MN Gophers Accept CBB Crown Tourney Invite
The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team didn’t carry a lot of expectations into the 2025-26 college basketball season, but they did carry some unfamiliar hope under new head coach Niko Medved.
Any plans for NCAA Tournament qualification was put to bed by midseason, when they had already lost four of their best players to various season-ending injuries and medical issues (see below).
If that wasn’t enough, on February 20, Medved lost second-leading scorer and top rebounder Jaylen Crocker-Johnson for the final month of the season, as well. Still, the latest edition of Gopher men’s basketball was by far the most fun and well-coached team we’ve seen in Dinkytown for a while.
27 PTS & 10 REB 🔥
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 21, 2026
Cade Tyson's double-double powers @GopherMBB to a B1G win over Rutgers 💪 pic.twitter.com/rBaYutbaql
While they came up just short of .500 on the season, at 15-17, Minnesota went 8-12 in conference play and finished 11th (of 18) in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, the Gophers did not play well in their first Big Ten Tournament game, and fell 72-67 to Rutgers, a loss that could have ended their season.
Minnesota Gophers accept Crown Tournament invite
On Monday, however, we found out that the 2025-26 MN Gophers men’s basketball season isn’t done just yet. On April 1, Niko Medved & Co. will get back into action for the second-annual College Basketball Crown Tournament, in Las Vegas.
Unlike the NCAA and NIT Tournaments, the Las Vegas Crown has only eight teams in the field. This year, those teams are Oklahoma, Colorado, Baylor, Minnesota, Stanford, West Virginia, Rutgers and Creighton. Minnesota’s first round matchup is the Baylor Bears.
We’re Vegas bound for the Crown! 👑
— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) March 16, 2026
Minnesota has accepted an invitation to play in the College Basketball Crown – a premier postseason college hoops tournament taking place in Las Vegas from April 1- April 5. @CBBCrown @CBBonFOX #SkiUMah pic.twitter.com/duZtZOYVxL
The Golden Gophers enter the Crown Tourney with a six-man rotation consisting of two seniors — Cade Tyson (19.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG) and Langson Reynolds (11.5 PPG, 4.6 APG) — and four underclassmen.
This could be a good opportunity for fans to get to know homegrown sophomore guard Isaac Asuma (11.1 PPG, 3.8 APG, 4.0 RPG), junior forward Bobby Durkin (10.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG), freshman Grayson Grove (4.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG) and freshman Kai Shinholster (1.8 PPG, 1.2 APG) — all of which will play major roles in Vegas, though not by choice.
💥 23 PTS
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 28, 2026
💥 7-12 FG
💥 7-11 3FG
Bobby Durkin's 7️⃣ triples powers @GopherMBB to a 78-73 win over UCLA 😤 pic.twitter.com/p42ImYOB5A
Injuries broke Niko Medved’s first season as Gophers coach
The number of injuries this roster has been dealt throughout the 2025-26 season have been devastating. Before the year even started, Minnesota lost two key bench contributors in BJ Omot and Chance Stephens.
By the end of November, they were down starters Robert Vaihola and Chauncey Willis Jr, bringing their rotation down to 6.5 players, including Shinholster. Then in mid-February, they lost Jaylen Crocker-Johnson too.
| Last Gm | Player | GP/GS | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/15 | JCJ | 24/24 | 31.5 | 13.4 | 6.8 | 4.6 |
| 11/24 | C. Willis | 7/7 | 26.7 | 6.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
| 11/18 | R. Vaihola | 5/5 | 21.4 | 5.0 | 7.6 | 1.4 |
| DNP | BJ Omot | — | — | — | — | — |
| DNP | C. Stephens | — | — | — | — | — |
Of course, it’s worth noting that last year’s CBB Crown Tourney champions — the Nebraska Cornhuskers — went on to sweep the college basketball world by storm in 2026, winning their first 20 games of the regular season before finishing 26-6 and earning a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Of all the teams in the tournament field this year, it might be the Minnesota Gophers who have the best chance of replicating the 2025 Huskers. Remember, Niko Medved lead the Colorado State Rams to a Sweet 16 appearance just one year ago. This dude is a proven basketball mind and elite program builder.
Combine that with some of the players who could return from injury next season, and there is a lot of potential in Dinkytown, if Niko can have a productive Summer in the transfer portal.
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