Homegrown Former Gopher Stretchered Off Court Following Ugly Injury

Eric Strack — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 23:54:24 +0000

When Ben Johnson took over as head coach of the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team, he had one thing on his side. He was born and raised in Minneapolis, played at De LaSalle High School, built connections that gave Johnson an “in” on the local high school recruiting circuit.

And with the Gopher MBB class of 2022, we saw that seed bear fruit when top in-state prospect, 4-star big man out of Park Center (Cottage Grove) Pharrel Payne, along with fellow Twin Cities native, Braeden Carrington and Osseo high school’s Josh Ola-Joseph.

Former Minnesota Gophers big man blossoming at Maryland

While all three played a lot of minutes early on during their short careers at the University of Minnesota, it was Payne who stood out as special among the three. Pharrel arrived on campus as a Freshman standing 6’9″, weighing 230 lbs and he used that unique size in a way you see few freshman do.

A nifty little move from @GopherMBB's Pharrel Payne. 🌀 pic.twitter.com/BhzZlXSrY5
— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) December 22, 2023

In two seasons with his hometown Gopher basketball team, Pharrel Payne played 62 games (23 starts) and averaged 9.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, in 22.7 minutes per night. Even as a youngster, Payne showed all the signs of a dominant power four big man.

Now a couple of years later, as a senior at Maryland under Buzz Williams (who also coached him for a year at Texas A&M after he transferred out of MN), the shy quiet kid out of Cottage Grove has grown up into one of the best players in the Big Ten.

Through three games this season as a Terrapin, entering their matchup Saturday against Marquette, Payne was averaging 20 points, 8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

Pharrel Payne stretchered off after ugly, unfortunate injury

But then, with just over 12 minutes to play in the second half Saturday in Milwaukee, disaster struck after what appeared to be yet another rim-rattling dunk from the ex-Minnesota Gopher, which accounted for Payne’s 11th and 12th points on the day.

Unfortunately, the homegrown big man let go of the rim a split second too soon. So when he did come down, Payne landed on Marquette defender Joshua Clark’s foot. As Clark pulled away, Payne’s foot went with him, in a way that human legs are not supposed to move.

Here is a look at how Maryland’s star center Pharrel Payne was injured.

Brutal. pic.twitter.com/GU3tNuZGXw
— College Basketball Content (@CBBcontent) November 15, 2025

Pharrel Payne stayed on the floor for quite a while after the injury occured, and eventually had to be taken off the court in a stretcher. Maryland went on to beat Marquette 89-82, to move to 3-1 on their season.

When the game was over, Payne — who tweeted out “how bout them Terps” was in better spirits than his head coach. A distraught Williams met with media after the game and admitted that he did not know much about the injury, but noted that losing their best player would certainly hurt the team.

Buzz Williams says Pharrel Payne is in the hospital

“We don’t know anything”

“He's our best player, that's well received within our program. I've never seen him hurt. The angle that I saw it did not appear good.”

Adds the players told Buzz, “you’ve gotta pray for him” pic.twitter.com/Li2un6YzgP
— Inside the Black & Gold (@Insideblackgold) November 15, 2025

Gophers Are Massive Favorites to Land UNC Transfer Dawson Garcia

Eric Strack — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 19:33:41 +0000

Last week, Ben Johnson was confident that his Minnesota Gophers would only pull talent from the transfer portal this offseason. That, unlike this time last year, when he lost an entire roster to it. And it appears as if Johnson’s about to pay that promise off in a big way.

University of North Carolina sophomore, Dawson Garcia, who’s from Prior Lake (MN), entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Wednesday morning. Garcia, who has three years of eligibility remaining, left the UNC program in the middle of the 2021-22 season because of multiple family tragedies he has been reportedly dealing with. The 6’11” sharp-shooting big man made his announcement via Twitter, thanking Tar Heel Nation and revealing his goal to play closer to home.

Congratulations to all of Tar Heel Nation on a great finish to the season! With all that has happened with my family this past year, I have decided to stay in closer proximity to them. Thank you Tar Heel Nation for accepting me into your family… all the best!
— Dawson (@Dawson23lee) April 13, 2022

Before he became a power-5 college basketball player, Garcia was at Prior Lake high school, where he became a 5-star recruit (247Sports) who ranked in the top-40 nationally. He was the type of high-end prospect that we’ve become all too used to losing.

Third School’s a Charm

Dawson Garcia played in 16 games for the Tar Heels last season, starting 12. He averaged 9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Garcia’s decision to leave the North Carolina program and enter the transfer portal means he will have to stay close to home if he wants to play college basketball in 2022-23.

Before his time in Chapel Hill, Dawson Garcia was a highly touted Freshman at Marquette, where he put up pretty impressive numbers (13 points, 6.6 rebounds per game) in his first year. He only entered the transfer portal and left for UNC after Marquette fired the head coach he committed to, Steve Wojciechowski.

So this would make for Garcia’s second transfer, meaning he has to either (a) sit out a season or (b) get granted waiver eligibility by the NCAA to play immediately. The “Hardship Waiver” was created for the exact life-situation Dawson Garcia is dealing with right now and that’s what he’ll reportedly apply for.

It took no time for Ben Johnson to contact Garcia once he entered the portal. In all reality, they were already in-touch.

Zero surprise: The #Gophers have already been in touch, are in hot pursuit of former Prior Lake stud & McDonald’s All-American Dawson Garcia. He entered the portal today after 1 season at UNC. Family situation had him leave Tar Heels halfway through year. pic.twitter.com/tU9kwwfb29
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) April 13, 2022

Garcia a lock to Minnesota?

But according to Ryan James (GopherIllustrated.com), Dawson Garcia isn’t only considering the Gophers. He’s pretty much a lock to wear maroon and gold. And there couldn’t be a better source on something like this.

James knows anyone who’s ever been involved in MN high school basketball at a high level and he forgets more insider knowledge on a random Tuesday than what I’ll overhear throughout my entire career. So when James is on the Gopher Illustrated message boards, telling paid subscribers that this deal is basically sealed, it’s as good as guaranteed in my eyes.

GI Subscriber: So is it a horribly kept secret that he’s coming here, or are we all just being hopeful
James: Minnesota is a massive, massive favorite to land Dawson. I expect a commitment some time soon
GopherIllustrated.com (247Sports)

GI Subscriber: Man, this would be so huge. Wish he didn’t have to deal with so much hardship, but hopefully he can two birds one stone this thing. Get himself to the NBA while being a hometown hero!
James: You can take “would” out of there
GopherIllustrated.com (247Sports)

Hang the banner. Plan the parade. Ben Johnson’s Gophers are coming for the Big Ten.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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