Gophers volleyball continues to face top-ranked opponents week after week, and with the end of the season in sight, this last stretch could decide the Big Ten regular season champion.

The No. 11 Gophers volleyball team currently sits third in the Big Ten with a 9-3 conference record. They also are coming off three consecutive wins to bring them to 14-6 overall, including wins over then-No. 6 Ohio State and No. 6 Nebraska.

“I think it’s all about trying to do the things you can do well, and try to stop them from doing the things they want to do. It’s a little bit of cat and mouse, but our defensive stuff is going to matter. We’re going to have to dig some balls and try and create some opportunities for points,” Gophers head coach Hugh McCutcheon said.

Minnesota has gotten a lot of help on offense from redshirt seniors Stephanie Samedy and Airi Miyabe, as well as sophomore Jenna Wenaas.

The three are leading the team in kills with Samedy dominating with 343. Wenaas is second on the team in kills per set with 3.20 while Miyabe just grabbed her eighth straight double-digit kill match against Nebraska.

The Gophers will still have to face four top-25 teams in Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Penn State, as well as Illinois, the first team ranked outside of the top 25.

Out of those five teams the Gophers have faced three of them previously. The Gophers most recently took down Ohio State in four sets. However, they were on the wrong side of a sweep against Wisconsin and Penn State last time out.

“Every one [match] matters,” McCuthceon said. “We’re absolutely aware of the importance of the home stretch here.”

The Gopher volleyball team has had its ups and downs this season, but they are currently riding a three-game winning streak heading into a tough weekend.

“It’s been a nice run and we continue to make improvements in some pretty important areas. We’ll learn a lot this weekend, but I’m feeling pretty good about where we’re at,” head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “We’ll go play hard and see what happens.”

No. 12 Minnesota is set to face No. 14 Penn State on Friday and No. 6 Ohio State on Sunday for its first two matches against ranked opponents since being swept by then-No. 5 Wisconsin.

Since the loss to Wisconsin, the Gophers defeated Michigan State, Indiana and beat Northwestern twice, while dropping a match against Michigan.

This time around will be the first meeting between both teams this season, and the Gophers will be at the Pav in front of an energetic crowd. However, Minnesota will have to face them both on the road next meeting.

“It’s been great, [the] fans are wonderful. To be able to play with fans, to feel that energy in the building, it’s awesome. That’s part of the deal when you come here, it’s part of the package,” McCutcheon said.

This is the third time this season the Gophers are set to play back-to-back games against ranked opponents — top-15 opponents for that matter.

It started with then-No. 1 Texas and then-No. 5 Florida in just the second weekend of action. The Gophers had no break in between top ranked matches as the following weekend featured then-No. 14 Stanford and then-No. 11 Oregon.

“It’s rigorous,” McCutcheon said of the tough scheduling. “It’s a battle, no doubt. It’s challenging, but our kids are learning to grind and so far they’ve been doing pretty well.”

In ranked matches, the Gophers are 2-4 thus far, but have plenty of opportunities ahead to close out the season.

Sophomore Jenna Wenaas has been an important part of this Gophers team as they approach the midway mark of the season. No. 12 Minnesota sits at 10-5 and returned back to the Pav after two straight away weekends.

“I think it’s so much more fun than last year with it being empty. [The crowd] is cheering for us, whether we do good or bad. They give us a lot of energy and I think it just makes it a lot more fun,” Wenaas said of having fans back in the Pav.

Wenaas and the Gophers have given fans plenty to cheer for thus far. She is second on the team in kills with 177 to go along with 10 service aces which puts her at fourth on the team.

The breakout season continues to showcase what type of player Wenaas is, but she gives credit to her team and coaches.

“My team has definitely helped me a lot. They’ve been super supportive and when I have my bad days, they’re there for me,” Wenaas said. “The coaching staff as well, they’ve been super helpful and helped me grow a lot in a short amount of time.”

The Gophers have had their rough games throughout the season, one of them being against Wisconsin. That’s one game that Wenaas has in mind when she looks forward to her most anticipated games for the rest of the season.

Late in November, No. 3 Wisconsin will travel to Minnesota to close out its season series and Wenaas is looking forward to a rematch against one of the top teams in the nation after being swept in its first matchup. Another game that sticks out to her is at the end of October against No. 9 Nebraska.

Head coach Hugh McCutcheon has been very impressed with Wenaas’ performances this season, but isn’t surprised by the emergence.

“It’s not a surprise, she’s a very good volleyball player and it’s just great to see her out there competing and doing the things we know she’s capable of doing. A great year, but she’s a great player,” McCutcheon said.

Looking forward to the rest of the season, Wenaas and the Gophers have some goals they want to achieve.

“We want to win the Big [Ten], and go far in the tournament, but I think in order to do those things, we have to do the things that we know how to do consistently. We’ve talked about working towards daily goals and if we can do these daily goals then the Big Ten and the tournament goals will come on it’s own,” Wenaas said.

The Gophers head into this basketball season with a completely different-looking team, from a new head coach to a whole new roster. Over the offseason, Minnesota and former head coach Richard Pitino parted ways after eight seasons. The domino effect following the firing began and players transfered left and right, including a new face at the helm for the Gophers.

Head coach Ben Johnson accepted the head coaching position and got straight to work fixing together his new team and coaching staff. It was a busy offseason for the Gophers and the team will no doubt take some time kicking things into gear, but luckily their non-conference schedule will allow them just that.

The Gophers’ season is still over a month away as they are slated to get things underway Nov. 1 in a home game against Concordia-St. Paul at Williams Arena.

The Gophers should have a relatively easy first six contests facing Kansas City, Purdue Fort Wayne and Jacksonville paired with the Asheville Championship where they’ll face Western Kentucky and either South Carolina or Princeton.

That will allow Johnson and company some early action together before Minnesota faces Pittsburgh in the yearly ACC-Big Ten challenge. After a game against Mississippi State on Dec. 5, the Gophers will see their first Big Ten opponent of the season.

Last season, Minnesota had an extremely tough beginning to its conference schedule. Before the team fell apart, the Gophers were off to an impressive 4-4 conference schedule with big wins over Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State, all of which finished in the top five of the Big Ten last season.

This season will be a little easier of a start, but with the team’s new look, it will give the Gophers some early tests against one of the best conferences in the nation. Minnesota will have just two conference games before the new year begins, facing both Michigan State and Michigan to open up conference play.

The Gophers will finish off the calendar year with their last three non-conference games. After that, there will be 18 straight Big Ten matchups to finish off the season. The toughest stretch for Minnesota will likely come at the end of January and beginning of February.

Minnesota will have two home games and two away games in that stretch, but it comes against some tough opponents. The Gophers will start with a home game against a talented Ohio State team before going on the road to face Wisconsin. In the beginning of February, they’ll host Purdue to open the month and be right back on the road against the Hawkeyes.

The regular season comes to a close with back-to-back away games against Maryland and Northwestern, concluding March 6, 2022.

There really is no easy game in a conference like the Big Ten, and Minnesota will have enough challenges to face already. It isn’t hard to imagine some early struggles from this Gophers team with all the changes made over the offseason.

On Thursday, Sept. 16, the Gophers and Tommies will face off in the Diet Coke Classic in a match that will feature the first ever Division I competition between the two schools. Minnesota won’t be an easy opponent for the struggling St.Thomas team, but it’s sure to be a historic match.

“I think it’s great, it may keep some more Minnesota athletes home, certainly gives them more opportunities,” Gophers head coach Hugh McCutcheon said, regarding there being another Division I team in Minnesota. “This is an instance where more is more.”

The Gophers haven’t had the easiest start of the season, facing five top-15 ranked opponents in their first six matches. However, after the Gophers started out 1-3, they swept a weekend series of two top-15 wins and look to be back on track.

“I think they were really important for us on a lot of levels,” McCutcheon said. “First in terms of competitive maturity, we [started] off with some tough, close losses and here we were able to close it out, a match against a really good Stanford team, and get into trouble against Oregon and figure out a way to get out of trouble.”

McCutcheon added that the start to the season was very important to the team’s development, especially the comeback win against Oregon.

“It was nice to see our team respond in the way that they responded and figure out a way to get the W,” he said.

The Tommies haven’t gotten off to the best start in their first Division I season, holding a 1-7 record in their first eight games.

St. Thomas is being led by standout freshman Lauren Galvin who leads the team with 99 kills on the season. The East Ridge High School alum also is second on the team in hit percentage attacking at a .208 clip. On top of that, she leads the team with 13 service aces, for comparison, the service aces leader on the Gophers has nine.

