University of Minnesota Athletics
Wednesday, November 2
7:00 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
St. Olaf (exhib.)
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Kelly Hagenson
Gophers Open 2022-23 With Exhibition vs. St. Olaf
11/1/2022 3:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ABOUT ST. OLAF EXHIBITION
• The exhibition game between Minnesota and St. Olaf marks the first DIII game for the Gophers since the 2015-16 season when the Golden Gophers hosted Crookston. It's also the first time since 2009 St. Olaf has played a Division I opponent.
• This marks the first game between St. Olaf and Minnesota since 1923. The Golden Gophers are 5-1 all time against the Oles, with all six contests being played from 1914-1923. All of appearances happened on Minnesota's home court of campus' armory. Williams Arena was constructed and completed in 1928.
ALL IN THE 'FAMILY'
• The exhibition game between the Gophers and Oles also faces off against two University of Minnesota alums. This marks the second season of Ben Johnson (2005 U of M graduate), while it is the 29th season at St. Olaf for Dan Kosmoski (1980 U of M graduate). Johnson played for the Gophers from 2002-04 after two years at Northwestern and was a Gopher assistant coach from 2013-18.
• Kosmoski played for the Golden Gophers during the 1975-76 and 1976-77 seasons. He was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota under Jim Dutcher, Jimmy Williams, and Clem Haskins for nine seasons from 1985-94.
• In fact, Coach Johnson attended Minnesota basketball camps when Kosmoski was on the Minnesota staff. Assistant Dave Thorson was also a fellow Minnesota assistant with Kosmoski in his first Minnesota tenure here.
YEAR 2 FOR COACH BEN JOHNSON
• Head coach Ben Johnson is set to enter his second year as the Golden Gopher men's basketball coach. Named the head coach on March 22, 2021, Johnson had the task of assembling a team from scratch and added 10 newcomers for the 2021-22 season. The Golden Gophers went 13-17 last year and went 9-1 in nonconference play. Under Coach Johnson's tutelage, Minnesota won five road games last season, the first road wins since the 2019-20 campaign. He also recorded six Power 5 wins including two Quad 1 wins.
• Off the court, the Golden Gophers have six individuals earn a degree in May of 2022 as the tea held a 3.18 team grade point average last season. He also signed the No. 43 recruiting class in just his first year as a head coach and welcomes eight newcomers to the 2022-23 team.
• Assisting coach Johnson again this year is Marcus Jenkins, Jason Kemp and Dave Thorson.
WELCOME NEWCOMERS
• Minnesota added eight newcomers to this year's roster:
Transfers Dawson Garcia from North Carolina, Ta'Lon Cooper from Morehead State and Taurus Samuels from Dartmouth. Garcia has seen action in 43 collegiate games spanning between both North Carolina and Marquette and has 495 points. Cooper has played in 95 collegiate games and scored over 773 points and 407 assists. Samuels has seen collegiate action in 85 games.
• Five freshmen in Braeden Carrington, Pharrel Payne, Joshua Ola-Joseph, Jaden Henley and Kadyn Betts. Betts is the latest individual to join as he began school in August. He was originally in the 2023 class, but reclassified and joined the team for fall semester.
BATTLE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN & SF WATCH LIST
• University of Minnesota men's basketball standout Jamison Battle (Robbinsdale, Minn.) has been named to the 2023 Julius Erving Award top 20 watch list for the nation's best small forwards. The award marks Battle's first watch list honor of his career and second preseason honor this season. A junior forward, Battle joined the Golden Gophers in the 2021-22 season after a two-year stint at George Washington. Named a Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection in 2022, Battle returns as one of the Big Ten's leading scorers. He was named a Preseason All-Big Ten this year, his first preseason honor of his career. In conference action alone, Battle averaged 17.1 points during Big Ten play, and ranked eighth in conference scoring. In overall play, he averaged a team-best 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds last season as a sophomore. Battle had 27 double-figure scoring games, including 11 with 20 or more points. He also established a team-best 39 points at Maryland, which tied sixth in school history for points in a game. Battle was named a Third Team All-A10 athlete at George Washington in 2020-21, where he averaged 17.3. Off the court, the DeLaSalle graduate is a sports management major and was named to the 2021-22 NABC Honors Court, given to individuals with cumulative grade point averages of 3.2 or higher.
THE RETURNERS
• Minnesota also returns Treyton Thompson and Will Ramberg from last year's team. Thompson saw action in 19 games, while Ramberg, as a walk-on, saw action in 13. Ramberg recently earned a team scholarship. Jackson Purcell was out last year with an injury and is set to begin his redshirt-freshman season. Minnesota unfortunately lost Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen to season-ending knee injuries for the second-straight season this summer.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
• Minnesota has a blend of youth and experience to the 2022-23 team. With one fifth-year senior in Taurus Samuels, the Gophers have two juniors in Jamison Battle and Ta'Lon Cooper, both with four years of college playing experience, along with sophomore Dawson Garcia with three. The Gophers also have junior Will Ramberg and sophomore Treyton Thompson and five true freshmen on the roster.
• The Gophers have nine of their 14 players that hail from Minnesota (Battle, Carrington, Fox, Garcia, Ola-Joseph, Payne, Purcell, Ramberg and Thompson), while two are from California (Henley, Samuels). The Gophers also have one player from Colorado (Betts), one from South Carolina (Cooper) and one from Germany (Ihnen).
HEAD COACH TIDBITS
• Head coach Ben Johnson is not only a graduate of Minnesota, he is also coaching in his hometown. Growing up in Minneapolis, Coach Johnson was also a standout at DeLaSalle High School here in Minneapolis.
• Johnson, 41, is also the youngest head coach in the Big Ten. Micah Shrewsberry at Penn State is the second-youngest at 46.
