Gophers men’s
basketball coach Ben Johnson had enough on his plate in preparing for Sunday’s National Invitational Tournament game at Indiana State. In the meantime, Johnson has been juggling possible roster additions via the NCAA transfer portal, which swung open Monday. MORE MINNESOTA GOPHERS COVERAGE: College On UCLA interest, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck says he loves being at Minnesota Fleck’s name was mentioned almost immediately when UCLA head coach Chip Kelly left the Bruins on Feb. 9. 5h ago · By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press College Gophers season continues with win over Butler Down five points with five minutes left, the unseeded U scratched back to beat fourth-seeded Butler 73-72 in the first round of the NIT. 3d ago · By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press College As seven men’s basketball programs opt out of NIT, Gophers had ‘zero consideration’ in turning it down Head coach Ben Johnson also asked his players and they said yes to keep playing. 4d ago · By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press College Gophers men’s basketball team picked for NIT Minnesota ended a four-year postseason drought. 5d ago · By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press College Wolverines knock Gophers out of Big Ten tourney For the third straight season, Michigan spoiled a party in Minneapolis, this time dominating the Gophers for long stretches and stifling Minnesota's offense for a chance at a B1G tourney three-peat. 6d ago · By Jess Myers Women's College Clarkson outlasts Minnesota in 4OT, heads to Women's Frozen Four Clarkson won its longest game in program history off of a power-play goal from Dominique Petrie in the fourth overtime. Goalie Michelle Pasiechnyk made 62 saves in the win. 6d ago · By
Sydney Wolf College Gophers’ NIT chances on bubble with quick exit in Big Ten tournament Minnesota lost rubber match to Michigan State at Target Center Mar 14 · By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press College Men’s basketball: Gophers defense must improve for a Big Ten tournament run Minnesota’s 3-point
shooting defense has been especially poor this season Mar 13 · By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press College Men’s basketball: Dawson Garcia leads three Gophers honored as all-Big Ten Point guard Elijah Hawkins was honorable mention all-Big Ten by both coaches and reporters, and shooting guard Cam Christie was named to the all-Big Ten freshman team. Mar 12 · By Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press College Men’s basketball: Gophers fall for fourth time in five games to end regular season Northwestern burns Minnesota with 10-of-18 shooting on 3-pointers Mar 9 · By Mike Cook / Special to the Pioneer Press “Every minute that we are not focused on Indiana State, we are focused on the portal,” Johnson said Friday. “We spent all morning combining both, like we did (Thursday), and the (boys basketball) state tournament is going on here (at Williams Arena), so we are trying to do that. We are trying to see who is in the portal, the whole thing.” ADVERTISEMENT It’s unclear which current Gophers players might leave after the postseason, including the chance that power forward Dawson Garcia and shooting guard Cam Christie pursue NBA prospects. Johnson credited his coaching and support staff for being on top of both objectives this week. “It’s just what you got to do,” Johnson said. “We will put together the necessary time needed to do both.” Johnson chatted with media members on Friday afternoon, just before full attention turned to the Sycamores in the U’s practice. Minnesota (19-14) plays No. 1 seed Indiana State in the second round of the NIT at 1 p.m. Sunday at Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Ind. ADVERTISEMENT Indiana State (29-6) won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title, but missed out on the NCAA tournament when
Drake won the conference tournament. The Sycamores are eighth in the nation in points per game, averaging 84.9, and they beat Southern Methodist 101-92 in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday. The Sycamores’ primary rotation of six players all shoot 35 percent or better from 3-point range. Indiana State has a “crazy combination of talent and skill that you just don’t see,” Johnson said. “… All six guys can dribble, pass and shoot.” With the Gophers’ season continuing with a win over Butler in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday, Johnson currently lives in a foggy gray area. ADVERTISEMENT “The hardest part about it is the longer you play, the longer you don’t know what your roster is going to look like, so you (looking) are in the portal, but you are kind of in the portal guessing to a certain extent, unless you know you have open scholarships already,” Johnson said. Johnson has commiserated with other coaches in similar plights while navigating the postseason. “(Transferring players) are going in and you have to monitor it and have to look at certain positions and certain guys,” Johnson said. “You have no idea really what you need to attack because your roster is still intact because you are still playing. There is no book that tells you how to do that. You are out there, trying to do the best you can, and at the same time, you are still trying to win games and continue your season.” Johnson said there was “zero consideration” of passing on the NIT to focus on the roster for next season. Indiana and six other major programs opted not to play in the NIT so they could put a single-minded focus on their futures. ADVERTISEMENT “It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” Johnson said. “The longer you play, the greater it is for your program and what you are trying to do. At the same time, the longer you play, you do feel like you are up against it just because there is going to be a lot of uncertainty. Guys are going to make decisions sooner than later in some instances in the portal, and you have to deal with that as it comes.” Gophers point guard Elijah Hawkins told the Star Tribune last week that he will be returning next season. Key substitute forward Parker Fox appears to be leaning toward not using his seventh year of eligibility next season. Other than those two players, the Gophers’ roster is more to be determined until their season comes to an end. ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here . Comments Share Share this article News reporting News reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS MEN'S BASKETBALL Conversation