GOPHERS HIRING BEN JOHNSON

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Surprised we went with someone with so little experience. But as far as his assistant coaching career...not really fair to heap the results of the teams on him. Have to think that Coyle knows something that we don't. The AAU angle would have to be at least somewhat true.

We'll see what happens. How great would it be to hire a Minnesota guy who ended up being a great coach and a lifer here?
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
You are correct, Gates he didn't interview here.
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So, keeping score, ....

1. Gates turned down an interview
2. Smith did interview, was offered the job, and turned it down?

Basing these two items on your posts.

Are these two items correct?
 

NDGopher69420 said:
Miles would go work for a guy who he essentially told to move on after their 1 year together? There's a better chance a meteor ends all of mankind in the next 5 seconds than Miles works for Ben Johnson.
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I recall he told him he understood why he would go to MN. Not that he should "move on".
 

Obviously Johnson impressed Coyle in his interview.
 



JimmyJamesMD said:
I never had that impression of pitino. Lazy? Yes. Douchebags? No.

Richard probably didnt kiss enough AAU and high school butt while he was here. I'm sure Ben knows how to properly kiss ass
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There is a difference between kissing ass, or the ring, than being an indifferent or just plain being a dick sometimes.
 

fair said:
I'm shocked at the amount of people who are already convinced that Ben will be a failure. You have every right to criticize Coyle and wonder what happened with the other big names- I'm scratching my head right along with you. But can we at least give the man a chance to prove himself?
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I don't think many people are pretending to be convinced we know how this plays out but we are convinced the process was horrible. It's like if your broke friend says he is going to the casino to double his life savings - whether it works or not - it's not a good idea.

I like Ben Johnson and I support him. The backlash shouldn't be aimed at him (and I don't think it is) but this hiring process was a disaster.
 


PhiloVance said:
"Ben is a proven coach who is ready to lead his own program," University of Minnesota Athletics Director Mark Coyle said in a statement. "He has earned this opportunity and is a tremendous teacher, recruiter and relationship builder. I am thrilled for him to lead his alma mater, and I am excited for the future of our men's basketball program."
Johnson and the program have agreed to a five-year term, pending the completion of a background check and Board of Regents approval, the announcement added.
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He will be gone in 4 and Coyle will be forced to resign after the spectacular failure....Glad i dropped my season tickets years ago.
 



Obi-Wan Okogie said:
I'm scratching my head too but I think it's a huge disservice to chalk this up as a "diversity hire" and essentially blame this on that. That's lazy criticism and a disrespectful take. I

highly doubt Coyle would casually roll the dice for the sake of looking good and filling some quota. If he wanted to just blatantly do a diversity hire there are unlimited better-looking candidates he could have rolled with too.

Now I don't get the here right now, it is certainly not sexy but I'm guessing there are legitimate reasons why Coyle felt like this was his guy. Disappointing but we shall see how this plays out.
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I’m not sure I see any momentum on this being primarily a diversity hire. The rage seems to be that it was a hire on the cheap that pisses off those of us who have pouring money in the program for decades.

It’s kick in the teeth.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I don't think many people are pretending to be convinced we know how this plays out but we are convinced the process was horrible. It's like if your broke friend says he is going to the casino to double his life savings - whether it works or not - it's not a good idea.

I like Ben Johnson and I support him. The backlash shouldn't be aimed at him (and I don't think it is) but this hiring process was a disaster.
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Amen.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
I never said that exactly, Smith didn't interview.
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You said this:

"I didn't say anything about Criag Smith at Utah State. I think Smith has proved a lot, but he didn't even take the job, so that say's a lot about how tough it is to attract a coach to a program like Minnesota."

That says to me he interviewed, was offered the job, and turned it down.
 




bga1 said:
No, it's not a dumb post. Minneapolis has bottomed out in terms of reputation. It's a city campus. If the trial doesn't go the way the city wants it to, the city will burn for weeks.
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No it won't. Minneapolis is larger than a few blocks.
 



