GOPHERS CLOSE OUT 2022-23 SEASON
•  Minnesota finished the season with a 9-22 overall record and 2-17 in the Big Ten this season under second-year head coach Ben Johnson. The Golden Gophers went 7-5 in nonconference play this season. Of Minnesota’s 23 opponents, 11 played in postseason competition between the NCAA tournament and NIT. 
•  The Gophers had 13 games in which a person eligible to play sat out of the game due to an injury. Jamison Battle had foot surgery and missed the first four games of the season. In his rookie year, Braeden Carrington missed nine games due to injuries, while leading scorer Dawson Garcia also missed five due to a bone bruise. 
•  Minnesota played in the SoCal Challenge when it faced California Baptist and UNLV where the Gophers went 1-1. Minnesota defeated Cal Baptist, only to fall to UNLV. The Gophers also faced Virginia Tech in the last Big Ten/ACC Challenge and lost 67-57. The 2022 challenge marked the end of a 23-year tradition, dating back to 1999. Minnesota also played DePaul as a part of the Gavitt Games, where the Gophers fell, 69-53. 
•  Ben Johnson won his first Big Ten Tournament game of his Minnesota head coaching career when the Gophers defeated Nebraska, 78-75 in Chicago, at the United Center. He is now 1-2 all-time in his two-year Gopher tenure. 

GARCIA NAMED ALL-BIG TEN HONORABLE MENTION

•  Dawson Garcia was selected as an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention by both the coaches and media Tuesday, March 7. It is Garcia’s first Big Ten honor of his career. In his first year with the Golden Gophers, Garcia led Minnesota in both scoring and rebounding through the regular season averaging 15.7 points and 6.8 rebounds. His 15.7 ppg ranks 10th in league scoring, while his 6.8 rbp is 13th overall. Garcia started in all 25 games he played, as he missed five due to a bone bruise injury from Jan. 22-Feb. 18. In those 25 games played, Garcia was Minnesota’s top scorer and rebounder in 10 contests. Shooting 46.1 percent from the field this season, Garcia is also shooting 34.9 percent from beyond the arc. Garcia has scored double-digit scoring in 22 of 25 games this season, including a career-high 28 points at Ohio State on Jan. 12. He also established a career-high in rebounds this season when he collected 15 against Nebraska earlier this year.

•  Ta’Lon Cooper was Minnesota’s Sportsmanship Award honoree. Cooper was the only Gopher to play and start in all 30 games during the regular season for Minnesota.  

GOPHERS HONOR GRADUATING SENIORS

•  In the season finale on Sunday, March 5, Minnesota honored its graduating seniors Jamison Battle, Ta’Lon Cooper and Taurus Samuels. Battle and Cooper have the option of using its fifth COVID-19 year, while Samuels will have exhausted eligibility. All three will earn degrees this spring/summer in sports management. 

BATTLE RECEIVES ACADEMIC RECOGNITION

• Jamison Battle has been named to the 2022-23 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Men’s Basketball Team. Recognizing the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at their current institution in order to be nominated. 

• Battle is a sports management major and holds a 3.5 cumulative grade point average academically as a senior.  

POSTPONEMENT/CANCELED GAMES

• The Minnesota men’s basketball game originally scheduled for Feb. 7 at Illinois, was played on Monday, Feb. 20 in Champaign, Ill. The game was postponed due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols within the Golden Gopher program. 

• Michigan State announced on Monday, Feb. 13 that the men’s basketball game between Minnesota and Michigan State, which was to be contested on Wednesday, Feb 15 at Michigan State, was postponed because of the tragic shootings that took place on the Michigan State campus on Monday. On Monday, Feb. 27, the Big Ten announced that the game would not be rescheduled and declared a no contest. Minnesota and MSU will play 19 games during league action. 

SETTING IT UP

• Ta’Lon Cooper ranked second in the Big Ten in assists per game and assists. Cooper’s 196 assists and 6.3 apg ranks 10th and seventh nationally. His 196 assists ranked second in school history for assists in a single season. He trailed only Marcus Carr, who accomplished 207 during the 2019-20 season. He also ranked fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio at 2.36. His 603 career assists ranked 21st among active leaders nationally, while his 4.79 apg ranks 24th. Cooper also ranks first in the Big Ten in minutes played, averaging 36.4 per game and 16th nationally. Starting in all 31 games for the Gophers, Cooper  has played in 1137 minutes. 

