grace for Royce White. Most programs would have worked that one out and given the kid a chance. I don't think he was ever that thrilled here afterwards. That was our shot. I don't know the inside story on the Royce White deal so perhaps the U did the right thing but that team would have been pretty darn good with him and it might have changed the momentum here a lot.

It is possible that Tubby was chafing pretty good with the administration and his attitude and lack of recruiting in the last 2 years sent him packing.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Help is coming in the portal, young one...

You’re transferring to another board/team?

 

[skiumah1]

This is brutal man.

I’m not that into Battle or Cooper as players, but both hitting the portal?

Feels like we’re just a bad program who has accepted being a bad program.

Though he made a terrible hire, I don’t think Coyle will put up with it much longer.

 

[DarthGopher]

This is brutal man.

I’m not that into Battle or Cooper as players, but both hitting the portal?

Feels like we’re just a bad program who has accepted being a bad program.

Though he made a terrible hire, I don’t think Coyle will put up with it much longer.

At this rate we are going to need the Miracle on Wood in 2024.

 

[goldengophers]

This is brutal man.

I’m not that into Battle or Cooper as players, but both hitting the portal?

Feels like we’re just a bad program who has accepted being a bad program.

Though he made a terrible hire, I don’t think Coyle will put up with it much longer.

This is way worse than Brewster at this point, Ben is the worst hire in Gopher sports in my Gopher football, basketball, hockey watching life.

 

[RockChalk]

Help is coming in the portal, young one...

Don't hold your breath. Mediocrity is coming at best.

 

[Gopheritnow]

Ben Johnson, er, Matt Painter Is A Disaster!

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Don't hold your breath. Mediocrity is coming at best.

That would actually be an improvement

 

[Bad Gopher]

That would actually be an improvement

Imagine hosting a NIT game!

 

[DarthGopher]

Don't hold your breath. Mediocrity is coming at best.

.500 basketball would feel like a damn championshp right now.

 

[Ghos345]

This is way worse than Brewster at this point, Ben is the worst hire in Gopher sports in my Gopher football, basketball, hockey watching life.

Or Henley committing to Depaul didn’t see that coming. I thought if not Louisville he would go back out west.

 

[GoodasGold]

At least we can all take pride in our Research University.

 

[007gopherfan]

The seat has to be getting hot hot hot! CBJ better get a good commitment from the portal here pretty soon to give some direction and hope we can land decent portal players.

 

[AZGopher8]

At least we can all take pride in our Research University.

What channel or streaming service can I get that on? I can't find it.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

The seat has to be getting hot hot hot! CBJ better get a good commitment from the portal here pretty soon to give some direction and hope we can land decent portal players.

The player will be from Lamar or McNeese and be undersized.

 

[Bad Gopher]

The seat has to be getting hot hot hot! CBJ better get a good commitment from the portal here pretty soon to give some direction and hope we can land decent portal players.

We've been saying for some time that this off season will tell the tale of the rest of Johnson's tenure here. Part one is retention, and I hope we've seen the last of the transfers. Part two is recruiting.