Jamison Battle to enter the Transfer Portal

Here's the thing GWG- I am a Gopher fan, I know you are too. I was critical of the coach all year. I didn't want them to hire him because I thought he had no experience and this is a very, very tough job. At the end of the year, I saw improvement and I faced the facts that there is no easy way out. They weren't going to fire him. So I could whine about it all summer or root for him to get some good players to go with a roster that I think has potential. I think Ben has potential. I am going to hope for the best for the coming year and pull for him to get it done. The guys that leave, okay, that's fine, but I am a Gopher fan, not a Battle fan. All the best to him, but I think he can be replaced, especially considering his performance of last year.

You're right, I am a fan and I will watch every game next season regardless. I'll be more positive if they land a couple of high impact guards, but I'll believe that when I see it. Much of the team improvement at the end of the year was due to players that you are now happy to see leave.

Being patient with coaches that have no business coaching at this level is exactly why we are now one of the worst basketball programs, if not the worst the B1G. A real program doesn't operate on hope. They don't hire unqualified coaches in the first place, but if they do, they cut their losses when it's obvious the coach can't get it done. Until that changes, Williams arena will be empty and NIL will be limited.

My support, like many others I know, will go towards the football team where we have a real coach and are competitive. There will be limited to no support for the basketball team until a real coach is hired. The longer that drags out the worse it'll get.
 

I’m thankful for Battle coming home and giving us some light and solid moments. I never thought he was a true #1 or #2 on a winning team, but he gave it his all and that’s something I’ll never forget. He’s going to do well and quite frankly deserves a chance to make a tourney run. I hope he lands with a program that gives him that chance and also a shot overseas. Kid deserves it.

This next season will be a make or break for Ben. I think he’s well aware of that. Rumor is he’s hitting the portal hard for playmakers and kids who can play in the BIG. This team has pieces (similar to all our teams I the past decade) but lacks 2 studs to put us over the top. If he gets that, we have a shot as a bubble team. If he doesn’t, well…I think we know what happens. 😅 I’ll never root for one’s failure. I hope it works outs for Battle/Johnson/University/Fans!

Go Gophers.
 


I’m a Battle guy and hope he finds his landing spot. He deserves success as he played hard and was a good Gopher rep. I looked for him to post up but playing with his back to basket
didn’t seem to fit.
Finding someone that shoots 31% from 3 will be no problem. Finding someone to average 12ppg is more if a challenge.
He was being defended by smaller quicker guys that focused on stopping the three. His inability to post up and take advantage of the mismatch really impacted his effectiveness.
 

Here's the thing GWG- I am a Gopher fan, I know you are too. I was critical of the coach all year. I didn't want them to hire him because I thought he had no experience and this is a very, very tough job. At the end of the year, I saw improvement and I faced the facts that there is no easy way out. They weren't going to fire him. So I could whine about it all summer or root for him to get some good players to go with a roster that I think has potential. I think Ben has potential. I am going to hope for the best for the coming year and pull for him to get it done. The guys that leave, okay, that's fine, but I am a Gopher fan, not a Battle fan. All the best to him, but I think he can be replaced, especially considering his performance of last year.
Well said. Totally get the frustration but don't understand the mentality some want to take of giving up on the off season before it has really even started. To each their own I guess.

I'm going to hold onto the hope that Johnson finds the pieces he needs to get this thing going in the right direction. That might seem foolish to some, but I would rather look for the positives as opposed to dwelling on the negatives.
 


Well said. Totally get the frustration but don't understand the mentality some want to take of giving up on the off season before it has really even started. To each their own I guess.

I'm going to hold onto the hope that Johnson finds the pieces he needs to get this thing going in the right direction. That might seem foolish to some, but I would rather look for the positives as opposed to dwelling on the negatives.
Expect what you accept.
 


Well said. Totally get the frustration but don't understand the mentality some want to take of giving up on the off season before it has really even started. To each their own I guess.

I'm going to hold onto the hope that Johnson finds the pieces he needs to get this thing going in the right direction. That might seem foolish to some, but I would rather look for the positives as opposed to dwelling on the negatives.

The problem is, the portal isn't going to fill up with top end players that are willing to come here. Look at the players everyone is salivating over, they aren't exactly players that are lighting the world on fire. Some are talented but almost all of them are "pieces" not stars for a Big Ten team. That is a problem...

