Niko Medved Lands Transfer Portal Big Man for Gophers Basketball

Smoothly and methodically, the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball roster for 2025-26 is coming together. Since Niko Medved was hired less than a month ago, he’s added four transfer portal commits, along with one re-commitment from an incoming freshman.

Add that talent to the two 2024-25 freshman who decided to stay on the roster through its initial mass exodus, following Ben Johnson’s firing, and the Gophers could actually field a starting roster, and even a couple bench players, if the season started today.

Minnesota Gophers basketball lands San Jose State transfer Robert Vaihola

The most recent addition is a 6’8, 245 lb junior transfer out of San Francisco, CA — Robert Vaihola — who spent his first collegiate season at Fresno State (’21-’22), before transferring to San Jose State, where he’s been the last two seasons. In 2025-26, he’ll be a Gopher.

.@RobertVaihola is a Gopher‼️〽️

Release: https://t.co/MyENehMmFq pic.twitter.com/xoMUWyjEQJ

— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) April 9, 2025

While playing for the Spartans, Vaihola averaged 7.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 points per game. Last year was Robert’s first as a starter. His numbers remained mostly the same, with the additional 7 minutes per game. The big man’s point production actually dropped by 0.1 (7.5), but his assists (2.0) and rebounds (7.5) did jump slightly.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Add Sharpshooting Wing Out of Transfer Portal

In the limited highlights I’ve been able to watch since Vaihola committed to the Gophers, he reminds me a little bit of Jordan Murphy — an undersized big man who isn’t afraid to bang down low, doesn’t offer much from beyond 17 feet, but inside of that can be a lethal scorer and distributor.

Gophers still waiting for that big time NIL portal talent…

Robert Vaihola’s numbers at San Jose State are a bit underwhelming, and that’s at a lower-tier program. Thus, until we see him on The Barn floor, we should not be comparing him to the leading rebounder in Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball history. Still, his talent is intriguing.

We’ll see if Niko Medved winds up pulling in any transfers that indicate this large increase in NIL funding that we’ve been promised by both Medved and Mark Coyle. So far, we are yet to see any real eye-popping talent acquisitions.

Related: Gophers NIL Problems Under Ben Johnson Were Even Worse Than We Thought

The type of talent that can convince fans that recent Minnesota Gophers basketball fundraising efforts have actually put physical NIL money where Niko and Mark’s big mouths have been. I still believe, though, and there is plenty of time between now and the 2025-26 college men’s basketball season.