In a surprising late night move from Minneapolis, the Golden Gophers have announced that Ben Johnson is out after four years as head coach at Minnesota. An alum and former player and assistant, Johnson won just 56 games since taking over as head coach and was unceremoniously released hours after Minnesota’s loss in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
After splitting his playing career between Northwestern and Minnesota, the Minneapolis native pretty much got right into coaching. Johnson would spent more than a decade split between six different schools, beginning as a graduate assistant at Dayton. He aided Ben Jacobson at Northern Iowa, Richard Pitino at Minnesota, and Travis Steele with Xavier during that journey. Minnesota brought him back as head coach in 2021 after Pitino’s firing.
Last season was actually Johnson’s best with the Golden Gophers, taking the team to 19 wins and into the second round of the NIT. However, Minnesota finished near or at the bottom of the league standings in his other seasons and his 56-71 record simply wasn’t enough. The program now begins a hunt for their next head coach. Compared to the other schools in the Big Ten, Minnesota is a bit behind in NIL and other support, but the Golden Gophers should still be able to attract a solid head coach to this position.
We’ll run through a few initial candidates, knowing full well that Minnesota could go in any number of directions with this hire. After Johnson’s lack of experience, they’ll likely want someone with prior head coaching experience, though even that isn’t guaranteed. Let’s run through a few of those names.
Jerrod Calhoun
Calhoun is the latest in a sudden line of strong Utah State head coaches, as he’s still in the midst of his first season with the Aggies. He’s a former assistant under Bob Huggins who’s had success as head coach at D2 Fairmont State as well as Youngstown State in the Horizon League. Calhoun fits the bill of a young coach on the rise and has Utah State sitting pretty for the NCAA Tournament with 25 wins before the MWC Tournament begins.
Ross Hodge
A lesser-known candidate than most on this list, Hodge is another rising young coach in the ranks with success at multiple levels of college basketball. Although he’s never worked for a power conference school, Hodge was great as a junior college head coach before helping orchestrate success at several D1 schools. He’s been at North Texas since 2017 and became the head coach two years ago, with 42 wins already under his belt. He’s more of a stretch than the other names, but he has more experience than Pitino did when Minnesota hired him in 2013.
Alan Huss
Formerly a player at Creighton under Dana Altman, Huss has started to make major waves as a head coach in his own right. He was a successful high school coach before aiding New Mexico and Creighton at the college level before his own head coaching journey started in 2023. High Point brought him into a mediocre program and he’s excelled beyond belief, with 56 wins already in two seasons. Huss has led the Wildcats to their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament this season and will be a hot name in coaching circles.
Ben McCollum
There’s no question that McCollum is one of the best rising names in coaching circles right now. The former player at Northwest Missouri State is fresh off leading his alma mater to four D2 national championships in a six-year span. After immense success, he made the jump last offseason to the D1 level and has been masterful there as well, leading Drake to a 30-win season and another MVC Tournament title. McCollum is from the Midwest and he knows how to win and could do wonders with the Golden Gophers.
Niko Medved
Perhaps one of the big favorites for this opening, Medved is a Minneapolis native who graduated from Minnesota and was briefly an assistant under Dan Monson nearly two decades ago. In the time since, he’s spent more than a decade as a D1 head coach, building the starting points for success at Furman and Drake before his recent run at Colorado State. He’s averaging right around 20 wins per season in his seven years with the Rams and has taken them to the last two NCAA Tournaments, with potential for a third bid next week.
Leon Rice
Yet another intriguing MWC name worth monitoring, Rice is a longtime former Gonzaga assistant who helped Mark Few craft that program into gold for more than a decade. Although himself a former junior college coach, Rice’s head coaching career really started in earnest with Boise State and he’s spent the last 15 years building something special with those Broncos. He’s taken Boise State to the NCAA Tournament five times, including in each of the last three seasons, and is an even more attractive candidate for Minnesota than the last time this job opened, though he’s the oldest candidate on the list.
Ryan Saunders
It’s important to consider all options and Saunders it the only non-collegiate coach on the list. A former backup guard for the Golden Gophers in the late 2000’s, Saunders has made his name in the NBA, spending much of the last 15 years on those coaching staffs. He ascended to the top job and spent nearly two seasons leading the Minnesota Timberwolves before winning an NBA title as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets. He’s never worked full-time in college ball but does have Minnesota connections and professional experience that could attract bigger names to the Golden Gophers.
Takayo Siddle
While he’s never worked in the Big Ten or even in that part of the country, Siddle is another rising name who’s going to end up running somebody’s program in the near future. A former disciple of Kevin Keatts, including at NC State, Siddle’s head coaching career has gotten off to a fast start since UNC Wilmington brought him aboard in 2020. After a CBI championship early, he led the Seahawks back to the NCAA Tournament with a CAA title this week and has won just under 100 games in his last four seasons.
Drew Valentine
While his brother became an icon at Michigan State, Valentine got into coaching after playing collegiate at Oakland. He really caught on with Loyola Chicago and was an assistant on their 2018 team that marched to the Final Four. Valentine became the Ramblers’ head coach in 2021 and has done great work continuing their trajectory, now as members of the A-10. Loyola has won at least 21 games in three of his four seasons and has been to the Big Dance under his leadership, but would the Golden Gophers consider this Michigan native?
Will Wade
A power conference program is going to hire Wade this offseason or in the very near future and they likely won’t regret it. Though things ended poorly due to his violations a few seasons ago at LSU, Wade built winning programs at Chattanooga, VCU, and most recently McNeese State, owning a 57-10 record with the Cowboys. He also was an assistant on VCU’s Final Four run, has demonstrated talent as a recruiter, and can be a home run hire if Minnesota can actually land him; if they can overlook a somewhat tarnished past.