Q&A with Ben Johnson: Recruiting, NIL, Coyle's Expectations, Fox/Ihnen Health, Betts Progress and Much More

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BleedGopher

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per Marcus:

Q: Did Coyle set any specific goals for you with wins and losses or postseason play next year?

A: You want to win every game. You want to be in postseason play, you want to be competitive for a Big Ten championship. That goes without saying. Our goals don't change year to year.

It's about being competitive and trying to win. It's to compete for a Big Ten championship. [Players know] it's to make the NCAA tournament and when you get there to make a run. It's more of what do we need to do? As far as recruiting, who do we need to bring in? What pieces do we need to add? And then … it's player development. What do our guys need to get better at?

Much more here:

www.startribune.com

Q&A: Gophers coach Ben Johnson on player turnover, transfer portal recruiting, NIL impact

After a 9-22 season, Johnson sees a better outlook with the team's returning players and possibilities in the transfer portal.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 

He needs a lot more than depth from the portal, unless he wants another 9 win season.
 

sometimes in these interviews, it's not what you say - it's what you don't say.

when asked about the players transferring out of the program, Johnson was very diplomatic - while avoiding any direct statement about whether the transfers were NIL-related or due to other factors.
and I get it - you don't want to burn any bridges. but it would be interesting to know what was really said behind closed doors.

and Johnson also was very effusive in his praise of Mark Coyle. whether that is genuine or out of self-preservation, only Johnson knows.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
sometimes in these interviews, it's not what you say - it's what you don't say.

when asked about the players transferring out of the program, Johnson was very diplomatic - while avoiding any direct statement about whether the transfers were NIL-related or due to other factors.
and I get it - you don't want to burn any bridges. but it would be interesting to know what was really said behind closed doors.

and Johnson also was very effusive in his praise of Mark Coyle. whether that is genuine or out of self-preservation, only Johnson knows.
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If I kept my job after 2 years of some of the worst performance in history, I think my love for my boss would be pretty genuine.
 




Ihnen may well be a dimension of Gopher Basketball we have never seen before. I’m excited for the potential. Betts is a bit ahead of Christie in the program. Mitchell can be the glue. I think when the portal closes the Gophers are leaps and bounds better. I wish Asuma could reclassify.
 




The interview falls short for me because he doesn't really lay any optimism out there. I want to see him put a stake in the ground: "We are going to be much better, this coming year, this is going to be a very competitive team and I expect us to make a run to be a tournament team". We have one of the best returning front lines in the Big Ten and just need to add some portal guards, in addition to Christie and Carrington. Fans are going to love the product on the floor next year." His line that the goals are the same every year is a tired one for me. What are the realistic and attainable goals for this coming year? Why should I be interested as a fan?
 



fan of Ray Williams said:
Says “highlights” from the interview. Read it, must have missed them.
Really think Mitchell is going to be it from the portal. A couple more fillers, ala Taurus and Charlie is my guess.
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I think they will get one more guard that can really run and play defense and then I hope they get the women's coach's kid as a shooter. At the big slot, I would guess that a Charlie type is about right there. That's a difficult pickup because Payne is so obviously the man there. Have to hope Fox and Ihnen are ready.
 





bga1 said:
I think they will get one more guard that can really run and play defense and then I hope they get the women's coach's kid as a shooter. At the big slot, I would guess that a Charlie type is about right there. That's a difficult pickup because Payne is so obviously the man there. Have to hope Fox and Ihnen are ready.
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Yes, that would be the way to go. Sincerely hope I’m proven wrong.
 

bga1 said:
Have to hope Fox and Ihnen are ready.
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I think that is a disaster and horrible thinking and preparation. Neither has a history of success at this level and coming off debilitating injuries. Hoping they can contribute is one thing. Planning on it is foolhardy. Nothing new from my keyboard but it still amazes me that anyone would anticipate success relying on two guys coming off that kind of injury.
 

Holy Man said:
I think that is a disaster and horrible thinking and preparation. Neither has a history of success at this level and coming off debilitating injuries. Hoping they can contribute is one thing. Planning on it is foolhardy. Nothing new from my keyboard but it still amazes me that anyone would anticipate success relying on two guys coming off that kind of injury.
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The point is that a good big is going to be a difficult pickup because Payne and Garcia are inked as the starters. Will we get a depth guy- probably. Will we get a high quality big- probably not. It's not that anyone doesn't want one, I just don't think he will get one. Therefore, the hope is that Fox and Ihnen come through.
 


fan of Ray Williams said:
Says “highlights” from the interview. Read it, must have missed them.
Really think Mitchell is going to be it from the portal. A couple more fillers, ala Taurus and Charlie is my guess.
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If that's the case, then Johnson is really going to piss off a lot of fans (including me and I've been mostly a defender). Way too early to think about settling for filler. There are only 4 Power 6 conference schools who have had two commits so far and I don't see any with three commits. In fact, I see only 5 D1 schools with three or more commits and those are non-majors with large transfer losses for the most part.

