Ben Johnson Reasonable Expectations

[Gopherfan84]

Great post. If one or more of the 4 frosh doesn’t start THIS year we have serious problem IMO.

Why? What if we pick up 4 really good transfers? What if TT continues to improve? I don't think we can come to that conclusion at all yet. I think there are 3 starting spots open. I think Battle and Fox/Ihnen are starters for sure. I think we will get two guards in the portal that will start. Carrington will be in the mix, but I don't think he will start right away at least. As far as a C, Payne will be in the mix and could take the spot, but what if we get Garcia? Would you be concerned then?

 

[leib0039]

When people refer to any job as a "hard job" in college, I dont necessarily disagree, but I also think each job has the right person for it. If Monson/Few dont land at Gonzaga do they take off? I doubt it as that was probably a bad job but they clicked there. Arkansas isnt a bad job per se, but 4 years ago if you told me they got 3 5* freshman and went to back to back elite 8s I would have laughed at you, but here we are. I truly do think any program can succeed with the right coach, and sometimes they are just bad fits. Would Bo Ryan/Greg Gard build a powerhouse at USC, I have my doubts, but he is the perfect fit at WI. 1 year in I truly have no idea if Ben is that guy here or not but I think just saying we are a tough job is just somewhat of an excuse. The right coach (again could be Johnson who knows) and I think this program could truly take off, but to me this is all about finding that guy.

 

[eker0016]

To not make the tournament through four years and still have a job is the very definition of no expectations to me. I don't buy that Covid and transfers made this job tougher for Ben Johnson. The additional year granted to kids combined with the free transfer granted made it so there was more talent available in the Spring than there had ever been previously. You also had so many jobs open last Spring at high majors that a bunch or recruits shook free late too so the quality/quantify of late signee Freshman was much better than usual as well. In the past, you'd likely have had a Liam Robbins leave with his uncle regardless and Marcus Carr would have went to the draft/overseas (limited options due to Covid) and there would have only been grad transfers available to replace them. Now do you really just give Ben a pass for Gabe or Brandon Johnson transferring to ISU and DePaul? Then you get down to guys like Martice Mitchell, Tre Williams, Sam Freeman, etc who you were clearly better off with their scholarships to use elsewhere. When you include Omersa and Mutaf you are looking at like half of the guys who were on scholarship in '20-'21 who couldn't help you in the Big Ten.

To me, last Spring was the easiest time for Ben to shape his roster. He could offer starters minutes at all 5 positions and was a complete unknown as a head coach. I feel it's tougher for him now. Instead of a complete unknown he's still a very low profile head coach...but one coming off a 4-16 last place Big Ten record where his team also played at a tempo so slow that Dick Bennett would blush. Ben can point to his transfers playing a ton of minutes, but what else can he sell? I'd rather be in his position last year than I would this year in terms of selling the Ben Johnson brand.

By this time next year we will have a much better idea of where things stand. In a best case scenario Ben adds 4 pieces between now and August that can help him get to the tournament next year. At least a couple of the Freshmen contribute and look like guys that can be starters in '23 or beyond. Chatman and Winter commit somtime between this Spring and next Fall.

A worst case scenario involves not improving upon last years transfer portal additions and the Freshmen looking a lot like the younger players on the '21-22 roster. Team finishes in the bottom 4 again. Chatman and/or Winter commit elsewhere and the replacement commitment(s) are "sleepers".

I hope it's much closer to the best case scenario. What I really don't want is any scenario where there has not even been a tournament appearance through 3 years and provided we're not massive favorites to make it in year 4 (ex preseason top 20 in the stuff that comes out after the Final Four) we give him "another chance". There have been way too many lame duck years here that have badly hurt fan interest, program perception, and roster quality.

Good dose of reality. I was also flummoxed that we didn't even pick up a single extra HS recruit after Ben's hiring. For all the talk of establishing the culture, it would have been nice to bring in more young talent to inculcate that culture in.

I agree the blank slate can be better -- remember Tim Brewster's first class he brought in, with multiple 4 stars? Once he started piling up losing seasons his classes got more and more anemic.

I do have optimism still. I was impressed with the lack of turnovers. And it often felt like we were in games we ultimately lost (Michigan State, Wisconsin etc.) because we faded in the final minutes. And I like the recruits Ben has brought in this year. At the end of the day, how well he recruits will be the most important factor in his success.

I have to remind myself that in 2018 I was panicking about our situation...Matz Stockman was in the transfer portal and a rehabbing Eric Curry was our only true big man. It looked like Jordan Murphy might have to play 40 minutes a game at post. And Brock Stull might be a starter. Well Oturu and Gabe came in and started and played well -- I had low expectations for each of them that year and they smashed them. What if Payne can come in and play 20-25 effective minutes per game, and Carrington has a Gabe-like freshman season and plays 25-30 minutes/game while shooting 41% from 3PT? Or maybe Henley is the one who steps up.

 

[cjbfbp]

I think that's a compliment to Willis and Battle more than anything. They were very productive players (especially Battle). That being said I bet one of our four transfers is at the level of those two. The others I think will match or be in-between those two and Loewe (who I thought was fine as a 5th starter, but he had to be our 3/4th).

Absolutely agree that it's a compliment to those players. You can't depend on being lucky two years in a row but, of course, we were also the reverse of lucky in the post area and I expect us to be luckier there this season especially if Ben focuses on adding one more big man with the potential to rebound at a good rate and play quality defense inside. He doesn't have to be a 30 minute per game player. I also thought Loewe was helpful because he was a solid ball handler and played hard on both ends of the court. One thing this team did do very well this year was take care of the ball (#11 out of 358 teams in turnover margin).

 

[Fleckoff]

To not make the tournament through four years and still have a job is the very definition of no expectations to me. I don't buy that Covid and transfers made this job tougher for Ben Johnson. The additional year granted to kids combined with the free transfer granted made it so there was more talent available in the Spring than there had ever been previously. You also had so many jobs open last Spring at high majors that a bunch or recruits shook free late too so the quality/quantify of late signee Freshman was much better than usual as well. In the past, you'd likely have had a Liam Robbins leave with his uncle regardless and Marcus Carr would have went to the draft/overseas (limited options due to Covid) and there would have only been grad transfers available to replace them. Now do you really just give Ben a pass for Gabe or Brandon Johnson transferring to ISU and DePaul? Then you get down to guys like Martice Mitchell, Tre Williams, Sam Freeman, etc who you were clearly better off with their scholarships to use elsewhere. When you include Omersa and Mutaf you are looking at like half of the guys who were on scholarship in '20-'21 who couldn't help you in the Big Ten.

To me, last Spring was the easiest time for Ben to shape his roster. He could offer starters minutes at all 5 positions and was a complete unknown as a head coach. I feel it's tougher for him now. Instead of a complete unknown he's still a very low profile head coach...but one coming off a 4-16 last place Big Ten record where his team also played at a tempo so slow that Dick Bennett would blush. Ben can point to his transfers playing a ton of minutes, but what else can he sell? I'd rather be in his position last year than I would this year in terms of selling the Ben Johnson brand.

By this time next year we will have a much better idea of where things stand. In a best case scenario Ben adds 4 pieces between now and August that can help him get to the tournament next year. At least a couple of the Freshmen contribute and look like guys that can be starters in '23 or beyond. Chatman and Winter commit somtime between this Spring and next Fall.

A worst case scenario involves not improving upon last years transfer portal additions and the Freshmen looking a lot like the younger players on the '21-22 roster. Team finishes in the bottom 4 again. Chatman and/or Winter commit elsewhere and the replacement commitment(s) are "sleepers".

