What new Minnesota head basketball coach Ben Johnson said during his introductory press conference
It didn’t take long for Minnesota to find its new basketball coach.
One week after parting ways with Richard Pitino, the school announced the hiring of alum, former Gopher player and assistant coach Ben Johnson as the next leader of the program. He returns to Minnesota after spending the last three seasons at Xavier as an assistant.
Johnson played at Minnesota for two seasons in the mid-2000s, transferring in from Northwestern. He was also an assistant coach on Pitino’s staff from 2013-18 and has other B1G experience, serving as an assistant coach at Nebraska under former head coach Tim Miles.
On Tuesday, one day after Minnesota made the hire official, Johnson met with the media to discuss the opportunity to return to Minnesota, his plan for the program and how to find success with the Golden Gophers’ basketball team.
Here’s what Johnson had to say:
"This is full circle for me."
New @GopherMBB head coach Ben Johnson explained the special significance of coming back to the Twin Cities to lead the program: pic.twitter.com/MD7WsL7U8c
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 23, 2021
Tom Izzo called Ben Johnson when he got the @GopherMBB job.
Izzo and Matt Painter have set the blueprint for long-term success in this league, and Johnson sees himself following it to become the next Izzo/Painter. ⬇️
"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡." pic.twitter.com/twIo2LTwov
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 23, 2021
That was a home run press conference if we've ever seen one. 🔥
But new @GopherMBB head coach Ben Johnson couldn't get 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 perfect 😂 pic.twitter.com/Lh4sx3zArv
— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) March 23, 2021
Watch live as Minnesota introduces the next head coach for @GopherMBB. https://t.co/VVI6CX6Yz5
— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) March 23, 2021
