Welcome to “Big Ten offseason at a glance,” a team-by-team look at the conference at the start of the summer. We’ll examine roster movement for each Big Ten roster and give an early outlook for each Big Ten program for the 2025-26 season.
Today: Minnesota (15-17 overall in 2024-25, 7-13 in Big Ten play)
Previously: Rutgers, Penn State
After a losing Big Ten record all four years and sub-.500 overall record in three of four seasons, the Ben Johnson era in Minneapolis ended in March. Now, another alum takes over at the helm – Niko Medved, who arrives from Colorado State.
Minnesota roster movement
Players returning with eligibility: Isaac Asuma, Grayson Grove
Players departing due to exhausted eligibility: Dawson Garcia, Mike Mitchell Jr., Lu’Cye Patterson, Femi Odukale, Trey Edmonds, Parker Fox
Players who departed via transfer portal: Brennan Rigsby (to Radford), Frank Mitchell (to St. Bonaventure), Kadyn Betts (to Montana), Tyler Cochran (to Rhode Island)
Players arriving via transfer portal: B.J. Omot (from California), Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (from Colorado State), Bobby Durkin (from Davidson), Robert Vaihola (from San Jose State), Langston Reynolds (from Northern Colorado), Chansey Willis (from Western Michigan), Nehemiah Turner (from Central Arkansas), Chance Stephens (from Maryland), Cade Tyson (from North Carolina)
Players arriving from high school: Kai Shinholster
With 10 departures and little time for replacements after Johnson’s firing, Medved went all in on the transfer portal. Headlined by Davidson sharpshooting forward Bobby Durkin, the Golden Gophers added nine players through the portal, although only three have high-major experience. Minnesota still has an open scholarship spots to fill.
What to like about Minnesota
Year one under Medved should provide a refreshment of culture and playing style and the 51-year-old Minneapolis native has a successful track record. He added 14 wins from year one to year four at Furman and took Colorado State to the Big Dance in three of his last four seasons in charge.
A few of the newcomers are promising prospects, provided their production can translate to the high-major level. Omot had his season cut short at Cal but was first team All-Summit League in 2023-24. Durkin is a competent shooter who exemplified strong growth in his sophomore year at Davidson and Willis is a do-it-all guard who led the MAC in points and assists per game at Western Michigan.
What to question with Minnesota
While Medved’s arrival is a breath of fresh air, it also raises the question of what kind of program he can build at Minnesota, which hasn’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2019. Medved’s teams tend to have an identity – consistently efficient offense, wavering but reliable defense – but can he carry it over to the Big Ten?
The Golden Gophers’ shooting will be a big piece of the puzzle and it doesn’t look good. Outside of Durkin and returnee Isaac Asuma, very few have shown reliable capabilities from distance. Even guards like Willis and Langston Reynolds have poor marks from 3-point range.
Along with shooting, it’s hard to identify a go-to guy, especially at the Big Ten level. After years of wading through mediocrity with Dawson Garcia, who sometimes won games for the Gophers himself, no one on this roster displays that star ability, barring a big-time improvement from someone. Bart Torvik’s projections agree, as Minnesota’s 14.6 mark in his projected effective talent category is fourth to last of all high majors.
Minnesota’s outlook for the 2025-26 season
Here’s the Minnesota Big Ten schedule for next season:
Home: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, UCLA, USC
Away: Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Washington
Home/Away: Indiana, Northwestern, Wisconsin
Coming in at 16th in the Big Ten and No. 78 in Bart Torvik’s preseason projections, Minnesota has a bottom-tier roster, at least on paper. However, good coaching can make a difference, and Medved can plug his system in from the get-go to stay out of the Big Ten’s basement.
It’s also not likely that it happens. Medved has never posted a record above .500 in his first season at any of his three prior stops and the Golden Gophers likely don’t have enough talent on the roster to make up for Medved’s Big Ten learning curve.
(Photo credit: Minnesota Athletics)
Category: Commentary
Filed to: 2025-26 Big Ten preview, Minnesota Golden Gophers
