Previewing the 2023-24 Minnesota Basketball Season
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by Jordan Beckley
Minnesota isn’t moving forward under Ben Johnson.
Ben Johnson took over the Minnesota job in 2021. The former Golden Gopher player brought promise. The (little) Richard Pitino era had fizzled out and Ben Johnson brought a breath of fresh air.
A former Pitino assistant at Minnesota, a two-time Minnesota High School State Champion and a Golden Gopher player, Coach Johnson got what made the state and college special. He also brought a new edge in recruiting having brought in top classes at Xavier before taking the job.
Fast forward two years later and Johnson hasn’t been able to push the Gophers where they want to go. In fact, Minnesota has gone backwards with two worse records than the ones that pushed Pitino out the door.
Under Ben Johnson Minnesota has gone just 22-39 and an abysmal 6-33 in Big Ten play. It isn’t just that the Gophers are losing while rebuilding, they haven’t been close. In 2021-22 the Gophers had 11 losses by double digits and had 14 double digit losses last season.
The Gophers aren’t just losing. They aren’t even competitive.
The recruiting has been…good? The recruiting certainly hasn’t been awful, but it also isn’t lighting the world on fire. Johnson has shown a good aptitude for the portal and grabbed some nice players from high school too. But, the freshmen looked very raw last year. The youth could just need some time.
However, in the transfer portal era with coaches like Jerome Tang, Micah Shrewsberry, Dennis Gates, etc. being able to turn programs around right away, Johnson might not get the opportunity to develop his classes.
The transfer portal works against Minnesota too. Ben Johnson didn’t get a second chance with freshman Jaden Henley. Henley transferred to Depaul after starting 18 games last year and showing that he could grow into a fulltime starter eventually. Minnesota brought in some of their best players like Jamison Battle and Ta’Lon Cooper from the portal and now those guys play for Ohio State and South Carolina.
Ben Johnson may not have been given a fair hand. Ben Johnson needs to do better. Both of those statements can be true.
Roster Breakdown
Guards: Elijah Hawkins, Mike Mitchell Jr, Braeden Carrington
Minnesota brings in a pair of exciting guards via the portal. Elijah Hawkins from Howard and Mike Mitchell from Pepperdine. Both are double digit scorers who hit over 40% from range and averaged more than 5 apg. Yet, neither of them put pressure on the rim shooting worse from within the arc from outside it. Both bring experience as rising Juniors with nearly 60 starts each, which is needed after losing Taurus Samuels and Ta’Lon Cooper.
Braeden Carrington is a sophomore that I like a lot. His play doesn’t translate to box scores yet. He has the curse of ‘everything but the finish.’ Carrington shot 31% inside the arc as a freshman. If those layups start to fall, his numbers could pop. If they don’t, Minnesota will have trouble creating offense if none of their three guards are threats as drivers.
Wings: Cameron Christie, Kristupas Keinys, Parker Fox
Minnesota added a couple wings this offseason. Cameron Christie is the younger brother of MSU alum and Lakers wing Max Christie. Cameron shows skill as a scorer and should be an immediate 3 point presence and a long body on defense.
Kristupas Keinys is a late addition to the roster from overseas. He offers length and shooting. Like almost every international prospect, I have no idea how much Keinys will offer in year one.
Finally, Parker Fox figures to be a player who can eat minutes at 3 instead of the crowded forward rotation. Fox, like Isaiah Ihnen, has missed the past two seasons in a row with injuries. Nobody actually knows what either can offer after such significant injuries in back to back seasons.
I believe Cam Christie will dominate the minutes at the 3. He has the highest ceiling and offers the length and shooting Minnesota wants at the wing.
Bigs: Dawson Garcia, Pharrel Payne, Josh Ola-Joseph, Jack Wilson, Isaiah Ihnen, Kadyn Betts
Minnesota’s best depth is in the Frontcourt. Dawson Garcia is an All-Big Ten caliber player. He will play 33+ minutes a game at the 4. Garcia is easily the Gophers’ best player and his scoring will be vital for an offense that will likely be one of the worst in the conference.
