Transfer Portal News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/transfer-portal/ Minnesota sports, but different Mon, 02 Jun 2025 01:43:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=32,height=32,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-cropped-MSF-favicon-1.jpg Transfer Portal News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/transfer-portal/ 32 32 Niko Medved, Gophers Add 4-Star UNC Transfer Commit https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-basketball/transfer-portal-commitment-cade-tyson-unc/ Mon, 02 Jun 2025 01:43:01 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=63590 The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team, when they take the floor again in October, will look completely different than they did last season. Of course, that isn’t anything new. In the transfer portal/NIL era, under Ben Johnson, the U of M had more new faces on its basketball team each year than they did familiar ones.

But in 2025-26, they will take it to another level. Not only will they have a new head coach on the sideline — after Johnson was fired and replaced with Niko Medved shortly after the Golden Gophers were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament, back in March — but there are only two freshman from last year remaining on this roster… along with nine new players out of the transfer portal.

Minnesota Gophers MBB get commitment from Cade Tyson (UNC)

And on Sunday, they got their latest transfer addition, and this one is tied for the highest-rated portal commit they have received yet this offseason. Cade Tyson is coming to Dinkytown from the University of North Carolina, where the 6’7″ sharpshooting wing averaged 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds, in just 7.9 minutes per game during his one season as a Tar Heel.

But Tyson isn’t new to college basketball. Prior to arriving at Chapel Hill, the 91-rated four-star small forward (according to 247Sports) played two seasons at Belmont, where he averaged 30.4 minutes per game between his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Related: Ben Johnson was the NIL Problem for Gophers Men’s Basketball

As a senior for the Bruins in 2023-24, Tyson put up 16.2 points per game, second most on his team. He also led Belmont in rebounds, at 5.9 per game. He also averaged 13.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as a freshman.

But when Cade — who is from Monroe, North Carolina — got an opportunity to go home, he jumped on it. Unfortunately, he was not able to make as big of an impact as he had hoped, while playing for his hometown UNC. Even after a down year, Tyson was contacted by Kentucky, Iowa, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Purdue, BYU and Virginia Tech, according to Ryan James (247Sports).

In his career, Cade Tyson is a 43% three point shooter (48.3% FG). Last season, as a member of the Tar Heels, he shot just 40% from the field and 29% from deep. Coming to Minnesota as a senior, Tyson hopes to get back to the sharpshooter he was at Belmont.

]]> Sun, 01 Jun 2025 20:43:04 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Basketball It was a Darn Good Weekend for Niko Medved, Gophers Men’s Basketball https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-basketball/recruiting-cedric-tomes-commit-chance-stephens-transfer-analysis/ Mon, 12 May 2025 14:27:40 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=63083 The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball roster has been completely turned over, since four-year head coach Ben Johnson was fired, in favor of another Minneapolis raised former Gopher, Niko Medved, fresh off of an incredible seven-year run at Colorado State that included NCAA Tournament appearances is three of his final four years.

Medved came into the weekend with seven transfers already committed for next season — a group highlighted by PG Chansey Willis Jr (W. Michigan) and Bobby Durkin (Davidson). Minnesota also added one 2025 high school commit — 6’5″ three-star shooting guard Kai Shinholster, out of Philadelphia.

But of course, Niko has all sorts of work still to do, both for next season and beyond. That’s the life of a freshly hired college basketball coach in the transfer portal + NIL era. And this weekend, he added depth to this year’s team, while taking a major step forward for Minnesota’s roster of the future.

Minnesota Gophers land East Ridge guard, Cedric Tomes

Niko Medved and his new staff had their greatest success this weekend on the local high school recruiting trail. One day after reeling in Chance Stephens out of the portal (more on him momentarily), the Minnesota Gophers received a commitment from East Ridge (MN) High School point guard, Cedric Tomes.

The 6’0″ 3-star point guard out of St. Paul (85 overall rating by 247Sports.com) is the first verbal commit of the Golden Gophers’ 2026 class (seniors next year). He’s also Niko Medved’s first high school commit from the state of Minnesota, where the head coach was also born and raised, before he too attended the U of M.

Cedric Tomes — who averaged over 27.3 points per game and shot 40% from beyond the arc — is a high-volume shooter point guard, who he sees the floor well. He will kill you from deep all day if you let him. But make the mistake of getting too close, and he has no problems taking you to the hole.

