Jamison Battle to enter the Transfer Portal

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Tvans022 said:
BATTLE: Okay, I am a kid who just graduated college after multiple schools during a pandemic. I went back home not knowing at the time how the pandemic would play out. It was an opportunity to play against better competition, move back home, and be a part of my home state University. Little did I know I would experience a coaching change, lots of injured teammates, and ultimately, low performing expectations.

Ultimately, I earned my degree and the option to either transfer to another school without sitting out or to play professionally overseas. Both are still realistic options.

I told my coach I was done at the U and likely going pro which is why I walked on graduation day. However, I am exploring my options. I can play college ball and be paid or go overseas and be paid, just weighing my options. At the U, no one paid me. We do not have the support from alumni to pay for such things. I was here two years and saw virtually nothing despite being a top player. You can blame CBJ for the issues, but it's systemic. This University will never succeed in College BBALL without a serious investment.
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Battle committed to Ben. He didn’t come back before he knew about the coaching change. Whether he was coming no matter who the coach was is another matter that isn’t known.
 

Tvans022 said:
BATTLE: Okay, I am a kid who just graduated college after multiple schools during a pandemic. I went back home not knowing at the time how the pandemic would play out. It was an opportunity to play against better competition, move back home, and be a part of my home state University. Little did I know I would experience a coaching change, lots of injured teammates, and ultimately, low performing expectations.

Ultimately, I earned my degree and the option to either transfer to another school without sitting out or to play professionally overseas. Both are still realistic options.

I told my coach I was done at the U and likely going pro which is why I walked on graduation day. However, I am exploring my options. I can play college ball and be paid or go overseas and be paid, just weighing my options. At the U, no one paid me. We do not have the support from alumni to pay for such things. I was here two years and saw virtually nothing despite being a top player. You can blame CBJ for the issues, but it's systemic. This University will never succeed in College BBALL without a serious investment.
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(y)
 


bga1 said:
The Henley loss hurt. Cooper and Battle while 2 of our best 4 players this year, were not fits at their positions in the Big Ten. That was obvious. I wish we would have keep them as rotation players but it is understandable that they wouldn't want that. Hoping to keep all 5 off of a 2 win team is also puzzling. The challenge is for Ben to replace them with better fits and upgrade the speed of this team. If he can't he's toast.

I have no doubt about this- the team of Payne, Garcia, JOJ, Carrington and Christie with Fox, Ihnen and Betts with a year of development is better than the team we started this year with. That's a 5-6 win team. There is a glaring need for a couple of guards that can handle and shoot in order to get to 8 plus wins.
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I do think the combo of Payne and Garcia is a nice starting point when looking at next season in a vacuum. But you have to dig deeper.
-Payne is a foul machine so let’s put his projected minutes at the high end (maybe 25 mpg?) who plays behind him in the B10?
-Garcia while very good offensively, sadly has a body made out of glass. Let’s assume 5 missed games from him (if he’s out where does our offense come from?)

Then you move to the SF-PG position:
- JOJ while looking more competent on the offensive end in spacing the floor and shooting some treys at the end of the season, is still a train wreck on defense - also has Payne syndrome (foul machine) -* I hope he really works on his shot and shoots 3 treys a game next year
-Christie is a complete unknown but typically guards who are not five stars don’t produce much (maybe on trash teams*which we are trying to avoid)
-Carrington is not a ball handler and with the exception of his rebounding and a few minutes in the B10 tourney was pretty putrid all season.
-Betts is another complete unknown. Does anyone know if he can shoot?
 

DarthGopher said:
Spaulding, honestly, makes me laugh more times than not. The posts are usually short and often stir shit up or have some kind of warped sense of humor embedded in them. He's an infotainer. :)
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I ❤️ Spaulding as well and I like to give him the business.

Schulzie is one of my all time favorite characters and Spaulding is a character, hence the analogy. I appreciate someone, who views like from a skewed perspective, as I do.
@Spaulding!No!

As Oscar Wilde once quipped, “You might as well be yourself, everyone else is taken.”
 
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The more I think about it, the more this one hurts. It's a vote of no confidence by a local player who came back home to play out his college career for the guy who was hired in the belief that he could recruit local talent. Besides the loss of Battle's services, this looks so bad from the outside and for potential recruits.
 

