Niko Medved continues to fill the roster, with Chansey Willis Jr. as the latest free agent addition. Here is the press release from the U.
University of Minnesota head men’s basketball coach Niko Medved has announced the addition of Chansey Willis Jr. (Detroit, Mich.) to the Golden Gopher program. Willis Jr. comes to Minnesota after spending a year at Western Michigan.
“Chansey is a great playmaker who makes others around him better,” Medved said. “He is a dynamic scorer who can use his speed to his advantage. In addition, he’s a great two-way player and we’re excited to have him on our team.”
Willis Jr., a 6-foot, 2-inch guard, led the Mid-American Conference in scoring when he averaged 16.8 points and 5.8 assists, while he ranked fifth in the league in steals per game (1.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8). Despite playing in 24 games, he was named an All-MAC Second Team selection and a CSC Academic All-District honoree. In MAC action alone, Willis Jr. averaged 17.5 points and 5.8 assists, which ranked second in the conference. He also received MAC Player of the Week honors when he averaged 25.5 points in a pair of wins over Ohio and Northern Illinois.
Willis Jr. was at Henry Ford College in the 2023-24 season, where he was named the Michigan Community College Athletic Association’s Eastern Conference Player of the Year. He started in all 28 games and averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. He also spent his freshman season at Saginaw Valley State, averaging 12.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game for the Cardinals. Playing for Detroit Martin Luther King, Willis Jr. was named the 2022 Michigan Mr. Basketball, Michigan’s 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year, AP Division I Michigan Player of the Year and First Team All-State selection.
2025 Spring Signees (Hometown)
BJ Omot (Mankato, Minn.)
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (San Antonio, Texas)
Bobby Durkin (Darien, Ill.)
Robert Vaihola (San Mateo, Calif.)
Langston Reynolds (Denver, Colo.)
Chansey Willis Jr. (Detroit, Mich.)