Minnesota announced Monday that it is hiring Xavier assistant Ben Johnson, a former Gophers player and assistant, to replace Richard Pitino as the program’s basketball coach. Johnson joined the Xavier staff in 2018 after working as an assistant for Pitino from 2013-18.
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander confirmed the news of the impending hire earlier on Monday.
“Ben is a proven coach who is ready to lead his own program,” Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle said. “He has earned this opportunity and is a tremendous teacher, recruiter and relationship builder. I am thrilled for him to lead his alma mater, and I am excited for the future of our men’s basketball program.”
Johnson has also worked as an assistant for Northern Iowa and Nebraska since his time as a co-captain in the Minnesota program from 2002 to 2004. The Minneapolis native began his college playing career at Northwestern in 1999 and spent two seasons with the Wildcats before transferring to Minnesota. As a senior in the 2003-04, he averaged 11.5 points per game on 40% 3-point shooting.
“The University of Minnesota is such a special place and has impacted me in immeasurable ways on and off the court,” Johnson said. “I want to thank President Joan Gabel, Mark Coyle, Julie Manning and everyone involved in the search process for believing in me and trusting me to lead this historic program. I am ready to get to work.”
Johnson started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Dayton and was an assistant for Texas-Pan American before landing on the Northern Iowa staff. While on staff under Pitino, Johnson helped lead the Minnesota program to one of its best seasons in recent memory in 2016-17. That squad finished 24-10 (11-7 Big Ten) and made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed before losing in the first round. It was the program’s best seed for the Big Dance since 1997.
Pitino was fired this month after consecutive losing seasons, and has since accepted the head coaching job at New Mexico.