Gophers coach Ben Johnson doesn't always feel the need to have a soapbox moment on the transfer portal, but he does when it finally seems like it could work in his favor.

The Gophers thought right after last season they might return their starting five from a 19-win NIT team, but bigger NIL opportunities elsewhere made sure that didn't happen.

The NBA came calling for freshman guard Cam Christie, which the Gophers saw as a potential superstar this year alongside All-Big Ten senior forward Dawson Garcia.

The reality is that no college coach can anticipate having players past the current season, so that's how Johnson approached adding transfers. As the Gophers opened official practice this week, he had 10 seniors on his roster, including seven transfers.

The Gophers have the sixth-most experienced team in Division I hoops and second among power conference teams for the 2024-25 season, according to Bart Torvik's advanced stats.

"If financially you can't afford the best of the best and just go pluck another NBA-type talent," Johnson said, "then you got to think the next best thing that wins besides just talent in college basketball is experience — being older."

Johnson wanted to get older. He also wanted his Gophers to have a sense of urgency to win now.

"Who has urgency? Guys who have one less year," he said. "Now as a coach, selfishly you know I don't have to worry. They ain't coming back. I don't have to worry about them going into the portal. They're done. There's urgency now. They're going to be all in, and invested."

Johnson watched six players transfer in the spring, but he was surprised starting point guard Elijah Hawkins left for Texas Tech. It also hurt to watch his starting center, Pharrel Payne, leave for Texas A&M.

The Gophers, who return seniors Garcia, Mike Mitchell Jr. and Parker Fox, had banked on the 2023 recruiting class also being a big part of the program's major turnaround this season, including sophomore Kadyn Betts, Joshua Ola-Joseph and Braeden Carrington.

"Pharrel was going to be a junior and probably was going to be pretty good," Johnson said. "Josh was going to be a junior. Braeden was going to be a junior. We can't replace [that] with freshmen and sophomores."

Johnson got older with seniors Frank Mitchell (6-8, 260 pounds), Trey Edmonds (6-10, 250) and Division II transfer Lincoln Meister (6-9, 240) to replace Payne's physical inside presence. They signed Minneapolis native Lu'Cye Patterson to replace Hawkins' playmaking ability. They added seniors Femi Odukale, Brennan Rigsby, Tyler Cochran and Caleb Williams to be versatile perimeter options offensively and defensively.

It didn't come together the way the Gophers expected, but Johnson said he feels like the group could take the next step for the program after a 10-win improvement last season.

"Dawson's a really good player you can put pieces around," Johnson said. "You've got an older, urgent group that in seven, eight months, this thing is done. So, when I tell them every day matters and every day is one less day, that's real life. You're hoping that translates to on-the-court productivity."

Garcia officially cleared

Johnson said Garcia is officially cleared for full contact and is looking "like a million bucks" already in early fall practice.

The 6-11 Prior Lake product and leading scorer and rebounder last season had left foot surgery in July, but he has no limitations heading into the Nov. 6 season opener vs. Oral Roberts.

"I think he's the most confident he's been," Johnson said. "His body looks great … I'm just excited to see where he can take it."

Competing for a cause

The Big Ten announced the "We Give Blood Drive" on Thursday, which features all 18 Big Ten schools competing to see which school can have the most blood donations. The winning school will be announced Dec. 7 at the Big Ten football championship game and will receive a $1 million prize from Abbott for aiding in community and student health.