Neal: Ben Johnson, starting over again with Gophers men’s basketball roster, doesn’t have to go backward

At least Ben Johnson can yell at most of his players and not worry about touching a nerve that sends them running to the transfer portal. That’s a benefit of bringing in players with only one year of eligibility left.

It represents Johnson’s approach to building a competitive team this season. It also is a reflection of how Johnson had to scramble to assemble a roster after seven players left a 19-15 team that was the first sign of progress in Johnson’s three seasons.

Now it feels like Johnson is starting over.

“I get how people could view that,” Johnson said. “From my standpoint, I’ve told my guys that we need to use last year as momentum for this year. So the guys who are coming back that experienced that, to be here as a team that just won 19 games and carry themselves as if they know what that’s like.”

But evaluators don’t like the roster. The Gophers are picked to finish last in the Very Big Ten this season. And Johnson has landed on a couple of preseason hot seat lists. He grimaced before Tuesday’s practice when I pointed out his inclusion on those lists despite a 10-win improvement from 2022-23.

This is Johnson’s fourth season leading the Gophers. That’s usually the year when a program should, or needs to, take off under new leadership. Instead, this is the second time he’s had to reset the roster and learn to remember a bunch of new names.

“The challenge for the new guys is, all right, those guys were much better than you, where that’s the true narrative?” Johnson said. “Or are you able to be as productive? So we are able to be on an upward trajectory and we are not doing the rebuild that some people might think because of the optics.”

Johnson watched his new team ease to an 80-57 victory over Oral Roberts on Wednesday in the regular-season opener. Lu’Cye Patterson, from Minneapolis but with the Gophers by way of Charlotte, led the newcomers with 10 points.

A year ago, I wrote that Johnson deserved to be on the hot seat if he doesn’t show progress after going 22-39 during his first two years. A friend thought I was being too harsh on Johnson. I replied like my colleague Patrick Reusse would, “Well, if he has a decent season I’ll write an apology column. That way, I get two columns off of one idea.”

Johnson jumped from nine to 19 wins. This isn’t a full apology column, but it’s acknowledgment that he didn’t deserve to be on the hot seat then. And he shouldn’t be on the hot seat now, because the comparisons to last year are similar.

Just like this season, the 2023-24 Gophers were picked to finish last in the conference. They had lost Jamison Battle and Ta’Lon Cooper, their No. 2 and 3 scorers, to the portal. Thanks to Dawson Garcia, the continuing development of Pharrel Payne and the plucking of guard Elijah Hawkins from Howard, the Gophers went 19-15 and played in the NIT.

Then key players got offered the bag. Payne now is at Texas A&M and Hawkins at Texas Tech (Lubbock is just a tiny step down from living in Minneapolis, Elijah). Others left. Joshua Ola-Joseph, who was benched during the season by Johnson, even left for Cal and NIL money.

College free agency did a number on the Gophers. Seven players left through the portal, and 11 newcomers arrived. It’s college basketball’s new normal. May the coach with the best integration skills win.

This is how Johnson will avoid reverting to 2022-23. Long term, the Gophers must be frequent participants in the NCAA tourney. Johnson must emerge from this season in a better position to reach the Big Dance. He’s under contract through the 2026-27 season.

For now, the players with expiring eligibility want a trip to the NCAA tournament. Johnson needs them to keep the program on an upward trajectory. He has the coaching chops to make that happen. His veterans aren’t well known. They come from everywhere from Oregon to Toledo to Canisius. Six of them have 531 games of college basketball experience among them. That should come in handy. Somehow.

Wednesday offered another reason to think the season won’t bottom out as some expect: Garcia (30), Parker Fox (13) and Mike Mitchell Jr. (seven) are returning players who combined for 50 of the Gophers’ 80 points.

Johnson will keep the Gophers from being the caboose of the Big Ten train this season. I don’t think this is a 20-win team, but it can avoid being a disaster.

If I’m wrong and they make the tourney, hey, I’ve got another column to write.