No regrets for Gophers seniors Eric Curry and Payton Willis after returning to help rebuild

INDIANAPOLIS — Gophers first-year coach Ben Johnson embraced his seniors one last time after Wednesday's season-ending 60-51 loss against Penn State in the Big Ten tournament opener.

Johnson wasn't as emotional as he was on senior night last month, but it still hit hard knowing this really was the end of their college basketball careers.

No two seniors made a bigger impact on Johnson's Gophers program than team captains Eric Curry and Payton Willis, who didn't regret playing an extra year to provide valuable leadership during the rebuilding process.

"My biggest thing this year was just go out on my own terms," Curry said. "I feel like I have nothing to be sad about. I love all these guys. We competed and I wouldn't change a decision for nothing in the world."

The former high school AAU teammates finally lived out their dream of playing together at the college level. The chemistry between Curry and Willis was contagious with their fellow senior teammates, including E.J. Stephens, Sean Sutherlin, Luke Loewe and Charlie Daniels.

"It's rare you get a group with this type of camaraderie," Willis said. "I feel like we laid the foundation for successful years to come."

Curry agreed that Johnson's seniors "set the standard" for the Gophers to follow moving forward. The Gophers started 10-1 and finished 13-17.

"The family culture that Coach Johnson wants to instill in the program," he said. "I think it showed this year that we're going to fight hard for the state of Minnesota and for the school, and I think that's what stood out for us this year for the team."

Curry and Willis would've traded individual success for team success this season, but it still was fulfilling for them to walk away having career-best seasons.

After suffering through three injury-plagued seasons, the 6-9, 245-pound Curry delayed being a graduate assistant to average 7.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 27.8 minutes. The Memphis native's three best scoring games came this season with 22 points vs. Penn State and 19 and 18 points vs. Michigan State.

"He played great," Willis said. "He was forced into a role his body probably wasn't ready for. I don't know how many minutes he averaged, but he did everything he could for us. And I appreciate him for that."

Among his career-high numbers this year, Willis averaged 15.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 36.4 minutes. His three-point percentage (42.8) was sixth all-time in program history.

The 6-4 Fayetteville, Ark., native first played for the Gophers in 2019-20 as a shooting guard after transferring from Vanderbilt. But Willis, who played at College of Charleston last year, blossomed in the point guard role in his second stint at Minnesota this season.

The Gophers' leading scorer this season was sophomore Jamison Battle, who picked up leadership skills watching how Curry and Willis dealt with adversity throughout the year.

"That's why coach brought them back to help the guys who are returning to understand what the core values of the program are," Battle said Wednesday. "To come back and help these guys, someone like myself to come out and lead the next year. So I think with guys like Eric and [Payton], they helped me a lot, helped me understand how to lead a team."

Six of the seven seniors were in the Gophers rotation this season, the most in that role for the program since the 2004-05 season. Johnson gives credit to his entire senior class for helping to establish his culture.

"I couldn't be more excited kind of where we're at," Johnson said. "I think these guys have done a really good job of laying the foundation not only on the court, but throughout our entire building of the type of people that are going to win a championship and the type of people that are going to take us to that next level.

"Because at the end of the day, I think we're really going to get it done."