Ben Johnson is NOT a disaster....

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RockChalk said:
They all have options. 4-5 stars move around like the wind. I would be very concerned about Christie. The only players I think I would be comfortable with would be Garcia and Payne.
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They all had options last year when they were terrible, but they stayed.
4-5 stars don't move around at all.
Garcia is the most likely to leave for other opportunities, imo, but I do think PP is going to stay.
 

MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
They all had options last year when they were terrible, but they stayed.
4-5 stars don't move around at all.
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Really?

Does the name Caleb Love ring a bell?

How about Jahvon Quinerly?

Boogie Ellis?

Hunter Dickinson?

Dawson Garcia?

Do you need anymore names of 4-5 stars that have moved recently?
 

RockChalk said:
Really?

Does the name Caleb Love ring a bell?

How about Jahvon Quinerly?

Boogie Ellis?

Hunter Dickinson?

Dawson Garcia?

Do you need anymore names of 4-5 stars that have moved recently?
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There's a couple. I would imagine most of them go to the best teams right away and go pro after a year.
 




Ben had better have a plan. over 90% of D1 teams lose players to the portal every year. He may not know now, but when a player decides to leave MN, Ben had better have an IMMEDIATE plan IN PLACE to address that move. Expect the unexpected and have a plan in place. I don't want to hear any BS excuses next fall when Ben apologists say "it's not his fault all of his good players left. Poor Ben". I like what the Gophers are becoming. IF they all stay and start playing better (Ihnen, JOJ, Carrington!!!), they can become something special. I like what I see. Still have a few concerns.
 


Very impressive answer by Ben. Refreshing that he didn't give a "stock" answer.

It's very apparent the Gophers have made significant progress this season. Like he said, the next thing is "stacking" wins. And I would add, get back to making The Barn an extremely difficult place to win. It hasn't been that for quite some time. Yesterday despite nowhere near a full gym, we got glimpses of what The Barn once was, and what it can be again..
 




Big Dawg said:
Ben had better have a plan. over 90% of D1 teams lose players to the portal every year. He may not know now, but when a player decides to leave MN, Ben had better have an IMMEDIATE plan IN PLACE to address that move. Expect the unexpected and have a plan in place.
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JHC, some of you are so f'n arrogant it's beyond belief! Sit on your ass looking at a screen but you have such deep basketball knowledge that you can give dispense to people who have been playing or coaching damn near their whole lives. Why not enjoy the season a bit instead of keep telling us about your concerns?

"May not know now, but ..." Jackass phrase of the year!
 

Someone will leave. The good news is that if he can keep the core together he has something to sell other than just playing time. Great players aren't worried about playing time- they want to win.
We may be getting ready to start doing that. We don't have guys that are NBA ready and it seems as though there is a good culture building.
 

bga1 said:
Someone will leave. The good news is that if he can keep the core together he has something to sell other than just playing time. Great players aren't worried about playing time- they want to win.
We may be getting ready to start doing that. We don't have guys that are NBA ready and it seems as though there is a good culture building.
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Exactly, let’s live in and enjoy the NOW of hoops resurgence.

The future will take care of itself.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
I would be very surprised if Hawkins and Mitchell transferred. They've done well, play a lot of minutes here, and, since the NCAA appears to be getting tougher on repeat transfers, have a good chance of not being immediately eligible if they tried.
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Exactly- unless Hawkins or Mitchell graduate in 3 years (which is possible), neither of them would be immediately eligible with another transfer.

So odds are good both will be back next season.
 



TwistingMyMelon said:
I would be very surprised if Hawkins and Mitchell transferred. They've done well, play a lot of minutes here, and, since the NCAA appears to be getting tougher on repeat transfers, have a good chance of not being immediately eligible if they tried.
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Garcia only has one more year of eligibility. Don't think Hawkins and Mitchell have the free covid year.....so AFAIK they each have one year remaining too. Having used their free transfers....it seems extremely unlikely that they move again.....sitting a year to play one more. Doesn't make any sense. Much more likely that Garcia goes pro. But Hawkins and Mitchell will almost definitely be on this team next year unless something unforeseeable happens.
 

stocker08 said:
Garcia only has one more year of eligibility. Don't think Hawkins and Mitchell have the free covid year.....so AFAIK they each have one year remaining too. Having used their free transfers....it seems extremely unlikely that they move again.....sitting a year to play one more. Doesn't make any sense. Much more likely that Garcia goes pro. But Hawkins and Mitchell will almost definitely be on this team next year unless something unforeseeable happens.
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What's the NIL money for Garcia? He is not going to play in the NBA so if the NIL is enough, I think that Garcia will be enticed to play one more year for UMN.
 

