The Minnesota Gophers have started over with new coach Niko Medved. On Monday, they'll begin their non-conference season against Gardner-Webb and despite having a couple of exhibition games under their belt, they'll enter 2025-26 with a team that is brand-new.
Medved started at Minnesota as a student manager under Clem Haskins from 1993-96 and guided Colorado State to three NCAA Tournament appearances over his last four seasons while hitting the 25-win mark in each of them.
He inherits a Gopher team that has won only two NCAA Tournament games in 28 years since Haskins took them to their only Final Four appearance - an appearance that is struck from official records thanks to an academic scandal the eventually forced the University of Minnesota to part with Haskins.
Medved has been working with this group of new - even to each other - players all summer and they've easily dispatched North Dakota and North Dakota St. in exhibitions. Medved knows things will be different come Monday.
"It's one thing to do it in the summer, it's another thing to do it when you really start getting up and down, you get fatigued, there's another opponent across from you," says Medved. "You know, figuring out that balance."
Sophomore guard Isaac Asuma is one of only two players who remained on the roster from last season. Cade Tyson, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Chansey Willis Jr. lead the list of transfers that Medved and Gophers fans hope can start to turn around the fortunes of a team that has struggled for success.
"I've said it from the beginning, I really love them as human beings," Medved explained in September after starting practice with his new group of players. "Their approach so far has been terrific. They've come in every day, they've been really, really coachable, tried to do what we ask them to do, and so, just the way they've gone about their business every day really, really excites me. Because of that, this group is going to keep getting better."
Minnesota (15-17, 7-13 Big Ten)
The Gophers have started over with new coach Niko Medved, who rebuilt mid-major programs at Furman and Colorado State and gets his first crack at running a power conference team at his alma mater. Medved guided the Rams to three NCAA Tournament appearances over his last four seasons, hitting the 25-win mark in each of them. The Gophers have won only two NCAA Tournament games in 28 years since Clem Haskins took them to their only Final Four appearance. Sophomore guard Isaac Asuma is one of only two players who remained on the roster after Medved's predecessor, Ben Johnson, was fired.
Players to watch
Cade Tyson (senior, wing, 6-7, 2.6 ppg at North Carolina) leads the list of the 10 transfers. Tyson, who was second in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage in 2023-24 with Belmont, had 54 points on 18-for-26 shooting, including 10 for 15 from deep, over two exhibition games.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (junior, forward, 6-8, 9.0 ppg at Colorado State) was the only player Medved took with him from the Rams.
Chansey Willis Jr. (senior, point guard, 6-2, 16.8 ppg at Western Michigan) led the Mid-American Conference in scoring, while ranking fifth in the league in steals and assist-to-turnover ratio.
Departures and arrivals
Asuma was the only one among the 14 players to appear in a game last season who's back with the Gophers, with fifth-year senior Dawson Garcia the most impactful of the departures. Asuma is also likely to be the only player in the regular rotation who didn't transfer in. Robert Vaihola, who was fourth in the Mountain West in rebounds and blocks last season with San Jose State, joins Crocker-Johnson in a scrappy if undersized frontcourt. Langston Reynolds (Northern Colorado) ought to provide quality backcourt depth. Bobby Durkin (Davidson) is a 3-point shooting ace at 6-foot-7.
Top games
The Gophers host Gardner-Webb in their opener on Monday. Their only nonconference road game at Missouri on Nov. 12 will be an early measuring sticke. Big Ten play gets real for the Gophers right away, with Indiana coming to Williams Arena on Dec. 3 and a trip to No. 1 Purdue a week later. Minnesota plays No. 24 Wisconsin twice in January, and there's a late three-game stretch that figures to be one of the toughest on the schedule: at No. 7 Michigan on Feb. 24, at home against No. 12 UCLA on Feb. 28, and at Indiana on March 4.
Facts and figures
There are six seniors and four juniors on the roster, with only one true freshman scholarship player: guard Kai Shinholster, the only recruit who upheld his commitment to the Gophers after the coaching change. ... All seven nonconference home games are against low-major opponents. Gardner-Webb, Alcorn State, Green Bay, Chicago State, Texas Southern, Campbell and Farleigh Dickinson all had losing records last season, going a combined 73-151.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.