Johnson's first transfer commit this season came earlier than any of his prior commits. I see only 110 commits so far out of 1,176 players to enter the portal (less than 10%) and there probably are at least another 300 players to enter the portal. Portal recruiting in this offseason is the most important job that coach Johnson has had in his head coaching career. He better give it 100% and keep the pedal to the floor for as long as it takes to get a good set of transfers. If he gets three good transfers prospects, then maybe he can settle for a marginal fourth.

Remember that Johnson got five decent to very good transfers in his first offseason so I don't see any excuse for not getting at least three this offseason (he already has one).
 
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bga1 said:
The point is that a good big is going to be a difficult pickup because Payne and Garcia are inked as the starters. Will we get a depth guy- probably. Will we get a high quality big- probably not. It's not that anyone doesn't want one, I just don't think he will get one. Therefore, the hope is that Fox and Ihnen come through.
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Agreed but I’m on the side of those who see no improvement without at least one more proven and capable starting guard who can shoot. I might be selling improvements of existing roster short, but I’m confident that team improvement isn’t coming from the guys returning from injury.
 

Holy Man said:
I think that is a disaster and horrible thinking and preparation. Neither has a history of success at this level and coming off debilitating injuries. Hoping they can contribute is one thing. Planning on it is foolhardy. Nothing new from my keyboard but it still amazes me that anyone would anticipate success relying on two guys coming off that kind of injury.
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Yet there are posters here that fully believe the two injured kids will be the difference makers in winning a lot of games.
 

cjbfbp said:
Remember that Johnson got five decent to very good transfers in his first offseason so I don't see any excuse for not getting at least three this offseason (he already has one).
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Yes. Often thought if he could have thrown Willis, Lowe, Stephens, Sutherlin in on this past season’s team, it would have been respectable. And you’re correct, too early.
 


Holy Man said:
Agreed but I’m on the side of those who see no improvement without at least one more proven and capable starting guard who can shoot. I might be selling improvements of existing roster short, but I’m confident that team improvement isn’t coming from the guys returning from injury.
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Johnson has to see that also. I guess I don't expect an interview with him, or just about any coach, to shed much light on anything. Most are very guarded and Ben strikes me as even more so. I think a lot of it is simply public encouragement for Fox, Ilhen, and Betts. He's also not going to say that he's going to get a certain number of guards or dynamic difference makers out of the portal. That's the goal but why put yourself out on a limb if you can't make it? This season already did that to him. Ben's heard the rumblings; he's seen the empty seats; he's also seen Coyle pull the trigger on someone with a lot more Gopher equity than he has.
 


cjbfbp said:
If that's the case, then Johnson is really going to piss off a lot of fans (including me and I've been mostly a defender). Way too early to think about settling for filler. There are only 4 Power 6 conference schools who have had two commits so far and I don't see any with three commits. In fact, I see only 5 D1 schools with three or more commits and those are non-majors with large transfer losses for the most part.

Johnson's first transfer commit this season came earlier than any of his prior commits. I see only 110 commits so far out of 1,176 players to enter the portal (less than 10%) and there probably are at least another 300 players to enter the portal. Portal recruiting in this offseason is the most important job that coach Johnson has had in his head coaching career. He better give it 100% and keep the pedal to the floor for as long as it takes to get a good set of transfers. If he gets three good transfers prospects, then maybe he can settle for a marginal fourth.

Remember that Johnson got five decent to very good transfers in his first offseason so I don't see any excuse for not getting at least three this offseason (he already has one).
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Great points and a very accurate assessment! In my opinion this years transfer portal players were a far cry from his first year. I believe that Ben and his staff can and will get a higher level of portal guy into the Barn.
 

bga1 said:
The point is that a good big is going to be a difficult pickup because Payne and Garcia are inked as the starters. Will we get a depth guy- probably. Will we get a high quality big- probably not. It's not that anyone doesn't want one, I just don't think he will get one. Therefore, the hope is that Fox and Ihnen come through.
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Possibly the real reason Evans left, he wasn’t beating out Payne?
 

Keep in mind that we lost 3 starters and we won two games. One of those Battle is rated as a top 10 guy in the portal. Cooper was honorable mention All Big Ten. Henley had lots of potential and improved pretty significantly.
So just to get to even we.need those 3 spots.
Mitchell is Cooper. Need somebody with Battles potential or last years value that will occupy the other team’s best defender.
Regarding bigs- we got the walk-on coming.
Relying on him and Christie, Betts, Ihnen and Fox to dramatically make us better seems real foolhardy.
 

bga1 said:
The interview falls short for me because he doesn't really lay any optimism out there. I want to see him put a stake in the ground: "We are going to be much better, this coming year, this is going to be a very competitive team and I expect us to make a run to be a tournament team". We have one of the best returning front lines in the Big Ten and just need to add some portal guards, in addition to Christie and Carrington. Fans are going to love the product on the floor next year." His line that the goals are the same every year is a tired one for me. What are the realistic and attainable goals for this coming year? Why should I be interested as a fan?
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And after saying the above, he could go to Gopherhole to see himself being ripped to shreds for being completely delusional! Lol
 

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