Former Gopher is off to a hot NBA start…and he returns to Minnesota tonight

The Minnesota Gophers men's basketball team has become largely irrelevant in the Minnesota sports world since Ben Johnson took over the program several years ago. It's not all Ben's fault. For a newbie, he found himself in a brutal situation five four head coaches because name, image and likeness became one thing in his first year.

A good example was Jamison Battle, who transferred to the University of Minnesota shortly after Ben Johnson was hired before the 2021-22 season. Both Battle and Ben Johnson graduated from De la Salle High School in Minneapolis, so the combination made sense.

Jamison Battle SHOULD be “…the undrafted kid from Minnesota.”

Jamison Battle began his college career at George Washington University, where he spent two seasons before transferring home. In two seasons wearing his native maroon and gold, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound winger averaged 15.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

THE. IS. MARCH.

JAMISON BATTLE WITH A BUZZER BEATER FOR @GopherMBB 😱

(above @CBBonFOX)

pic.twitter.com/NPEFUfaxDa

– NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 3, 2023

Then Ohio State offered the MN kid $150,000 to join and play with the Buckeyes during the 2023-24 college basketball season. $150,000 is a small price to pay when you can get better while making a conference opponent worse.

At the time, Minnesota couldn't come close to doing what the Buckeyes were doing… so Jamison left Battle, made some money in Columbus, and then moved on to professional basketball. He went undrafted in last offseason's 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 it happened last night

The fight was good enough over the summer and preseason to earn minutes in the first game of the regular season. He played over 16 minutes on October 23rd. He came off the bench for Toronto, but his box score performance was minimal.

However, that wasn't the case in Toronto's second game last night. On Friday, the Toronto Raptors played at home against the Philadelphia 76ers, where Jamison Battle shot 4 of 5 from the field, including 2 of 3 from deep, and scored 12 points to go with 6 rebounds, 3 of which came off the offensive glass .

Undrafted rookie Jamison Battle was 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 who doesn't lack the confidence to succeed at the NBA level. His shooting technique at the beginning… pic.twitter.com/3jCXFiDSXp

– the central hub (@thecenterhub_bb) October 26, 2024

Jamison Battle is back in Minnesota on Saturday night

The struggle doesn't just mean bad minutes for the Raptors. He logged more than 15 minutes in the Raptors' first two games, although much of that time was thanks to injuries to players above him on the depth chart. But even if those players come back, no one can take that bond away from him, and it's possible that his early performance this season has earned him a spot on the NBA's roster for years to come.

And that means if you go to the Target Center to watch the Minnesota Timberwolves game tonight, you'll see the former Gopher take on his once-favorite NBA team as a Raptor. The Wolves are double-digit favorites in today's game against Toronto.

Related: Derrick Henry responds to Anthony Edwards

Jamison Battle is being hailed as an unedited Cinderella story from Ohio State, not Minnesota, because Ben Johnson was WAY too slow to adjust to the NIL world that major college sports were so quickly evolving into.

Ben Johnson deserves plenty of blame for the Minnesota Gophers' MBB-NIL issues

While other coaches pushed lobbyists and local businesses to donate money to their sport's name, image and likeness collective, Ben focused on relationships and doing things the way they always had. Recruit, recruit, recruit.

But in 2024 they recruit ZERO donations, no players. And that's why not only was it impossible for Johnson to convince other teams' players to move to Minnesota, but Ben also couldn't keep any of his own players here.

Related: Gophers MBB coach Ben Johnson sounds a little desperate

And now the Minnesota Golden Gophers are 41-54 under Ben Johnson. Oh, you want his Big Ten record…? Ben's Gophers are 15-44 against conference opponents. His job is on the line in 2024-25. As for Battle, it's crazy that he can perform so well so quickly.

But then again, he always had the talent and the body. Now he's in the right place at the right time, with the right coach, and his ceiling at the next level now seems unlimited.

Mentioned in this article: Jamison Battle

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