Pharrel Payne and Josh Ola-Joseph had solid Freshmen seasons. They both averaged 20 mpg and around 8 points. Payne had fewer starts but scored more, had more blocks and rebounds better. Both of them have great builds and tons of potential. A leap from either would go a long way towards Minnesota being more competitive in conference. Can Ola-Joseph morph into a true forward? He shot 38% on less than 1 attempt from deep last season. Will he be able to make people respect him out there this season? Can Payne find more ways to fit in better on the floor with Garcia?
Garcia, Ola-Joseph and Payne are all a little short for some of the Big Ten Bigs and that is why Big Jack Wilson was brought in to be the muscle. Wilson is a grad transfer who has been a minute stealer at all his previous spots. He will see minutes against the Zach Edeys and Dain Dainjas of the world.
Kadyn Betts is a redshirt freshman forward who will play at the 3 or 4 and bring some length and maybe some off the bounce threat to the frontcourt.
I mentioned how we don’t know what Ihnen is capable of. He is a guy that Johnson loves and has raved about his positionless ability and length. He could play 3,4 or 5. Like I said, no idea what he is bringing because he hasn’t played.
There is some talent to mine here for Coach Johnson.
Minnesota has the dudes to run with the bigs in the Big Ten. It will be a question on how much defenses will respect the guard play to open up action for the bigs. The bones of this offense will be shooters surrounding pic and rolls and Garcia-centric actions with players ready to catch and shoot.
One of the biggest questions will be whether or not Mitchell, Hawkins and Carrington make bigs pay for staying home on Garcia and Payne in the paint?
The path to relevancy for Minnesota has Garcia as a true All-Big Ten player, Mitchell and Hawkins as distributors who pressure the rim or catch and shoot, Christie is this year’s Connor Essegian or Fletcher Loyer, Carrington, Betts, Fox, Ihnen can fill the bench minutes out and Payne or Ola-Joseph are more of a force on the glass and in the paint.
Even if everything hits this is a lower half of the Big Ten Team who could make the NIT. And that would be a huge improvement. Having post-season basketball of any form would be an accomplishment after seasons that ostensibly ended before February the past two years.
So, can Johnson at least get the Gophers started in the right direction?
The Ben Johnson era hasn’t gotten off to the start fans or Johnson would’ve hoped for. Injuries and roster instability haven’t really given him the solid ground to build up the program. Is that his fault?
Minnesota is like Northwestern, Penn State, and Nebraska where there are often many factors holding back the program. Do Minnesota fans care that the Basketball team isn’t doing well if the football team and hockey team are going to bowl games and the Frozen Four?
Gopher fans care more about other sports, but they still want to have pride in their team. Last year’s team wasn’t proud.
Listening to Coach Johnson in interviews or in the All-access mic’d up segments, you can understand what kind of leader he is and why players want to play for him. But is being a great leader and an upstanding Minnesota native enough?
I want Ben Johnson to succeed. I want Minnesota to be better. I want the Barn to matter again.
Minnesota and Johnson need to start rowing the boat in the right direction this season. That path starts with player development. Getting sophomores Carrington, Ola-Joseph and Payne to break out and be Big Ten level competitors as opposed to just projects. Coach Johnson is in year three of blending in transfers into his team. Has he learned enough that Mitchell and Hawkins can come in and have the needed chemistry and familiarity to win right away?
For a team like Minnesota, everyone needs to be rowing the right direction. You can’t have people looking at what team they’re going to play for next season. You need stability and repetition to have the knowledge and experience to win in the Big Ten conference.
Getting this team closer to .500 should be the goal. Have these guys believe in themselves again instead of expecting to lose by double digits every game.
It isn’t fair to expect an immediate turnaround at Minnesota but it has to start turning around at some point. You can make all the excuses for why Coach Johnson hasn’t succeeded at Minnesota, and many of them can be true.
Nevertheless, results are results. If things don’t start heading in the right direction who knows how many more opportunities Coach Johnson will get to figure it out.
Read more about Minnesota Basketball on The Floor Slap:
An Amateur Scouting Report for the 2023 Big Ten Basketball Class: Part 2