I hope it's much closer to the best case scenario. What I really don't want is any scenario where there has not even been a tournament appearance through 3 years and provided we're not massive favorites to make it in year 4 (ex preseason top 20 in the stuff that comes out after the Final Four) we give him "another chance". There have been way too many lame duck years here that have badly hurt fan interest, program perception, and roster quality.

I don't think we will go four years under Ben missing the tournament, I'm not going to put the last two years under Pitino on Ben, his clock started when he took the job, there were a couple guys I wish would have stayed, there were a couple where I understood why they left and the rest I really didn't care either way, but in this new transfer without consequences portal era, when you start over, you really gotta be prepared to start over and last year wound up almost being an expansion team. I don't expect us to go to the Dance next year, but I do expect us to be better, I think if we add guards that are comparable to WIllis, Stephens and Loewe to the freshman class and what we have returning, we should be better, I also think the league will be younger and less experienced. I do think year three we should start to see progress and I think if Ben is truly the answer to in state recruiting that he was hired to be, he should be competing for a league title by his fifth year, with all the talent in this state, he doesn't have to go Pride on Ice on the bit, but the talent in this state isn't going away anytime soon, you look at the classes of 17-20 and you could definitely build a winner with those four classes, it can be done with seven or eight Minnesotans on the roster with a mix of four or five out of state players

 

[MNVCGUY]

Good dose of reality. I was also flummoxed that we didn't even pick up a single extra HS recruit after Ben's hiring. For all the talk of establishing the culture, it would have been nice to bring in more young talent to inculcate that culture in.

Why were you surprised we didn't pick up any extra high school recruits last year? High School recruiting relationships are built over years. Ben wasn't a head coach so he would have been highly unlikely to have high school recruits want to follow him from one school to the next.

People always want to bring up ISU. Their coach didn't pick up any new high school recruits after he was hired either, he just hung onto the one commitment they had while going out and getting a bunch of transfers to fill the remaining open spots.

 

[Lion King]

Why? What if we pick up 4 really good transfers? What if TT continues to improve? I don't think we can come to that conclusion at all yet. I think there are 3 starting spots open. I think Battle and Fox/Ihnen are starters for sure. I think we will get two guards in the portal that will start. Carrington will be in the mix, but I don't think he will start right away at least. As far as a C, Payne will be in the mix and could take the spot, but what if we get Garcia? Would you be concerned then?

Why does everyone think a D 2 guy is a given starter ? I HOPE SO, but let's see if any of these guys can play. IHNEN same thing.

 

[Mikie S]

To me, last Spring was the easiest time for Ben to shape his roster. He could offer starters minutes at all 5 positions and was a complete unknown as a head coach. I feel it's tougher for him now. Instead of a complete unknown he's still a very low profile head coach...but one coming off a 4-16 last place Big Ten record where his team also played at a tempo so slow that Dick Bennett would blush. Ben can point to his transfers playing a ton of minutes, but what else can he sell? I'd rather be in his position last year than I would this year in terms of selling the Ben Johnson brand.

I disagree with this. Ben was a first year coach who had previously been a journeyman assistant coach for a series of underwhelming teams. There was no reason to expect any positive results.

At least now he has a track record & 4 B1G wins. I think recruiting should be easier this time around. BTW, I'd love to run Dick Bennett's tempo if it resulted in more wins for this F'd up program. .

 

[Lion King]

When people refer to any job as a "hard job" in college, I dont necessarily disagree, but I also think each job has the right person for it. If Monson/Few dont land at Gonzaga do they take off? I doubt it as that was probably a bad job but they clicked there. Arkansas isnt a bad job per se, but 4 years ago if you told me they got 3 5* freshman and went to back to back elite 8s I would have laughed at you, but here we are. I truly do think any program can succeed with the right coach, and sometimes they are just bad fits. Would Bo Ryan/Greg Gard build a powerhouse at USC, I have my doubts, but he is the perfect fit at WI. 1 year in I truly have no idea if Ben is that guy here or not but I think just saying we are a tough job is just somewhat of an excuse. The right coach (again could be Johnson who knows) and I think this program could truly take off, but to me this is all about finding that guy.

It is a tough job,average players will come,really good,those that can win titles need NIL money and more,that's just the way it is,my opinion of course.

 

[BarnBurner]

As to your first paragraph, I would say that 1) I would prefer that he gets his four transfers by at least the middle of June so he can bring them here for a summer session like he did last year and 2) with four freshmen, I don't see how Ben can't get more out of the freshman class than he got this season.

As to the second paragraph, I really think that at least 70% of the problem with this year's team was its lousy post area play. Our rebounding percentage (45%) ranked #347 out of 358 teams and was the absolute worst among P6 teams. Directly above us at #346 was Nebraska that finished 10-22. The only other P6 team very close to our ranking was Oregon State at #339; they finished 3-28. Washington at #326 did manage to go 17-15 so, if we shoot as well as we did this year and take care of the ball as well but rebound better, getting above .500 might not be so difficult. Although I think our post play almost has to be better this season, Ben really should get one transfer player who has an aptitude for rebounding the ball and post defense.

Agreed - and, if you recall, other posters have suggested the rebounding strategy from 21-22 may likely be carried over into next season. Recipe for losses, imo.

 

[BarnBurner]

When people refer to any job as a "hard job" in college, I dont necessarily disagree, but I also think each job has the right person for it. If Monson/Few dont land at Gonzaga do they take off? I doubt it as that was probably a bad job but they clicked there. Arkansas isnt a bad job per se, but 4 years ago if you told me they got 3 5* freshman and went to back to back elite 8s I would have laughed at you, but here we are. I truly do think any program can succeed with the right coach, and sometimes they are just bad fits. Would Bo Ryan/Greg Gard build a powerhouse at USC, I have my doubts, but he is the perfect fit at WI. 1 year in I truly have no idea if Ben is that guy here or not but I think just saying we are a tough job is just somewhat of an excuse. The right coach (again could be Johnson who knows) and I think this program could truly take off, but to me this is all about finding that guy.

 

[Gopherfan84]

Why does everyone think a D 2 guy is a given starter ? I HOPE SO, but let's see if any of these guys can play. IHNEN same thing.

Have you seen Fox play before. Have you seen an NSIC game before? Creighton just started a D2 guy and he was their best player. It's not out of the realm the the top players in D2 can step in and start for a B1G team depending on if they fit measurables.

For Fox specifically, I think he starts because he is a great rebounder/defender. Offensively he will be a good screener and he moves well without the basketball. He also will be happy not shooting, which will be good for guys like Battle and the wing transfers we pick up.

 

[Gopherfan84]

When people refer to any job as a "hard job" in college, I dont necessarily disagree, but I also think each job has the right person for it. If Monson/Few dont land at Gonzaga do they take off? I doubt it as that was probably a bad job but they clicked there. Arkansas isnt a bad job per se, but 4 years ago if you told me they got 3 5* freshman and went to back to back elite 8s I would have laughed at you, but here we are. I truly do think any program can succeed with the right coach, and sometimes they are just bad fits. Would Bo Ryan/Greg Gard build a powerhouse at USC, I have my doubts, but he is the perfect fit at WI. 1 year in I truly have no idea if Ben is that guy here or not but I think just saying we are a tough job is just somewhat of an excuse. The right coach (again could be Johnson who knows) and I think this program could truly take off, but to me this is all about finding that guy.

Talk to people in the coaching business about this job. Us fans have a different attachment to it. Of course the right coach is the #1 thing required to be successful in a job, but the other factors (many out of the coaches control) create a difference in some jobs being more successful and the level of success than others. Call it an excuse if you want, but it just makes it harder for us to find the right guy. Truth/facts isn't an excuse.

