Hiring the right coach during the annual spring college basketball coaching carousel can change a program's fortunes quickly. Last spring, Louisville moved on from Kenny Payne and

Providence head coach Kim English did not hold back when assessing his team's performance this season following a 75-69 loss to Butler in the Big East Tournament

Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson made progress last season, but key players entering the transfer portal set him and his team back. (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

After going 4-16 in Big Ten in Year 1 and 2-17 in Year 2, Minnesota improved to 9-11 in conference play (ninth place) last season, then lost center Pharrel Payne and point guard Elijah Hawkins to bigger NIL deals at Texas A&M and Texas Tech, respectively, and freshman shooting guard Cam Christie to the NBA draft.

Another Big Ten basketball job is open. Minnesota fired Ben Johnson after four seasons, Director of Athletics Mark Coyle announced Thursday morning. The Gophers (15-17) had their season end on Wednesday when they lost to Northwestern in the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament.