Minnesota fired men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson on Thursday after four years of repeatedly rebuilding rosters at his alma mater without coming close to an NCAA tournament appearance as the program fell behind in the rugged and expanded Big Ten.
Johnson had two seasons remaining on his contract, which calls for a $2.92 million buyout. His annual salary was $1.95 million, the lowest in the 18-team league.
The Gophers finished 15-17 after losing 72-64 to Northwestern on Wednesday in the first round of the conference tournament. Minnesota dropped five of its final six games of the season.
Athletic director Mark Coyle announced his decision early Thursday after a late-night meeting with Johnson upon the team’s return from Indianapolis. The university posted the news on its website at 1:07 a.m. local time and on social media at 1:19 a.m.
“The expectation for our program is to compete for championships, and unfortunately, we have not done that in the last four years,” Coyle said in a statement. “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, who serves on the NCAA tournament selection committee, has long desired a return to relevancy in March for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. He worked previously at Kentucky and Syracuse, two campuses with long histories of hardwood success.
“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,” Coyle said. “We offer everything that is needed to be successful, and we will immediately begin a nationwide search for our next men’s basketball coach.”
Minnesota went 56-71 under Johnson, including 22-57 in conference play. The only team worse during that span was Washington, which just completed its first season as one of the Big Ten’s four West Coast additions.
Johnson, who is 44 and replaced Richard Pitino after previously serving five seasons as an assistant on his staff, was hired as a first-time head coach following three years as an assistant at Xavier. 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 (2-17 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 past 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 have 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 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 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 this state that regularly produces Division I talent, but now there’s a newcomer to Division I just down the road at St. Thomas, which has posted winning records the past three seasons and will be NCAA tournament-eligible starting in 2025-26.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