Look we don't need stars to improve, but we need more than is likely going to consider coming here if we really want to take a real step in the right direction. Improving on a 2 win Big Ten season isn't hard, improving to being a Big Ten competitive team is and we don't have enough of a foundation to think that if just bring in some solid players from the portal that will be enough. That isn't how this works and that is even if you have a top end coach. (ask Fred Hoiberg) We can't act like a mid-major and just hope that if we have a solid system and some good players that will be enough. Northwestern tried that for decades and were the laughingstock of Power 6 college basketball. Our path to relevancy is not the way some of you seem to think it is going to happen. The math just doesn't add up. This is a recipe for a couple more conference wins and people then saying "we can't fire Ben Johnson because the team 'improved'" even though they really didn't. Its a path to extended mediocrity.

Now that could change if he lands someone better than I anticipate or if some of the current and future players are a step above what is likely expected. But we can't know that yet so all we can do is speculate on what we see and nothing about what is being thrown out there as the guys we should be going after makes me think "next year we are gonna be awesome!" and in truth anything short of that likely gets Johnson fired anyways.
 

The problem is, the portal isn't going to fill up with top end players that are willing to come here. Look at the players everyone is salivating over, they aren't exactly players that are lighting the world on fire. Some are talented but almost all of them are "pieces" not stars for a Big Ten team. That is a problem...

Look we don't need stars to improve, but we need more than is likely going to consider coming here if we really want to take a real step in the right direction. Improving on a 2 win Big Ten season isn't hard, improving to being a Big Ten competitive team is and we don't have enough of a foundation to think that if just bring in some solid players from the portal that will be enough. That isn't how this works and that is even if you have a top end coach. (ask Fred Hoiberg) We can't act like a mid-major and just hope that if we have a solid system and some good players that will be enough. Northwestern tried that for decades and were the laughingstock of Power 6 college basketball. Our path to relevancy is not the way some of you seem to think it is going to happen. The math just doesn't add up. This is a recipe for a couple more conference wins and people then saying "we can't fire Ben Johnson because the team 'improved'" even though they really didn't. Its a path to extended mediocrity.

Now that could change if he lands someone better than I anticipate or if some of the current and future players are a step above what is likely expected. But we can't know that yet so all we can do is speculate on what we see and nothing about what is being thrown out there as the guys we should be going after makes me think "next year we are gonna be awesome!" and in truth anything short of that likely gets Johnson fired anyways.
The likelihood that we can find the pieces in the portal that will make us a contender next year is very low.

The likelihood that we can find the pieces in the portal to bring us more to the middle of the pack next year is much much higher.

That isn't where we want to be long term but it would represent a good step in the right direction next season. To me, year 4 is NCAA or bust time. Year 3 needs to show significant improvement that gives most fans the confidence to believe Johnson has a true vision and will be able to reach it. Fail to accomplish that and the administration most likely moves on after next season to a new coach.
 



The likelihood that we can find the pieces in the portal that will make us a contender next year is very low.

The likelihood that we can find the pieces in the portal to bring us more to the middle of the pack next year is much much higher.

That isn't where we want to be long term but it would represent a good step in the right direction next season. To me, year 4 is NCAA or bust time. Year 3 needs to show significant improvement that gives most fans the confidence to believe Johnson has a true vision and will be able to reach it. Fail to accomplish that and the administration most likely moves on after next season to a new coach.

Sorry but "pieces" won't be enough to make us middle of the pack. I am all for overt optimism but that is LSD level tripping. We won 2 games last year in conference and were very much not competitive in most of the rest. You need a Vincent Grier type to turn that around not a Gabe Kalscheur and the guys that are willing to come here are definitely closer to the latter than the former. (I am obviously speaking of talent level not style of play or position)

This is not a 4 year rebuild...basketball (and college sports in general) has changed from that kind of situation and well, Johnson hasn't really earned any equity to make it seem like he deserves 4 years to put things right. Pitino at least won in his first year (and to a much lesser extent Year 2) so that when it bottomed out in Year 3 we could look back and say "well when he has talent they can win" and not look like pie in the sky rose colored fools. Johnson doesn't have that...

