Brandon Johnson enters the Transfer Portal







Would have been nice to have him back. Really liked his defense, hustle, and that random 3 point barrage against Iowa. Best of luck to him.
 



This is turning into a disaster.
I'm not going to go that far, but it has to be concerning when we hired a coach who's rep comes in recruiting and he has not had the best of luck. Does losing Johnson mean we're doomed, no, but I also don't like that Brandon sat out there clearly interested in coming back and Johnson apparently lost him. And for those that say "he's new he hasn't had time" look at other new coaches, they seem to be fairing well. Yes there is time but this roster now looks disgusting. And trying to sell that to the 22 kids won't help
 




Just pointing out - Race Thompson went into the portal, and he decided to stay at Indiana.

So simply entering the portal does NOT mean that a player can't decide to stay where he was. It just means he or she wants all their options open. In Brandon Johnson's case, that includes testing the NBA waters.

Players have more freedom now. and they are going to test that freedom.
 

I'm not going to go that far, but it has to be concerning when we hired a coach who's rep comes in recruiting and he has not had the best of luck. Does losing Johnson mean we're doomed, no, but I also don't like that Brandon sat out there clearly interested in coming back and Johnson apparently lost him. And for those that say "he's new he hasn't had time" look at other new coaches, they seem to be fairing well. Yes there is time but this roster now looks disgusting. And trying to sell that to the 22 kids won't help
How do you know he was clearly interested in coming back? He was testing the NBA waters but I don't remember him saying anything about looking forward to being back next year. But maybe I missed it.

Not sure how you can say the roster looks disgusting since we have no idea what all these new faces are going to bring to the table. At this point the roster looks very different than last year but tough to know how much better or worse the team will perform with all these new pieces. Not like the 20-21 team left a really high bar of success for the new guys to reach.

I doubt retaining Brandon Johnson for one more year was a high priority for Ben Johnson. If Brandon wants to transfer again so be it, best of luck to him wherever he ends up next season. Until he gets a new home he could still end up coming back as well but I'm not going to lose sleep over it either way.
 




Report is he is leaving option open to coming back. We'll see how it plays out. Many schools are seeing guys come and go and they is magnified by having a new coach.
 

Johnson leaving doesn't move the needle one way or another for me. Next year is going to be tough with or without him. I'd rather give that time to Ihnen and Thompson in a developmental year anyway. The fall recruiting for 2022 and the way the guys we have play together are the defining issues for me. Have a great fall signing players, build a system that people believe in, and we are on our way.
 

With every player leaving the program my prediction for the number of wins goes down.
 

Johnson leaving doesn't move the needle one way or another for me. Next year is going to be tough with or without him. I'd rather give that time to Ihnen and Thompson in a developmental year anyway. The fall recruiting for 2022 and the way the guys we have play together are the defining issues for me. Have a great fall signing players, build a system that people believe in, and we are on our way.

Agreed. At this point, all our top players have left.

So far the way this team is being built, I don't know that we'll have any cupcakes games next year. Then once we enter B1G schedule, it might get ugly fast.

The only hope is that Ben and the rest of the staff can really coach up these guys so that statistically, he can say to potential recruits, look how I molded and improved these players.

Otherwise if we stink it up next year, opposing coaches recruiting against us are going to have a field day.
 

Next year is basically a throw away season. From all appearances it looks as though it’s going to be rough which should be expected regardless if Brandon Johnson is on the roster or not.
 

Report is he is leaving option open to coming back. We'll see how it plays out. Many schools are seeing guys come and go and they is magnified by having a new coach.
Thanks Maxy,
I'd like to see Brandon stay though I thought it wouldn't take this long for him to commit one way or the other.
 

Agreed. At this point, all our top players have left.

So far the way this team is being built, I don't know that we'll have any cupcakes games next year. Then once we enter B1G schedule, it might get ugly fast.

The only hope is that Ben and the rest of the staff can really coach up these guys so that statistically, he can say to potential recruits, look how I molded and improved these players.

Otherwise if we stink it up next year, opposing coaches recruiting against us are going to have a field day.
 

How are you able to coach-up a team in the Big Ten lacking no matchup size in the frontcourt, a player can flash heart & grit but still become overmatched with any form of physical offense in the lane. .It is hard to comprehend no present valued frontcourt transfer has zero interest in Minnesota where he has no competition in displaying his talent 30-plus minutes nightly in a power 5 league....
 


Bummer if he isn't on the team next year.
 


I wonder if our AD fully considered the possibility that all but two players would quit the team upon Pitino's dismissal. Johnson has been set up to fail in Years 1 and 2.
 

Young guys could learn alot from Brandon... he's tough... gritty.... tons of heart and is a hell of a team player. Ill miss him if he doesn't come back.
There aren’t really young guys on the roster next year besides Thompson
 

Big Ten record over/under now at 2.5. I'd take the under.
 

It seems like Ia. State and the Gophers hired new coaches at approximately the same time. Does anyone have a comparison between the two programs as to recruits and hiring assistants.
 

We need a new AD. He hired on the cheap instead of paying for a coach with head coaching experience and some name recognition. I doubt that we would have lost as many players with a stronger hire. Furthermore, we would be getting stronger players from the transfer portal.

The Administration learned nothing from the Pitino hire. They hired someone with inadequate coaching experience and hoped the father's reputation would draw players to Minnesota. We took an unnecessary step backwards with Pitino before he started winning some games. We are going to take a big step or two backwards with our new coach. Hopefully, his learning curve with be quicker than pitino's.
 

I wonder if our AD fully considered the possibility that all but two players would quit the team upon Pitino's dismissal. Johnson has been set up to fail in Years 1 and 2.
Sure hope he succeeds in year 3. 🤞
 




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