Bad Gopher said:
The more I think about it, the more this one hurts. It's a vote of no confidence by a local player who came back home to play out his college career for the guy who was hired in the belief that he could recruit local talent. Besides the loss of Battle's services, this looks so bad from the outside and for potential recruits.
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Bingo! We don’t know for sure if he is giving up on what is here or just wants to move on, but what it looks like is awful.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Way too early to make assumptions like that. Johnson has actually brought in some decent transfers in the 2 years he has been here. There have been some duds as well but it isn't like every transfer he has brought in has turned out like the guys you mentioned.
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So we’ve finished last in the Big Ten for two years straight and you’re lecturing us that Ben has brought in some decent transfers? If that’s the case, imagine how putrid of a coach he must be.
 



John Galt said:
So we’ve finished last in the Big Ten for two years straight and you’re lecturing us that Ben has brought in some decent transfers? If that’s the case, imagine how putrid of a coach he must be.
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Last off-season he had more to sell a transferring guard than he does now. Will be be able to recruit anyone even as good as Cooper or Samuels? Time will tell, but the uphill grade is steeper this time around.
 

John Galt said:
So we’ve finished last in the Big Ten for two years straight and you’re lecturing us that Ben has brought in some decent transfers? If that’s the case, imagine how putrid of a coach he must be.
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The post I was replying to was saying that the best we could hope for was someone like Samuels or Daniels....my point was that we have landed a number of transfers that would be considered significantly better than either of those guys who were essentially non-factors.

Obviously Johnson has a ton of work to do in the off season this year and needs to hit some home runs in order to have any hope of really turning things around. I'm just willing to give him the chance to try and get those players as opposed to just giving up all hope now the way some posters want too.

But I know any sort of optimism or hope doesn't fly well with the crowd that is dead set on a firing that isn't going to happen until the end of next season at the absolute earliest.
 

Bad Gopher said:
The more I think about it, the more this one hurts. It's a vote of no confidence by a local player who came back home to play out his college career for the guy who was hired in the belief that he could recruit local talent. Besides the loss of Battle's services, this looks so bad from the outside and for potential recruits.
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at least its not quite as bad as having your 5-star recruit ask for his release and sign on with a team that have an even worse season than the gophers had
 

MNVCGUY said:
The post I was replying to was saying that the best we could hope for was someone like Samuels or Daniels....my point was that we have landed a number of transfers that would be considered significantly better than either of those guys who were essentially non-factors.

Obviously Johnson has a ton of work to do in the off season this year and needs to hit some home runs in order to have any hope of really turning things around. I'm just willing to give him the chance to try and get those players as opposed to just giving up all hope now the way some posters want too.

But I know any sort of optimism or hope doesn't fly well with the crowd that is dead set on a firing that isn't going to happen until the end of next season at the absolute earliest.
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The crowd that is tired of decades of losing, the crowd that invests their time and $$ into the program, that crowd? The crowd that can see the writing on the wall.
 



Bad Gopher said:
Last off-season he had more to sell a transferring guard than he does now. Will be be able to recruit anyone even as good as Cooper or Samuels? Time will tell, but the uphill grade is steeper this time around.
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I think he has more to sell this year- if the roster holds as is. Coach- why were you so bad? We played the talented young guys, had a lot of rough patches and by the end of the year we were competitive. We have a strong group of forwards coming back, all conference honorable mention PF in Garcia and potential future all conference C in Payne. Fox and Ihnen coming in so we have good athletic size. Max Christies brother coming in- great shooter. Plenty of playing time for a good PG or shooter. Great chance to make a move this year and be good. That's the pitch. Will it work? I have no idea.

All I know is Dan Monson had a terrible year WITH NBA player Kris Humphries. Humphries left and everyone thought the team would be pitiful. Hagen came back from an injury, Arob stepped up from out of nowhere, Monson recruited Grier and Stamper and they went 10-6. I think Ben is a better salesman than Monson. He can do this. Battle was this year's Humphries IMO. Battle is a good player who was miserably inefficient this year for the Gophers and really did not help his teammates get better. On Battle, I will repeat, of all of our players who got big minutes he was by far the worst on shooting efficiency at less than a point scored per shot taken. A good player is 1.2 to 1.3 points per shot.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Obviously Johnson has a ton of work to do in the off season this year and needs to hit some home runs in order to have any hope of really turning things around. I'm just willing to give him the chance to try and get those players as opposed to just giving up all hope now the way some posters want too.
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So a few things, yes most have been hit on before....

Johnson will be here next year, I get it. Hes also being paid millions of dollars, he deserves to be criticized.

I think this Battle thing is a huge indictment of Ben. If he just says nope I am out Im going to Europe/China whatever to play pro, sure no problem. The fact that he says ahh maybe I will do that, but maybe I just want to play not there, is a big big red flag. The CBJ homers said ohh he will be great, we will get/keep MN kids at home, hes got great ins with everyone here, and it will be a slow build from the bottom but it will show sure progress.

Lets recap...year 1, lost his entire roster, most sure explainable, I dont hold him to Carr, any kid in that spot is leaving to go to Texas. But he also loses Gabe, the local kid from his high school, that he was supposed to keep. Ok gets no recruits at all year 1, well semi understandable. Now fast forward. His "base" has already lost a player, plus two guys he recuited to come here already said yahh no we have no interest in playing for you and that terrible team. Plus his incoming class of freshmen (which again we were told will be how he out thinks everyone!) has ONE person, a 3* kid who looks fine but isnt moving the needle for a least 1-2 years and then likely leaves.

Again, losing most of those players isnt a death blow for their actual talent, its the optics of it. Now some kid from the cities goes, ahh battle and gabe left? why would they leave too?

To go back to the top, I get it, Johnson is going to be here next year, but if you think that is the right move, you are either blind to the what is going on or unrealistic. Ben is a bad coach, a very average recruiter and a poor excuse for a team builder. Hes going to get fired and its going to cost us another year. Will the next guy guarantee success, heck no, but its 1 year closer to MAYBE getting it, with CBJ at the helm we are just pushing that back further. I hope all you CBJ supporters buy up extra seats next year since you seem to adamant this is going to work, meanwhile the rest of us will keep our money and use it on another product.
 



Tvans022 said:
BATTLE: Okay, I am a kid who just graduated college after multiple schools during a pandemic. I went back home not knowing at the time how the pandemic would play out. It was an opportunity to play against better competition, move back home, and be a part of my home state University. Little did I know I would experience a coaching change, lots of injured teammates, and ultimately, low performing expectations.

Ultimately, I earned my degree and the option to either transfer to another school without sitting out or to play professionally overseas. Both are still realistic options.

I told my coach I was done at the U and likely going pro which is why I walked on graduation day. However, I am exploring my options. I can play college ball and be paid or go overseas and be paid, just weighing my options. At the U, no one paid me. We do not have the support from alumni to pay for such things. I was here two years and saw virtually nothing despite being a top player. You can blame CBJ for the issues, but it's systemic. This University will never succeed in College BBALL without a serious investment.
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Tvans022 said:
BATTLE: Okay, I am a kid who just graduated college after multiple schools during a pandemic. I went back home not knowing at the time how the pandemic would play out. It was an opportunity to play against better competition, move back home, and be a part of my home state University. Little did I know I would experience a coaching change, lots of injured teammates, and ultimately, low performing expectations.

Ultimately, I earned my degree and the option to either transfer to another school without sitting out or to play professionally overseas. Both are still realistic options.

I told my coach I was done at the U and likely going pro which is why I walked on graduation day. However, I am exploring my options. I can play college ball and be paid or go overseas and be paid, just weighing my options. At the U, no one paid me. We do not have the support from alumni to pay for such things. I was here two years and saw virtually nothing despite being a top player. You can blame CBJ for the issues, but it's systemic. This University will never succeed in College BBALL without a serious investment.
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As always, follow the money. Evans went to a shitty team and a currently shitty program because he and his AAU coach were looking for a nice payday. Battle was looking for money overseas, probably found out that he's not good enough for a decent contract, and is bolting for a bigger paycheck at another program.

One thing we know for sure is that Coyle is lousy at raising money. He still hasn't raised the funds to pay off the Athletes Village. My guess is Fleck is raising money on his own to keep his roster relatively intact.

Until Coyle can raise real NIL money the men's and women's hoops rosters will be in constant flux. I don't think Whalen was a good coach. We won't know if Johnson is a good coach unless or until there's enough money to pay the players to come and to stay. That's the unfortunate reality of the situation.
 


Gophs24 said:
at least its not quite as bad as having your 5-star recruit ask for his release and sign on with a team that have an even worse season than the gophers had
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Yeah, that would suck.
 

jamiche said:
As always, follow the money. Evans went to a shitty team and a currently shitty program because he and his AAU coach were looking for a nice payday. Battle was looking for money overseas, probably found out that he's not good enough for a decent contract, and is bolting for a bigger paycheck at another program.