And I know people are going to go gaga over some pg very few have seen play who put up numbers at a school in a midmajor (or lower...likely lower) conference and pretend that will be the difference because that is what we always do. (not to mention the players coming back from injury...somehow they are always the savior) That is fine, have at it, when the season starts I will be like that too. I have been seeing us tout mediocre guards since Tubby I get it. And if maybe we had as much talent as some around here seem to think we have in the players that are returning I would probably be right where you are. (not on year 4 but that year 3 will be more than say 5 wins in conference) The problem is we don't. This reminds me of the Jerry Kill Gopher teams...we would get hyped up over every recruit and transfer he brought in, hear him gush over the WRs or the work Mitch put in, and in the end the team would play to the level of the pieces he brought in that we all thought he would "coach up". (i.e. good but never even close to approaching great on any extended level) So we often beat the teams we should (though not always) and always lost to the teams we should lose to.

Again, once the season starts we cross our fingers and hope for the best! I am sure he will have a decent to good Non-Con and we will get super excited and even more hopeful for a better Big Ten season. (like we do in football) Until then though I am going to call it like I see it and to me, if I was the AD, I would be worried beyond belief and I think you would be too. I am not going to pretend that is not the case just because I love the U of M.
 


Sorry but "pieces" won't be enough to make us middle of the pack. I am all for overt optimism but that is LSD level tripping. We won 2 games last year in conference and were very much not competitive in most of the rest. You need a Vincent Grier type to turn that around not a Gabe Kalscheur and the guys that are willing to come here are definitely closer to the latter than the former. (I am obviously speaking of talent level not style of play or position)

This is not a 4 year rebuild...basketball (and college sports in general) has changed from that kind of situation and well, Johnson hasn't really earned any equity to make it seem like he deserves 4 years to put things right. Pitino at least won in his first year (and to a much lesser extent Year 2) so that when it bottomed out in Year 3 we could look back and say "well when he has talent they can win" and not look like pie in the sky rose colored fools. Johnson doesn't have that...

And I know people are going to go gaga over some pg very few have seen play who put up numbers at a school in a midmajor (or lower...likely lower) conference and pretend that will be the difference because that is what we always do. (not to mention the players coming back from injury...somehow they are always the savior) That is fine, have at it, when the season starts I will be like that too. I have been seeing us tout mediocre guards since Tubby I get it. And if maybe we had as much talent as some around here seem to think we have in the players that are returning I would probably be right where you are. (not on year 4 but that year 3 will be more than say 5 wins in conference) The problem is we don't. This reminds me of the Jerry Kill Gopher teams...we would get hyped up over every recruit and transfer he brought in, hear him gush over the WRs or the work Mitch put in, and in the end the team would play to the level of the pieces he brought in that we all thought he would "coach up". (i.e. good but never even close to approaching great on any extended level) So we often beat the teams we should (though not always) and always lost to the teams we should lose to.

Again, once the season starts we cross our fingers and hope for the best! I am sure he will have a decent to good Non-Con and we will get super excited and even more hopeful for a better Big Ten season. (like we do in football) Until then though I am going to call it like I see it and to me, if I was the AD, I would be worried beyond belief and I think you would be too. I am not going to pretend that is not the case just because I love the U of M.
If I were in Coyle's shoes I would absolutely be worried and if things don't look to be moving in the right direction after year 3 I would be making a coaching change. But between now and then you let it play out and you hope for the best while as an AD, preparing for the worst (fans can just hope for the best :) )

It is going to take a collection of things to get the program on track but it isn't as impossible as some make it out to be. Teams 5-12 in the Big Ten all finished within 2 games +/- of .500 in terms of conference record. 2 wins sucked but there were a number of close games in there that could have gone either way. Flip a few and the record looks much different.

We need help from the portal, and we need the guys that are in place to keep improving. Will it all happen....who knows....but the simple fact is it could. Find a PG, Carrington becomes a solid SG, Payne keeps progressing towards being the beast it looks like he can be, JOJ builds on a solid freshman season and Garcia plays the way he did in the second half of the year when he was clearly our best player. Combine that with 4 wildcards in Fox, Ihnen, Betts, and Christie who could all come in and give the team an instant boost that wasn't there last year.