Tomes is smooth with the ball in his hands and finds open teammates when the defense collapses down on him. He reminds me of… former Golden Gophers PG Marcus Carr, who carried Minnesota for two seasons under Richard Pitino, before moving on and making a couple of NCAA tournament runs at Texas.

Cedric Tomes owns (single-game) school records at East Ridge for FG made (17), FG attempts (29), points (41), 3PT made (9), 3PT attempts (15) and single-season records for points (735) FG attempts (587), 3PT attempts (253) and free throws made (186).

Related: Multiple Fights Break Out at Over-Crowded MN Prep Hoops Event in Eden Prairie

How was Tomes involved in that prep hoops fight over the weekend in Eden Prairie?

Cedric currently plays for D1 Minnesota, in the Prep Hoops AAU Circuit, where he is a featured starter on their team. Over the weekend, he showed off some of his elite talent in front of an over-packed crowd at Eden Prairie high school, where he hit a buzzer-beating three pointer that put D1 Minnesota on top at halftime.

The game never finished, after multiple fights broke out in the crowd during the second half, a situation that quickly escalated into mass chaos that needed over 100 police officers and a helicopter to get control of. The Battle of the Lakes Prop Hoops tournament, which was scheduled into Sunday, was cancelled.

Tomes attends the same high school (East Ridge) that Ben Carlson went to and set records at, before the 2020 HS grad played four years of division one basketball for Wisconsin (2 yrs) and Utah (2 yrs).

Tomes chose his home state Gophers over early offers from Iowa State and UNI. Without a doubt, Nike will have to work to fight off bigger schools for the next year, before National Letters of Intent are signed.

Niko Medved, Gophers add Maryland transfer Chance Stephens

On Friday, the Minnesota Gophers got their eighth transfer portal commitment of Medved’s 3-month Gophers head coaching tenure, former Maryland guard, Chance Stephens. The 6’3″ shooting guard spent two years at Maryland, after transferring from LMU in between his true freshman and sophomore seasons.

When Chance Stephens — who was a two star recruit out of high school — left Loyola Marymount after the 2022-23 season, he was graded as a three-star (87 overall) transfer portal prospect. Two years later, he has yet to receive his portal ranking, but I can’t imagine it will be that high anymore.

Related: Homegrown Former Gopher Commits to… Wisconsin

Stephens logged four to eight minutes in Maryland’s first three games of the 2024-25 season, topping out at 11 minutes against Florida A&M on November 11. He got limited playing time in three more games between November 27 and December 4… then never touched the floor again all season.

What are the Minnesota Gophers getting in Stephens?

As a freshman at Loyola Marymount, Stephens played 17.3 minutes per game, averaging 6 points, 1 rebound and 0.5 assists, in 28 games, shooting 37% from deep. Unfortunately, the Riverside, CA native tore his a patellar tendon just a couple weeks into 2023-24 Terps camp, which forced him to miss that entire season.

Unfortunately, by the time he returned from the injury that cost him the entire season prior, Chance wasn’t who the Terps were hoping he’d be. But now, he’ll come to Minnesota with one final opportunity to prove he is a power four talent. We’ll see if he can make the most of it.

]]> Mon, 12 May 2025 09:27:44 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Basketball Minnesota Gophers Add Talented Big Ten Lineman to Defense https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/transfer-portal-commit-mo-omonode-purdue/ Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:38:59 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=62613 College football transfer portal season is alive and well this spring, and like every other program in the country, P.J. Fleck continues to seek out talent outside Dinkytown to help strengthen possible weaknesses on the Minnesota Gophers 2025 depth chart.

There is plenty of returning talent for next year’s Golden Gophers, but there’s been plenty of turnover this offseason, too. On offense, they’re making changes yet again at the most important position in all of sports, quarterback.

Out is Max Brosmer, who’s hoping to hear his name called this weekend during the 2025 NFL Draft. Talented true junior Drake Lindsey is Max’s expected replacement, after Georgia Tech transfer Zach Pyron re-entered the portal last week.

NCAA Football: Penn State at Minnesota Gophers
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

On defense, not only are the Minnesota Gophers trying to find replacements for previous staples on the front seven like (DL) Jah Joyner, (LB) Cody Lindenberg and (DL) Danny Striggow, but they’re also deploying a new defensive coordinator, Danny Collins, for the second-straight season.