COOPER MILESTONES

•  Ta’Lon Cooper set another milestone in his year with the Golden Gophers. The guard from Roebuck, S.C., established his 1,000th career point during the Maryland game (Feb. 4). Sitting at 1,057 career points, Cooper had a three-year total of 773 points at Morehead State, while producing 247 so far this season with Minnesota. Cooper also established his 500th career assist mark earlier this year at Ohio State (Jan. 12). His 600th assist came against Maryland in the final game of the year. 

YOUNG TALENT

• Minnesota is without the services of Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen this year due to season-ending injuries. That being said, the average age of Gopher players available to play is at 20.38. This is in comparison that last year’s Gopher team held a team average age of 22.31.

• Minnesota was the only team in the Big Ten to have four freshmen average nearly 20 minutes of playing time. No Big Ten team has more than two freshman playing 20+ minutes per game. Braeden Carrington averaged 20 minutes, while Pharrel Payne is at 22.0 minutes, Joshua Ola-Joseph averaged 22.1 and Jaden Henley at 20.8. Purdue (Smith/Loyer), Ohio State (Sensabaugh/Thornton) and Illinois (Clark/Epps) also have two freshmen over 20 minutes. Against Iowa, on Feb. 12, Minnesota started three true freshmen in the game. In fact, within the Big Ten, only six schools have a single freshman that averages over 20 minutes played this season. 

GOPHERS IN THE CLASSROOM

• Minnesota held a team grade point average of 3.23 fall semester. It was the third-straight semester the Gophers have held a 3.0 team GPA, all of which coming during Coach Johnson’s tenure. 

• Minnesota had four Academic All-Big Ten selections in Jamison Battle, Parker Fox, Isaiah Ihnen and Jackson Purcell. To be eligible for the the award, individuals must be at the institution for 12 months and hold a grade point average of 3.0. 

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

• Coach Johnson named his captains for the 2022-23 season: Jamison Battle, Ta’Lon Cooper, Dawson Garcia and Taurus Samuels. The honor marks the first of their collegiate careers for Battle and Garcia and the second for Cooper and Samuels as they were named captains at Morehead State and Dartmouth.

GOPHERS IN THE PROS

• The University of Minnesota is well represented within the NBA scene, having seven alumni currently playing, coaching or broadcasting within the league.

• Amir Coffey (played from 2016-19) is in his fourth professional NBA season with the Los Angeles Clippers. In his first two years with the organization, Coffey averaged 3.2 points per game and nine minutes per game. The Hopkins, Minn., product made his presence known in 2021-22 when averaged 9.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 22.7 minutes played for the Clippers. He later signed a three-year contract with the Clippers this past summer.

• In addition, the Gophers also have five alumni coaching in 

the NBA ranks. JB Bickerstaff (1998-2001) begins his sixth season as an NBA coach, including his fourth with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ryan Saunders (2004-08) returns to NBA coaching ranks as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets. Kevin Burleson (1998-2003) is now the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, while Bobby Jackson (1995-97) is the head coach for the Stockton Kings, both of which are in the G League team. 

• Minnesota’s all-time leading scorer Mychal Thompson (1974-78) is in his 20th season as the Los Angeles Lakers color commentator. Jim Petersen (1980-84) is in his 25th  year as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Quincy Lewis (1995-99) is set to embark on a new career within the NBA as a part of the Utah Jazz in an outreach/alumni role. 

• A few Gophers landed spots on NBA G League rosters: Jordan Murphy (Austin Spurs) and Daniel Oturu (Windy City Bulls). Payton Willis and Austin Hollins are both playing in Israel, while Mo Walker is back in London. Walker, however recently suffered a season-ending injury and will be out for the season. Nate Mason is back with Guangzhou Long Lions in China for the second season. Dupree McBrayer is playing with TFT in North Macedonia. Charlie Daniels is also playing professionally in the Armenian League. Sean Sutherlin signed with Nitra in the Slovakian League to play this year. Danny Ogele is also playing professionally in Romania.