Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches in 2023 offseason

By Joey Loose | Apr 17, 2023

Feb 16, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter fist bumps Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo after the game at Mackey Arena. The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Michigan State Spartans 75 to 65. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

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Big Ten Basketball Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /

14. Ben Johnson – Minnesota

No stranger to the Big Ten, Johnson is from Minneapolis and spent his playing career with two years apiece at both Northwestern and Minnesota. His coaching career took him to a number of schools, including full-time assistant stints at Northern Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Xavier. Johnson was a valuable member of those staffs, but it was his alma mater that gave him his head coaching start back in 2021.

Minnesota hasn’t exactly been firing on all cylinders since Johnson took over the program two seasons ago. He’s just 6-33 in conference play and finished just 9-22 last season, sitting firmly in last place both times. Johnson has won just 22 games in his first two seasons combined and has major work ahead to get the Golden Gophers competitive in this conference.

Johnson has only been a head coach for two seasons, which is the lowest count of the current Big Ten coaches, but he’s also failed to have any sort of success to this point. He’s a former Golden Gopher player and assistant who contributed during two separate eras for Minnesota, but the third era under his control is off to a rocky start. Minnesota needs results to make this coaching hire pay off.

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