FinnGopher said:
What's the NIL money for Garcia? He is not going to play in the NBA so if the NIL is enough, I think that Garcia will be enticed to play one more year for UMN.
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Yeah....he's probably more like a development type or overseas player at this point. Could depend on scout feedback.....but you might be right. If there's enough NIL money.....he could be ready to suit up one more year and see if his stock improves.
 

stocker08 said:
Garcia only has one more year of eligibility. Don't think Hawkins and Mitchell have the free covid year.....so AFAIK they each have one year remaining too. Having used their free transfers....it seems extremely unlikely that they move again.....sitting a year to play one more. Doesn't make any sense. Much more likely that Garcia goes pro. But Hawkins and Mitchell will almost definitely be on this team next year unless something unforeseeable happens.
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You guys are forgetting about some of the legal battles going on that might make it possible for guys to transfer multiple times with immediate eligibility and no waivers needed.

I hope everyone sticks around. A big part of why wisconsin has been so solid year after year is that guys stay for multiple years.
 

stocker08 said:
Garcia only has one more year of eligibility. Don't think Hawkins and Mitchell have the free covid year.....so AFAIK they each have one year remaining too. Having used their free transfers....it seems extremely unlikely that they move again.....sitting a year to play one more. Doesn't make any sense. Much more likely that Garcia goes pro. But Hawkins and Mitchell will almost definitely be on this team next year unless something unforeseeable happens.
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Prior to this season, I would have said that there is no way that Garcia plays another year after this one but now I'm not so sure. I never though Marcus Carr would play a 5th year either but he did. Remember that Garcia only played 16 games in his second year. I sure hope he returns for another.
 

MNVCGUY said:
You guys are forgetting about some of the legal battles going on that might make it possible for guys to transfer multiple times with immediate eligibility and no waivers needed.

I hope everyone sticks around. A big part of why wisconsin has been so solid year after year is that guys stay for multiple years.
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As I understand it, the current lawsuits only address situations where players have transferred and are in-place at their new schools this season. I don't think they're about future transferees.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
As I understand it, the current lawsuits only address situations where players have transferred and are in-place at their new schools this season. I don't think they're about future transferees.
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You may be right. But things are changing and evolving all the time.

Hopefully it all works out and we have basically the same team next year and can add some help as well through recruiting and the portal.
 


MNVCGUY said:
This is going to be a very interesting off season.

Baring a complete collapse or scandal of some kind the big question on who will be coaching the team is settled in my opinion and Johnson will be back.

But this current free transfer with immediate eligibility, Pay-for-play/NIL mess that is college football and basketball right now makes it really tough for fans to get too excited about the future.

In the past we would look at this current team and feel really good about where things were headed. Most of the team should be back and we would be sweating whether or not Garcia was going to go pro or spend another year in college.....

....in this current landscape it will be worries about Christie, Garcia, Hawkins, Payne, Mitchel being poached by another school or just deciding to transfer. Feel ok about prospects of hanging onto Payne and I think Garcia plays here if he stays in college for one more year. But the rest don't have ties to the area and while you would hope they would all want to come back and keep building towards something we all know that in this day and age that is far from a sure thing.

Has been a lot of fun this year to finally see things moving in the right direction and there is some good young talent on this team that should only get better.....if they stay together and in this day and age that is a big IF unfortunately.
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Every team is going to have some worry of that though.

But those players? All pretty unlikely for one reason or the other.

Payne, hes from here and chose to commit here to begin with and based of his skillset not sure he gets a ton more playing time at any other solid to great high major.

Garcia? Guy has transfered twice already and had to get approved for us. Hes gonna have to have like 7 relatives in random states drop dead to play anywhere else.

Hawkins and Mitchell also already transfered and would need waivers. Plus like Payne not sure where they would go. They came from low majors and are now starters playing massive roles on a BIG10 team with potential to be even more competitive next year.
 

Mulligan said:
JHC, some of you are so f'n arrogant it's beyond belief! Sit on your ass looking at a screen but you have such deep basketball knowledge that you can give dispense to people who have been playing or coaching damn near their whole lives. Why not enjoy the season a bit instead of keep telling us about your concerns?

