GOPHERS HIRING BEN JOHNSON

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gopherdudepart2 said:
I don't understand all of this hatred towards one of our own. He will prove all the doubters and haters wrong.
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This is a B1G University. We have to compete with the Big Dogs in every game. Izo, etc could careless if you want to turn over your program to a "nice local" guy with no HC experience. And how many of this local kids are going to continue to be mercenaries for the local school if he can't coach? How many of them will now chose the U over Duke, Zags, etc just because they know the head coach? ZERO! Ben may end up being a good head coach, but a B1G school should not have to take such a huge gamble. Let the smaller schools do the gambling, we just pick them up when the get hot.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
From Xavier Bio:

Ben Johnson, 39, joined the Xavier Basketball staff in 2018 after spending the previous five seasons from 2013-18 as an assistant at his alma mater, Minnesota. He has been a big part of helping Travis Steele secure multiple nationally-ranked recruiting classes.


“Ben is an outstanding coach and recruiter that will be a very successful head coach one day,” said head coach Travis Steele. “Ben is ‘Steady Eddy,’ he just is. He is the same guy every day. He is highly intelligent, very well thought out. He’s very good at everything. He is great on the floor, he’s great in skill development, he’s got a great offensive mind and he’s got great relationships with our players. He is a really good evaluator and recruiter. Everything he does he is very thorough and has helped us to mine the state of Alabama to get Colby Jones and New Jersey to get Zach Freemantle just to name a few. He’s got a great eye for talent and he’s very thorough, very diligent with his process. He is another guy I think is going to be a head coach sooner rather than later. He is terrific and we are fortunate to have him.”
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Where did this get Xavier?

0 NCAA tournament appearances in 3 years after they had gone 8 of the previous 9 seasons.
 

golfing18now said:
I’m sure that is true but how ridiculous. I’m sure Chet is now debating whether to win a national championship at Gonzaga or sign up for this dumpster fire.

We just fired a coach to oversee the worst year in Gopher basketball to hire an assistant off that same team. Unbelievable.

Didn’t think we could find a candidate that met the diversity and Minnesota connections boxes, but we got him!
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All these diversity cheap shots are annoying as F. What does it matter about a person's race? That is total crap and y'all know it even if you are using it as a crutch or excuse for disliking something. Ben's a great dude and people are sh!tting all over him. A lot should be ashamed here, be pissed at Coyle maybe, but give Ben a chance for cripes sakes.
 






Ugh, the chance to make a national splash and we...don't. I don't get this. And I like Ben Johnson. Have met him at AAU games and he's a good guy, but a main critique of Pitino was that he was in over his head coaching in the BIG. If Pitino was in over his head, Johnson is in for a heap of trouble.
 

NDGopher69420 said:
At least in a few years when it's time to hire the next coach the AD won't be handcuffed and have to go with a minority one of us hire and can actually hire someone with the resume this job demands.
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It's clear you were really affected by the local newspaper writing an article as you have mentioned "minorities" or "diversity" in basically every comment. It's too bad we hired someone with no redeeming qualities other than being black. /s
 



WilliamsArenaGuy said:
I suppose a draw is also supposed to be that he is local so he'd never leave on that chance this does work out. But he already left once! I don't even see him as someone who is necessarily dedicated for the long haul.
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Twice
 

forever a gopher said:
So he was an assistant for a head coach that just got canned here. And he went to Xavier, where they have sucked since he's been there. If you're going to hire an assistant, at least hire one from a successful program.

I am a big Coyle fan, but if this is true, I just lost a lot of respect for him. Is this just a diversity thing?
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Maybe Gates said no and he panicked. I'd rather have Johnson than Sam Mitchell, but he's the only one on the list I can say that about.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
My wife would probably beg to differ. But I look at a program that has finished above .500 in conference play 1 time in last 16 years and 3 in the last 24 and just have to wonder if *MAYBE* it isn't as easy to turn it around here as we'd like to think. We had the "hot up & comer" twice (Monson & Pitino) and the "home run" hire of a coach with national pedigree (Smith) and none of them panned out.

At the very least, his buyout should be pretty small if it doesn't work out.
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Right, so the right hire was a guy that has had success and knows how to run a system. Even a guy at D2 or 3 that has done it for quite a few years and his teams play the game the right way.

100% it isn't easy to win here. And when we get hires like this, it shows why. Our athletic department is not supported by the greater community, flat out.

I HOPE like hell he does a good job. I think he can, but as far as a hire goes, this is out of left field and also a worse reach I think than even hiring a high end high school coach.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
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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There's no way you can say the process was a disaster. It may turn out that the choice was a disaster. But whether you agree with it or not, there's every possibility Coyle took his time, considered carefully, asked counsel from individuals he trusts, and made a thoughtful decision.
 



