Ben Johnson and the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team returned to winning ways on Saturday afternoon, overcoming Fairleigh Dickinson by 14 points, before an announced crowd at Williams Arena of (allegedly) 9,000 attendees. They were favored by 16 points.
Following yesterday’s victory, Minnesota improved their record to 7-5 for the season. All seven of their victories have been achieved against schools at the FCS level, or lower. And a few of those wins were extremely close, such as triumphing over Omaha by four points and defeating Central Michigan by three.
| 2024-25 Gophers MBB Wins | Score |
|---|---|
| Oral Roberts | 80-57 |
| Omaha | 68-64 |
| Yale | 59-56 |
| Cleveland St | 54-47 |
| Central Michigan | 68-65 |
| Fairleigh Dickinson | 74-60 |
In their initial conference matches — against Michigan St (72-90) and Indiana (67-82) — the Minnesota Gophers suffered losses by over 15 points. They also lost to both Wake Forest and Wichita State during the ESPN Thanksgiving tournament. Oh, and they paid North Texas to visit The Barn and defeat them early in the non-conference season.
The conclusion approaches for Minnesota Gophers basketball coach Ben Johnson.
Next is Morgan State, in what could be Minnesota’s final opportunity to secure a victory this season. No, that is neither sarcasm nor exaggeration. During his fourth year as head coach at the University of Minnesota, Ben Johnson might be fortunate to secure a single victory on the 2024-25 Big Ten schedule.
This Gophers team is that terrible, which is why Ben will be dismissed by season’s end. For his benefit, may it occur sooner. At that moment, we were unaware that Ben was the worst hire Athletic Director Mark Coyle could have chosen.
But… who will succeed Johnson, who has a 48-59 record overall as head basketball coach for the Minnesota Gophers, with a 15-46 record in the Big Ten? The upcoming leader of the program will face the challenge of rescuing an operation that is so severely “out of order” that there are doubts about whether it can be repaired at all.
However, it appears that many established college coaches have already expressed interest in becoming the next head coach at U of M. What is the size of the names? We will allow you to view the expanding list of candidates, which currently includes five, and then you can make your own judgment.
Prominent figures emerge as potential successors to Johnson.
In Sunday’s Pioneer Press, veteran local insider and columnist, Charley Walters, identified former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders as a likely candidate if Johnson is dismissed. He also brought up Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, who has connections to the area, along with the main figure… 58-year-old Tom Crean, the former head coach at Georgia, Indiana, and Marquette.
Indeed, small birds are informing Walters (a University of Minnesota alumnus) that the two-time Big Ten champion “would be eager to take the Minnesota position.” Saunders, Sweeney, and Crean are added to the earlier mentioned names, Niko Medved (Colorado State) and Craig Smith (Utah).
Clearly, Ryan Saunders is most recognized for his unsuccessful tenure as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he also played for the Minnesota Gophers between 2004 and 2006. Tom Crean began his highly successful college coaching journey at Marquette, leading the team to a Final Four in 2002-03, featuring Dwyane Wade as his standout player.
Gophers supporters remember Crean primarily for his time at Indiana from 2008 to 2017, during which he reached four NCAA Tournaments and claimed two regular season Big Ten titles. He additionally coached at Georgia during Anthony Edwards’ single season. During his 22 years as a head coach in college basketball, Tom Crean holds a record of 403 wins and 306 losses.
Ben Johnson’s time was detrimental for U of M basketball.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball team is experiencing its worst phase since the early 2000s, following some of the harshest sanctions in college basketball history. Excessive punishment that a previous Final Four program never bounced back from.
He was brought on to ensure Minnesota kids stayed home, relying on strong personal connections and deep-rooted affiliations within the MN high school basketball community. However, right after his hiring, college athletics was dominated by Name, Image, and Likeness. Almost instantly, personal relationships lost their significance.
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