A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, meet your new Gopher basketball roster
For the third time in 4 seasons, Ben Johnson is having to deal with significant roster turnover. I have maybe been preoccupied with the Timberwolves to stay on top of the ins and outs of the Gopher hoops roster, but now is the time to get us all caught up.
The lack of motivation and interest in the Gopher basketball roster is very indicative of the state of collegiate basketball today when the current system allows for 100% free agency every offseason. But I digress.
Each offseason since the potent combination of free transfers plus NIL has been increasingly chaotic and this one has not deviated.
The Gophers went from appearing to lose everybody, to apparently having everybody back, to losing guys who has previously publically decided to stay and getting guys back who has previously publically decided to leave.
It has been exhausting. But here is the run down…
WHO IS GONE (6 or 7)
- Eljiah Hawkins – heading to Texas Tech
- Braeden Carrington – heading to Tulsa
- Pharrel Payne – heading to Texas A&M
- Josh Ola-Joseph – transferring to Cal
- Isaiah Ihnen – heading to Liberty
- Kristupas Keinys – destination is still TBD.
- Cam Christie – Christie is testing the NBA Draft process. All of his options are open, but Christie playing for the Gophers next year seems unlikely.
WHO IS RETURNING (4)
- Dawson Garcia – a likely All-Big Ten player, getting Garcia back is huge and provides a little consistency for Ben Johnson.
- Mike Mitchell Jr – the combo guard is likely to play some point and should see a ton of minutes.
- Parker Fox – I really loved Fox’s role off the bench last year, but he looks to be in line for a starting role next year.
- Kayden Betts – redshirted in 2022-23, did not see any action in 2023-24 but is returning this year hopefully earning some playing time and contributing.
INCOMING FRESHMEN (2)
- Isaac Asuma – Point guard from the Iron Range
- Grayson Grove – Alexandria big man
INCOMING TRANSFERS (6)
Here is the interesting part as the staff have brought in 6 new transfers. Very likely, they will need 2 starters out of these transfers, 2 or 3 regular contributors and then 1 or 2 are likely here for depth purposes.
- Brennan Rigsby – coming to the Gophers from Oregon where he started 13 games last year averaging 6.1 points and 2.7 rebounds. Rigsby is a 6’3” guard, originally from Colorado and he will have 1 season to play for Minnesota.
- Lu’Cye Patterson – the former Minneapolis native who spent 2 seasons at Montana State and 2 seasons for Charlotte where he started 56 games over those two years. Patterson led the Miners with 14.6 points per game last year, shooting 35% from three. He also has just 1 year left of eligibility and will be a combo guard who should see some minutes at the point.
- Caleb Williams – A 6’2” shooting guard coming to the Gophers from Macalester. Williams was a scoring machine for the Scots, averaging over 20 ppg his last 2 seasons, while also snagging about 4 rebounds per game. He will bring shooting and a scoring punch to the Gophers, likely off the bench.
- Femi Odukale – a 6’6” guard who has made the rounds of college basketball. Odukale began his career at Pitt, where he played for 2 seasons. Just before his freshman season, Odukale hurt his arm in a traffic accident and missed the early part of the 2020-21 season. But he started 28 games as a sophomore averaging 10.8. He then transferred to Seton Hall for his junior season and transferred again to New Mexico State for his 4th season. Now he comes to the Gophers and has a chance to start in the backcourt. Odukale rebounds well, plays defense, distributes and can occasionally have a big night scoring.
- Frank Mitchell – From Canisius, the Gophers are getting a rebounding machine in Frank Mitchell. The 6’8” forward averaged 11.6 rebounds and 12 points for the Golden Griffins, earning himself 2nd team All-MAAC honors. I believe that Mitchell will have 2 years to play for Minnesota after playing his first season for a Canadian JUCO, sitting out his first year at Canisius and then playing this past season.
- Trey Edmonds – while playing for the Roadrunners of UT-San Antonio, Edmonds played 22 minutes per game averaging 7 points and 5.8 rebounds, starting all 32 games. Edmonds spent his first two seasons at Utah Tech before moving south. He now brings his 6’10” frame north to play for the Gophers.
PROJECTED LINEUP
As things stand, assuming Christie is not returning, I believe that the Gophers have a solid 8-man rotation. Who are the 5 starters? That is a different question, and I suspect we will see some different lineups in November and December as Johnson is trying to figure that out.
- PG – Mitchell Jr
- SG – Patterson
- F/G – Odukale
- F – Fox
- F – Garcia
- Bench – Asuma
- Bench – Mitchell
- Bench – Williams
- Bench – Rigsby
- Deep Bench – Betts
This is how I think things look, at least for the first few games. Garcia, Mitchell Jr and Fox are almost certain starters. And I believe that Odukale is going to be plugged into the lineup from day 1 as well. The other spot is a question mark.
Johnson has decisions to make at point guard and in the frontcourt. I’m not sure if Asuma will be ready to start at point this early, so maybe Mitchell Jr starts the games here, opting to go with Patterson at SG. Johnson could also choose to go big, starting Fox, Garcia and Mitchell in the frontcourt. Then with Odukale at SG you have a really big lineup in the 2 through 5 spots.
Looking at this lineup I believe that next year’s squad will be a better rebounding and a better defensive team. Offensively, this group is going to need to play well with each other, similar to the first season under Johnson.
If by some miracle Johnson gets Christie back in uniform, I like this lineup quite a bit. But this is the most likely roster, final answer.
Can the Gophers compete for an NCAA Tournament bid with this group?