Former Gopher Off to Smoking Hot NBA Start... and He Returns to Minnesota Tonight

The Minnesota Gophers mens basketball team has become mostly irrelevant in the Minnesota sports world, since Ben Johnson took the program over a few years ago.

Its not all Bens fault.

He was thrown into a brutal situation, for a rookie power five four head coach, because Name, Image and Likeness became a thing in his first year.

A great example was Jamison Battle, who transferred to the University of Minnesota , soon after Ben Johnson was hired , prior to the 2021-22 season.

Both Battle and Ben Johnson graduated from De la Salle High School, in Minneapolis, so the fit made sense.

Jamison Battle SHOULD be ...the undrafted kid out of Minnesota Jamison Battle started his collegiate career at George Washington University, where he spent two seasons, before transferring home.

In two seasons wearing his native maroon and gold, the 67, 225 lb wing averaged 15.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

THIS.

IS.

MARCH.

JAMISON BATTLE WITH A BUZZER BEATER FOR @GopherMBB (via @CBBonFOX ) pic.twitter.com/NPEFUfaxDa Then, Ohio State offered the MN kid $150,000 to transfer and play for the Buckeyes during the 2023-24 college basketball season.

$150K is a small price to pay when you can get better and make a conference opponent worse, at the same time.

At the time, Minnesota couldnt get anywhere near what the Buckeyes did...

so Jamison Battle left, made some cash in Columbus, then hopped over to professional basketball.

He went undrafted in last offseasons NBA Draft, before signing with the Toronto Raptors, as an undrafted rookie free agent.

Undrafted Battle was already a rotation player in Toronto...

and then last night happened Battle was good enough in the summer and preseason, to earn minutes in game one of the regular season.

He played over 16 minutes on October 23 .

He came off Torontos bench, but his boxscore production was minimal.

That was not the case in Torontos second game last night, however.

On Friday , the Toronto Raptors were at home vs the Philadelphia 76ers, where Jamison Battle went 4-of-5 from the field, including 2-of-3 from deep, scoring 12 points to go with 6 rebounds, 3 of them coming on the offensive glass.

Undrafted rookie Jamison Battle has been an early surprise for the Toronto Raptors, scoring 12 points in 14 minutes against the 76ers.

The former Ohio State star is an excellent shooter, not lacking the confidence to let it fly at the NBA level.

His shot making at the beginning...

pic.twitter.com/3jCXFiDSXp Jamison Battle is back in Minnesota Saturday night Battle isnt just getting garbage minutes for the Raptors.

Hes gotten over 15 minutes in both of the Raptors first two games, though much of that time comes thanks to injuries suffered by those above him on the depth chart.

But even when those players come back, nobody can take away this tape, and its possible hes earned himself a roster spot in the NBA for years to come, because of how he has played early this season.

And that means, if you go to Target Center tonight to watch the Minnesota Timberwolves game today , youll get to see the former Gopher lace them up as a Raptor, vs his one-time favorite NBA team.

The Wolves are double-digit favorites in tonights matchup vs Toronto.

Jamison Battle is being celebrated as an undrafted Cinderella story from Ohio State, instead of Minnesota, because Ben Johnson was WAY too slow to adjust to the NIL world that major college sports spiraled into so quickly.

Ben Johnson deserves plenty of blame for Minnesota Gophers MBB NIL woes While other coaches were lobbying boosters and local businesses to donate money toward their sports Name, Image and Likeness collective, Ben was focusing on relationships and doing things the way they had always been done.

Recruit, recruit, recruit.

But in 2024, you recruit NIL donations, not players.

And thats why, not only has Johnson found it impossible for to convince other teams players to transfer to Minnesota, but its why Ben hasnt been able to keep any of his own players here, either.

And now, the Minnesota Golden Gophers are 41-54 under Ben Johnson.

Oh, you want his Big Ten record...? Bens Gophers are 15-44 vs conference opponents.his job is on the line in 2024-25.

As for Battle, it is crazy he is performing this well, this quickly.

But then again, hes always had the talent, and the body.

Now, he is in the right place, with the right coach, at the right time, and his ceiling at the next level now looks uncapped.

This article first appeared on Minnesota Sports Fan and was syndicated with permission..

This article has been shared from the original article on yardbarker, here is the link to the original article.