Experts Down on Gophers Basketball Again

Some things change, and some things stay the same. Ben Johnson was mercifully fired after another dismal Minnesota Gophers basketball season. That brought necessary change to the program.

Niko Medved was hired, and Mark Coyle got the guy he appeared to be targeting from the jump. The program has been infused with excitement, and funding, but that hasn’t changed the perception of the talent.

Niko Medved must earn it for Minnesota Gophers

Mark Coyle is certainly a big believer in his newly hired basketball coach. That doesn’t mean those around the country have bought in on the Gophers being a competent program this year though. Among the Big Ten’s 18 teams, The Athletic has Minnesota 16th.

Medved took a year or two to get things rolling at both Furman and Colorado State and that could be the case at Minnesota. He needs to significantly upgrade the talent. It’s unfortunate for Medved that he wasn’t able to make the move when he had a strong core of underclassmen who could follow him. He brought just one player off his Colorado State roster, and it’s usually advantageous for coaches to be able to have some continuity to help with the transition.

There are some interesting pieces here who could potentially pop. Most notable is Tyson, who couldn’t get on the floor at UNC but was a hot transfer a year ago after averaging 16.2 points and shooting 46.5 percent from 3 at Belmont. He is a better fit in Medved’s system. Maybe, as he often did at CSU, Medved has found some gems and can outperform expectations. But it’d be a lot easier to steal some wins in a transition year in a league that’s not so stacked.

C.J. Moore – The Athletic

Medved is taking over a relatively barren Gophers roster. That’s a byproduct of the poor recruiting job that Ben Johnson did as head coach, and there are going to be some growing pains. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson is following his Colorado State head coach, but he is the only transfer to make that jump.

There is more talent for this Gophers team, and they certainly have a better leader, but expecting things to click right away is probably not a good bet.

Cade Tyson is a projected starter after being virtually non-existent last season for the Tar Heels. Isaac Asuma is the lone returner expected to be in the starting lineup. It would have been nice if Medved could have landed guard transfer Kyan Evans, but there are still pieces for him to work with immediately.

What the Gophers show in year one unded Medved could be a nice springboard going forward. He has a much higher ceiling than Johnson ever did as a winner, and seeing him best Richard Pitino results in the future wouldn’t be shocking.