Does that come across as a title contender next year.....nope. But getting to that middle of the pack area where most of the conference was living this year is not out of the question. And if we don't get there then we probably start over the next year.
 

I understand your overall outlook but I would call Jerry Kill a solid coach and I had no problem with keeping him.

Pretty high praise to compare Ben to that level. Wish we were there.
Yeah, right now Johnson is more Brewster than Kill. Hopefully next year he is more Kill heading towards Fleck :)
 



The likelihood that we can find the pieces in the portal that will make us a contender next year is very low.

The likelihood that we can find the pieces in the portal to bring us more to the middle of the pack next year is much much higher.

That isn't where we want to be long term but it would represent a good step in the right direction next season. To me, year 4 is NCAA or bust time. Year 3 needs to show significant improvement that gives most fans the confidence to believe Johnson has a true vision and will be able to reach it. Fail to accomplish that and the administration most likely moves on after next season to a new coach.

I don't think you understand how far away from the middle of the pack we are. Middle of the pack means winning 9 or 10 games in the B1G next season. That's 3-4 more wins than Ben has won combined in his first 2 seasons, and we were seconds away from winning 0 this season. Now we're turning over half of our roster again, and losing 2 of our top 3 scorers.

The patience has ran out for myself and most others. The diehards have been trying to remain optimistic for years and where has it led us? To weakling Wednesday 6 of the last 8 seasons, and we're just getting worse and worse.

Ben is just an extension of Pitino, except a worse recruiter and a worse coach. Pitino at least had some talent, but he couldn't coach. They gave him 2 years too long, and another year for Ben is another wasted year for everyone.

Some people are tired of waiting nearly a decade to even be consistently mediocre, which is an incredibly low bar for this program in itself. You can be optimistic all you want, but it's not based in reality.
 

For people who are insulted - or taking Battle hitting the portal as some awful sign of the times within our program: schools are reaching out to him that pay EACH (through NIL) of their basketball scholarship players a MINIMUM of $230K.

For reference, that's more than 90% of G Leaguers or guys who play in Europe will make in a season.

Times have changed.
 

For people who are insulted - or taking Battle hitting the portal as some awful sign of the times within our program: schools are reaching out to him that pay EACH (through NIL) of their basketball scholarship players a MINIMUM of $230K.

For reference, that's more than 90% of G Leaguers or guys who play in Europe will make in a season.

Times have changed.
What is the source of the $230K minimum. That seems shockingly high for each of those schools
 

If I were in Coyle's shoes I would absolutely be worried and if things don't look to be moving in the right direction after year 3 I would be making a coaching change. But between now and then you let it play out and you hope for the best while as an AD, preparing for the worst (fans can just hope for the best :) )

It is going to take a collection of things to get the program on track but it isn't as impossible as some make it out to be. Teams 5-12 in the Big Ten all finished within 2 games +/- of .500 in terms of conference record. 2 wins sucked but there were a number of close games in there that could have gone either way. Flip a few and the record looks much different.

We need help from the portal, and we need the guys that are in place to keep improving. Will it all happen....who knows....but the simple fact is it could. Find a PG, Carrington becomes a solid SG, Payne keeps progressing towards being the beast it looks like he can be, JOJ builds on a solid freshman season and Garcia plays the way he did in the second half of the year when he was clearly our best player. Combine that with 4 wildcards in Fox, Ihnen, Betts, and Christie who could all come in and give the team an instant boost that wasn't there last year.

Does that come across as a title contender next year.....nope. But getting to that middle of the pack area where most of the conference was living this year is not out of the question. And if we don't get there then we probably start over the next year.
I believe most of the critics are quite aware of this. We have been pointing out coaches who have taken last place teams and turned them around in 1 or 2 years. It has been others who have said that losing is great because we need to employ the Clem 90's strategy.

The reason why there is doubt is because Ben has neglected the tools where you can turn things around quickly. Ben is now waking up because he is forced to since his job is on the line. The frustrating part is there is no reason why those tools couldn't have been employed sooner. The question is, is he equipped to be able to do it?
 

What is the source of the $230K minimum. That seems shockingly high for each of those schools

The source is someone who is very dialed into Gopher basketball and would know enough to be reached out to by boosters/staff at said interested school for this person's analysis of Battle's game and abilities. This person also has zero reason to put this out there or embellish any numbers.

