Monday night it became clear that the Gophers are hiring Ben Johnson as their new head basketball coach. Johnson’s hire was a bit of a surprise, but the former Gopher player and assistant coach is a very interesting hire. There are a number of things to be very excited about with Johnson as your new Gopher coach and a number of significant questions.
The incredibly short version of this post is that Johnson has a fantastic reputation as a recruiter, especially in Minnesota. But he has had zero experience as a head coach and is now expected to lead a Big Ten program striving to get above mediocrity.