Ben lasted four years at the helm of the Golden Gopher program, posting a historically terrible 56-71 record (.441) before athletic director Mark Coyle finally fired him immediately after Minnesota fell to Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament.

Johnson’s biggest problem as Gophers head coach was the age he found himself coaching in. When Ben was hired, back in 2021, the wide open NCAA transfer portal was still a very new thing. So was Name, Image and Likeness — or in acronym form, what we more commonly refer to as “NIL”.

In the last few years, major division one college athletics have become less about recruiting high school talent through scouting and relationship building, and more about the amount of money a school can raise through collectives and boosters, in order to pay players.

Minnesota Gophers MBB NIL fell behind under Johnson

The University of Minnesota hired Ben Johnson to do the former. At the time, local boosters were sick of losing top MN high school talent to neighboring schools and blue blood programs. They saw Ben as the best possible solution to that problem. Unfortunately, they underestimated how much NIL was about to change college athletics forever.

It wasn’t long after his introduction over four years ago when it became clear that NIL was the new king of college sports. The schools/programs with an abundance of NIL money to work with were going to prosper. The NIL poor programs — as head football coach PJ Fleck laid out two years ago in a historic radio rant — were destined to become feeder teams for the rich.

“So, if we wanna keep players, all these guys we have, they won’t be here next year [without more NIL]. Just making sure everybody understands. [Our best players] won’t be here. So we’ll be a Triple-A ball club for somebody else. That is the reality and the truth of the situation. So please, contact Dinkytown Athletes…”

PJ Fleck – KFAN Radio (September 2023)

And in the end, that is exactly what happened to the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball program, under Johnson. He reeled in talent like Jamison Battle, Cam Christie, Elijah Hawkins, Pharrel Payne, and Joshua Ola-Joseph, a few of which had Minnesota roots.

Then, he developed them into much better players than they were when they arrived back in Dinkytown. Once they were ready to take that next step, they left for major paydays elsewhere. Christie fled to the NBA Draft, but the rest left big NIL deals at Ohio State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Cal.

Related: Gophers NIL Problems Under Ben Johnson Were Even Worse Than We Thought

Every year under Johnson, they ran into the same problem. Not enough NIL money. Instead of improving the core of their team in the offseason, Ben and his coaches had to find underdeveloped talent in the transfer portal and use it to cobble together an underwhelming roster. The next year, they’d lose their best players again. Rinse, repeat. Thus, why Ben Johnson was fired.

Who’s to blame for Ben Johnson’s failures in Minnesota?

But who’s fault was it? Even up until the moment of his firing, local and pundits, along with current and former coaches were lining up to defend Johnson, deflecting Minnesota’s NIL problems to those around him, specifically Mark Coyle, claiming he did not provide Ben with the resources necessary to build a competitive program.

Ben Johnson has done an incredible job with this team. One of the elite coaches in one of the toughest jobs in America. https://t.co/CIDksLbLZO

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 1, 2025

Then, one of Ben Johnson’s biggest local media supporters, Marcus Fuller (Star Tribune), called up the founder of the University of Minnesota’s official NIL collective, Dinkytown Athletes’ Derek Burns.

His investigative mission: to find out (a) how the push for more NIL funding is going under new head coach Niko Medved and (b) who’s to blame for the failures under the previous regime. And guess what Fuller found out? That Niko has already raised more in a few weeks than Johnson raised all of last year.

How has he done it? Well, Mr. Burns told Mr. Fuller that it sure is nice having a Gopher men’s basketball coach who has accepted the current NIL age of college sports, making this yet another example of the old phrase, “adapt or die”.

“I’m optimistic about the near future of Gophers men’s basketball,” Dinkytown Athletes co-founder Derek Burns said. “With revenue sharing and us doing better in NIL than any previous year, when you combine those two things the disparity between resources is shrinking.”

The Gophers’ collective raised more money in a few weeks — in the millions of dollars — after Medved’s hiring than it had all of last year.

“Niko and his staff have been incredibly active in fundraising since the moment they arrived,” Burns said. “There hasn’t been one day when they haven’t engaged in some fundraising activity. That’s absolutely encouraging. But more than that, they’re willing to embrace the reality of college sports right now.”

Star Tribune

Why was Ben Johnson protected with such fervor?

What’s been weird about the media’s protection of Ben Johnson was the change in expectations, surrounding NIL. Since the moment Name, Image and Likeness became a thing, it’s been widely assumed that a program’s head coach was the No. 1 party responsible for raising NIL money.

As far as we know, even after his original call to action back in 2023, it’s been PJ Fleck driving the NIL bus for football, just like it is at most major football and basketball programs.

PJ and Dinkytown Athletes have built a partnership and funding base that allows the football team, not just to bring in better outside talent, but more importantly, to retain the players they grow and raise on the University of Minnesota campus, instead of losing most of its top talent to the portal.

Related: Niko Medved Receives Most Exciting Transfer Portal Commit Yet for Gophers MBB

Hopefully, this influx of funding continues. If the Minnesota Gophers do not find a way to catch up in the NIL game fast, they run the risk of their basketball program never again being a top 25 type team.

Not all of Ben’s failures were his fault. He built his reputation on recruiting, relationships and basketball acumen. In the end, none of that mattered as much as NIL funding. Immediately upon being hired, he was not in the best position to succeed. But he refused to adapt and that is nobody’s fault but his own.

A sizeable chunk of Ben Johnson’s year-3 turnaround has been sparked by true freshman and budding young superstar, Cam Christie. His combination of perimeter length and skill on both sides of the floor have stuck out since the fall.

