If there is one thing new Gophers men's basketball coach Ben Johnson prides himself on, it is definitely shooting the basketball.
The former Gophers guard led the team in three-point and free throw percentage and shot 39.2% from beyond the arc in his U career from 2002-04.
One of the areas where the Gophers are most likely to improve is three-point shooting. It probably couldn't get any worse.
Last season, Minnesota set a program record in futility by shooting 28.4% from three-point range. The worst single-season mark in school history ranked 339th out of 347 Division I teams in 2020-21, including last among high-major programs.
Source: Teamrankings.com
"I think Ben Johnson did a great job in the transfer portal of grabbing shooters," Gophers guard Payton Willis said this fall. "Basically, everybody on our team can shoot."
Willis, a 6-4 senior, is coming off his best season from beyond the arc at 40% for College Charleston last season, including 13 games with at least two threes. In his last stint in Minnesota, he shot 35.6% from long distance in 2019-20, including seven games with four threes or more.
Joining the Gophers from the portal was also William & Mary's Luke Loewe and Lafayette's Eylijah Stephens, who had seasons of 43.9% and 37.1% shooting from three earlier in their career. There was a drop off last season, but they've been given the green light from Johnson to let it fly.
