Analyst claims Ben Johnson is 'elite coach' at 'one of the toughest jobs in America'

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Gophers head coach Ben Johnson nowadays. Amid his fourth season with the program, there continues to be ongoing discussions about his future with the program, but national college basketball analyst Seth Davis seems to have a strong opinion on the job that he has done at Minnesota this season.

"Ben Johnson has done an incredible job with this team. One of the elite coaches in one of the toughest jobs in America," he posted on X following Minnesota's win over Nebraska on Saturday.

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

The Gophers' victory over Nebraska was their fifth conference road win of the season. It's an impressive feat after starting 0-6 in conference play, but they still find themselves in a tie for 11th place in the Big Ten. After nearly blowing a 19-point second-half lead, Davis might've been the only person rushing to praise Johnson's coaching after the game.

Johnson has faced a boatload of adversity throughout his four seasons as head coach of the Gophers. Elijah Hawkins and Pharrel Payne went to the transfer portal and Cam Christie left for the NBA last off-season, which forced him to replace three of his top four players. After being voted to finish last in the conference, a 7-11 mark is impressive and deserves at least some praise.

With that being said, Minnesota has losses at home this season to North Texas, Washington, Penn State and Northwestern, with an end-of-game debacle at home against Ohio State on top of that. Johnson has a 22-54 (28.9%) Big Ten record in his four seasons with the Gophers. For as many good moments they've had this season, they've had just as many head-scratchers, if not more.

Based on his severe lack of resources and unfortunate injury luck, calling him an underrated coach could be entirely warranted, but calling him "elite" seems like a stretch, as he has never coached a team to the NCAA Tournament. Davis is a well-respected voice in the college basketball media landscape with more than 300,000 followers on X, so his opinion does hold some weight.

There are a lot of things about Minnesota's men's basketball program that make it a unique job, such as an old arena, lack of Name Image Likeness (NIL) resources and standing among other athletic programs and sports teams in the area, but there are also just as many things that make it a great job.

The statement from Davis seemingly came out of left field, following a sloppy game between Minnesota and Nebraska. Johnson is 44 years old and currently in only his fourth season as a head coach, but no matter what his future looks like, he has a long way to go before deserving an "elite" tag.

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