"May not know now, but ..." Jackass phrase of the year!
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Mulligan, experiencing reading comprehension issues since 2009. Triggered much? I state fact and say I'm enjoying the season, and you go off. Nice, troll. Seems like you are suggesting either Ben shouldn't have a plan if/when a player leaves the program prematurely or you think the Gophers will be that special program no player ever leaves. Take a mulligan on your triggered response.
 

bga1 said:
Someone will leave. The good news is that if he can keep the core together he has something to sell other than just playing time. Great players aren't worried about playing time- they want to win.
We may be getting ready to start doing that. We don't have guys that are NBA ready and it seems as though there is a good culture building.
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You know, I did a Big Ten basketball search on Sports Reference today. The very simple search had the following terms:

Seniors who ----

Average 15 or more minutes per game AND

Score 8 or more points per game.

There are 30 players who fit that criteria and they come from 13 conference schools.

I know you can guess which is the one school that doesn't have any of them. Minnesota. (they don't classify Garcia as a senior).

Here are the schools who have the most:

Illinois (4) - 3 of them are 5th year players
Michigan (3)
Northwestern (3) - 2 are 5th year players
Rutgers (3) - 2 are 5th year players
Iowa (3)

Maryland only has two but they are both 5th year players including their leading scorer (almost 21 points per game) and their 3rd leading scorer.

So, we have a young team with a good chance to retain all of our most significant players (maybe even Garcia). Sure, other schools can replace their departed players from the portal but that's no guarantee of "plug and play."
 

Big Dawg said:
Seems like you are suggesting either Ben shouldn't have a plan if/when a player leaves the program prematurely or you think the Gophers will be that special program no player ever leaves.
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No, he's saying quit barking orders and flapping your jaws pointlessly because you're not saying anything that everyone (and especially the coach) doesn't already know.
 


FinnGopher said:
What's the NIL money for Garcia? He is not going to play in the NBA so if the NIL is enough, I think that Garcia will be enticed to play one more year for UMN.
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Yes, and he will have played only 3.5 years after this season. He only played half a year as a soph at UNC.
 

Big Dawg said:
Ben had better have a plan. over 90% of D1 teams lose players to the portal every year. He may not know now, but when a player decides to leave MN, Ben had better have an IMMEDIATE plan IN PLACE to address that move. Expect the unexpected and have a plan in place. I don't want to hear any BS excuses next fall when Ben apologists say "it's not his fault all of his good players left. Poor Ben". I like what the Gophers are becoming. IF they all stay and start playing better (Ihnen, JOJ, Carrington!!!), they can become something special. I like what I see. Still have a few concerns.
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The plan is to win Tuesday and then think about the next game. Every win and/or good effort and performance solidifies the roster for next year.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
You know, I did a Big Ten basketball search on Sports Reference today. The very simple search had the following terms:

Seniors who ----

Average 15 or more minutes per game AND

Score 8 or more points per game.

There are 30 players who fit that criteria and they come from 13 conference schools.

I know you can guess which is the one school that doesn't have any of them. Minnesota. (they don't classify Garcia as a senior).

Here are the schools who have the most:

Illinois (4) - 3 of them are 5th year players
Michigan (3)
Northwestern (3) - 2 are 5th year players
Rutgers (3) - 2 are 5th year players
Iowa (3)

Maryland only has two but they are both 5th year players including their leading scorer (almost 21 points per game) and their 3rd leading scorer.

So, we have a young team with a good chance to retain all of our most significant players (maybe even Garcia). Sure, other schools can replace their departed players from the portal but that's no guarantee of "plug and play."
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Thanks for the research. This is all great information. Out of those schools, I'd think NW and Michigan will have the most difficult plugging in players to replace their guys they lost. NW due to their academics and Michigan, just because Howard has struggled with the portal the last couple seasons. Illinois and Iowa will probably be okay, and Rutgers has that ridiculous HS class coming in.

I do think we'll probably lose someone with eligibility just because it's almost impossible to return everyone. With that said, I do think the core returns(50/50 on Garcia), so we could potentially enhance the roster with a solid portal addition.
 

Big Dawg said:
Mulligan, experiencing reading comprehension issues since 2009. Triggered much? I state fact and say I'm enjoying the season, and you go off. Nice, troll. Seems like you are suggesting either Ben shouldn't have a plan if/when a player leaves the program prematurely or you think the Gophers will be that special program no player ever leaves. Take a mulligan on your triggered response.
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This is not a problem unique to Ben or MN. No team in 2024 can plan next year based on "if everyone who can comes back" because that will almost never happen. So it can't be an expectation of the fan base. But it also can't be used as an excuse by the coach. Each team is unique and the coaching staff owns it for good or bad.
 

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