Mo Omonode sticks in Big Ten and lands with Minnesota Gophers

Thus, PJ Fleck and his staff were on the transfer portal hunt for more talent up front. On Tuesday, they found some in Purdue soon-to-be senior defensive tackle Mo Omonode, who currently has one year of eligibility remaining.

In his three seasons as a Boilermaker, Omonode operated as a rotational nose tackle, and produced some impressive PFF grades (see below). In other words, he’s exactly what the Minnesota Gophers defense was looking for.

Mo Omonode played in in 33 games during his career with the Purdue Boilermakers, where the Indiana native racked up 32 total tackles and 3.5 sacks. More impressive are his PFF grades. Last season, Omonode posted a 71.6 PFF grade, which was actually down from the 80.2 mark he earned as a sophomore.

Kevin Kane, the former Purdue defensive coordinator, is now part of Fleck’s staff in Minnesota, which explains part of this move. The expectation should be that Omonode immediately works in with the MN Gophers returning DL talent, including Anthony Smith, Deven Eastern, Jaxon Howard, Lucas Finnessy and Jalen Logan-Redding. Another transfer, Rushawn Lawrence, will also be a part of that mix.

MN Gophers defense to have plenty of familiarity

P.J. Fleck lost five total starters from the Minnesota Gophers defense last season — Jah Joyner, Danny Striggow, Cody Lindenberg, Justin Walley, and Ethan Robinson — who are all looking for NFL jobs this offseason. Of course, the most exciting part of the defense remains sophomore Koi Perich.

Related: Koi Perich Playing Offense and Defense for Gophers?

He’s going to factor in on both sides of the ball this season, and that could make him among the most dynamic players in college football. As a true freshman he picked off a conference-leading five passes and recorded 46 tackles. The Minnesota Gophers have already kicked off their spring practices. They open the season on August 28 against Buffalo at Huntington Bank Stadium.

]]> Tue, 22 Apr 2025 11:39:04 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football Recent Gophers QB Transfer Re-Enters Portal https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-football/qb-zach-pyron-enters-transfer-portal/ Thu, 17 Apr 2025 21:17:48 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=62513 The Minnesota Gophers football team is working through its slate of spring practices, as they prepare for a big summer and another transition at quarterback in 2025. But the ever-expanding Big Ten waits for nobody and the Gophers cannot afford to take a step back next season.

So, who will be the next Gopher QB1, now that Max Brosmer is moving on to the NFL? That is the biggest question surrounding PJ Fleck and offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh this offseason.

Minnesota Gophers getting closer to naming their 2025 starting QB?

Heading into spring, the Gophers had a few possible options for their new quarterback. The frontrunner is Drake Lindsey, a third-year junior who might be the most talented arm to wear maroon and gold since Fleck took over in 2017.

His competition? Two transfers that signed out of the portal late last year — Virginia Tech’s Dylan Wittke and Georgia Tech’s Zach Pyron. Wittke — who has never thrown a collegiate pass — came in as a much longer shot to win the job than Pyron.

He played 19 games in three years at Georgia Tech, completing 88 of 155 passes (56.8%) for 5 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Lindsey got on the field in only three games last season, tossing five passes, completing four of them (including a touchdown).

On Thursday, though, we may have gotten our first major giveaway on who is winning the MN Gophers offseason QB competition when the aforementioned Zach Pyron re-entered the transfer portal just four months in Minnesota.

Zach Pyron went to Georgia Tech as a four-star quarterback with quite a bit of hype surrounding him. He was the 18th best quarterback in the country and the 15th best player out of Alabama, overall (247Sports). Pyron earned all-state honors twice in high school, along with four all-region teams and four all-county teams.

He was also named Alabama state football MVP in 2019, as a senior, after leading his high school team to three state championships, over the course of his four seasons at the helm. Unfortunately for Zach, he hasn’t been that type of QB at the college level, and now he is onto his second team in less than a half-year.

Drake Lyndsey looks like the next starting QB at Minnesota

Since then MN Gophers sophomore Tanner Morgan went off in 2019 for 3,200 yards, 30 touchdowns and just 7 interceptions — throwing to two of the best wide receivers in program history, in Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman — Minnesota’s offense struggled to find a groove through the air. That moved Fleck to a type of offensive conservatism not seen in modern American football since the 90s.

Related: PJ Fleck, MN Gophers Receive First Commit of New High School Recruiting Class

But last year, we saw all of that change with the arrival of FCS transfer, Max Brosmer, who the coaching staff was able to trust in a way that they had never experienced before and he repaid them with 2,828 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

As it appears now, Drake Lyndsey will be the next starting quarterbackk of the Minnesota Gophers. We’ll see if he can take the torch, after everything he learned from one year sitting behind Brosmer.

