Latest news with #MinnesotaGophers
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4 days ago
- Sport
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Minnesota Gophers Legend Signs Another Early Contract Extension with Ravens
They are much fewer and further between than back in the Minnesota Gophers glory days of football yesteryear, when Dinkytown developed NFL Hall of Famers like Bronko Nagurski (1927-29), Carl Eller (1961-63), Bobby Bell (1960-62) and the campus GOAT, Bud Grant (1946-49) — who lettered in three sports at the U of M before he graduated in 1950 and drafted by both the Eagles (NFL – No. 14 overall) and Lakers (NBA – No. 47 overall). But the Minnesota Gophers football program has still rolled out some impressive NFL players over the past 50 years, some eras more than others. Since PJ Fleck took over in 2017, the path from Dinkytown to the league has been busier than any other time in modern program history (20 drafted players). Advertisement But just like the athletic facilities at the University of Minnesota, the professional pipeline project on campus started with PJ's predecessors, Jerry Kill and Tracy Claeys, who were hired on in 2011 and sent eight players to the NFL via the draft, from 2014-2016. That's 28 players drafted to the NFL in 11 years (2014-25). Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images For context, the Minnesota Gophers had just 14 guys drafted to the NFL, in the 11 years prior from 2002-2013. In that tumultuous time, Glen Mason was fired (after 2006), Tim Brewster was hired (2007) and fired (2010), before Kill came along. Some of the most notable names drafted over the last decade include (DB) Antoine Winfield Jr., (C) John Michael Schmitz, (T) Daniel Faalele, (EDGE) Boye Mafe, (LB) Blake Cashman and (WR) Rashod Bateman — who caught 147 passes for 2,395 yards and 19 touchdowns in 31 games as a Gopher from 2018-2020 — including one season that only lasted five games, due to a shortened season and opt-out controversies. Baltimore Ravens lock up Minnesota Gophers legend, Rashod Bateman Rashod Bateman entered the 2020 NFL Draft, where he was selected No. 27 overall by the Baltimore Ravens, becoming the only 1st round pick out of Minnesota since Laurence Maroney was drafted No. 21 overall in 2006 and just the 18th Gopher ever picked in the first round of the NFL Draft. Advertisement After a successful start to his NFL career, the Ravens ripped up Rashod's rookie contract two years early, when they signed the Minnesota Gophers legend to a $12.8 million extension last offseason, good through 2026. Now, just one year later, Bateman has agreed to another contract extension in Baltimore, this time worth three years, $36.75 million ($20M guaranteed), according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. While everyone was focused on what Derrick Henry did for the 2024 Ravens offense, last year, it was Rashod Bateman who gave Jackson a reliable touchdown target through the air, something he has struggled to find in a wide receiver, throughout his MVP career. Advertisement Related: Minnesota Gophers Add Talented Big Ten Lineman to Defense In total, Bateman has played 51 games for Baltimore, piling up 1,923 yards and 13 touchdowns on 138 receptions. Last season, the Tifton, GA native posted a career-high 756 receiving yards on 45 receptions. He also exploded for NINE touchdowns. Bateman and the Ravens visit the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10. The former Minnesota Gophers standout will have a homecoming of sorts on November 9 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Bateman's 1,219 yards and 20.3 yards per reception in 2019 as a sophomore with Minnesota both led the Big Ten. Related Headlines
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Confirmed: Ben Johnson was the NIL Problem for Gophers Men's Basketball
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images The Minnesota Gophers men's basketball team has a new head coach leading the program, in former Gopher grad assistant and Minneapolis-native, Niko Medved. Out, is another local basketball figure, Ben Johnson, who graduated from DeLaSalle high school and played for the Gophers back in the early 2000s. Advertisement Ben lasted four years at the helm of the Golden Gopher program, posting a historically terrible 56-71 record (.441) before athletic director Mark Coyle finally fired him immediately after Minnesota fell to Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament. Johnson's biggest problem as Gophers head coach was the age he found himself coaching in. When Ben was hired, back in 2021, the wide open NCAA transfer portal was still a very new thing. So was Name, Image and Likeness — or in acronym form, what we more commonly refer to as 'NIL'. Related Headlines Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images In the last few years, major division one college athletics have become less about recruiting high school talent through scouting and relationship building, and more about the amount of money a school can raise through collectives and boosters, in order to pay players. Minnesota Gophers MBB NIL fell behind under Johnson The University of Minnesota hired Ben Johnson to do the former. At the time, local boosters were sick of losing top MN high school talent to neighboring schools and blue blood programs. They saw Ben as the best possible solution to that problem. Unfortunately, they underestimated how much NIL was about to change college athletics forever. Advertisement It wasn't long after his introduction over four years ago when it became clear that NIL was the new king of college sports. The schools/programs with an abundance of NIL money to work with were going to prosper. The NIL poor programs — as head football coach PJ Fleck laid out two years ago in a historic radio rant — were destined to become feeder teams for the rich. 