If people (not saying you specifically) can't grasp the fact that there are WITHOUT A DOUBT multiple programs around the country with NIL collectives/boosters putting $2-3 million into their basketball teams, then they are living in a parallel universe.

There are at least 3-4 of them in the Sweet 16 right now.
 

The source is someone who is very dialed into Gopher basketball and would know enough to be reached out to by boosters/staff at said interested school for this person's analysis of Battle's game and abilities. This person also has zero reason to put this out there or embellish any numbers.

If people (not saying you specifically) can't grasp the fact that there are WITHOUT A DOUBT multiple programs around the country with NIL collectives/boosters putting $2-3 million into their basketball teams, then they are living in a parallel universe.

There are at least 3-4 of them in the Sweet 16 right now.
Why would anyone "dialed in" to our program give out information to other programs trying to poach players?
 

The source is someone who is very dialed into Gopher basketball and would know enough to be reached out to by boosters/staff at said interested school for this person's analysis of Battle's game and abilities. This person also has zero reason to put this out there or embellish any numbers.

If people (not saying you specifically) can't grasp the fact that there are WITHOUT A DOUBT multiple programs around the country with NIL collectives/boosters putting $2-3 million into their basketball teams, then they are living in a parallel universe.

There are at least 3-4 of them in the Sweet 16 right now.
I don't understand why people are in denial on this. There were teams (through boosters) spending a lot of money when it was cheating to do so! We know this because some of them have been caught. So how is it that people believe that now, with it legal to do so, that schools and their boosters are not jumping in with both feet in a big way?

Basketball is a sport that is so easy to do it with as you only need a few stars and some nice complementary guys to go a long way. Coaches in big time programs are getting 2 to 5 million to improve their teams in the standings...yet people refuse to believe that players that can affect the results on the court are not getting some big dollars?
 


Why would anyone "dialed in" to our program give out information to other programs trying to poach players?

I'm using the term "dialed in" as to not directly call out their role. But dialed in doesn't mean they work for the U or the team - it just means they have many sources within the program and have been around for enough years to have their opinions/analysis respected by others outside the state.

Also, there is no "poached" in regards to Battle. Evans was "poached". Everyone in the program knew Battle was looking for a change of scenery the entire second half of this season. The only surprise was that he decided to entertain other college programs as opposed to solely professional opportunities. But regardless, giving some other boosters info on Battle is not some pivotal piece of him staying or leaving. He has been gone for weeks - it's just a question of where to now.

I just posted these details today to give some perspective on what the landscape looks like in college hoops for a certain level of transfers. Take it or leave it.
 

If I were in Coyle's shoes I would absolutely be worried and if things don't look to be moving in the right direction after year 3 I would be making a coaching change. But between now and then you let it play out and you hope for the best while as an AD, preparing for the worst (fans can just hope for the best :) )

It is going to take a collection of things to get the program on track but it isn't as impossible as some make it out to be. Teams 5-12 in the Big Ten all finished within 2 games +/- of .500 in terms of conference record. 2 wins sucked but there were a number of close games in there that could have gone either way. Flip a few and the record looks much different.

We need help from the portal, and we need the guys that are in place to keep improving. Will it all happen....who knows....but the simple fact is it could. Find a PG, Carrington becomes a solid SG, Payne keeps progressing towards being the beast it looks like he can be, JOJ builds on a solid freshman season and Garcia plays the way he did in the second half of the year when he was clearly our best player. Combine that with 4 wildcards in Fox, Ihnen, Betts, and Christie who could all come in and give the team an instant boost that wasn't there last year.

Does that come across as a title contender next year.....nope. But getting to that middle of the pack area where most of the conference was living this year is not out of the question. And if we don't get there then we probably start over the next year.
Close games. Flip a few.

Keep reaching.
 

He didn't say he gave the information - he said they reached out to him. And even if they did give the information- what's the difference? Battle is gone- no longer a Gopher.
They didn't say he didn't give out the info either. I don't think it matters. He's got four years worth of film that should tell you everything you need to know. Questions about his character/ work ethic maybe?
 

I understand your overall outlook but I would call Jerry Kill a solid coach and I had no problem with keeping him.

