University of Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle announced early Thursday morning Ben Johnson has been fired after four seasons as head coach of the Gophers men's basketball team. The announcement just after 1:00 a.

Johnson, a Minneapolis native, is a Minnesota alum, having finished his playing career there after spending his first two seasons at Northwestern.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota fired coach Ben Johnson on Thursday after four years of repeatedly rebuilding rosters at his alma mater without coming close to an NCAA Tournament appearance, which has become a fleeting accomplishment for a program that has fallen behind in the rugged and expanded Big Ten.