'So, if we wanna keep players, all these guys we have, they won't be here next year [without more NIL]. Just making sure everybody understands. [Our best players] won't be here. So we'll be a Triple-A ball club for somebody else. That is the reality and the truth of the situation. So please, contact Dinkytown Athletes…' PJ Fleck – KFAN Radio (September 2023) And in the end, that is exactly what happened to the Minnesota Gophers men's basketball program, under Johnson. He reeled in talent like Jamison Battle, Cam Christie, Elijah Hawkins, Pharrel Payne, and Joshua Ola-Joseph, a few of which had Minnesota roots. Then, he developed them into much better players than they were when they arrived back in Dinkytown. Once they were ready to take that next step, they left for major paydays elsewhere. Christie fled to the NBA Draft, but the rest left big NIL deals at Ohio State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Cal. Related: Gophers NIL Problems Under Ben Johnson Were Even Worse Than We Thought Every year under Johnson, they ran into the same problem. Not enough NIL money. Instead of improving the core of their team in the offseason, Ben and his coaches had to find underdeveloped talent in the transfer portal and use it to cobble together an underwhelming roster. The next year, they'd lose their best players again. Rinse, repeat. Thus, why Ben Johnson was fired. Who's to blame for Ben Johnson's failures in Minnesota? But who's fault was it? Even up until the moment of his firing, local and pundits, along with current and former coaches were lining up to defend Johnson, deflecting Minnesota's NIL problems to those around him, specifically Mark Coyle, claiming he did not provide Ben with the resources necessary to build a competitive program. Then, one of Ben Johnson's biggest local media supporters, Marcus Fuller (Star Tribune), called up the founder of the University of Minnesota's official NIL collective, Dinkytown Athletes' Derek Burns. Advertisement His investigative mission: to find out (a) how the push for more NIL funding is going under new head coach Niko Medved and (b) who's to blame for the failures under the previous regime. And guess what Fuller found out? That Niko has already raised more in a few weeks than Johnson raised all of last year. How has he done it? Well, Mr. Burns told Mr. Fuller that it sure is nice having a Gopher men's basketball coach who has accepted the current NIL age of college sports, making this yet another example of the old phrase, 'adapt or die'. 'I'm optimistic about the near future of Gophers men's basketball,' Dinkytown Athletes co-founder Derek Burns said. 'With revenue sharing and us doing better in NIL than any previous year, when you combine those two things the disparity between resources is shrinking.' The Gophers' collective raised more money in a few weeks — in the millions of dollars — after Medved's hiring than it had all of last year. 'Niko and his staff have been incredibly active in fundraising since the moment they arrived,' Burns said. 'There hasn't been one day when they haven't engaged in some fundraising activity. That's absolutely encouraging. But more than that, they're willing to embrace the reality of college sports right now.' Star Tribune Why was Ben Johnson protected with such fervor? What's been weird about the media's protection of Ben Johnson was the change in expectations, surrounding NIL. Since the moment Name, Image and Likeness became a thing, it's been widely assumed that a program's head coach was the No. 1 party responsible for raising NIL money. Advertisement As far as we know, even after his original call to action back in 2023, it's been PJ Fleck driving the NIL bus for football, just like it is at most major football and basketball programs. PJ and Dinkytown Athletes have built a partnership and funding base that allows the football team, not just to bring in better outside talent, but more importantly, to retain the players they grow and raise on the University of Minnesota campus, instead of losing most of its top talent to the portal. Related: Niko Medved Receives Most Exciting Transfer Portal Commit Yet for Gophers MBB Hopefully, this influx of funding continues. If the Minnesota Gophers do not find a way to catch up in the NIL game fast, they run the risk of their basketball program never again being a top 25 type team. Advertisement Not all of Ben's failures were his fault. He built his reputation on recruiting, relationships and basketball acumen. In the end, none of that mattered as much as NIL funding. Immediately upon being hired, he was not in the best position to succeed. But he refused to adapt and that is nobody's fault but his own. Related Headlines
