Despite eligibility remaining, Minnesota Gophers head coach Ben Johnson made it clear Sunday night that Jamison Battle and Ta’lon Cooper will likely move on from the program after the season.
Minnesota, 8-21 overall and 2-17 in the Big Ten, faces Nebraska on Wednesday in the opening round of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament in Chicago. The Gophers need to win the conference tournament or their season will be over – and Battle and Cooper will be looking for opportunities elsewhere.
Johnson says both players are looking at exploring options as professionals.
“Jamison, we’ve kind of known for a while. I think it goes back to the landscape of college basketball. Every kid is different and he’s got an opportunity to go and become a professional. That’s been a goal of his and we’ll support him 100% in that. He’s done everything right from when he got here to put himself in a position to have an opportunity,” Johnson said.
“I just think he’s in a mind frame of that’s exciting to him right now. He’s done his four years and he’s done it at a high level. It’s time to try something new, a new adventure.”
Johnson described Cooper’s situation similarly, noting that Cooper’s expected departure could open the door for Cameron Christie, a four-star recruit from Illinois, to come in and start as a true freshman next season.
“Sometimes, in recruiting, we get a Cam Christie because you have an opportunity, you get good players because they see an opportunity to be able to compete for minutes right away,” Johnson explained.
“We’ll get with [Ta’lon Cooper], but I think he could be in the same boat of just older guys, and I get it, you only got so many jumps in your legs and when you have an exciting opportunity – a lot more power to those guys. We’ll do our job to do what we can to get our team better, whatever that looks like.”
Battle and Cooper are both juniors, so they’ve could’ve returned to the Gophers as seniors in 2023-24. Both are starters this season, so their departure will set the stage for a very young team once again next season.
Christie, who is arguably the best high school senior in Illinois and a top-100 recruit nationally, could find himself starting alongside the likes of Braeden Carrington, Josh Ola-Joseph, Pharrel Payne and Dawson Garcia. Carrington, Ola-Joseph and Payne are all playing big minutes this season as true freshmen.
