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Dan Monson, the former Gophers men's basketball coach, who was fired Nov. 30, said he is convinced that Detroit Pistons coach and Minnesota alum Flip Saunders is set to be his successor and that the deal was concluded before he was let go.

Saunders is under contract with the Pistons for two more years, but no doubt he is the top candidate for the job if he wants it. And Monson is convinced that Saunders is the guy who can turn the program around, adding that it's been harder on him to watch the Gophers lose on television as they did Saturday than it was from courtside when he was the coach.

"It's worse, because you can't do anything about it," he said Saturday. "... You feel like those are your kids, and when it's your kids -- whether it's biological or not -- you feel for them and you want to help them any way you can."

When the season started, Monson said he had no idea the Gophers, who lost to Michigan 62-51, would fall to 3-12 in the Big Ten and 9-20 overall.

"You have a lot of optimism at the start of the season and certainly we had that slow start, and it's just during slow starts like that the kids' confidence really takes a turn," he said. "Two years ago, when we won 21 games, we started that way, too. We were 2-3 to begin with, but then we won about 10 games in a row to get confidence up."

Monson said he believes the program can be turned around in a hurry.

"One thing about basketball -- it is different than football because one or two good players can turn a program around," he said. "Had one of those junior college players come in and been more of an impact player, it could have changed a 10-game swing in the season. Lawrence [McKenzie], Dan [Coleman] and Spencer [Tollackson] have all proven that they can play. You've just got to get a couple of guys to go with them."

Looking back, Monson said he believes a story that ran in the Star Tribune last March incorrectly reporting he was about to be fired killed the chance to recruit a couple of top junior college players he and his staff had lined up, contributing to the poor season. Other players considered transferring.

"The start of this year began last year with all the speculation [about my job status] and the pressure on them to perform right away," Monson said. "They weren't ready for that."

Monson praised his replacement, interim coach Jim Molinari.

"He's done a great job under tough circumstances," Monson said. "I think Jim is a great coach, but it takes a combination of things -- it takes players, it takes coaching, it takes confidence, it takes some luck."

Monson doesn't have anything on the line right now but definitely wants to coach again.

Hiring Saunders or Bobby Knight might turn this program around in a hurry. But bring in some unknown, and I'm convinced it will take more time. Monson was a lot better coach than a lot of the media ranked him. It's not that easy to recruit top talent to Minnesota, and this year's team proved you can't win with all Minnesota players. That was shown Saturday in the final 10 minutes, when Michigan dominated a Gophers team with four Minnesota starters.

Johnson unlikely to dash off to NHL

Bruce Johnson -- the father of Gophers hockey freshman Erik Johnson, who was the No. 1 pick by St. Louis in the 2006 NHL draft -- said he doesn't expect his son to join the Blues after the Gophers season ends, as has been rumored.

"We don't talk about it, because his attention needs to be on the University of Minnesota, but I think it's unlikely he could [join the Blues]," the elder Johnson said. "I don't think it's going to happen."

In fact, Bruce Johnson said it's possible his son might play another year in college.

Unquestionably, he added, Erik Johnson's decision to play his freshman year in college rather than turn pro was the right decision.