GOPHERS MEN'S BASKETBALL INSIDER | MARCUS FULLER

Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle invited all of his head coaches to attend Ben Johnson's introductory news conference as men's basketball coach four years ago at the Athletes Village.

Sitting among that group was Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck, who heard Johnson talk about being from Minnesota and caring deeply about winning at his alma mater with "Minnesota guys."

Fleck couldn't exactly relate. He isn't from Minnesota, but the Illinois native learned how to win here. He's now landing the state's top recruits and has people pumping money into his program after Year 8 to stay relevant amid the changing landscape of college athletics.

Johnson, who didn't engage the fan base and do enough to excite the top local recruits, was fired Thursday for not being consistently competitive. He was 56-71 in his four-year tenure, including 22-57 in Big Ten play.

Of course, the Gophers hope the next men's basketball coach is more Fleck than Johnson, building a successful culture and program with boosters ready to donate.

A coach selling himself to Gophers fans, recruits and donors is more important than just having Minnesota ties. Could the answer be a guy with strong local connections like Colorado State's Niko Medved, who has emerged as the favorite?

Medved, who graduated from Roseville High School, was a student manager under Clem Haskins and is a former Gophers assistant who turned around programs at Furman, Drake and now Colorado State. His Rams won the Mountain West tournament Saturday and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the third time since he arrived in 2018.

"We need somebody who embraces Minnesota," Coyle said. "Doing it right in Minnesota matters. Promoting our institution. Promoting our athletics program, the many benefits we have, and we need somebody who is going to generate excitement."

Salesmanship works

Fleck wowed media and fans watching his first news conference in January 2017 with his never-ending enthusiasm, but he still missed early on signing a few of the state's top prospects.

Not taking no for an answer, Fleck turned the corner, signing four of the top five in-state recruits in 2023 and five of the top eight in 2024.

In back-to-back classes, Gophers football grabbed the No. 1 player in Minnesota with Koi Perich last year and Emmanuel Karmo this year. And two of the top players in the 2026 class have already committed to the Gophers.

Meanwhile, Johnson banked on his staff's ability to evaluate and develop underrated talent. His best in-state recruiting class was in 2022, but that entire group — Pharrel Payne, Joshua Ola-Joseph and Braeden Carrington — transferred for more NIL money.

Last year, Isaac Asuma, a four-star prospect, and Grayson Grove decided to stay home and play for the U. But the Gophers never signed the state's No. 1 prospect during Johnson's tenure, missing on stars such as Tre Holloman and Jackson McAndrew.

The Gophers did not offer McAndrew a scholarship before he signed at Creighton. They also haven't offered Wayzata standout Christian Wiggins, the No. 1 player in the 2026 class with offers from Iowa and Wisconsin.

That wasn't lost on Coyle, who watched rival Wisconsin flourish in the Big Ten this year with Minnesota talent. Nolan Winter, the son of former Gophers center Trevor Winter, was a breakout sophomore for the Badgers.

In the 2025 class, the Gophers picked up a solid out-of-state group, but Cretin-Derham Hall's Tommy Ahneman signed with Notre Dame, and Alexandria's Chase Thompson signed with Clemson. Those two seniors will be showcased in this week's MSHSL boys' basketball tournament.

"We're trying to find someone who can connect with those kids," Coyle said about in-state recruits. "It's a very competitive market we live in. People come recruit kids here all of the time. It's on us to figure out how to change that. I feel like P.J. has made great strides the last few years. You see more Minnesota kids coming."

Johnson understood how important it was to recruit his state, having played high school and college ball in Minnesota. He was a Gophers assistant under Richard Pitino and had his own assistant, Dave Thorson, who's a legendary former high school coach at DeLaSalle, Johnson's alma mater. Thorson, currently interim Gophers coach, worked with Medved at Drake and Colorado State.

Essential NIL

It's not just about high school recruiting anymore, though.

In the name, image and likeness and transfer portal era, Johnson's Gophers barely had enough money to keep star senior Dawson Garcia and other returnees. That left limited resources to assemble the roster and had them scraping just to make the Big Ten tournament.

When Fleck arrived in 2017, the Gophers weren't worried about NIL. That didn't become a thing until it was approved for athletes by the NCAA in 2021. By then, Minnesota's football program was two years removed from an impressive 11-win season, which helped momentum build with fans clamoring to "Row the Boat" around the state.

Fleck eventually had his critics during harder times, but he never stopped selling his slogan, being visible on social media and campaigning big-time for greater NIL.

In 2023, Fleck went 6-7, but he begged Minnesotans before the end of the season to keep players from leaving "because of NIL."

"We had players that were here that are now gone and playing at another school that should be here playing right now," Fleck said that September. "We'll be a Triple-A ballclub for somebody else. That is the reality and the truth of the situation. So, please contact [the university's official collective], Dinkytown Athletes."

Another key example

Asking any coach, let alone Johnson's replacement, to be a rah-rah guy at Fleck's level might be far-fetched. But working as hard on coaching as growing public support might be beneficial, especially before the winning really comes.

The Gophers women haven't been to the NCAAs recently but have won more than the men. Dawn Plitzuweit, a Wisconsin native, has back-to-back 20-win seasons since being hired in 2023 to replace Lindsay Whalen.

Plitzuweit has been a strong promoter of the program with fans and recruits. She also received a commitment from Crosby-Ironton's Tori Oehrlein, the No. 2 junior in the state.

"At the end of the day, when you're winning games, people want to be a part of that," Coyle said. "Our job is to find someone who can come in here and adjust to the changing landscape of college athletics, but at the same time continue to build our program. Williams Arena is completely different when there are huge crowds in there, with the electricity and the atmosphere that's created by our fans."

Johnson, who went 15-17 overall and 7-13 in the Big Ten this season, didn't win enough to steadily build excitement, especially going just 2-8 at home in league play.

That inconsistency certainly hurt attendance. The Gophers averaged 8,923 tickets sold, the second-lowest number since 1970-71.

Too little, too late

Not having enough NIL money to retain and recruit talent was eventually Johnson's downfall after his best season, when the Gophers went 19-15 in 2023-24. The big question is this: Could that have been avoided with more work on his part to attract more donors? Maybe.

A week before his final game, an eventual Big Ten tournament loss to Northwestern, Johnson said he was ready to do more to bring in more NIL money.

Another major change is coming to college sports, possibly next month, when a judge is expected to approve the House vs. NCAA settlement. This will require schools that opt in to share revenue with athletes, paying them up to $20.5 million per year.

Even with that infusion of money for athletes, fundraising for NIL donations will be a separator, especially for college football and basketball programs.

"I'm willing to do anything and everything," Johnson said before the regular season ended at Rutgers. "I realize how important it is. I like the product that we have to sell."

Unfortunately for Johnson, it was too late to really promote himself and the Gophers, but the next coach might be able to learn from Fleck. The selling starts from Day 1.