There were several notable voices in the Gopher fan community that suggested that those of us that were shocked by the Ben Johnson hire didn't get "it". These voices suggested that Ben would clean up with in-state recruiting and make a dent nationally as well. It was strongly hinted publicly (and stated more directly privately) that guys would be coming home that would excite the fan base and that at least one intriguing guard from Ben's time at Xavier would be coming as well. An assistant coaching staff full of established names was coming too (hey at least they got Thorson right!).
When Gabe Kalscheur committed to ISU despite his former high school coach being on the Gopher staff and his lead recruiter becoming the head coach, I was willing to buy from these same voices that Gabe needed a change of scenery and was leaving "no matter what". When Eli King committed to ISU becoming the first Minnesota kid with a Gopher offer to EVER commit to Iowa State (that's right not Hoiberg, not Floyd, but Otz taking over a 2-23 team or whaterver), I was willing to buy that King wasn't one of the top 5 in-state targets of Ben Johnson's and that Otz's prior relationship with his brother was big. Then Heide commits to Purdue. The line from these same voices (some of whom liked our chances with him just a week or so prior as he was one of "the five") suggested that it was unrealistic to sign a kid whose parents were alumni of another school (imagine expecting the Gophers to land kids of alums that live out of state like it was automatic...). Now before and after these specific recruitments, we saw a number of Minnesota kids choose to stay where they were or go elsewhere despite having previous relationships with Ben and very clear access to starting roles and plenty of minutes here. The Xavier player (or players) never happened. Someone named Charlie Daniels was signed to a scholarship (14.2 minutes, 4.3 pts and 3.1 rebounds over 2 years for a low major Stephen F. Austin team) while Brandon Johnson transfers to....DePaul. We're now in to July and the best option at either the 4 or the 5 position is probably Jamison Battle who is more of a 3/4. The Dawson Garcia news lead me to post because he was heavily hinted/rumored to be a Gopher if he didn't stay in the draft from the voices defending a Ben Johnson hire (going back to April). Garcia would have been HUGE for Ben Johnson. He could offer him the featured role/most shots in the offense (something he's unlikely to get at Texas/UNC/Arizona) and Johnson would have a shot at putting a Minnesota kid in to the pros in his first year as a head coach...giving him something to sell. Not only will Garcia not be coming to Minnesota, it was never even close...it was all BS...which makes you wonder if you should believe some of the same voices who've made excuses for the other misses.
Ben clearly went with a strategy of bringing in guys with one year to play (Garcia would essentially be this too as he's clearly eyeing the draft) so he could sell minutes/playing time to the 2022 class. Contrast this to Otz at Iowa State who got a top ~50 ish PG to re-commit to Iowa State in the 2021 class. Then he got the top PG in Iowa (Lipsey from Ames) to commit to him for the 2022 class, then he gets Gabe who has two years left at SG...and still gets Eli King to come in the 2022 class as a SG. He gets a nice piece from Penn State in Brockington, a former top 50-75 recruit from Kansas in Tristan Enaruna, and keeps returning Freshman (due to pandemic) former top recruit Xavier Foster in the fold. How about Shaka at Marquette? Loses Dawson Garcia, but picks up B1G Defensive player of the year Darryl Morsell, brings/keeps 5 2021 Freshman in the fold ranked 89, 106, 115, 158, and 197 and brought in a Freshman transfer from Clemson that was 108 in 2020. I am not saying either of these are spectacular starts to a tenure but they both far exceed what we've seen (on paper) from Ben Johnson to date...and recruiting was supposed to be the sure thing.
This 2022 class is huge and just getting the 2nd tier guys in Minnesota isn't going to cut it...especially with so many eggs in that basket given how the roster was put together for the '21-22 season. This roster could have been constructed in any way Ben Johnson saw fit. He had all the playing time and shots in the world to offer guys and he went the route he did (I acutally like some of these guys and think they upgraded spots say 4--7 on the roster...but those guys are going to need to be 1-4). He strategically put together a roster in a way where there were clear paths to start in '22 for all his top high school targets which I don't think is necessary for a good recruiter (see the Otz example above), but makes it imperative that he land said targets. He hired a staff where only one assistant has recruited at the high major level and that was Thorson some 30 years ago. Ben himself will be the youngest coach in the B1G, no track record of success as an assistant, and the only coach with zero head coaching experience. Recruiting and roster building was supposed be the given here and it hasn't been to date. As long as he brings in a very good '22 class this Spring/Summer season won't matter, but an underwhelming class signing in November followed by what most see as a likely ugly season ending in March and that becomes a very deep hole to dig out of.
