Gophers fire men's basketball coach Ben Johnson after four seasons with U of M
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The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team is looking for a new coach.
Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle announced early Thursday that he fired Ben Johnson after Minnesota lost to Northwestern in Wednesday’s Big Ten Tournament opener.
“I met with Ben in-person early this morning when the team returned to Minneapolis from the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament and informed him that we were making a change in leadership,” Coyle said in a statement posted to the university’s website and social media just after 1 a.m. Thursday. “I thanked him for his dedication and for guiding the program, one he cares deeply about, for the last four years. Ben is a terrific person, and we wish him well.”
“These decisions are difficult and are made after careful consideration and evaluation. The expectation for our program is to compete for championships, and unfortunately, we have not done that in the last four years,” Coyle said.
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The Gophers tallied a 15-17 record this season, including a 7-13 record in conference play.
Over Johnson’s four seasons leading the team, the Gophers went 56-71 with just one winning season. Minnesota reached the NIT last season but has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2019 under former coach Richard Pitino.
Johnson had been under contract with the Gophers through 2027, and his contract calls for a $2.92 million buyout. His annual salary was $1.95 million, the lowest in the 18-team Big Ten.
Coyle said Thursday that the university has launched a nationwide search for Johnson’s replacement.
“This is an extremely desirable job in one of the best conferences and cities in the nation, and we fully expect to compete at the highest level on and off the court,” Coyle’s statement read. “We provide a world-class experience for our student-athletes, have one of the best practice facilities in the nation and play games in a historic venue. We offer everything that is needed to be successful.”
Johnson, 44, was hired by the Gophers in 2021 after Minnesota fired Pitino. Johnson — a native of Minneapolis — had deep roots with the Gophers as both a player and assistant coach. But he was also a first-time head coach following three years as an assistant at Xavier University in Cincinnati. Johnson saw the top seven scorers from the 2020-21 team depart, coinciding with the NCAA’s new transfer rules that allowed players to switch schools without having to sit out a season. Only two of 15 players from Pitino’s last squad stayed, and the Gophers went 13-17.
They bottomed out at 9-22 overall and 2-17 in the Big Ten in 2022-23, before making strides in 2023-24 with a spot in the NIT and a 19-15 finish. Their 9-11 conference record, though merely tied for ninth place, was significant considering Minnesota has hit the 10-win mark in Big Ten play just once in the last 20 years.
But the advent of name, image and likeness earnings for college athletes threw yet another roadblock at Johnson’s attempt to establish an identity and maintain some continuity, as programs with richer collectives lured key players away.
Dawson Garcia, a second team All-Big Ten pick, stayed loyal for less and produced a stellar fifth season. But Pharrel Payne, another Minnesota native who would’ve given the Gophers a formidable frontcourt for 2024-25, transferred to Texas A&M. Only four of the top 12 players from the 2023-24 team returned.
“The money piece? It’s everything. It’s the only thing. I’m going to be honest about it,” Johnson said this season. “One thing I’ve been proud of is we have been pretty smart and wise with how we’ve done this. Just in terms of return on your investment, I think we have been pretty good.”
There were bright spots this season after an 0-6 start in conference play, with back-to-back road wins on the difficult West Coast trip to USC and UCLA and home upsets of ranked foes in Michigan and Oregon.
But the Gophers consistently struggled to score, particularly when opponents had an effective game plan for denying Garcia the ball or the paint, and ranked last in the conference in points per game.
Attendance at 97-year-old Williams Arena has waned, with the NBA’s Timberwolves a much hotter ticket for hoops in the city and plenty of other competition for entertainment dollars in a place that’s far more of a pro market than a college town. Minnesota had long been the only Division I program in a state that regularly produces Division I talent, but now there’s also a newcomer to Division I just down the road at St. Thomas.