BleedGopher
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Per Marks and Moore:
Returning rotation players: Dawson Garcia (17.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg); Mike Mitchell Jr. (10.2 ppg); Parker Fox (5.1 ppg)
Top 100 freshmen added: None
Top 100 transfers added: None
Why they’re here: Minnesota is just 41-54 three seasons into the Ben Johnson era, but with one of the Big Ten’s most experienced rosters this season (the Golden Gophers have a staggering 10 scholarship seniors), there’s the potential for this to be Johnson’s best team yet. Realistically, it also probably needs to be, if there’s going to be a fifth season for Johnson in Minneapolis.
Garcia returns as Minnesota’s centerpiece, although the Gophers’ only all-conference honoree last season needs to rebound from behind the 3-point line, where he shot a career-worst 31.9 percent. That’s especially imperative considering he’s probably best suited as a stretch four next to Trey Edmonds (UTSA). But the most intriguing thing about the Gophers is how Johnson manages a crowded backcourt. Mitchell Jr. is his best 3-point threat and will play a ton, but he brought in three other guards — Lu’Cye Patterson (Charlotte), reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Cochran (Toledo), and Femi Odukale (New Mexico State) — who earned all-conference honors at their previous schools. That’s without counting Caleb Williams, who has a wide range of outcomes after averaging 19.6 points last season at D-III Macalester.
The age factor alone should make Minnesota competitive, but one of Johnson’s new additions would need to really surprise for the Gophers to rise out of the league’s bottom third.
Go Gophers!!
16. Minnesota
Biggest losses: Cam Christie (11.3 ppg,3.6 rpg); Pharrel Payne (10 ppg, 6.1 rpg); Elijah Hawkins (9.5 ppg, 7.5 apg, 3.6 rpg); Joshua Ola-Joseph (7.5 ppg); Braeden Carrington (4.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg)Returning rotation players: Dawson Garcia (17.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg); Mike Mitchell Jr. (10.2 ppg); Parker Fox (5.1 ppg)
Top 100 freshmen added: None
Top 100 transfers added: None
Why they’re here: Minnesota is just 41-54 three seasons into the Ben Johnson era, but with one of the Big Ten’s most experienced rosters this season (the Golden Gophers have a staggering 10 scholarship seniors), there’s the potential for this to be Johnson’s best team yet. Realistically, it also probably needs to be, if there’s going to be a fifth season for Johnson in Minneapolis.
Garcia returns as Minnesota’s centerpiece, although the Gophers’ only all-conference honoree last season needs to rebound from behind the 3-point line, where he shot a career-worst 31.9 percent. That’s especially imperative considering he’s probably best suited as a stretch four next to Trey Edmonds (UTSA). But the most intriguing thing about the Gophers is how Johnson manages a crowded backcourt. Mitchell Jr. is his best 3-point threat and will play a ton, but he brought in three other guards — Lu’Cye Patterson (Charlotte), reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Cochran (Toledo), and Femi Odukale (New Mexico State) — who earned all-conference honors at their previous schools. That’s without counting Caleb Williams, who has a wide range of outcomes after averaging 19.6 points last season at D-III Macalester.
The age factor alone should make Minnesota competitive, but one of Johnson’s new additions would need to really surprise for the Gophers to rise out of the league’s bottom third.
Go Gophers!!