]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2025 16:18:42 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Football Niko Medved Receives Most Exciting Transfer Portal Commit Yet for Gophers MBB https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-basketball/transfer-portal-commit-2025-langston-reynolds-northern-colorado/ Sun, 13 Apr 2025 20:46:26 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=62411 It’s been less than a month since Niko Medved was hired as the head coach of the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball, and he hasn’t wasted time putting together his depth chart for 2025-26, which started as bare as great grandpa’s house cupboards during the great depression.

The Gophers new coach started by keeping a couple of young perimeter talents from Ben Johnson’s squad, before adding a few more guards/wings, where he has since continued to build with three other portal commitments.

Then last week, Minnesota added their first real front-court talent for 2025-26, shifting to the backcourt again. And this time, Medved appears to have reeled in his most exciting commitment of the transfer portal season so far.

Minnesota Gophers land Langston Reynolds

Langston Reynolds is a 6’4″ 200 lb guard out of Northern Colorado. As a junior last year, the Denver, CO native averaged 16 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for the Bears, while providing one of the best in-season highlight dunk videos I have ever seen.

Unsurprisingly, the Minnesota Gophers weren’t the only power four team that Reynolds flirted with, before commiting on Sunday. The most notable was Texas A&M, prior to Buzz Williams leaving for Maryland. When he left, it opened up the door for Medved and the Gophers to swoop in.

On the highlight reel above, Langston looks like a man amongst boys in some of his knee breaking moves, blasphemous dunks and no-look passes, something his stats from last season match. Interestingly, however, 2024-25 was Reynolds first season as a starter for Northern Colorado (34 starts).

Related: Minnesota Gophers MBB Valued at Shockingly High Price in Recent Study

During his freshman and sophomore campaigns, Langston Reynolds started only 2 total games, averaging half the playing time and even less production (15 MPG, 4.2 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.1 APG) than he did as a senior. So what gives? Hard work, that’s what gives. This looks like one to get excited about, Minnesota Gophers basketball fans.

]]> Sun, 13 Apr 2025 15:46:28 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Basketball Niko Medved Lands Transfer Portal Big Man for Gophers Basketball https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-basketball/news-mbb-transfer-portal-commit-robert-vaihola-san-jose-state/ Wed, 09 Apr 2025 19:09:24 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=62313 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.

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.

]]> Wed, 09 Apr 2025 14:09:27 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Basketball Minnesota Gophers Add Sharpshooting Wing Out of Transfer Portal https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-basketball/2025-transfer-portal-commitment-bobby-durkin-davidson/ Mon, 07 Apr 2025 21:02:57 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=62239 Things were looking dire for Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball at the end of this season. An early exit in the Big Ten tournament lead to an immediate change in leadership, in the form of Minneapolis native, Niko Medved.

Since becoming head coach, Medved has been busy in the transfer portal. He’s already landed Colorado State forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, who played for him last season. Then, late last week, he nabbed Mankato’s own BJ Omot, who played for Cal in 2024-25.

Gophers nab commitment from Bobby Durkin

Then Monday, after days of rumors, Medved got his latest portal commitment from Davidson transfer forward, Bobby Durkin. The 6’7″ junior to be averaged 13.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the Wildcats last season. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

The shooting is what really stands out when it comes to Durkin. He shot 40% from the field last year, including 35% from three, but most of that was due to a poor second half. Through the first 18 games, he shot nearly 45% from deep, on 138 attempts.

In the last 15 games, he shot just 25%. Still, he made 91 threes in total last season, which would’ve been the most on the Gophers by a wide margin. It was speculated since he entered the portal that Durkin would land at a Big Ten school. A native of Darien, IL, he reportedly took a visit to Ohio State before signing with the Gophers.

Durkin was an Illinois state champion in high school, at Glenbard West, where he set a school record for threes made in a season, with 78. He spent a year at IMG academy, following his senior season, before enrolling at Davidson.

Related: Williams Arena Naming Rights Up For Sale

It’s clear that Durkin is at his best when he’s making shots. He began last year with six straight double-digit point performances to help his team start 5-1, during which he shot over 50% from the field. He started every regular season game for Davidson in 2024-25, except one.

What’s next for Medved, Gophers MBB?

All three of the transfers Medved has landed in the portal so far are lengthy wings who can shoot the ball and defend at a high level. It’s obvious what Niko’s priorities are during this early transfer portal window. We’ll wait and see what he cooks up for the nine scholarship spots remaining on the 2025-26 Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball roster.

Beyond the transfer portal, Medved is also in pursuit of future high school talent. But when it comes to next season’s team, the new head coach is focused on the portal. Another top target who is on campus this week is another Colorado State transfer, Kyan Evans, whose impressive sophomore season has him getting all sorts of interest from high-major programs, including the Gophers.

Medved was able to retain freshmen Isaac Asuma and Grayson Grove, but the rest of the roster either graduated or entered the portal. The Gophers likely still need to get a big man and a point guard, as well as a formidable bench to round out the roster.

]]> Mon, 07 Apr 2025 16:09:48 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Basketball Niko Medved’s Pursuit of Familiar Guard is About to Heat Up for Gophers MBB https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-basketball/transfer-portal-news-kyan-evans-visit/ Sat, 05 Apr 2025 01:32:06 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=62160 The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball roster is under a major construction project. New head coach Niko Medved took over a program that had only two scholarship freshmen on the roster. Since, he has added a couple of transfers and made some noise on the high school recruiting circuit, as well.

Even prior to Colorado State season being over, there were rumors circulating that, not only was Niko Medved bound for Dinkytown, but that multiple Rams players could possibly follow. Two weeks later, 2024-25 starting forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson — who averaged 9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for the Rams last season — has already committed to the MN Gophers.

Minnesota Gophers transfer portal rumors: Kyan Evans - Colorado State at Memphis
Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

But the most intriguing former player from Medved’s Colorado State team who’s in the transfer portal with links to the Gophers is sophomore guard Kyan Evans. The 6-2, 175 lb playmaker out of Kansas City, MO averaged 10.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game on an impressive 44.6% shooting from deep.

Kyan Evans to visit Minnesota Gophers

Late Thursday night, on a short scoops session for KSTP, local insider Darren Wolfson reported the latest and greatest update on Minnesota’s pursuit of Evans. According to his report, Kyan will be on campus next week when the transfer portal dead period is over (April 7).

“The Gophers continue to pursue point guard Kyan Evans hard. He will visit [Minnesota] after this week-long dead period. He played for Niko Medved at Colorado State.”

Darren Wolfson – Channel 5 Eyewitness News (KSTP)

Kyan Evans represents the exact type of guard talent that Niko Medved wants to build his early Golden Gophers program around. He’s a young kid who has two years of his four-year eligibility remaining and has supposedly drawn interest other power four schools.

Related: Williams Arena Naming Rights Up For Sale

But outside of Minnesota and Missouri, there isn’t a lot of steam out there publicly on who may be interested. It’s also possible that he’s pretty much made up his mind… Without a doubt, this is really good news for the new Minnesota Gophers head coach. Could Niko have another transfer portal commitment up his sleeve next week. At this point, it sure seems like it.

]]> Fri, 04 Apr 2025 20:32:09 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Basketball Niko Medved Adds Homegrown Transfer to Growing 2025 Gophers MBB Team https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-basketball/2025-mbb-transfer-portal-commitment-bj-omot-cal/ Wed, 02 Apr 2025 22:43:37 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=62106 The 2025 Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball roster hit a low point over the weekend. Days after Niko Medved was hired as the new head coach, the roster got all the way down to two freshman from the state of Minnesota, Isaac Asuma (Cherry) and Grayson Grove (Alexandria).

thankfully, it hasn’t taken long for Medved to start his rebuild. It started with a commitment on Tuesday from Colorado State forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, who played under Medved for his lone season with the Rams.

Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball adds transfer commit BJ Omot (Cal)

Then on Wednesday, the Gophers received another commitment out of the transfer portal, Mankato’s own BJ Omot, who played the first two seasons of his college career at the University of North Dakota, before transfering to the University of California for what was supposed to be his junior season. More on that momentarily.

As a Fighting Hawk, Omot averaged 19 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. Last year, he transferred to Cal, where he was averaging over 10 points per game… before he suffered a mysterious “upper body extremity injury” that ended his season after only four games played.

Related: Medved, Gophers Offer Top High School Recruit in Minnesota

In 2025-26, he lands back in his home state of Minnesota, and he is expected to be 100% long before the season starts, according to reports that came out at the time of the injury. The Mankato East high school grad first entered the transfer portal on March 23. Prior to his Gophers commitment, Omot heard from Washington, OK State and Iowa, among others.

How much should we expect out of Omot?

As you can see from the video above, there really isn’t anything the slender 6’8″ 175 lb two-way talent can’t do, especially when he finds his shot. While BJ isn’t the most accurate three point shooter (29% in his college career), he isn’t afraid to hoist them up, averaging 5.1 threes per game,in 69 total games between UND and Cal.

When Omot’s season ending announcement was made back in January, Cal Bears head coach (and Timberwolves legend) Mark Madsen called the loss a “devastating blow to our team”. He went on to to describe BJ as “an elite on-ball perimeter defender”.

“BJ Omot is out for the season, and it’s a devastating blow to our team,” Madsen said Monday. “He’s an elite on-ball perimeter defender. We got this indication on this medical opinion some time last week, and so BJ Omot is out for the season. Other guys are going to have to step up.

It’s not clear what Omot’s specific injury is, but Madsen said Omot, a junior who should be able to get this season back as a medical redshirt, will be 100% well before the start of next season.

Sports Illustrated
]]> Wed, 02 Apr 2025 17:47:41 +0000 Minnesota Gophers Basketball Colorado State Forward Commits to MN Gophers https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/gophers-basketball/transfer-portal-commit-jaylen-crocker-johnson-colorado-state/ Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:15:00 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=62056 Entering Tuesday, the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team and its new head coach Niko Medved had two scholarship players on roster. Both were freshman in 2024, and one never played. That’s not unexpected, nor does it reflect at all on how the 2025-26 roster will eventually look.

Being it is only April 1, we are still very early in the early offseason transfer portal cycle. At this point, it would be impossible for Medved to have any idea how much total NIL and revenue sharing money they’ll have for a roster they are trying to build now. In other words, there are a lot of moving parts.

In the end, Niko has already proven he knows what he is doing, and he had less resources to work with at Colorado State. I have little doubt that next year’s Golden Gophers men’s basketball team will be more talented and finish with a higher ranking in the Big Ten than the 15-win squad Ben Johnson put on the floor for his grand finale season.

Minnesota Gophers receive commitment from Colorado State stretch big

New Minnesota Gophers forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson playing for Colorado State in 2024-25
Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

On Tuesday afternoon, Niko Medved’s roster building began with his first-ever reported transfer portal commitment as head coach of his alma mater, the University of Minnesota. And fittingly, according to Travis Branham (247Sports), it’s Colorado State power forward, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson.

Last season was Crocker-Johnson’s first as a Ram. He spent his freshman year at Little Rock, where he won Ohio Valley Freshman of the Year in 2023-24. He has two years of college eligibility remaining, for what that is worth.

As many pontificated when news broke earlier Tuesday that he was transferring, Crocker-Johnson set his status to “Do Not Contact”, when he entered the portal because he had a clear plan to follow Medved to Dinkytown. Clearly, the 6’8″ 230 lb stretch big out of San Antonio, TX enjoyed his short time with the new Gophers head coach last season, to follow him up to Minnesota for 2025-26.

What does Jaylen Crocker-Johnson bring to Medved’s Gophers?

In 2024-25 with Colorado State, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson scored 9.0 points on 49% from the field and 35% from deep (21.5 MPG). He also added 4.4 rebounds and nearly 1 block per game. After coming off the bench for seven of the Rams first 13 games last season, the sophomore transfer was inserted into the starting lineup for good.

A quick look at his game logs from last season tell you that, while Crocker-Johnson can disappear in and out of the scoring column, depending on the night, he is always contributing in the rebound column, and on defense. This is a very good start for Medved’s build.

Now, the focus shifts to the next addition for the Minnesota Gophers 2025-26 men’s basketball team, which now has three players on it, if we include Jaylen Crocker-Johnson. There have been rumors surrounding other 2024-25 Colorado State players, though.

The headliner of that group is dynamic sophomore guard Kyan Evans, who started all 36 Rams games last season and averaged 10.6 points per game and 44% from deep. Of course, there’s a ton of talent out there with Minnesota ties, and the University of Minnesota has expressed a much greater desire to build up men’s basketball than anytime in the recent past.

Related: Medved, Gophers Offer Top High School Recruit in Minnesota

So with that as a backdrop, we’ll see what the new head coach can put together over the next 3-5 months. But undoubtedly, we will see more talent added much sooner than that.

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