ESPN: Winners and losers of men's college basketball's 2021-22 transfer season (Losers: Minnesota)

BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

Losers:

Minnesota Golden Gophers: New head coach Ben Johnson did a solid job of getting an impressive five-man crop of mid-major transfers to join the Golden Gophers this offseason, but he needed to replace essentially last season's entire roster. Star guard Marcus Carr (Texas) was arguably the most talented transfer all spring, while fellow starters Liam Robbins (Vanderbilt), Brandon Johnson (DePaul), Both Gach (Utah) and Gabe Kalscheur (Iowa State) all entered the portal, as did key rotation players Jamal Mashburn Jr. (New Mexico) and Tre' Williams (Oregon State).


Go Gophers!!
 


Yep, we have to be considered losers of the transfer portal but this article makes the necessary point that Johnson had a much heavier lift than the overwhelming majority of coaches. Some low level programs had similar conditions but programs at that level often are replacing a lot of players each year because they recruit heavily from JUCOS. The only other power conference team I can think of with similar replacement demands was Georgia.

I agree that he did a pretty solid job recruiting the guards but if you don't count a swing man like Battle or Fox (who probably is a de facto 2022 recruit at this point) the front court recruiting has to be considered below expectations.
 


All I want to see is systems, effort/hustle for 48 minutes in year zero - lay the groundwork for the future.
Agreed, and not so much for the "establishing of culture" that people talk about, because there is going to be so much turnover that I don't see much carry over from year 1 to year 2, but more from the angle of evidence that players are influenced/listen to this coaching staff. It's going to be tough because its going to get ugly, but we will see how effective this staff is. That is the best I can see coming out of this year.
 


Agreed, and not so much for the "establishing of culture" that people talk about, because there is going to be so much turnover that I don't see much carry over from year 1 to year 2, but more from the angle of evidence that players are influenced/listen to this coaching staff. It's going to be tough because its going to get ugly, but we will see how effective this staff is. That is the best I can see coming out of this year.
I'm excited and thinks that Ben's genuine behavior will be an amazing asset in recruiting, like Fleck's. Two very different personalities, but with all the garbage in the world now and authenticness in short supply, it separates one from their contemporaries, especially to mothers.
 


I agree with addition by subtraction. Yeah all those guys we lost could have probably contributed. But just like they needed a fresh start, some of us fans needed a fresh start with the players. I'll probably follow most of these guys to see how they do, but I'm excited for Ben and Thorson. Getting Carrington and Payne is huge, hopefully Joseph this week too. I'm getting more and more excited, if we keep getting MN kids, Tre is gonna decommit from Sparty and come here!!!!
 

It is a cute exercise to just evaluate the players that came and went, but it also has to be with the understanding that we subtracted one coach and added another. Some of the movement would not have happen if we had kept our coach, but then we would not have started the next chapter. It is like spring cleaning, some times you get rid of some stuff you think you still wanted, but it gives you a fresh start.
 



It is a cute exercise to just evaluate the players that came and went, but it also has to be with the understanding that we subtracted one coach and added another. Some of the movement would not have happen if we had kept our coach, but then we would not have started the next chapter. It is like spring cleaning, some times you get rid of some stuff you think you still wanted, but it gives you a fresh start.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: as far as I'm concerned, no outcome would have been worse than Pitino remaining in the position. But, the fact that I could not tolerate Pitino any longer doesn't mean that I am bound to attribute all sorts of wonderful qualities to the successor and his staff. Ben had a very heavy lift in his first four months in the job and he deserves an expanded level of tolerance for that alone but I'm not convinced yet that this experiment will be successful.

As far as the players who left, I'm really only sorry about Robbins and Johnson. Carr was a big talent but he was gone one way or another. As for the remaining players, some of them I could take or leave and others I would simply prefer to leave.
 

It is a cute exercise to just evaluate the players that came and went, but it also has to be with the understanding that we subtracted one coach and added another. Some of the movement would not have happen if we had kept our coach, but then we would not have started the next chapter. It is like spring cleaning, some times you get rid of some stuff you think you still wanted, but it gives you a fresh start.
It's also a profoundly strange year for everyone. It's hard to really gage how many people would have transferred out if it were any other year.
 

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: as far as I'm concerned, no outcome would have been worse than Pitino remaining in the position. But, the fact that I could not tolerate Pitino any longer doesn't mean that I am bound to attribute all sorts of wonderful qualities to the successor and his staff. Ben had a very heavy lift in his first four months in the job and he deserves an expanded level of tolerance for that alone but I'm not convinced yet that this experiment will be successful.

As far as the players who left, I'm really only sorry about Robbins and Johnson. Carr was a big talent but he was gone one way or another. As for the remaining players, some of them I could take or leave and others I would simply prefer to leave.
Who has ask you to "attribute all sorts of wonderful qualities to the successor and his staff"? The only thing that has been discussed is to give him a chance and do not judge the outcome before we have even played a single game or recruiting is completed.

I agree, Robbins and Johnson are the biggest loses, but they are both understandable. Robbins follow his coach and Johnson decided to go back home to Chicago.
 

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: as far as I'm concerned, no outcome would have been worse than Pitino remaining in the position. But, the fact that I could not tolerate Pitino any longer doesn't mean that I am bound to attribute all sorts of wonderful qualities to the successor and his staff. Ben had a very heavy lift in his first four months in the job and he deserves an expanded level of tolerance for that alone but I'm not convinced yet that this experiment will be successful.

As far as the players who left, I'm really only sorry about Robbins and Johnson. Carr was a big talent but he was gone one way or another. As for the remaining players, some of them I could take or leave and others I would simply prefer to leave.
This is pretty much where I am too. My confidence in Ben did shift a bit when we signed Payne and Carrington.

As to your last point, I also am sorry about Gabe. He is someone that is around Minnesota hoops a lot, a local guy, and a pretty good basketball player. Even when he isn't shooting, he was our best defender. That said, something was clearly off for him here.
 






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