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Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck announced Thursday that U men's basketball coach Ben Johnson and women's basketball coach Lindsay Whalen will be the guest coaches for the spring game on May 1.
Johnson, who was hired March 22 to replace Richard Pitino, had Fleck in attendance for support at his introductory news conference.
"Really excited for him and where Gopher basketball's headed," Fleck said last month. "That's really good to see."
Johnson, who was an all-state basketball and football player at DeLaSalle, will be coaching the gold team and attempting to hoist the Goldy's Cup given to the annual winner. Last year's Gophers spring game was canceled due to the pandemic.
"It's going to be exciting to be back on the football field," Johnson said in a release. "I was fortunate to have a lot of success on Minnesota football fields in high school."
Whalen, a former Gophers All-America, WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist, finished her fourth year heading the Gophers women's hoops program last season.
"I'm honored to be a guest coach for the spring game and am thrilled to be on the maroon team," Whalen said in a release. "I know a little something about winning Gold."
The spring football game at TCF Bank Stadium is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. The Gophers will allow 10,000 fans to be in attendance after they signed up for free tickets available online last week.
The Gophers maroon team came out on top of the gold team in the spring game held inside the Athletes Village practice field on April 13, 2019.
