Ben Johnson's Gophers men's basketball staff is expected to be completed soon with the hiring of Richmond associate head coach Marcus Jenkins, sources told the Star Tribune.
Ben Johnson to complete Gophers staff with Richmond assistant Marcus Jenkins
The third assistant expected to join Ben Johnson's Gophers staff has been the Richmond associate head coach since 2018.
April 29, 2021 at 10:59PM
Johnson's first two assistants hired were former DeLaSalle coach and Colorado State assistant Dave Thorson and William & Mary assistant Jason Kemp.
Jenkins would join the Gophers after spending the past six seasons as an assistant on Richmond coach Chris Mooney's staff. Jenkins has been the associate head coach since 2018.
The Spiders, who were ranked as high as 19th in the country after an upset of Kentucky last season, finished 14-9 in 2020-21 after advancing to the NIT quarterfinals. In 2019-20, Richmond went 24-7, tying a school record for wins.
As a player, Jenkins helped lead Air Force to the NCAA tournament in 2004. Jenkins got his start as the director of basketball at Richmond under Mooney from 2007-11. His first assistant coaching stint came with Princeton from 2011-15 under Mitch Henderson.
Johnson, who had his five-year contract approved Wednesday by the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, was hired on March 22 to replace Richard Pitino as the Gophers coach.
The Big Ten’s leading returning scorer is expected to resume activities in September after suffering a left foot injury in practice this month.