 

[leib0039]

Talk to people in the coaching business about this job. Us fans have a different attachment to it. Of course the right coach is the #1 thing required to be successful in a job, but the other factors (many out of the coaches control) create a difference in some jobs being more successful and the level of success than others. Call it an excuse if you want, but it just makes it harder for us to find the right guy. Truth/facts isn't an excuse.

Again I don't disagree, if you take average coach guy and put him at Duke/Unc/AZ he is going to succeed more often than not vs going to a MN/NW/Wash St type school. However, look at St Peters, most say that is the worst job in a bad conference, Holloway seems to have figured that out (hes out now but the point remains). Archie Miller is another one that comes to mind, he had a great run at Dayton, didnt work at Indiana, doesnt mean he is a bad coach just had the right fit and moved to one that wasnt as good. I know there are things that dont benefit our program, but there are a lot of things that could change the perception. We have a brand new training facility, we have a unique court/stadium, we are home to huge companies. Today it looks hard yes, but if things click suddenly its cool to play on the raised court and best buy/target get in big with NIL stuff and we have a top of the life training center kids want to go to! I kind of think of it like I do when I hear "ohh the best fans in college sports!" I dont think Texas Tech had a rabid basketball fanbase in 13-14 when they went 6-12 in conf, but now they are buying out opposing arenas to root for their team!

 

[bga1]

Why? What if we pick up 4 really good transfers? What if TT continues to improve? I don't think we can come to that conclusion at all yet. I think there are 3 starting spots open. I think Battle and Fox/Ihnen are starters for sure. I think we will get two guards in the portal that will start. Carrington will be in the mix, but I don't think he will start right away at least. As far as a C, Payne will be in the mix and could take the spot, but what if we get Garcia? Would you be concerned then?

If you pick up 4 transfers and make the tournament- then great I'm happy with that as long as the 4 frosh are showing potential. If we are going to pick up 4 transfers, not play the frosh a ton and finish with 5- 7 Big Ten wins, that's a big step backwards. That's not developing anything, that's just putting a bandage on top of another. Play the kids and be ready for the tournament year 3. We got Ben to be a developmental coach that builds long term stability, he's not going to get high end transfers anyway unless they are coming home.

 

[ecoperson]

Agreed - and, if you recall, other posters have suggested the rebounding strategy from 21-22 may likely be carried over into next season. Recipe for losses, imo.

If this team employs this same rebounding strategy next season, there have been some serious problems. Coach Johnson and company ran this scheme this year solely due to limitations in personnel not out of some perverse pleasure in making our lives miserable. Not fighting for rebounds does not line up with grit and hard work that Coach Johnson touts as his goal for this team. Give us some inside presence and a bench and I am certain that we will be considerably more aggressive here.

 

[ecoperson]

There is a difference between an excuse and an explanation. An explanation is designed to give someone all of the facts, and lay out the cause for something. An excuse is designed to push the fault for that thing away from oneself. Learn the difference and you will have an easier time in life and on this board.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Wait, MN hired a guy who has had little success to run a program that fans consider a ‘tough’ turnaround? this might be the fatal flaw.

 

[BarnBurner]

If this team employs this same rebounding strategy next season, there have been some serious problems. Coach Johnson and company ran this scheme this year solely due to limitations in personnel not out of some perverse pleasure in making our lives miserable. Not fighting for rebounds does not line up with grit and hard work that Coach Johnson touts as his goal for this team. Give us some inside presence and a bench and I am certain that we will be considerably more aggressive here.

Take it up with others here. Their statements, no mine.

 

[BarnBurner]

There is a difference between an excuse and an explanation. An explanation is designed to give someone all of the facts, and lay out the cause for something. An excuse is designed to push the fault for that thing away from oneself. Learn the difference and you will have an easier time in life and on this board.

Others see the excuses. If you want to continue in denial, go for it!!!!!

 

[ecoperson]

Take it up with others here. Their statements, no mine.

I wasn't taking it up with you or anyone... just using your post as an opportunity to comment on the thought that this rebounding philosophy is the coaching staff's secret sauce.

