With the start of the basketball season of the college at the beginning of November, Inside the Hall takes a team-for-team to the Big Ten and a player-per player looks at the schedule of IU basketball in the next two months.
Today our team examples will continue with Minnesota.
Earlier: Penn State, Rutgers
It is a new era for basketball in Minnesota.
Ben Johnson was fired after compiling a record of 56-71 for four seasons in Minneapolis and athletic director Mark Coyle recruited Niko Medved from Colorado State to lead the program.
The 52-year-old Medved, a resident of Minneapolis, made the NCAA tournament in three of the last four seasons in Colorado State and had a winning percentage of .627 at the school.
The Gophers only returned two stock market players from the 15-17 team of last season and only one, Isaac Asuma, saw the floor.
The 6-foot-3 Asuma showed last winter promising in its debut season. A resident of Cherry, Minnesota, Asuma scored six times in double digits and an average of 5.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 24.7 minutes per match. He shot 35.7 percent on 3S.
Asuma will fight against Western Michigan Transfer Chansey Willis Jr. for the role of starting point protector. Willis Jr., a junior, was a second team All-Mac selection last season. In 32 minutes per match, Willis Jr. On average 16.8 points, 5.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 Steals and had it second highest usage percentage in the Mac. Like most smaller guards who transmit and do not have a reliable 3-point shots, Willis Jr. Must prove that his game can translate to the Big ten.
Search for North -Colorado Transfer Langston Reynolds and Davidson Transfer Bobby Durkin to play an important role in the Gopher rotation.
Reynolds, a 6-foot-4 senior, on average 16 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists during shooting 40.9 percent on 3s last season and earned the first team All-Big Sky enclosures for the bears.
Durkin, a 6-foot-7 junior wing, is another capable 3-point shooter. The Darien, Illinois, Native was an average of 13.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Wildcats last season and connected to a clip of 35.5 percent of distance.
Cad Tyson, who started his career in Belmont for a difficult season last winter in North Carolina, will get his career back on track under Medved. The 6-foot-7 senior from Monroe, North Carolina, on average 15 points over 61 games in Belmont for a disastrous season last season for the Tar Heels. Tyson had an average of 2.6 points and shot a gloomy 29.2 percent in 3S in North Carolina and would like to prove that he can produce at the high-major level.
Maryland Transfer Chance Stephens, a Redshirt Junior, and first-year student Kai Shinholster will offer the waiting and wing depth for the first season of Medved.
A substandard Minnesota Frontcourt is probably anchored by Colorado State Transfer Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and San Jose State Transfer Robert Vaihola, a senior Redshirt.
Crocker-Johnson, now at his third school in three seasons, made the switch from Colorado State to Minnesota with Medved. He played in all 36 games last season and made 29 starts and finished third in the team in scoring nine points per game. On 6-foot 8 and 240 pounds, he becomes a player who is Medved, depending on heavy in front.
Vaihola, which is 6-foot-8 and 265 pounds, is substandard for the five, but was an excellent rebounder for the Spartans. He is in first place in the Mountain West Conference last season in offensive rebound percentage and 10th in defensive rebound percentage. He also finished third in the competition in the block percentage, so he can change shots.
The Frontcourt depth is filled in by 6-foot-8 CAL transfer BJ Omot, a Redshirt Junior, and Central Arkansas Transfer Nehemiah Turner, a 6-foot-10 second-year student.
Omot returns to Minnesota after being in just four games for the bears because of a wrist injury. In two seasons in North Dakota from 2022 to 2024, Omot was one of the best front court players in the Summit League. In the 2023-24 season he earned the first team All-Summit League Honors, while on average 16.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
Turner on average 8.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per match last season for the Bears, one of the worst division I teams last season.
Grayson Grove, a 6-foot-9 Redshirt first-year student who was in last season’s selection, could also be in the mix for the four or five. A 3-star recruit in the 2024 class, Grove can stretch the floor and can offer another look as one of the more mobile Bigs on the Roster.
Minnesota is number 84 National in Bart Torvik’s pre -season projections and is above only Rutgers and Penn State in terms of Big ten teams. However, the Gophers must be nice to see with their high 3-point volume under the modern attacking system of Medved.
Bottom Line: It will not be a surprise if Minnesota exceeds the expectations of the preseason under Medved in the year one. He was very successful in Colorado State and pushed Maryland to the Rand in the NCAA tournament of last season before he fell 72-71 in the round of 32. The Gophers have collected a strong contingent from Shooters and Reynolds and Durkin should both be reliable scorers. There is still a great talent gap between Minnesota and the elite teams of the competition, which probably limits the ability of the program to compete for a NCAA tournament bid in year one.
Sacrifice: “This is a great group of boys. One thing I really believe in is the recruitment character. We have many boys who can shoot the ball, we have a lot of length at the circumference, but we are probably under parnesty. All I can say, I can’t tell you who our most important score will be.” – Medved in a recent interview with Dan Barreiro by KFAN.
See more: Comments, 2025-26 Big Ten Preview, Minnesota Golden Gophers
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