Gophers coach Ben Johnson had to put together a roster from faraway places and with modest résumés when he took over for the fired Richard Pitino for the 2021-22 season.
It’s pretty much a given that coaches will get four years at a minimum, and Johnson appeared to be building something in Season 3.
And then the new version of the transfer portal — the one with large name, image and likeness (NIL) dollars — devastated the roster last spring, leaving Johnson to again scour for reinforcements. As it is, they have 10 seniors-plus and three underclassmen.
Fortunately, Dawson Garcia, the 6-foot-11 forward, came back for a fifth college season at considerably less than market value. Maybe it was the opposition, but in this opener, Garcia looked more like a lock to be a productive NBA player than at any time, in my opinion.
He’s tall enough, he can slide inside to score, he’ll get some rebounds … but mostly, he can shoot. He was 4-for-5 on threes, with 30 points in 23 minutes. And nothing is more valued in today’s NBA than shooting.