But it’s Cam’s ability to get his own bucket from all areas of the court that have opened eyes around the country, at both the collegiate and NBA level, since the Big Ten season started heating up in January. I mean look at some of these dribble pull-ups. You just don’t see these types of makes in college basketball anymore.

Orlando #Magic and OKC #Thunder will have scouts at the Barn today to watch Cam Christie, Dawson Garcia, Pharrel Payne, and other #Gophers and Scarlet Knights. Rutgers unbeaten since guard Jeremiah Williams became eligible a couple weeks ago. He’s a stud. pic.twitter.com/NnNsD1iehe

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) February 18, 2024

Christie is averaging 11 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists on 28.4 minutes per game this season but those numbers are all up recently. Cam had a tough night vs Ohio State, dropping just 5 points on 1-of-6 shooting in 24 minutes. But in the six games prior to Thursday night, the freshman from Rolling Meadows, IL averaged 14.8 points and 48% from deep, on 37 minutes per game.

Cam Christie for Big Ten Freshman of the Year?

Cam Christie is one of the leaders for Big Ten Freshman of the Year. If he were to win that award, he’d be the first Gopher to do so since Kris Humphries in 2003-04 and only the third in program history. Rick Rickert is the only other Golden Gophers who has won Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2001-02).

Kris Humphries left school after his huge freshman season and there have been preliminary reports that Cam Christie could go through the pre-draft process this offseason too. But as of now, the NBA doesn’t appear to be the most likely future on his radar. That doesn’t mean the Gophers can breathe easy about losing him, though. Not in the unlimited Name, Image and Likeness world that is college athletics in 2024.

Related: How Can Minnesota Gophers Make the 2024 NCAA Tournament?

Minnesota Gophers will have to pay to keep Christie, Payne

Veteran Pioneer Press columnist, insider and former Minnesota Twins pitcher Charley “Shooter” Walters put by far the most concrete value on both Christie and his big man teammate (sophomore) Pharrel Payne, should they be open to NIL offers from outside schools this offseason. According to Shooter, Christie’s market value is up to $10,000 per month; Payne’s $3K-$4K per month.

Market value suggests it could cost nearly $10,000 a month over the school year in name, image and likeness (NIL) money for the Gophers men’s basketball team to retain freshman star Cam Christie, and between $3,000 and $4,000 a month to keep sophomore Pharrell Payne next season.

Charley Walters – Pioneer Press

There is no doubt Cam will have plenty of blue blood suitors in his DMs, come April. Let’s be real, he probably has plenty of that going on right now, if he is paying attention. Pharrel Payne, a local kid, is very important to what the Gophers are trying to build too.

Related: Gophers Beat Jamison Battle’s Buckeyes; Close in on NCAA Tournament Conversation

Elite classic front-court players like Payne are the only player type that college basketball coaches can count on sticking around for 3-4 years. While it’s probably true that Christie and Payne loves Ben Johnson and the University of Minnesota, this is a country of capitalism, where money talks.

And the youngsters’ market values are both climbing with every big game they have. I hope their 3rd-year head coach has a plan because losing either Christie or Payne would be DEVASTATING to what Ben is trying to build.

And recently, the good NIL vibes surrounding Gophers football have gotten even better, after ‘some Gophers boosters came forward with some substantive NIL packages’ for PJ Fleck and his Row the Boat program.

Related: Top In-State 2024 Recruit Koi Perich Officially Signs with Gophers

Gophers football receives ‘substantive NIL packages’; Basketball still struggling

Unfortunately, according to Charley Walters (Pioneer Press), Ben Johnson and the men’s basketball team have not been so fortunate. Walters reports that six Big Ten basketball programs have raised over $1 million for NIL funding this season and his Gophers are not one of them.

Some Gophers boosters the other day came forward with some substantive name, image and likeness packages for football. Meanwhile, six Big Ten men’s basketball teams this season have raised at least $1 million for NIL deals. The Gophers are not among them.

Charley Walters – Pioneer Press

PJ Fleck, Dinkytown Athletes changing everything for U of M sports

Let’s start with Gopher football. Honestly, I did not think PJ Fleck could make the kind of progress on the NIL front that he has in just one year’s time. He has dove head first into growing and normalizing donations from boosters and fans, in the name of NIL and it’s made the difference.

Related: PJ Fleck Pleads Gophers Fans and Boosters for More NIL Money

By endorsing and vocally pushing supporters to the University of Minnesota’s official NIL collective, Dinkytown Athletes, PJ has completely changed the landscape and future of this football program. The leaps and bounds they have made in a very short amount of time may have saved the program from falling too far behind the rest of the conference to ever recover.

Ben Johnson, Gophers basketball still behind in NIL race

Minnesota basketball started an initiative to bring in more NIL money last year, but it did not forecast $1 million in its first year. So, the above news does not mean their drive has been unsuccessful. It does, however, confirm that Ben Johnson’s is behind the NIL 8-ball, compared to other Big Ten teams.

Still, that hasn’t stopped them from getting off to a hot 9-3 start this season. With Big Ten play returning at the start of the new year, we’ll see if he can turn some early momentum into an NCAA Tournament appearance. If successful, the NIL money will follow.

Related: Ben Johnson’s 2023-24 Gophers Defying Odds, Climbing Rankings

There is a very large Minnesota Gophers basketball fan base out there. Much like the Timberwolves, if wins start coming, so will the support. And with support, will come Name, Image and Likeness cashflow.