 

[ecoperson]

Others see the excuses. If you want to continue in denial, go for it!!!!!

Have you heard any member of the coaching staff or any player use an excuse this year? I can only think of one time where I felt an excuse might have been made by any member of the program this year. I did not like when Coach Johnson said that the bench didn't want to come into the game during the B1G tourney. I felt that this was an excuse for losing or for not putting in the bench. He is the coach- he knows what is best for the team and can put the bench in if he wants to. Throughout the rest of the year, I felt that the staff took full responsibility for the results on the court.

Excuses are used to deny responsibility. Excuses often attempt to push the blame on others.

Explanations help clarify the circumstances of a particular event, allow for responsibility to be acknowledged, and for the situation to be explored and understood. Explanations are less emotional and less pressured than excuses.

If you have paid attention to anything that I have written on the GopherHole in my 20 plus years on the site, you will know that I address problems by dealing in objective facts and solutions.

You will rarely get anything resembling an opinion from me. My wife hates arguing with me because of my unemotional, fact-based way of thinking!

 

[WilliamsArenaGuy]

Have you heard any member of the coaching staff or any player use an excuse this year? I can only think of one time where I felt an excuse might have been made by any member of the program this year. I did not like when Coach Johnson said that the bench didn't want to come into the game during the B1G tourney. I felt that this was an excuse for losing or for not putting in the bench. He is the coach- he knows what is best for the team and can put the bench in if he wants to. Throughout the rest of the year, I felt that the staff took full responsibility for the results on the court.

Excuses are used to deny responsibility. Excuses often attempt to push the blame on others.

Explanations help clarify the circumstances of a particular event, allow for responsibility to be acknowledged, and for the situation to be explored and understood. Explanations are less emotional and less pressured than excuses.

If you have paid attention to anything that I have written on the GopherHole in my 20 plus years on the site, you will know that I address problems by dealing in objective facts and solutions.

You will rarely get anything resembling an opinion from me. My wife hates arguing with me because of my unemotional, fact-based way of thinking!

Why do you keep engaging?

 

[Gopherfan84]

Again I don't disagree, if you take average coach guy and put him at Duke/Unc/AZ he is going to succeed more often than not vs going to a MN/NW/Wash St type school. However, look at St Peters, most say that is the worst job in a bad conference, Holloway seems to have figured that out (hes out now but the point remains). Archie Miller is another one that comes to mind, he had a great run at Dayton, didnt work at Indiana, doesnt mean he is a bad coach just had the right fit and moved to one that wasnt as good. I know there are things that dont benefit our program, but there are a lot of things that could change the perception. We have a brand new training facility, we have a unique court/stadium, we are home to huge companies. Today it looks hard yes, but if things click suddenly its cool to play on the raised court and best buy/target get in big with NIL stuff and we have a top of the life training center kids want to go to! I kind of think of it like I do when I hear "ohh the best fans in college sports!" I dont think Texas Tech had a rabid basketball fanbase in 13-14 when they went 6-12 in conf, but now they are buying out opposing arenas to root for their team!

This job has gotten better than it was 10 years ago sure. I would love to see the NIL stuff come, but right it aint and honestly I think most of those companies will spend their money on pro sports. At least in TT (a tough job as well), they are the show in town. There are a select number of coaches who will win anywhere. That number will get smaller if you count the ones who do it legally. I don't think it's impossible here and there are a couple jobs are that harder in our conference (NU, Nebraska, and maybe Rutgers). The truth is, you don't see the bottom feeders rise up very often for a reason. Hopefully it's our turn, but it just wont happen in two years like some on here think it should (you are not one of them).

 

[cjbfbp]

Agreed - and, if you recall, other posters have suggested the rebounding strategy from 21-22 may likely be carried over into next season. Recipe for losses, imo.

Well, I certainly hope they are wrong.

