Gophers backcourt looks to build chemistry with Mike Mitchell Jr. as only returnee

A few weeks after last season, Mike Mitchell Jr. had a choice to make about his future with the Gophers men’s basketball team.

Would he follow the rest of his backcourt teammates into the transfer portal or would he run it back with coach Ben Johnson’s program as the only returning guard?

“I trust Coach Johnson,” Mitchell said this summer. “I’m hoping we can start something special here.”

After Elijah Hawkins (Texas Tech), Braeden Carrington (Tulsa) and Cam Christie (NBA) departed, Johnson’s backcourt is filled with newcomers for the fourth consecutive season.

The Gophers, who went 19-15 and made the NIT last season, signed six guards for 2024-25, including Toledo transfer Tyler Cochran, who joined summer practice earlier this month.

Four guards were added by Johnson in 2022-23 before three guards came aboard last season. But this situation is quite similar in Johnson’s eyes to when he started with five new guards in his first season leading the Gophers three years ago.

“The thing that will help a little bit is that we had that in Year 1 with all those new faces and a new group,” Johnson said. “You have a feeling of what it looks like early and how to implement things.”

Six of the seven guards on the Gophers roster are seniors, so experience could be leaned on heavily early on. Mitchell, Cochran, Lu’Cye Patterson (from Charlotte), Femi Odukale (New Mexico State), Brennan Rigsby (Oregon) and Caleb Williams (Division III Macalester) combined to start 454 of 548 career games.

“This summer, a big thing will be these guys playing a lot together to understand each other and our system,” Johnson said. “In these eight weeks, we’re really going to take advantage of building the cohesion offensively and defensively, understanding how to mesh their different styles into what we’re doing.”

Mitchell, who averaged 10.2 points and made 40% of his three-point attempts last season, resisted the temptation of the portal, as did leading scorer Dawson Garcia and sixth man Parker Fox. That gave the Gophers three players who contributed meaningful minutes last season.

But replacing Hawkins, the Big Ten’s assist leader, at point guard will be a tough task.

“Me being here for a year, I can let the new guys know how things roll,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got Lu’Cye. We’ve got Isaac, Brennan and Caleb [who all played point guard]. We’re a really deep backcourt with a lot of shooting. We can all pass, shoot and dribble. I think we’re going to be really good because we can all play off each other.”

At 6-6, Odukale is the tallest of the guards. Johnson said his size and versatility give him the ability to play multiple positions for the Gophers, including being used as a facilitator.

“He’s a bigger guard who can play in a big or small lineup,” Johnson said about Odukale, who also played at Pittsburgh and Seton Hall. “He can play in pick and rolls because he’s an unselfish passer.”

Cochran, the co-Mid American Conference defensive player of the year last season, said he’s willing to play anywhere on the floor to make an impact for the Gophers. The 6-2, 225-pounder led the MAC regular-season champion Rockets in rebounds (6.4) and steals (1.9) as a junior.

“My whole career, I’ve played positions one through four,” Cochran said. “I don’t see this as being any different. I just have to raise my play. Try to be better each night.”

A roster filled with veteran guards looks a lot like Johnson’s first season, but the Gophers are arguably even deeper with Mitchell returning and freshman Isaac Asuma, a former four-star recruit out of Cherry, Minn.

“Isaac’s really good, and he’s really talented,” Mitchell said. “He’s getting it so far, and he’s going to keep getting better throughout this whole summer.”

Gophers new guards season-to-season under coach Ben Johnson

2021-22: Payton Willis, Luke Loewe, E.J. Stephens, Sean Sutherlin, Laye Thiam

2022-23: Ta’Lon Cooper, Jaden Henley, Taurus Samuels, Braeden Carrington

2023-24: Elijah Hawkins, Cam Christie, Mike Mitchell Jr.

2024-25: Lu’Cye Patterson, Brennan Rigsby, Femi Odukale, Caleb Williams, Tyler Cochran, Isaac Asuma