• Johnson is the first Gopher alum to coach the program since George Hanson in 1970-71.
• The exhibition game between Minnesota and St. Olaf marks the first DIII game for the Gophers since the 2015-16 season when the Golden Gophers hosted Crookston. It's also the first time since 2009 St. Olaf has played a Division I opponent.
• This marks the first game between St. Olaf and Minnesota since 1923. The Golden Gophers are 5-1 all time against the Oles, with all six contests being played from 1914-1923. All of appearances happened on Minnesota's home court of campus' armory. Williams Arena was constructed and completed in 1928.
ALL IN THE 'FAMILY'
• The exhibition game between the Gophers and Oles also faces off against two University of Minnesota alums. This marks the second season of Ben Johnson (2005 U of M graduate), while it is the 29th season at St. Olaf for Dan Kosmoski (1980 U of M graduate). Johnson played for the Gophers from 2002-04 after two years at Northwestern and was a Gopher assistant coach from 2013-18.
• Kosmoski played for the Golden Gophers during the 1975-76 and 1976-77 seasons. He was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota under Jim Dutcher, Jimmy Williams, and Clem Haskins for nine seasons from 1985-94.
• In fact, Coach Johnson attended Minnesota basketball camps when Kosmoski was on the Minnesota staff. Assistant Dave Thorson was also a fellow Minnesota assistant with Kosmoski in his first Minnesota tenure here.
YEAR 2 FOR COACH BEN JOHNSON
• Head coach Ben Johnson is set to enter his second year as the Golden Gopher men's basketball coach. Named the head coach on March 22, 2021, Johnson had the task of assembling a team from scratch and added 10 newcomers for the 2021-22 season. The Golden Gophers went 13-17 last year and went 9-1 in nonconference play. Under Coach Johnson's tutelage, Minnesota won five road games last season, the first road wins since the 2019-20 campaign. He also recorded six Power 5 wins including two Quad 1 wins.
• Off the court, the Golden Gophers have six individuals earn a degree in May of 2022 as the tea held a 3.18 team grade point average last season. He also signed the No. 43 recruiting class in just his first year as a head coach and welcomes eight newcomers to the 2022-23 team.
• Assisting coach Johnson again this year is Marcus Jenkins, Jason Kemp and Dave Thorson.
WELCOME NEWCOMERS
• Minnesota added eight newcomers to this year's roster:
Transfers Dawson Garcia from North Carolina, Ta'Lon Cooper from Morehead State and Taurus Samuels from Dartmouth. Garcia has seen action in 43 collegiate games spanning between both North Carolina and Marquette and has 495 points. Cooper has played in 95 collegiate games and scored over 773 points and 407 assists. Samuels has seen collegiate action in 85 games.
• Five freshmen in Braeden Carrington, Pharrel Payne, Joshua Ola-Joseph, Jaden Henley and Kadyn Betts. Betts is the latest individual to join as he began school in August. He was originally in the 2023 class, but reclassified and joined the team for fall semester.
BATTLE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN & SF WATCH LIST
• University of Minnesota men's basketball standout Jamison Battle (Robbinsdale, Minn.) has been named to the 2023 Julius Erving Award top 20 watch list for the nation's best small forwards. The award marks Battle's first watch list honor of his career and second preseason honor this season. A junior forward, Battle joined the Golden Gophers in the 2021-22 season after a two-year stint at George Washington. Named a Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection in 2022, Battle returns as one of the Big Ten's leading scorers. He was named a Preseason All-Big Ten this year, his first preseason honor of his career. In conference action alone, Battle averaged 17.1 points during Big Ten play, and ranked eighth in conference scoring. In overall play, he averaged a team-best 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds last season as a sophomore. Battle had 27 double-figure scoring games, including 11 with 20 or more points. He also established a team-best 39 points at Maryland, which tied sixth in school history for points in a game. Battle was named a Third Team All-A10 athlete at George Washington in 2020-21, where he averaged 17.3. Off the court, the DeLaSalle graduate is a sports management major and was named to the 2021-22 NABC Honors Court, given to individuals with cumulative grade point averages of 3.2 or higher.
THE RETURNERS
• Minnesota also returns Treyton Thompson and Will Ramberg from last year's team. Thompson saw action in 19 games, while Ramberg, as a walk-on, saw action in 13. Ramberg recently earned a team scholarship. Jackson Purcell was out last year with an injury and is set to begin his redshirt-freshman season. Minnesota unfortunately lost Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen to season-ending knee injuries for the second-straight season this summer.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
• Minnesota has a blend of youth and experience to the 2022-23 team. With one fifth-year senior in Taurus Samuels, the Gophers have two juniors in Jamison Battle and Ta'Lon Cooper, both with four years of college playing experience, along with sophomore Dawson Garcia with three. The Gophers also have junior Will Ramberg and sophomore Treyton Thompson and five true freshmen on the roster.
• The Gophers have nine of their 14 players that hail from Minnesota (Battle, Carrington, Fox, Garcia, Ola-Joseph, Payne, Purcell, Ramberg and Thompson), while two are from California (Henley, Samuels). The Gophers also have one player from Colorado (Betts), one from South Carolina (Cooper) and one from Germany (Ihnen).
HEAD COACH TIDBITS
• Head coach Ben Johnson is not only a graduate of Minnesota, he is also coaching in his hometown. Growing up in Minneapolis, Coach Johnson was also a standout at DeLaSalle High School here in Minneapolis.
• Johnson, 41, is also the youngest head coach in the Big Ten. Micah Shrewsberry at Penn State is the second-youngest at 46.
• Johnson is the first Gopher alum to coach the program since George Hanson in 1970-71.
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