The Tommies have another freshman leading the way in Libby Mattila, who is second on the team in kills with 40. Mattila, who hails from Plymouth, Minn., leads the team in hit percentage at .223.

The Tommies have a handful of talented Minnesotans up and down their roster, and Gophers junior Ellie Husemann is happy to see former opponents on the other side of the net living out their dream of playing at the Division I level.

“It’s definitely super cool knowing that I’ll look across the net, we all will, and see girls I played high school against,” Husemann said. “All in all, it’s a really cool experience.”

The biggest disadvantage for the Tommies comes in the height difference between the two teams.

St. Thomas has just three players listed as 6-foot and over, with its tallest player coming in at 6-foot-1, whereas Minnesota has ten with its two tallest players coming in at 6-foot-5.

One of those over-6-foot players is redshirt senior Stephanie Samedy, who has been a huge part of the Gophers’ success. The 6-foot-2 opposite hitter has a team-high 125 kills on the season to go along with .276 hit percentage. Samedy remained humble when asked about her stat line this season, crediting her success thus far to her teammates.

“Having my teammates push me, they’re taking shots away, they’re blocking me and pushing me to get better everyday,” Samedy said.

Sophomore setter Melani Shaffmaster has also been a very important piece to this team. She has been a part of 84.2% of assists so far this season to go along with a team-high nine service aces.

The match Thursday night is sure to be one to remember as the two teams will face each other for the first time in both program’s history. Even with the historic air surrounding the match up, the Gophers will go into it like any other match, and take the lessons learned from their tough non-conference matches this season with them.

In regards to the tough schedule the Gophers have faced thus far, Samedy said she and the Gophers are looking to take the lessons learned into the rest of the season.

“I think continuing to build from yesterday’s practice and today’s practice and the lessons we’ve learned from the [past] weekend and all the weekends,” Samedy said. “I think just being able to apply those in the game and be consistent [tomorrow].”

The No. 10 Gophers volleyball team faced its third top-10 opponent as they traveled to Gainesville to face No. 5 Florida. The Gophers’ early struggles continued Sunday as the Gators used early set leads to their advantage and paved the way to their fourth win of the season.

Florida jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first two sets which led Gophers head coach Hugh Mccutcheon to use his first of two timeouts. The Gophers were unable to slow the momentum after its timeouts, and the slow start came back to hurt them.

Early in each of the first two sets, the Gators used a pair of service aces to jump out in front. There was no looking back after that. Florida went on to win the first set 25-20 and came back with a 25-19 win in the second set.

The Gophers put themselves in a tough situation from the get go and failed to take the lead in either match. It wasn’t until the third set that Minnesota saw itself take its first lead of the game. It wasn’t a long lead as the Gators were able to jump right back out in front 2-1.

The third set showcased the Gophers’ resilience as Minnesota continued to fight to try and avoid the sweep. After losing their first lead of the day quickly, Minnesota didn’t go away and instead played very competitively to close it out.

Florida seemed to have all the momentum as they took a 7-4 lead, but a quick run of kills by Minnesota tied things up. Neither team could run away with the set and it continued to go back and forth. After a service error on the Gators end to tie the set once again, Minnesota used a 4-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 17-14.

That was just about enough for Florida head coach Mary Wise as she called the first timeout of the set. It couldn’t have come at a better time as the Gators were able to end the run and cut Minnesota’s lead to just one.

Just like the beginning of the set, the Gophers and Gators were battling back and forth. With Florida trying to close the match up and Minnesota clinging on to extend it one more set, neither team could run away with things.

After Florida tied the set at 21, the Gophers scored three straight and were one point away from extending their day. Minnesota was able to take the third set 25-22 and keep their hopes alive.

The fourth set featured more of the first two sets as Florida once again jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead. Unlike the first two sets, Minnesota was able to fight back again with its back on the door. The Gophers slowly climbed out of a 6-point deficit and were able to pull ahead 13-12.

Minnesota put up a valiant effort throughout the second half of the fourth set. It was a back-and-forth battle until the end, but the Gators were able to take the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set.

The Gophers schedule doesn’t get much easier as they face two more top-25 teams as part of the Big 10/Pac 12 challenge. On Sep. 10 Minnesota faces No. 21 Stanford before squaring off against No. 14 Oregon the very next day.

Gophers’ baseball is in the midst of a 13-game losing streak that has dropped the team’s record to 4-26, and the team was swept in the past four series. The struggles have come from both sides during this stretch, but sophomore Sam Ireland has been a bright spot for Minnesota.

Following the loss of the Gophers’ ace Max Meyer, an opportunity presented itself for someone to step up. Ireland has done just that in his first season as a starting pitcher. Ireland, a two-way player, has been big for Minnesota on the mound as well as at the plate.

“Sam’s talented; he can help us in both places. I think you can see the potential there,” Gophers head coach John Anderson said. “[I have] been impressed with Sam’s development. During the pandemic he really worked hard in the weight room.”

Though his 0-3 record doesn’t show it, Ireland has been the Gophers’ ace up until this point. He continuously puts the team in a winning position and has become the series opening pitcher. Ireland has started all seven games he’s pitched and holds the best ERA on the team, with a 4.10, and he has the second best WHIP, with a 1.37.

Ireland has been struggling recently at the plate and also hasn’t been getting as many opportunities. His average has dropped to .212, but that doesn’t take away from the threat he poses to opposing teams.

Looking at the box scores and stats won’t tell you the full story about the first-year starter. Throughout the season he’s continued to improve as a player, and he has become more confident on the mound. In just his second start, Ireland went 7.1 innings while giving up just one run.

“It helps my confidence a lot,” Ireland said on his best start of the season. “After the four and a third against Indiana, I was a little shaken up. But after Illinois, having that confident boost, knowing that I have the stuff, that I have everything I need and all the tools I need to get that far into games and give us a chance to win.”

On the mound, it hasn’t been an easy year for Ireland, and the defense doesn’t always help him out. The Gophers have committed the fifth most errors in the Big Ten. Ireland being on the mound has led to six unearned runs.

“Sam’s learning how to manage some of the adversity that comes up. If somebody doesn’t make a play or he walks a guy, he’s got to figure out a way to make the next pitch and get the next out,” Anderson said.

It sometimes can be a struggle for Ireland having days when he’s only pitching, only hitting or even doing both. It’s not so common to have a player who’s able to throw six or seven innings on the mound and also hit cleanup.

“It’s tough to balance at times. I think finding ways to get all of your practice in in a short amount of time that we have, I think that’s the most difficult part,” Ireland said. “Throwing the first game of the weekend and then having to let my arm recover the next day and possibly playing in the field the day after.”

It’s been an up-and-down year for Ireland, but he’s continued to show improvement in his game. Anderson has been impressed with many facets of Ireland’s skill set and continues to show trust in the righty.

Though the season isn’t going exactly as planned, there is still plenty of time for Ireland to work out the kinks of being a first-year starter and build confidence heading into next season. Anderson said he is confident Ireland will continue to work through adversity.

“He’s going to be an outstanding pitcher in this league, and he’s already made a big leap for me, and I think you’ll see him continue to improve as the season goes on,” Anderson said.

Seven Gophers men’s basketball team players have entered the transfer portal since the team parted ways with former coach Richard Pitino in March.

Though Pitino’s firing and the ensuing turnover didn’t come as any surprise, it left new head coach Ben Johnson with a sparse roster that needed some putting together. Johnson has already started to fill many of those voids.

Who left and where are they now?

Starting with Minnesota’s top dog from last season, redshirt junior Marcus Carr entered the portal in the middle of March. The standout guard had a career year, averaging 19.4 points per game last season.

Carr has entered his name into the NBA draft for the second year in a row, but he’s listed as the No. 1 player in the transfer portal, according to CBS.

Another key component to the team’s success last season — before the downfall — was junior Liam Robbins. Robbins was in his first season with the Gophers after transferring from Drake to join his uncle, associate head coach Ed Conroy, and cousin, senior Hunt Conroy.

Robbins averaged 11.7 points per game along with 6.6 boards and 2.7 blocks, which led the Big Ten. Following the departure of Pitino, Robbins also entered the transfer portal. Robbins quickly found a new home with Vanderbilt, where Ed Conroy signed on as an assistant coach.

Freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. was an upcoming star for Minnesota and was the second Gopher to depart from the team following Pitino’s dismissal. The 6-foot-2 guard saw an uptick in playing time following injuries to other members of the team and made the most of it. He finished the season scoring in double-digit figures in eight of the final nine games.

Mashburn was brought to the University by Pitino, and it came as no surprise he followed him for next season. Pitino and Mashburn will be reunited next season at the University of New Mexico.

Sophomore Tre’ Williams decided he wanted a new home for next season after an up-and-down career with Minnesota. The 6-foot-5 guard never really found his footing with the Gophers but definitely helped them down the stretch last season.

Similarly to Mashburn, Williams saw an increase in playing time following injuries, and he eclipsed double-digits in his final four games for the Maroon and Gold, including a career-high 17 against Penn State. Saturday, Williams commited to play for Oregon State next season.

The final headliner to depart from the team was junior Gabe Kalscheur, who ended his time with Minnesota on the bench with a hand injury. It wasn’t an April fools joke when Kalscheur entered the portal on April 1.

Kalscheur had been struggling the last two years after a stellar freshman season. Though he was the team’s best defender, as Pitino would always allude to, he couldn’t seem to find his stroke on the offensive end. He didn’t spend much time in the portal, and he will travel just south of Minnesota to join Iowa State.

Freshman Martice Mitchell and sophomore Sam Freeman are the two latest transfers. The two big men didn’t get much playing time this past season and decided to test the waters to see what other options they have. Freeman announced his commitment to University of the Pacific last week, while Mitchell committed to Northern Illinois for the 2021 season.

New faces for the Maroon and Gold

There were a lot of open spots that needed to be filled ahead of the 2021-22 season for Minnesota. Upon being hired, Johnson quickly began his work to bring in new talent.

Johnson has brought in five new transfers along with two assistant coaches to help transition these players into the Big Ten.

Former DeLaSalle High School graduate Jamison Battle marked Johnson’s first hit on the transfer portal. Battle averaged 17.3 points per game while shooting 47.5% from the field. Not long after, Wisconsin native Luke Loewe came to Minnesota along with a reliable shooter in E.J. Stephens. Both players transferred to Minnesota on April 2 and were the first two guards Johnson landed.

Mahtomedi High School alum Parker Fox marked Johnson’s second Minnesota-native hit in the transfer portal after three seasons at Northern State University. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 22.3 points for 2020-21 while shooting 62% from the field.

Guard Payton Willis will have his homecoming in 2021 after transferring away from Minnesota following the 2019-20 season. Willis averaged a career-best 13.4 points per game while shooting 46% from the field and 40% from deep for the Charleston Cougars.

Alongside the five new players, Johnson brought in two reliable assistant coaches. Johnson has reunited with familiar faces in Dave Thorson, who Johnson goes way back with, dating back to his high school days at DeLaSalle, and Jason Kemp.

There is sure to be more pieces moving around in the coming months before the Gophers get next season kicked off. But as of now, Johnson has gotten off to a great start in his Gophers tenure.

The Gophers baseball team dropped all three games in its weekend series against Indiana. A dropped doubleheader followed by a 23-1 blowout led to another winless series as Minnesota dropped to 4-23 on the season.

Things got ugly quickly for Minnesota in the first game of the series as the Gophers found themselves in a 3-0 hole after just two innings. That set the tone for a weekend where the Gophers didn’t lead once and tied for just three innings.

The opening game was the best outing Minnesota had on the offensive end, as it plated three runs in the game courtesy of the long ball. Senior Ronald Sweeny went yard with a runner on base to cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the fourth, which marked the closest the Gophers would be the rest of the weekend. Minnesota fell 9-3 in the first of a doubleheader Friday.

After Indiana extended its lead, senior Easton Bertrand hit a solo shot in the seventh, his first of two on the day. Bertrand was later responsible for the lone run in the second game of the doubleheader with another solo shot.

That was all of the Gophers’ offensive production in Friday’s doubleheader, which didn’t line up with how they played on defense.

Indiana wasn’t batting the ball around the diamond in the first game, but Minnesota pitchers were allowing the Hoosiers free passes at the plate. Gophers pitchers allowed 12 walks and two hits by pitch compared to just nine hits allowed. Along with two errors in the field, Indiana plated nine runs in the series opener.

The second of Friday’s doubleheader wasn’t much different for Minnesota, which saw a 6-0 deficit after the first four innings. On 10 hits, Indiana was able to score seven runs en route to a 7-1 victory in Bloomington, Indiana.

Outside of Bertrand’s home run, the Gophers weren’t able to string together too many hits. Minnesota had seven total hits, but other than on the home run, no one could cross the plate.

The series finale was over as quickly as it started. Minnesota used five pitchers, all of which surrendered three runs or more. Indiana was hitting the ball more, but Gophers’ pitchers continued to help out by allowing free bases.

On top of the 17 hits, the Hoosiers drew 11 walks and were hit by the pitch four times. Indiana jumped out to a 13-0 lead after just two innings, and the blowout didn’t stop there. The Gophers were able to grab one back in the sixth, but that just led to an Indiana answer that saw 10 more runs cross the plate in a 23-1 blowout over Minnesota.

In the bottom of the sixth and seventh, the Hoosiers plated five in each inning to extend their lead to 23-1. A mix of pitching struggles and a lack of offense led to a long weekend for Minnesota. The Gophers put up just five runs total and couldn’t match Indiana’s firepower.

Minnesota is back in action next weekend when it travels to face Maryland in a three-game series.

Dave Thorson and Jason Kemp are the most recent additions to the Gophers’ men’s basketball team ahead of the 2021-22 season. Head coach Ben Johnson has been making quick work to fill out his team that now consists of several new transfers and two new assistant coaches.

“You wanna put together the best staff you can, and I know that’s what we were able to do here,” Johnson said. “I was able to target guys on the first round and actually be able to hit on the guys I wanted.”

Thorson, a name familiar in the state of Minnesota, returns to Minneapolis. Thorson has ties all across the state and specifically to the Maroon and Gold. Thorson comes back to the Gophers as an assistant coach for the second time.

After his first tenure as an assistant coach with South Dakota, Thorson joined the Gophers from 1990-94. Thorson had two other stints at the collegiate level as an assistant coach. He spent one season at Drake and three seasons with Colorado State.

Following his time with the Gophers, Thorson moved down a level and coached at DeLaSalle High School for 23 years. Throughout his tenure, Thorson won nine state championships with six consecutive titles. Both accomplishments set state records.

Johnson attended and played for DeLaSalle during Thorson’s time there, winning two state titles in the process. Now, Thorson will join Johnson once again as his assistant.

“It’s great to get him back. He’s obviously a big piece of what we’re going to do here; [he] was a huge get for me, personally. Obviously, he knows the state, and the state knows him,” Johnson said. “He’ll do a great job just being that face that we know we all need here.”

The two have known each other for a long time, so much so that Johnson said he’s known Thorson for half his life. In fact, their ties go even further back.

“I can remember watching Ben, frankly, as a seventh grader when I first went to DeLaSalle. It’s an incredible relationship that he and I have, going from coach-player to friend, one of my closest friends,” Thorson said. “He’s the right leader for Minnesota at this time.”

Kemp doesn’t quite have the long-standing relationship with Johnson that Thorson has, but their paths have crossed before, which set the stage for a relationship unlike others and made way for what’s to come.

“There’s been a mutual respect for a long time. We’ve known each other since I was a young assistant at North Dakota State,” Kemp said. “As we’ve both worked our way up the ranks, we’ve been fairly close … and done a good job staying connected.”

Kemp, similarly to Thorson, is returning to the state of Minnesota, but uniquely it is where Kemp started his coaching career. It all began at Minnesota State University Moorhead, where he spent the 2004-05 season.

Since then, he has accumulated nearly 15 years of Division I experience.

He started at North Dakota State, where he spent eight seasons, six of them as an assistant coach. He helped the Bison to a 108-77 record in his six years as an assistant before moving on. The next stop was Toledo, where he coached just one season before going to Ohio for five seasons.

His most recent position was an assistant at William & Mary, coaching the likes of new Gophers’ guard Luke Loewe.

Johnson knows what he is getting with Kemp joining the staff. The two have had rivalries in the past but now come together to help lead Minnesota.

“Jason knows how to teach the game. He’s one of the best teachers in the country, especially the way we’re gonna play. He has a high basketball IQ; he’s not just an assistant coach that can’t coach on the floor. He can really teach the game and develop guys,” Johnson said.