This won't be the first Gophers summer basketball practice for new head coach Ben Johnson, a former player himself and a U assistant for five years before heading to Xavier in 2018.
Johnson knows this routine well. He doesn't know his players, though. And they don't know him yet, either. When they arrived last week, Minnesota's players met the coaches in person for the first time.
"That was probably the weirdest part, that none of these guys had even seen campus," Johnson said. "All these guys are moving in sight unseen."
The new-look Gophers and their new coaches have eight weeks to build chemistry and figure out how to make so many new pieces fit together. Nine of the U's 10 scholarship players are newcomers, the most for the program since the 2004-05 season.
"It's unique and it's different," Johnson said. "But the type of kids we recruited will make the adjustment a lot easier."
Here are five story lines for Johnson's Gophers going into summer practice:
Who runs the show?
For the past eight seasons the Gophers struggled with consistency, leading to Richard Pitino's dismissal. One thing you could always count on, however: a ball-dominant point guard. Marcus Carr became an All-Big Ten performer in that role, but his departure means a critical job must be filled. Johnson won't rely on one player to carry the offense like Carr did, but the Gophers still need a floor leader. The best candidates to fill that spot are seniors Payton Willis and Luke Loewe, who have played point guard throughout their careers. Loewe (3.2) and Willis (3.1) led William & Mary and Charleston, respectively, in assists last season.
No big men on campus
If you're scratching your head looking at the Gophers' opening summer practice roster with only one center, it's not a misprint. Freshman Treyton Thompson is the only player at the position right now. At 6-11 and 190 pounds, he's not ready physically to start in the middle in the Big Ten. Stephen F. Austin transfer Charlie Daniels isn't joining the team until later this summer, but he isn't expected to start, either. Johnson and his staff are still recruiting to fill that role; they're targeting 7-foot North Carolina transfer Sterling Manley, who is expected to make a decision after a second pre-draft combine this week.