One thing we know for sure is that Coyle is lousy at raising money. He still hasn't raised the funds to pay off the Athletes Village. My guess is Fleck is raising money on his own to keep his roster relatively intact.

Until Coyle can raise real NIL money the men's and women's hoops rosters will be in constant flux. I don't think Whalen was a good coach. We won't know if Johnson is a good coach unless or until there's enough money to pay the players to come and to stay. That's the unfortunate reality of the situation.
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It's funny how one really bad year under a 1st year head coach now makes Louisville a shitty program. They are still a significantly better program than Minnesota in every way.

NIL continues to be a cop out and convenient excuse. The Gophers will be fine as soon as they hire a coach who's capable at this level. That's why the football program doesn't have an issue being competitive.
 

Gophs24 said:
Lol ok. Was just responding. You said top 6 seeds so was responding to that
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No ha. I said look at teams that are a 1-3 seed this year. Battle isnt cracking the starting lineup on any of them.

Most likely not the top 6 of their lineup either. Thats where top 6 came into play.
 

Mulligan said:
This is Ben in the Strib on Battle and Cooper before the BIG tournament.

"Despite eligibility remaining, Minnesota Gophers head coach Ben Johnson made it clear Sunday night that Jamison Battle and Ta'lon Cooper will likely move on from the program after the season.

Minnesota, 8-21 overall and 2-17 in the Big Ten, faces Nebraska on Wednesday in the opening round of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament in Chicago. The Gophers need to win the conference tournament or their season will be over – and Battle and Cooper will be looking for opportunities elsewhere."

There is enough to be disappointed about the season without making up shit about what Johnson said or didn't say. The other thing people are making up shit about is that there was no improvement this year as a team or individually. Admittedly, there was a very, very low floor established; but there was some growth. The question still is whether Johnson has dug too deep a hole to get out of. The players leaving are no surprise, but it's the drip, drip, drip that gets one down. Hoping to get on GH and see a positive thread headline pretty soon.
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The remarks I was referencing took place prior to the rumor of those two leaving. Not saying I couldn’t still be wrong but what you posted was definitely afterwards.
 

Be zen.

A) Why should losing contributors off a 2-win team be bemoaned? Having them produced failure. A team is not just a collection of the most talented individuals - they need to complement each other's strengths. This exodus gives the team the opportunity to recalibrate with pieces that may work better together - whether or not that happens, we'll see. But going with the same cast of misfitted pieces was doomed. This gives the program a chance, actually, and in theory, you should be excited.

B) Other than the blue bloods who can collect all 4- and 5-stars and just roll the ball out there, the most consistent programs recruit to fit, both skills-wise and for temperament. You can be successful with average talent that plays exceptionally well together. I don't actually think Ben can do this, but some of the best efforts his team has had are when they were forced to play shorthanded - mostly that was in his first year, but when he got the team to play together, they outplayed the sum of their collective individual talents.

C) Battle and Cooper might - might - be able to earn more in NIL through the portal than being a first-year pro overseas. If not, then they go pro. I think it's probably that simple, and not a slap in the face to the program.
 

jamiche said:
As always, follow the money. Evans went to a shitty team and a currently shitty program because he and his AAU coach were looking for a nice payday. Battle was looking for money overseas, probably found out that he's not good enough for a decent contract, and is bolting for a bigger paycheck at another program.

One thing we know for sure is that Coyle is lousy at raising money. He still hasn't raised the funds to pay off the Athletes Village. My guess is Fleck is raising money on his own to keep his roster relatively intact.

Until Coyle can raise real NIL money the men's and women's hoops rosters will be in constant flux. I don't think Whalen was a good coach. We won't know if Johnson is a good coach unless or until there's enough money to pay the players to come and to stay. That's the unfortunate reality of the situation.
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Minnesota will received $80M-100M from television contract this July. Don't tell me money is an issue. Especially, when Mark Coyle always finds some money to give himself a raise >$1M each year. Coyle mantra - Pay yourself first. BTW - Whalen was hired to raise money - not coach.
 


Bunyan said:
Minnesota will received $80M-100M from television contract this July. Don't tell me money is an issue. Especially, when Mark Coyle always finds some money to give himself a raise >$1M each year. Coyle mantra - Pay yourself first. BTW - Whalen was hired to raise money - not coach.
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But then there's this issue...

 

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