What if struggling Gophers men’s basketball hadn’t lost key players because of NIL?

Much of the success and failure of the Gophers men’s basketball program falls on coach Ben Johnson, but one factor that he believes is huge is out of his control: name, image and likeness.

As the Gophers enter Monday’s game at Maryland as the only winless team in Big Ten play, Johnson is left to wonder how much different this season would look if different use of the NCAA’s name, image and likeness (NIL) rules had helped him retain key pieces from last year.

“It is the new recruiting — period,” Johnson said after Sunday’s practice in College Park, Md. “It is the most important single thing that any program can have. If you don’t have it, it’s going to be really, really hard — period. If you have it, you’re going to give yourself a chance.”

After an 80-59 loss at Wisconsin on Friday night, the Gophers (8-8, 0-5 Big Ten) were at a breaking point with frustration. That turned into a lengthy, players-led postgame meeting in the locker room.

“I’ll leave the specifics to that to us and the coaches,” senior Dawson Garcia told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Friday night. “But it was heated. It was what was needed, but at the end of the day we have to show up on the court.”

A year ago, the Gophers were 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten at this point, including a home win vs. Maryland. They eventually won 19 games and reached the second round of the NIT, but they lost starters Cam Christie, Elijah Hawkins and Pharrel Payne and impact reserves Joshua Ola-Joseph and Braeden Carrington.

Christie was drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Clippers and is excelling in the NBA G League, so his departure wasn’t a surprise. But Hawkins might not have transferred to Texas Tech and Payne to Texas A&M had the Gophers offered better NIL situations. NIL even pulled away the reserves. Carrington found a better NIL opportunity at Tulsa and Ola-Joseph at California.

“It’s so competitive out there,” Johnson said. “And there right now is a big gap between the haves and the have-nots. And that makes a difference.”

Last spring, the NCAA and power conferences agreed to a $2.8 billion settlement to pay current and former athletes. Those payments, to cover for missed NIL opportunities, are expected to begin in the 2025-26 school year, along with a new revenue-sharing model of schools budgeting up to $21 million per year for athletes.

“Hopefully with revenue-sharing and potentially some new rules, it can be a little bit even,” Johnson said.

The Gophers were able to keep Garcia, their best player last season, from leaving without winning an NIL bidding war, but he turned down offers close to $1 million to stay home to finish his career for half of that amount. That happened with assistance from Dinkytown Athletes, the Gophers’ NIL collective. Seniors Mike Mitchell Jr. and Parker Fox also returned to make more NIL money at the U than they made last season.

On Friday, Garcia mentioned that players are now making a “livelihood” off college basketball. He said everyone needed to realize that when not living up to expectations on the court.

“This is how we’re going to pay our families,” Garcia said. “It’s got to be taken to that level. There’s got to be a pressure that you’ve got to win. You’ve got to be able to deal with that pressure. There’s no excuse but to win. That’s just a simple thing.”

Johnson pointed out the Gophers’ inability to close games, which was most notable in last Monday’s 89-88 double-overtime home loss to Ohio State.

“You got to look at the opportunity with the confidence and eagerness to win,” Garcia said. “The Big Ten’s no joke. … I think it’s the best conference in the [nation] day in and day out. You can’t hide.”

But it’s hard not to imagine much greater success if the starting lineup still included Hawkins and Payne playing alongside Garcia and Mitchell, with Ola-Joseph and Carrington also contributing.

Hawkins, a senior point guard, is leading the Big 12 with an average of 5.9 assists per game and scored 22 points in a win for 11-4 Texas Tech at BYU this month. Payne, a 6-9 junior from Cottage Grove, had a career-high 23 points, along with nine rebounds and four blocks, in No. 10 Texas A&M’s 94-88 loss Saturday to No. 5 Alabama.

Last week, Ola-Joseph had 10 points and seven rebounds in Cal’s victory over Virginia. And Carrington tied his career high with 20 points and added seven rebounds for Tulsa in a win at Texas San Antonio.

Johnson didn’t use NIL as an excuse, but there’s a harsh reality in place: Losing players can severely hurt a program.

When asked whether he’s thinking about his future with the Gophers past this season, Johnson said that’s “the farthest thing from my mind.”

“That’s obviously out of my control,” he said. “If I get consumed with that, you lose focus on the stuff you can control that really matters.”

5:30 p.m. Monday

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The Gophers are looking for their first Big Ten win this season Monday, but they haven’t won in College Park, Md., since 2017. Maryland (12-4, 2-3) is led by 6-10 freshman Derik Queen, who averages 15.5 points and 7.8 rebounds. Junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 27 points in a 79-61 victory Friday over No. 22 UCLA.