Imagine a Gophers hoops team with mostly Minnesota talent; Ben Johnson's close to making it happen

Ben Johnson started a recruiting trend early in his first year leading the Gophers men's basketball program that centered on "Minnesota guys."

That trend could continue this spring with the biggest local recruit yet.

With Prior Lake's Dawson Garcia entering the transfer portal this week, Johnson has a legitimate chance to add his seventh scholarship player from Minnesota, which would be the most on the roster since 2007-08.

Unlike with his predecessor, Richard Pitino, Johnson's priorities have been to recruit even harder locally and build nearly an entire Gophers team with homegrown talent.

"In the first couple years that's going to help us," Johnson told the Star Tribune recently.

The first three recruits to join Johnson's 2022 class in the early signing period were from Minnesota: Pharrel Payne, Braeden Carrington and Joshua Ola-Joseph.

Johnson added California native Jaden Henley to open the late signing period on Wednesday, but Garcia's transfer from North Carolina looms as possibly the biggest local recruiting commitment in years.

"If a bunch of Minnesota kids do enter the portal, you hope that coming back home is attractive," Johnson said, speaking generally. "The early stages of me being a head coach is that benefit in the recruiting part. ... You definitely take advantage of the kids that I have relationships with or know me."

When Johnson was an assistant on Pitino's staff from 2013-18, he was known as the main recruiter for Minnesota, as a former Gophers player and local prep star at DeLaSalle.

Garcia was early in his high school career when Johnson started a relationship while on Minnesota's staff, but years before that Johnson was instrumental in landing current Los Angeles Clippers guard Amir Coffey out of Hopkins.

The Gophers laid the groundwork to sign three Minnesotans with Johnson's help before he joined Xavier's staff in 2018, including former Gophers All-America Daniel Oturu, who broke the program's 16-year NBA draft drought.

"[Johnson] was one of the main reasons why I went there," Coffey said when in town to play the Timberwolves this week. "He recruited me since the seventh and eighth grade. Just building that relationship over the years, it meant a lot. I'm excited for him."

Returning local flavor

Johnson's hire of former DeLaSalle coach and Colorado State assistant Dave Thorson last spring strengthened the program's status with local high school coaches and players.

Thorson was key to the Rams signing former Breck standout David Roddy, who led them to the NCAA tournament while earning Mountain West Player of the Year honors this season.

"I've been all over the country actually recruiting, and it was a reminder of how solid and how outstanding Minnesota prep basketball is," Thorson said. "I think that can lead right into the success of this program and I've lived it. I've lived it with Minnesota guys on the floor and that's what's so exciting."

The Gophers' best returning player is former DeLaSalle star Jamison Battle, who became Johnson's first recruit last spring from the portal. The 6-7 sophomore and George Washington transfer ended up leading the team in scoring (17.5) and rebounding (6.3) this year, earning All-Big Ten honorable mention honors.

"He's been foaming at the mouth," Johnson said of Battle for next season. "Because the confidence he has now is really high."

Treyton Thompson, a 7-footer from Glenwood, Minn., is returning and hopes to gain confidence after playing in several Big Ten games as a freshman.

Among the most anticipated newcomers last year was Division II All-America transfer and Mahtomedi native Parker Fox, who was the team's top NIL (name, image and likeness) earner despite sitting out with a knee injury.

The athletic 6-8 junior teased fans with his highlight-reel slams in warmups last month. His full recovery was successful, but Fox and the Gophers agreed that he should only practice to finish the season.

"In a pinch, Parker possibly could've played," Johnson said. "But it was so hard even if he was cleared just learning plays. Could he have done it? Maybe. But the other stuff would've factored in and been too much."

More in-state talent coming

Calling the Gophers' depth thin in the frontcourt was an understatement this year, so much so that fans already looked ahead to a Minnesota-laden trio inside in 2022-23.

Fox and powerfully built 6-9, 235-pound incoming freshman Payne could compete for starting spots next to Battle next season.

"I'm definitely excited," Payne said. "I think me and [Battle] would go great together."

That potential lineup doesn't even include the 6-11 Garcia, who if added would give the Gophers much-needed size and a highly skilled inside-out scorer. Before transferring to North Carolina, he led all Big East freshmen in scoring and rebounding at Marquette in 2020-21.

Payne and Osseo's Ola-Joseph committed to the Gophers last August after Park Center's Carrington became Johnson's first high school recruit as the Gophers coach.

"I feel like with the recruits we have coming in and the guys we have there staying," Carrington said, "I think we'll be able to mix well."

Carrington, a sharpshooting 6-4 guard, ended up leading the Pirates to the Class 4A state championship and winning Minnesota Mr. Basketball, the first U recruit to do that since Coffey when Johnson was on staff in 2016.

The Gophers' last NCAA tournament berth came when they had three starters from Minnesota with Oturu, Coffey and Gabe Kalscheur three years ago.

The Gophers might not have an entire starting five or full roster with Minnesotans when their new team debuts at Williams Arena next season. Still, it might look pretty close to that soon.