Point guard for Gophers men's basketball is now a three-player job

The point guard position has been a revolving door since Ben Johnson's been the Gophers men's basketball coach. In three years, he's had different point guards each season.

Three guards have shared duties and gotten the job done so far this year.

The Gophers (4-1) are facing their first road test Sunday against San Francisco at the Golden State Warriors' Chase Center. Elijah Hawkins, Mike Mitchell Jr. and Cam Christie will play on the same floor as one of the best point guards of their generation.

NBA star Steph Curry is arguably the best shooter of all time but also is one of the game's best facilitators. Hawkins, Christie and Mitchell love to shoot from three, but they also bring different elements to perhaps the most important position in the game.

"As far as the point guard situation is concerned," Johnson said, "I think we've done a pretty good job throughout my years here of finding guys that fit us, and I think that's the most important thing."

Johnson's point guard was Payton Willis in Year 1. Ta'Lon Cooper in Year 2. And after Cooper transferred to South Carolina, the keys to Minnesota's offense were handed to three guys.

Hawkins and Mitchell signed with the Gophers out of the transfer portal from Howard and Pepperdine, respectively. They had a combined 125 starts in their careers — and both shot better than 44% from three and averaged 5.0 assists last season: Curry-like numbers.

"I get my teammates involved a lot," said Hawkins, who has started all five games. "I have a niche for getting in the paint and getting it to my teammates for open shots."

As experienced as Hawkins and Mitchell are, Johnson trusted Christie with the ball in the waning minutes in a 70-68 loss Nov. 16 against Missouri. He missed a couple threes in the last 21 seconds, but the 6-6 freshman has hit scrimmage-winners regularly in practice.

Former Gophers coach Richard Pitino had a few lead guards who earned All-Big Ten honors.

Nate Mason and Amir Coffey led teams to the NCAA tournament in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Marcus Carr, who transferred to Texas, set the school single-season assist record in 2020 and was all-league in 2021.

In Johnson's first year, Willis was viewed as one of the Big Ten's best guards, even on a last-place team. The Gophers have been longing for that type of impact since Willis graduated.

As a former four-star recruit, Christie has talent as a big guard that reminds Johnson of Coffey, who is in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"With [Christie's] size he can make every type of pass," Johnson said. "He's crafty in the ball screens, but with him and Mike [off the bench], it's like pick your poison with who brings it up."

Right now, Hawkins is the starter because of his speed and court vision. He's the catalyst for Johnson's new, fast-paced style. Christie and Mitchell bring more size and offensive versatility off the bench, complementing defensive-minded starter Braeden Carrington.

"Hopefully going into the [Big Ten] season you have Elijah, Mike and Cam who are confident getting us into the offense or being the primary ball handler," Johnson said.

Christie, an Illinois native, might be the most talented freshman guard to enter the program since Coffey in 2016. Like Coffey, Christie's at his best with the ball in his hands.

"When we recruited him that was kind of the game plan," Johnson said. "He's a little bit like Amir in terms of when I recruited Amir, he was really engaged when he was on the ball."

As an assistant under Pitino in 2016-17, Johnson saw Coffey score 30 points in his fourth college game. But Coffey also struggled as a freshman to stay engaged on the perimeter offensively without being a primary ball handler.

"Sometimes when Amir was off the ball you couldn't notice him — he just kind of floated," Johnson said. "When [Christie's] on the ball there's more of a fight to him."

Christie's 18 points vs. Texas San Antonio on Nov. 10 was the best true freshman Gophers debut since former NBA forward Kris Humphries in 2003.

After his impressive debut, Christie shot 2-for-12 combined in his next two games, including going scoreless from the field in the loss vs. Missouri. But he stayed confident to regroup with a 14-point, four-assist outing Tuesday vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Christie leads all Gophers guards with 9.8 points per game, to go with averaging 3.0 assists. He's also tops on the team with 52.9% shooting from three.

"In college, you have to make the right reads coming off ball screens," Christie said. "You have to be able to control the tempo of the game. It's definitely been an adjustment. But I know I have teammates and coaches who have my back, and they know I'm learning how to do it for the first time."

Hawkins, Mitchell and Christie enjoy getting the Gophers running in transition as often as possible, but one of them is "wicked" fast, said Mitchell of his teammate.

"Teams aren't going to be used to that," Mitchell added about the speedy Hawkins.

The 5-11 Hawkins is throwing nifty lob passes to teammates before opponents can catch up, including Joshua Ola-Joseph, who leads the team with eight dunks.

"He does have a knack for that," Johnson said. "But you have to read the defense. Don't take chances on that. I'm all for it, if it's open. … But I also want to be smart as we grow and go into the season."

Hawkins, who helped Howard to its first NCAA tournament in more than a decade last season, ranks third in the Big Ten in assists per game (4.8) but is also second in most turnovers per game (3.2). Mitchell averages 8.4 points but the same in assists and turnovers (both 2.2). Christie ranks third in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-4.0).

The Gophers lead the Big Ten with 14 turnovers a game, so Mitchell, Christie and Hawkins will have to keep working together to get the offense playing fast but also smart Sunday.

"Not being too fast and playing at your own pace," Mitchell said. "[Johnson] talks a lot with our guards about going from zero to 60 [miles per hour] rather than 60 to 100. Finding the right shots and not rushing everything."