List of Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball head coaches

Last updated June 12, 2025

L. J. Cooke, the winningest head coach in Golden Gophers men's basketball history. Cookelj.jpg — L. J. Cooke, the winningest head coach in Golden Gophers men's basketball history.

The following is a list of Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball head coaches. There have been 18 head coaches of the Golden Gophers in their 129-season history.^[1]

Minnesota's current head coach is Ben Johnson. He was hired as the Golden Gophers' head coach in March 2021,^[2] replacing Richard Pitino, who was fired after the 2020–21 season.^[3]

No.	Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
–	1894–1896	No coach	2	3–5	.375
1	1896–1924	L. J. Cooke	28	250–135–2	.649
2	1924–1927	Harold Taylor	3	19–30	.388
3	1927–1942 1945–1948	Dave MacMillan	18	196–156	.557
4	1942–1944	Carl Nordly	2	17–23	.425
5	1944–1945	Weston Mitchell	1	8–13	.381
6	1948–1959	Osborne Cowles	11	147–93	.613
7	1959–1968	John Kundla	9	110–105	.512
8	1968–1970	Bill Fitch	2	25–23	.521
9	1970–1971	George Hanson	1	11–13	.458
10	1971–1975	Bill Musselman	4	69–32	.683
11	1975–1986^[a]	Jim Dutcher	11	190–113	.627
12	1986*	Jimmy Williams	1	2–9	.182
13	1986–1999^[b]	Clem Haskins	13	111–100	.526
14	1999–2006^[c]	Dan Monson	8	118–106	.527
15	2006–2007*	Jim Molinari	1	7–17	.292
16	2007–2013	Tubby Smith	6	124–81	.605
17	2013–2021	Richard Pitino	8	141–123	.534
18	2021–present	Ben Johnson	2	22–39	.361
Totals		18 coaches	129 seasons	1,570–1,216–2	.563
Records updated through end of 2022–23 season * - Denotes interim head coach. Source^[1]

↑ Dutcher resigned on January 25, 1986. Jimmy Williams served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 1985–86 season.^[4]
↑ Minnesota vacated all results from 1993 through 1999. Haskins' on-court record is 241–168 (.589).
↑ Monson resigned on November 30, 2006. Jim Molinari served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2006–07 season.^[5]

References

1 2 "Minnesota Men's Basketball 2022-23 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Minneosta Athletics. p. 135. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
↑ Campbell, Dave (March 22, 2021). "Minnesota hires Ben Johnson, a former Gophers player, as its new men's basketball coach". Chicago Tribune . Associated Press. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
↑ "Minnesota Golden Gophers fire men's basketball coach Richard Pitino after 8 seasons". ESPN.com . March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
↑ "Dutcher Resigns, Minnesota Forfeits Game After 3 Arrests". The Los Angeles Times . January 26, 1986. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
↑ "Monson resigns as coach at Minnesota". ESPN.com . November 30, 2006. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

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[DutcherWilliams-5] Dutcher resigned on January 25, 1986. Jimmy Williams served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 1985–86 season.^[4]

[HaskinsVacated-6] Minnesota vacated all results from 1993 through 1999. Haskins' on-court record is 241–168 (.589).

[MonsonResigns-8] Monson resigned on November 30, 2006. Jim Molinari served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2006–07 season.^[5]

[RecordBook-1] 1 2 "Minnesota Men's Basketball 2022-23 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Minneosta Athletics. p. 135. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

[2] Campbell, Dave (March 22, 2021). "Minnesota hires Ben Johnson, a former Gophers player, as its new men's basketball coach". Chicago Tribune . Associated Press. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

[3] "Minnesota Golden Gophers fire men's basketball coach Richard Pitino after 8 seasons". ESPN.com . March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

[4] "Dutcher Resigns, Minnesota Forfeits Game After 3 Arrests". The Los Angeles Times . January 26, 1986. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

[7] "Monson resigns as coach at Minnesota". ESPN.com . November 30, 2006. Retrieved March 21, 2023.

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v t e Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
Venues	On-campus YMCA (1895–1896) UM Armory (1896–1925) Kenwood Armory (1925–1928) Williams Arena (1928–present)
Culture & lore	Goldy Gopher "Minnesota Rouser" Scandal
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics