The only recognizable things about the new Gophers men’s basketball team early this season will be its maroon-and-gold jerseys and guard Isaac Asuma.
Asuma, a sophomore from Cherry, Minn., is the only returning player who got any playing time in Ben Johnson’s final year as head coach in 2024-25.
Advertisement
New head coach Niko Medved has brought in nine players from the NCAA transfer portal and retained one of three members in Johnson’s class of high school additions. Asuma and Grayson Grove, a forward from Alexandria who redshirted a season ago, are the only carryovers.
“Hello, my name is …” tags might be necessary when the Gophers start summer workouts next week.
“It will be interesting that we’ll only have one player on our team who will have any idea what I’m talking about when we start on Monday,” Medved joked to the Pioneer Press on Thursday. That is Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, a senior forward who followed Medved over from Colorado State via the portal.
The Gophers’ roster top to bottom appears to be more talented than last year’s team, which went 15-17 overall, 7-13 in the Big Ten, but it seems to lack the clear all-conference-type player it had a year ago in 6-foot-10 forward Dawson Garcia.
Advertisement
Western Michigan transfer guard Chansey Willis Jr. might be the closest No. 1 option in the group. The 6-foot-2 guard from Detroit led the Mid-American Conference in per-game points (16.8) and rebounds (5.8) last season. When the U needs a bucket or a distributor next season, the ball will likely be in his hands.
Asuma is also a presumed starter, giving the U a pair of point guards in the lineup. As a freshman, he averaged 5.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 turnovers in 25 minutes a game. How much he can break out as a true sophomore will help determine the team’s ceiling next winter.
Given its disparate parts, leadership will be needed even more. Asuma and Crocker-Johnson and perhaps Willis are on the short list of players who will be called in to provide it.
Medved’s first team at the U has a handful of guys who can play multiple positions and have different skill sets. One example is a subset of 6-7 or 6-8 wings in Bobby Durkin (Davidson), Cade Tyson (North Carolina) and BJ Omot (California).
Advertisement
Heading into his first practice, Medved was contemplating how certain mixes of guys might play together. “I kind of like having some of that feeling,” he said.
The Gophers were 15th in the 18-team Big Ten in 3-point shooting last season (32%), but Medved feels like they might have improved on that, too. Tyson is a career 42% shooter, primarily at his first stop (Belmont) and Durkin at 35%.
“We found a mix of some guys who can shoot the ball and some guys who can attack the lane, too, so I like that,” Medved said.
Instead of the senior-dominant roster Johnson had a year ago, Minnesota has only three players — Tyson, Reynolds and 6-8 center Robert Vaihola — who are expected to run out of eligibility at the end of next season.
Advertisement
“There’s a little bit more balance in classes (and) there is some opportunity to create some continuity moving forward,” Medved said. “I think that’s important, too.”
BREAKDOWN
The Pioneer Press’ early breakdown of Niko Medved’s first men’s basketball roster
Projected starting five
G — Isaac Asuma
G — Chansey Willis
F — Jaylen Crocker-Johnson
F — Bobby Durkin
C — Robert Vaihola
Sixth man candidates
G — Langston Reynolds
F — Cade Tyson
Potential rotation players
F — BJ Omot
C — Nehemiah Turner
Rest of roster
G — Chance Stephens
F — Grayson Grove
G — Kai Shinholster
F — Erick Reader