Bad Gopher said:
So was the Whalen hire. Really bad decision making.
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I could see maybe with her and the pedigree she amassed, but unless Ben plays cards with the Larry Suggs of the AAU circuit - it makes zero sense as his playing pedigree aren't that big a deal or his coaching pedigree.

Unless someone has proof that a bunch of MN kids would have come here except that Pitino was the coach, it is a nonsensical, lazy hire.

Ben now needs to go prove all of us wrong - I hope I have to eat my words.
 
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MaxyJR1 said:
This is like hiring Juwan Howard. Terrible hire 😂
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NDGopher69420 said:
Yes one of the top NBA assistants who was a shoe in for an NBA HC job in the next few years + a known NBA legend is very similar to an assistant coach with zero name recognition, zero pedigree, and a key part of a program that has been going down hill since he arrived (Xavier).
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How could he be a head coach in the NBA without coaching at SW Arkansas for three years first!!
 

Tommy Flanagan said:
Unbelievable...There are at least 30 to 40 assistants that are more qualified to be a high major head coach...but at least he's one of us!
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I'd have hired Matt Lewis of Oskkosh before Ben Johnson. The future is now set: Lewis will succeed Gard when he retires, and the dynasty will continue.
 

Ozzy&Ray said:
Wow, when is the last time you have been to the city? It's not half-burned down. And, unless you live under a rock you realize that. Most new coaches are a little more enlightened.
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People like beej like to pretend that the entire 54 square miles of Minneapolis are burning because of political shillery.
 


4thegophers said:
They think he is a very good recruiter and well thought of on the AAU circuit and that one of the past problems in getting recruits to the University was that Pitino was a lazy recruiter and did little to support his assistant’s efforts.
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I heard EXACTLY this comment is the past about Pitino. I was told by someone very close to D1 caliber recruits that Pitino expected players to come here on his name.
 

I'm disappointed in this hire, but will definitely support Ben. He seems like a good guy, and I certainly hope he surprises me. But I'd hope even he'd understand why people who were hoping for a splash would be surprised and a bit disappointed by somebody with no resume.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Serious question - why doe the above bolded matter??

Our 2 best recent major revenue coaches, Clem - buckets and PJ had not connection to MN prior.

The provincialism of some of the fans here is mind boggling.
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It doesn't matter that much to me but it does seem to be a big sell in the local meida and the local coverage that U programs get.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'd have hired Matt Lewis of Oskkosh before Ben Johnson. The future is now set: Lewis will succeed Gard when he retires, and the dynasty will continue.
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The system will continue. Not a dynasty. Precision man.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
Black has nothing to do with it, Ben Johnson can coach, people usually love the HE IS one of us MANTRA. I like Ben Johnson as a player, I don't understand the hate, head coaches have to start somewhere and XAVIER, is a good basketball school.
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But he wasn't the HC at Xavier! Let him at least get a little experience at being the head coach.
 

Fixed it for ya, Mark.

Statement from Mark Coyle:
"Eric Jim Craig Niko Dennis Porter Ben is a proven coach who is ready to lead [his own program]," said Coyle. "He has earned this opportunity and is a tremendous teacher, recruiter and relationship builder. I am thrilled for him to lead [his alma mater], and I am excited for the future of our men's basketball program."
 

Obi-Wan Okogie said:
I'm scratching my head too but I think it's a huge disservice to chalk this up as a "diversity hire" and essentially blame this on that. That's lazy criticism and a disrespectful take. I

highly doubt Coyle would casually roll the dice for the sake of looking good and filling some quota. If he wanted to just blatantly do a diversity hire there are unlimited better-looking candidates he could have rolled with too.

Now I don't get the here right now, it is certainly not sexy but I'm guessing there are legitimate reasons why Coyle felt like this was his guy. Disappointing but we shall see how this plays out.
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I don't think this is a diversity hire. But I would say that it was a "matrix" hire or committee hire. Ben checked the most boxes of all the candidates, one of which was local AAU connections and another of which is he's a minority.
 


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