Pretty high praise to compare Ben to that level. Wish we were there.
Yeah that isn't how I meant it, but that is on me. I was just talking about how we talked ourselves into believing everything he told us even when the evidence said otherwise. I mean we were happy beating out Western Michigan for recruits at one point so much so it became a long running joke around here.

Jerry was a good coach, not sure he was a good coach for the Big Ten though. Ben Johnson though is nowhere near his league so mea culpa on my bad writing :)
 

in essence, what Battle is doing is like anyone who leaves their job because they believe they can find a better-paying job. Hey, if you are making X$ at work, and you hear that a friend or old HS buddy is making XXX$ for doing the same thing, most people are going to think "I'm worth as much as he is."

you can complain all you want, but that is what D1 sports have become - especially college hoops where you only need a few really good players to have a contending team.

Ben Johnson is not blameless for the situation at the U of MN. He is an inexperienced coach who has made mistakes. and his program has no significant NIL support. Overcoming one of those obstacles is a challenge. overcoming both of them is a huge challenge.
 

I dont think most people doubt there are teams that have plenty of money to throw around. What I doubt personally is that it is as many as everyone thinks or that it is successful across the board. If collectives want to overpay for players go for it I am not sure Battle is the guy I would do it for.

If I am wrong though then it is doubly important we get rid of Johnson. This town is a frontrunner town the longer the basketball team languishes the harder it will be to get people to donate money. We can't count on big money guys we need grassroots style money and Ben is not the coach for that...not at a Big Ten school anyways.

(I think all of this is making college sports almost unwatchable)
 

I'm using the term "dialed in" as to not directly call out their role. But dialed in doesn't mean they work for the U or the team - it just means they have many sources within the program and have been around for enough years to have their opinions/analysis respected by others outside the state.

Also, there is no "poached" in regards to Battle. Evans was "poached". Everyone in the program knew Battle was looking for a change of scenery the entire second half of this season. The only surprise was that he decided to entertain other college programs as opposed to solely professional opportunities. But regardless, giving some other boosters info on Battle is not some pivotal piece of him staying or leaving. He has been gone for weeks - it's just a question of where to now.

I just posted these details today to give some perspective on what the landscape looks like in college hoops for a certain level of transfers. Take it or leave it.
Not trying to hate... just looking for clarity. You could be 100% right, but there's always a chance other boosters are inflating their numbers when speaking with your source. We can definitely agree that the U is way behind when it comes to NIL. Seems to me the football team is doing a decent job of getting players NIL money the right way though.
 

I dont think most people doubt there are teams that have plenty of money to throw around. What I doubt personally is that it is as many as everyone thinks or that it is successful across the board. If collectives want to overpay for players go for it I am not sure Battle is the guy I would do it for.

If I am wrong though then it is doubly important we get rid of Johnson. This town is a frontrunner town the longer the basketball team languishes the harder it will be to get people to donate money. We can't count on big money guys we need grassroots style money and Ben is not the coach for that...not at a Big Ten school anyways.

(I think all of this is making college sports almost unwatchable)
I thought it was doubly important that we NOT hire Johnson a couple of years back because I agree with you about this town and how tough it is to get traction while running from behind.

That said, we did hire him, we do have him and he is our guy. For that reason, I am very excited to see what he will do this spring, summer and fall to get this thing on track. The good news is that it appears that our moribund AD has now figured out that, hey, maybe we should get more in tune with this NIL thing and see if we can help the coach that he and Joan hired.

Ben is a good guy. I hope that the U gets behind him in a huge way and gives him every chance to succeed under difficult circumstances. I actually think that, given a decent hand to play, he just might succeed.

Here is something amazing to me: If Battle is potentially getting offers that could pay him six figures- how are we going to retain the rest of the team? I know they are getting some money but .....
 

Close games. Flip a few.

Keep reaching.
We were 2-5 in Big Ten Games decided by 4 or fewer points during the regular season. Not trying to pretend we were some championship caliber team but we were not as far from the rest of the pack as some of you like to act like we were.

The team was also playing quite a bit better in the last part of the season. This isn't reaching it is just reality. Have been saying the whole time that this is a massive off season for Johnson and one where he has to hit a HR with the players he brings in if he is going to save his job.

Another season like the first two will almost certainly get him fired.
 




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