Gophers head coach Ben Johnson emphasizes home wins, consistency as new season approaches

As the 2024-25 men's college basketball season approaches, Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson knows home-court advantage will have an entirely different meaning in the Big Ten Conference this year.

"As we continued to expand this league, you have to win at home now," Johnson said at Big Ten Media Day this week.

Johnson, entering his fourth season as head coach, is coming off a year that saw Minnesota win its most games (19) since the 2018-19 season. Two of its top scorers are returning this year in senior forward Dawson Garcia and senior guard Mike Mitchell Jr.

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Of those 19 victories, 16 of them came at Williams Arena, the most the program has achieved since the 2016-17 season.

They'll have to do it without some key players though, as seven players are no longer with the program.

Some notables include guard Cam Christie, who opted for the NBA Draft after one season and was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round.

Another notable player from last year's team — forward Pharrel Payne — left through the transfer portal in favor of Texas A&M.

Minnesota added seven transfers to this season's team, the third-most in the conference.

For the second time in as many years, the Gophers were picked in a preseason Big Ten media poll to finish last in the conference. This time, it's behind four additional schools that are joining the conference for the first time: USC, Washington, Oregon and UCLA.

Related: Gophers men's basketball team picked as Big Ten's worst in preseason poll

Johnson says it'll come down to being consistent on the little things each day to see success this season.

"Across the board, the performance level is not about numbers. But it's about making an impact when it could be a screen, could be an offensive rebound, could be when running the floor, could just be keeping the offense moving," he said.

Johnson said how the team goes will depend on how Garcia and eighth-year senior Parker Fox goes.

Both Fox and Garcia were asked who they think fans should keep an eye on this season for the Gophers. Garcia mentioned forward Frank Mitchell, a junior transfer who averaged 21.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game at Canisius University last year. Fox mentioned senior guard Lu'Cye Patterson, a transfer who was a two-time All-American Athletic Conference selection while at Charlotte.

But both players said senior guard Femi Odukale, a transfer from New Mexico State. Garcia said Odukale and Mitchell bring "high energy" to the team while Fox admired Odukale's high basketball IQ.

The team is littered with basketball experience, as there are 10 seniors on this year's team and 13 upperclassmen overall.

The Gophers open exhibition play against Bemidji State on Oct. 19 and open the regular season at home against Oral Roberts on Nov. 6.