Minnesota's leading scorer Cade Tyson has rejoined the team with the intent to play this season, the university announced on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-7 Tyson has enrolled in classes for the fall semester and will practice with the Gophers while waiting for official eligibility clearance.
Tyson was part of a group of college basketball players from the high school graduating class of 2022 who won in court the right to play another year, after being excluded from the NCAA's approval in June of a new eligibility model for Division I athletes that allows five seasons of competition over a five-year period.
Tyson's status went back into flux when a federal appeals court temporarily halted that initial order.
“We’re excited to have Cade rejoin our program,” coach Niko Medved said. "We’re here to support him in any way we can through this process and are looking forward to having Cade around the facility and program.”
Tyson averaged 19.6 points and 36.7 minutes to lead the Gophers in his first season with the program, after playing two years at Belmont and one at North Carolina. Over four college seasons, Tyson has 1,621 points and 213 made 3-pointers in 124 games.
He obviously adds a lot of experience, and a clear go-to player for a team hoping to build on what was a successful first year under Medved, despite an extremely limited roster.
"I think there's definitely still a possibility that he could play for us next year, but a lot of that's out of his control, and a lot of it's out of our control, to be honest," adds Medved. "So, there's so many moving parts with that right now, not just with him, but with all these other players right now."
Medved adds this is an issue for coaches all across NCAA sports, not just basketball and not just with the Gophers.
"It's up to the courts right now, it depends when these hearings happen and then what does the NCAA do after that? It puts all of us in a tough spot," Medved told WCCO's Chad Hartman last week at the Minnesota State Fair. "And so, you know, you have to be able to manage those things and know what it is. I mean, PJ (Fleck) is in the same boat over there with football too. You could, in theory, have a kid on your team and he may not get eligible four games in, or be ineligible after that, and there's not many guys that I would consider even going down the road with. But, you know, he is one of those guys."
Minnesota opens the regular season on Nov. 2 against North Dakota.
