We’re going team-by-team across Big Ten men’s basketball to assess where everyone stands and how things could shake out in 2026-27.
Niko Medved’s first season at Minnesota had some nice moments, including home upsets over No. 22 Indiana in early December, No. 19 Iowa in early January and No. 10 Michigan State in early February. The Golden Gophers showed plenty of fight in a number of defeats as well, and their 8-12 Big Ten record — an 11th-place finish — was better than many predicted going into the year. They suffered multiple injuries that set them back for most of conference play, though, and they were never really on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Minnesota lost its first Big Ten Tournament game against Rutgers, and then lost to Baylor in the College Basketball Crown. Medved and the Gophers will look to improve in year two.
WHO’S GONE:
- Cade Tyson (19.6 PPG) (entered NBA Draft)
- Langston Reynolds (11.6 PPG) (exhausted his eligibility)
- Chansey Willis Jr. (6.3 PPG in seven games) (transfer — Kent State)
- Robert Vaihola (5 PPG in five games) (transfer — uncommitted)
- BJ Omot (transfer — Cal State Northridge)
- Chance Stephens (transfer — uncommitted)
- Nehemiah Turner (transfer — Jacksonville)
- Maximus Gizzi (exhausted his eligibility)
WHO’S BACK:
- Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, F, Sr. (13.4 PPG)
- Isaac Asuma, G, Jr. (10.9 PPG)
- Bobby Durkin, F, Sr. (10.2 PPG)
- Grayson Grove, F, R-So. (4 PPG)
- Kai Shinholster, G, So. (1.8 PPG)
WHO’S NEW:
Transfer portal
- Malachi Palmer, G, Jr. (4.6 PPG at Villanova)
- Kyan Evans, G, Sr. (4 PPG at North Carolina)
- Winters Grady, G/F, R-Fr. (2.9 PPG at Michigan)
- Malick Kordel, C, So. (1.2 PPG at Michigan)
- Nolan Groves, G, So. (0.9 PPG at Texas Tech)
Freshmen (Rankings from 247Sports)
- Nolen Anderson, F (four-star, No. 123)
- Chadrack Mpoyi, C (three-star, No. 176)
- Cedric Tomes, G (three-star, No. 183)
RETURNING MINUTES: 62.1 percent (per barttorvik.com) (second-most in the Big Ten, 14th in the country)
Why it will work
The Gophers should have more depth than they did for most of conference play last year, when they played a tight six-man rotation. Minnesota has four of those six players back — Crocker-Johnson and Asuma, in particular, have flashed some ability and can be reliable pieces.
Medved also revamped the bench through the transfer portal with guys he’ll hope can be more useful back-end rotation options than he had last season. Former four-stars in Palmer and Grady have experience around big programs, and Grady has seen the Big Ten up close. Those are smart adds for a program like Minnesota, where they’ll see more action in a lower-pressure environment.
Why it won’t
It’s just unclear how Minnesota will make up for losing Cade Tyson. He did so much for that team in 2025-26, shooting over 41 percent from 3-point range while averaging 19.6 points per game. The depth is important for a long season, but the Gophers are relying on a lot of ‘ifs’ and unknowns to break their way in making up Tyson’s production.
Additionally, Minnesota was one of the worst rebounding teams in the country last season. Medved brought in some height, with Mpoyi (6-foot-11) and Kordel (7-foot-2), but the former has no collegiate experience and the latter has very little. If that pair struggles to acclimate in Minneapolis, this roster will have trouble against the size and physicality in the Big Ten.
Medved’s group played hard for him last year and showed some progress at times, but the Gophers will need a lot to go right in 2026-27 to put themselves in NCAA Tournament contention.
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