MplsGopher said:
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."
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I’m neither excited or hopeful. And I wrote my dissertation on the topic.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Souhan doesn't care. As far as he's concerned, it's easier to write columns about a dumpster fire.
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The media got their basketbball Marc Trestman. They're all thrilled. He's easy to get for an interview and is a great guy, I'm sure. That's what they care about.
 

Smith, Gates, Musselman, Dutcher, etc. must not have wanted the job even for 2.5M/year.
 

Wow, I am well and truly shocked. I have absolutely nothing against Ben Johnson, but of all the names being bandied about, he's who we hire? I don't understand it and honestly just feel terribly let down by this news.

Having never been a head coach at any level, I am completely baffled as to what leads Mark Coyle to believe that Johnson is ready to step right into the meat grinder that is B10 basketball, but here we are. Damn.

Rather than being the energizing and exciting hire that we were all desperately hoping for, to me this just feels discouraging, depressing, and about like giving up. I mean really, why even bother? That's exactly how this feels.

What a shame, but with all that being said, I can only hope he makes me eat my words. That's all I've got. That's the 'high point' of this hire right there to me, the hope that this guy won't be just a dismal failure.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
From Xavier Bio:

Ben Johnson, 39, joined the Xavier Basketball staff in 2018 after spending the previous five seasons from 2013-18 as an assistant at his alma mater, Minnesota. He has been a big part of helping Travis Steele secure multiple nationally-ranked recruiting classes.


“Ben is an outstanding coach and recruiter that will be a very successful head coach one day,” said head coach Travis Steele. “Ben is ‘Steady Eddy,’ he just is. He is the same guy every day. He is highly intelligent, very well thought out. He’s very good at everything. He is great on the floor, he’s great in skill development, he’s got a great offensive mind and he’s got great relationships with our players. He is a really good evaluator and recruiter. Everything he does he is very thorough and has helped us to mine the state of Alabama to get Colby Jones and New Jersey to get Zach Freemantle just to name a few. He’s got a great eye for talent and he’s very thorough, very diligent with his process. He is another guy I think is going to be a head coach sooner rather than later. He is terrific and we are fortunate to have him.”
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Xavier has put together one of the nation's top 20 recruiting classes two years in a row. I wonder how much Ben had to do with that.
 


BarnBurner said:
Do you believe diversity was a consideration? If so how much of a consideration?

This hire appears diversity was a big piece.
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Of course it played some role. It does in any hiring process. But a lot of the posters emphasizing the minority aspect above all else are predicting that Coyle is going to be fired in a matter of years because of this decision. With that logic, why on Earth would Coyle take such a massive leap just to appease the few voices asking for more diversity? I'm willing to believe he has quite a few more reasons for the hire. Implying that this was predominantly a "diversity hire" just feels very short-sighted to me.
 


gopherdudepart2 said:
All these diversity cheap shots are annoying as F. What does it matter about a person's race? That is total crap and y'all know it even if you are using it as a crutch or excuse for disliking something. Ben's a great dude and people are sh!tting all over him. A lot should be ashamed here, be pissed at Coyle maybe, but give Ben a chance for cripes sakes.
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I’d like a coach for the two revenue sports at the University to be based on merit. It has nothing to do with his race. Did he have any success locally with recruitment? Has he even been on the bench of a winning team? What excites you about this hire? His Minnesota connections?
 


WriterGoph said:
My point is there are always some fans that have a problem with EVERY hire. We still have Fleck haters on the football board
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I know ain’t it crazy? Guy wins 3 games and people ask some questions on a message board and instantly they are haters. I mean come on...everybody has a couple losing seasons....lighten up people.
 

alchemy2u said:
This is a B1G University. We have to compete with the Big Dogs in every game. Izo, etc could careless if you want to turn over your program to a "nice local" guy with no HC experience. And how many of this local kids are going to continue to be mercenaries for the local school if he can't coach? How many of them will now chose the U over Duke, Zags, etc just because they know the head coach? ZERO! Ben may end up being a good head coach, but a B1G school should not have to take such a huge gamble. Let the smaller schools do the gambling, we just pick them up when the get hot.
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I see how the big dogs are handling the competition in the tourney.
 

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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We have no idea if he can coach. None. Zero. And Xavier has gone downhill since he's been there. That's probably not his fault but he can't wear it as a badge of his qualifications either.
 

Looking forward to Johnson winning the press conference just like he won the interview!
 

NDGopher69420 said:
At least in a few years when it's time to hire the next coach the AD won't be handcuffed and have to go with a minority one of us hire and can actually hire someone with the resume this job demands.
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It’s not about minority. It’s about cheap.
 



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