You know, posting here through the years, I've noticed that some posters seem to forego basic common sense in favor of an imaginary world. If you knew some guy who drove an unreliable old beater you wouldn't say "He does that because he strongly prefers driving troublesome old beaters - that's his strategy!" You'd probably assume that he couldn't afford to replace the car. Choices and strategies usually are dictated by circumstances. If the circumstances change next season, I would expect the strategies to follow.

 

[Gopherfan84]

If you pick up 4 transfers and make the tournament- then great I'm happy with that as long as the 4 frosh are showing potential. If we are going to pick up 4 transfers, not play the frosh a ton and finish with 5- 7 Big Ten wins, that's a big step backwards. That's not developing anything, that's just putting a bandage on top of another. Play the kids and be ready for the tournament year 3. We got Ben to be a developmental coach that builds long term stability, he's not going to get high end transfers anyway unless they are coming home.

I'll be watching the development of this class of course, but honestly I'm really only worried that 2 make it. We will continue to recruit high kids behind them hopefully and with the portal I don't expect them all to stay. What do we consider showing potential? If Payne plays 10-15 a game is that good? Do we hold Henley to the fire because he's behind Battle and just doesn't have the opportunity to play that many minutes? I just don't think I can make those deciding factors on them until we have a roster and they start to play. If they all play big minutes and we get 4 wins again in the B1G is that better than taking transfers having two off the bench and having 7-9 B1G wins (you kind of answered because they may get us in the tournament)? I think we will of course be attractive to transfers coming home (that's not just a MN thing either), but with Willis, Loewe, and Stephens having a good experience and our staff having reaching across the continent, we can get some good transfers (I don't know how we consider what a high end one is).

 

[Dakota2]

I disagree. We can all do more. I am working on some fan engagement opportunities that will also help increase the success and profile of the program. I hope to unveil them in the near future. In the meantime, BB can start writing checks to the athletic department so that they have the resources to compete.

Minnesota has adequate resources to compete. Success in attracting better players is built through winning. When a program has run down to the level where we are now that is a difficult job and progress will be slow.

We will have more talent and depth next year, translating to more wins and higher attraction for recruits. Ben's job is to build on that every year. The reality is everyone else is working to get better too.

Working to improve fan engagement is a good thing. Thanks for the effort. Don't waste your time worrying about harmless fools like Barny.

 

[Dakota2]

Great post. If one or more of the 4 frosh doesn’t start THIS year we have serious problem IMO.

A strange take before knowing who is coming in from the portal.

 

[bga1]

A strange take before knowing who is coming in from the portal.

Here is a follow up post I wrote explaining my view:

If you pick up 4 transfers and make the tournament- then great I'm happy with that as long as the 4 frosh are showing potential. If we are going to pick up 4 transfers, not play the frosh a ton and finish with 5- 7 Big Ten wins, that's a big step backwards. That's not developing anything, that's just putting a bandage on top of another. Play the kids and be ready for the tournament year 3. We got Ben to be a developmental coach that builds long term stability, he's not going to get high end transfers anyway unless they are coming home.

 

[Dakota2]

When people refer to any job as a "hard job" in college, I dont necessarily disagree, but I also think each job has the right person for it. If Monson/Few dont land at Gonzaga do they take off? I doubt it as that was probably a bad job but they clicked there. Arkansas isnt a bad job per se, but 4 years ago if you told me they got 3 5* freshman and went to back to back elite 8s I would have laughed at you, but here we are. I truly do think any program can succeed with the right coach, and sometimes they are just bad fits. Would Bo Ryan/Greg Gard build a powerhouse at USC, I have my doubts, but he is the perfect fit at WI. 1 year in I truly have no idea if Ben is that guy here or not but I think just saying we are a tough job is just somewhat of an excuse. The right coach (again could be Johnson who knows) and I think this program could truly take off, but to me this is all about finding that guy.

With the consistently top level of high school talent in Minnesota, the right guy is probably someone with local roots.