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Report: Minnesota bringing former Gopher in as next head basketball coach
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Minnesota has reportedly located its next head basketball coach. An alum will be leading the team next season.
Stadium’s Jeff Goodman reported on Monday that Minnesota is expected to hire Xavier assistant Ben Johnson to be the next head coach of the Golden Gophers. Johnson played for Minnesota in the 2000s after transferring from Northwestern.
The news comes one week after athletic director Mark Coyle announced the termination of former head coach Richard Pitino.
Pitino had been the head coach at Minnesota for eight seasons. He was fired after back-to-back losing seasons and a sub-.500 record in B1G play over eight years.
Goodman reported that Coyle met with Johnson on Sunday and was “blown away.”
Minnesota will hire Xavier assistant Ben Johnson, sources told @Stadium.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 22, 2021
Minnesota AD Mark Coyle met with Xavier assistant Ben Johnson for much of the day on Sunday and was “blown away”, source told @Stadium.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 22, 2021
Johnson, 39, was actually a member of Pitino’s staff at Minnesota from 2013-18 before landing a gig as an assistant with the staff at Xavier. He’s also had stops at Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Texas-Pan American and Dayton.
As a player at Minnesota, Johnson scored 533 points and played in 59 games. He was a two-time team captain for the Gophers. In four seasons at Northwestern and Minnesota, Johnson totaled 1,202 career points.
Minnesota ended the 2020-21 season with a 14-15 record.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB