How the new Gophers men’s basketball roster shapes up for next season

The only recognizable things about the new Gophers men s basketball association early this season will be its maroon-and-gold jerseys and guard Isaac Asuma Asuma a sophomore from Cherry Minn is the only returning participant who got any playing time in Ben Johnson s final year as head coach in - New head coach Niko Medved has brought in nine players from the NCAA transfer portal and retained one of three members in Johnson s class of high school additions Asuma and Grayson Grove a forward from Alexandria who redshirted a season ago are the only carryovers Hello my name is tags might be necessary when the Gophers start summer workouts next week It will be intriguing that we ll only have one participant on our unit who will have any idea what I m talking about when we start on Monday Medved joked to the Pioneer Press on Thursday That is Jaylen Crocker-Johnson a senior forward who followed Medved over from Colorado State via the portal The Gophers roster top to bottom appears to be more talented than last year s company which went - overall - in the Big Ten but it seems to lack the clear all-conference-type player it had a year ago in -foot- forward Dawson Garcia Western Michigan transfer guard Chansey Willis Jr might be the closest No option in the group The -foot- guard from Detroit led the Mid-American Conference in per-game points and rebounds last season When the U demands a bucket or a distributor next season the ball will likely be in his hands Asuma is also a presumed starter giving the U a pair of point guards in the lineup As a freshman he averaged points rebounds assists and turnovers in minutes a challenge How much he can break out as a true sophomore will help determine the squad s ceiling next winter Given its disparate parts leadership will be needed even more Asuma and Crocker-Johnson and perhaps Willis are on the short list of players who will be called in to provide it Medved s first company at the U has a handful of guys who can play multiple positions and have different skill sets One example is a subset of - or - wings in Bobby Durkin Davidson Cade Tyson North Carolina and BJ Omot California Heading into his first practice Medved was contemplating how certain mixes of guys might play together I kind of like having various of that feeling he noted The Gophers were th in the -team Big Ten in -point shooting last season but Medved feels like they might have improved on that too Tyson is a career shooter primarily at his first stop Belmont and Durkin at We located a mix of various guys who can shoot the ball and specific guys who can attack the lane too so I like that Medved disclosed Instead of the senior-dominant roster Johnson had a year ago Minnesota has only three players Tyson Reynolds and - center Robert Vaihola who are expected to run out of eligibility at the end of next season There s a little bit more balance in classes and there is specific opportunity to create specific continuity moving forward Medved disclosed I think that s pivotal too BREAKDOWN The Pioneer Press early breakdown of Niko Medved s first men s basketball roster Projected starting five G Isaac Asuma G Chansey Willis F Jaylen Crocker-Johnson F Bobby Durkin C Robert Vaihola Sixth man candidates G Langston Reynolds F Cade Tyson Feasible rotation players F BJ Omot C Nehemiah Turner Rest of roster G Chance Stephens F Grayson Grove G Kai Shinholster F Erick Reader Related Articles Gophers forward B J Omot to miss summer workouts with leg injury Men s basketball North Carolina transfer Cade Tyson commits to Gophers Men s basketball Gophers add East Ridge guard Cedric Tomes to class Gophers add Maryland transfer guard Chance Stephens Gophers add -foot- transfer center from Central Arkansas