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Gophers men’s basketball needs to build bridge between veterans and freshmen

andy greder, pioneer press
·3 min read

Ben Johnson doesn’t characterize his second season as Gophers men’s basketball coach in terms of taking another step up a ladder.

For a second straight year, Minnesota has another revamped roster. After going 13-17 with 10 new players a year ago, the U has eight newcomers this season: a mix of three transfers and five freshmen.

“There is this gap,” Johnson said last week. “We have the upperclassmen, which I know what I’m going to get, then the young guys. If we can bridge that gap, then I think we will have a chance to continue to get better as a team.”

The Gophers have to go horizontal before they go vertical. The first chance to build that link comes in Monday’s season opener against Western Michigan at 8 p.m. at Williams Arena.

The four veterans have been named captains: lone returning starter Jamison Battle, an all-Big Ten caliber forward out for weeks after foot surgery on Oct. 28, and the three transfers. The headliner is forward Dawson Garcia (North Carolina); the cog is point guard Ta’Lon Cooper (Morehead State); and the role player is guard Taurus Samuels (Dartmouth).

When Division III St. Olaf took an early lead in the exhibition game last week, Samuels said their message to the young players was to calm down in the eventual 71-55 win.

“It’s trying to give the little nuggets to the young guys, so now they are not freshmen, but they’re freshmen, sophomore, juniors, seniors,” said Samuels, who was a captain at Dartmouth. “We kind of need them playing at that level.”

Minnesota went 4-16 in the Big Ten a year ago, finishing in a tie for last place in the 14-team conference. This year, Minnesota is picked to finish 12th, according to 28 media members in the annual Columbus Dispatch/The Athletic poll.

The Gophers started strong last year, wining their first seven nonconference games, including victories over Pittsburgh and Mississippi State. This year’s top nonconference game is at Virginia Tech during the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 28.

Minnesota’s opener is its first-ever matchup against Western Michigan, which Johnson said will be similar to playing Michigan State. After 19 seasons on the Spartans staff, new head coach Dwayne Stephens has brought that same physical, fast-paced, rebound-centric, man-to-man-defensive style to the Broncos.

“It’s a mini-Big Ten-type mentality game,” Johnson said. “It’s good. Again, our young guys have to get that early. It would do us no favors if we are playing teams where we are out there able to do whatever we want. I want us to be challenged from that physical standpoint. That is the biggest adjustment.”

For Minnesota to improve in Year 2 under Johnson, freshmen such as center Pharrel Payne, forward Joshua Ola-Joseph and guards Jaden Henley and Braeden Carrington will need to acclimate and contribute.

The adjustment period could be delayed for Carrington, who had a protective boot for an ankle injury that kept him out against St. Olaf. Garcia also missed the exhibition with a muscle strain.

In the tune-up game, Johnson wanted to challenge his team by drawing up a play on the white board and seeing if they could bring it out onto the court. “It’s all those uncomfortable situations that we need to be in,” Johnson. “Just get reps. We got to get reps.”

They need to engineer and then build that bridge.

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