RJ Spencer

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Minnesota men's basketball adds RJ Spencer (Blaine, Minn.) to the Golden Gopher roster. Spencer, a walk-on, joins the program this season and will graduate from Minnesota in May of 2026.

Spencer, a 6-foot, 3-inch guard, played at Totino Grace and with the NorthStar Titans AAU basketball team. A team captain, Spencer led the Eagles to a state championship in 2022. Along with his ability on the court, Spencer was also the captain of the football team as a wide receiver, and he also played golf.

Off the court, Spencer is the son of Heather and Ryan Spencer and graduated from Totino Grace in 2022. He is a double major in biology and communications at the University of Minnesota.

Spencer replaces Erick Reader on the Gopher roster, who has decided to focus on his academic career at the University of Minnesota. Gopher men's basketball would like to thank Erick for all his contributions to the program.

Go Gophers!!
 


I thought walk-ons were no longer allowed?
 



jovs said:
I thought so to but from what I read the roster is limited to 15 players. They can be walkons or scholarship players.
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But I thought we already had 15?
 


So wait- I'm confused... Reader left the team so Niko went recruiting at the rec center open runs? I thought this is where we took the 11th man who graduated from last year's [insert your favorite Ivy league team] squad?
 



NYtoWItoMN said:
So wait- I'm confused... Reader left the team so Niko went recruiting at the rec center open runs? I thought this is where we took the 11th man who graduated from last year's [insert your favorite Ivy league team] squad?
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I believe Spencer was involved with the team in some way, maybe as a manager.
 



NYtoWItoMN said:
So wait- I'm confused... Reader left the team so Niko went recruiting at the rec center open runs? I thought this is where we took the 11th man who graduated from last year's [insert your favorite Ivy league team] squad?
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Dave Winfield was discovered at Intramurals at the U by Coach Musselman and quickly became a starter for Gophers!!!
 





Eastside Forever said:
Dave Winfield was discovered at Intramurals at the U by Coach Musselman and quickly became a starter for Gophers!!!
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Winfield was a 3-sport star in high school. Chose to take a baseball scholarship to Minnesota. He was hardly a random intramural guy “discovered” for basketball. It more was convincing him to play multiple sports.
 

combes1 said:
Winfield was a 3-sport star in high school. Chose to take a baseball scholarship to Minnesota. He was hardly a random intramural guy “discovered” for basketball. It more was convincing him to play multiple sports.
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So, not an amazing find but more he needed to be convinced to participate. Cancel the film treatment
 

combes1 said:
Winfield was a 3-sport star in high school. Chose to take a baseball scholarship to Minnesota. He was hardly a random intramural guy “discovered” for basketball. It more was convincing him to play multiple sports.
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Did not play Football in High School for Coach Bill Martin's St Paul Central Minutemen
 


Something about Totino Grace that some people may not know is that it was renamed after originally being named after Archbishop Grace. The pizza folks gave so much cash they renamed the school after them.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Something about Totino Grace that some people may not know is that it was renamed after originally being named after Archbishop Grace. The pizza folks gave so much cash they renamed the school after them.
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Gotta be true, right? Cause it ain't April 1.
 

GopherJack said:
Gotta be true, right? Cause it ain't April 1.
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It is actually true! Do your own research. But that is why it’s called Totino Grace.

From their website:
A New Name: 1980

The school was originally named to honor Archbishop Thomas L. Grace, an early Minnesota bishop who was a pioneer in education. In 1980, the name of the school was augmented to Totino-Grace to honor the generous benefaction of Jim and Rose Totino, entrepreneurs in the frozen pizza business.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
It is actually true! Do your own research. But that is why it’s called Totino Grace.

From their website:
A New Name: 1980

The school was originally named to honor Archbishop Thomas L. Grace, an early Minnesota bishop who was a pioneer in education. In 1980, the name of the school was augmented to Totino-Grace to honor the generous benefaction of Jim and Rose Totino, entrepreneurs in the frozen pizza business.
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And there's a lot of folks from that community that are still pissed off about it.
 





Thanks for that bit of history. I learned something today, and that's a good thing.
 

combes1 said:
Winfield was a 3-sport star in high school. Chose to take a baseball scholarship to Minnesota. He was hardly a random intramural guy “discovered” for basketball. It more was convincing him to play multiple sports.
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The point is still relevant. As I recall, Winfield WAS playing intramurals and then joined the team.
 


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