Post by mhbruin on Mar 27, 2024 13:54:26 GMT -8
CHANGES
5/1 - Added Caleb Williams transfer from Division III Macalester.
5/1 - Cam Christie puts his name in the transfer portal.
5/6 - Added transfer Trey Edmonds III from UTSA
5/12 - Added transfers CG Lu'Cye Patterson and Femi Odukale
5/29 Cam Christie stays in the draft
====================
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are coached by Ben Johson who is in his third season. This is his first head coaching job. If he doesn't start winning more, it may be his last. His last job was as an assistant at Xavier, where he was known as an excellent recruiter. So far he has won 25% of his conference games.
Minnesota finished in a three-way tie for 9th place in the B1G which is an improvement over Johnson's first two seasons when they finished 13th and 14th in a league with 14 teams.. The Gophers finished 19-15 overall, and 9-11 in Big Ten play. Their 19 wins is 10 better than the 9-22 debacle in 2022-23. The 9 league wins is more than the total number of wins in Johnson’s first two seasons combined. Now he returns 2 starters.
Minnesota had a decent offense at #58, but they were only #115 at defense.
Minnesota has had some coaches with interesting families and pasts. They include Bill Musselman (father of Eric, coach of the dark side), Jim Dutcher (father of Brian, coach of SDSU), Don Monson who came from Gonzaga, Tubby Smith who came from Kentucky, and Richard Pitino son of some old coach.
GRADUATING
This isn't a big loss. These guys played less than Kenneth Nwuba.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
Cam Christie's brother it Max Chiristie who left Michigan State after one season and plays for the Lakers.
Declaring for the draft after his freshman season seems amitious for Christie, even if he was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. . He was a 4-star player ranked #135 out of high school. However, I look at 11 points per game and 39% three-point shooting, and that doesn't scream NBA player to me. He didn't lead the Gophers in any statistical category.
Cam Christie doesn't care what I think, and he chose to stay in the draft.
TRANSFERRING OUT
Pharrel Payne – He started the last 19 games of the season and was a force inside.
Joshua Ola-Joseph – He started in 18 games, but barely saw the floor by the end of the year as his minutes got heavily reduced.
Braeden Carrington – He played in 29 games and got 10 starts, having a brief absence from the team for mental health reasons. Carrington often drew tough defensive assignments and provided a spark from the perimeter.
Isaiah Ihnen – Coming off two knee surgeries, Ihnen didn’t have the season he would’ve wanted. He saw his minutes heavily reduced after starting seven games.
Kris Keinys – He played in just five games as a freshman.
Elijah Hawkins is the biggest loss. He had told Minnesota he was staying, but 9 days before the portal closed he changed his mind. He plays PG and led the team in assists and steals. He was #3 in the nation in assists per game. His 247 total assists set a Gophers single-season record.
RETURNING
By today's standards Minnesota returns a decent amount of production. The assists are a bit low with the departure of Elijah Hawkins.
Minnesota returns two starters including their leading scorers and #3 scorer, as well as their leading rebounder.
(#76 class, #16 in BiG)
These guys don't look like instant impact players. Minnesota isn't getting serious help from the high-school ranks.
TRANSFERRING IN
THe transfer class isn't all that much better than the high-school class. It just has more bodies, none of whom are ranked in the Top 300. Half of them aren't ranked at all.
Brennan Rigsby was a solid backup for the injury-plagued Ducks last season. However, it should be noted that even with a ton of injuries, he couldn't consistently get into the starting lineup. He should be able to provide some backup minutes for the Golden Gophers. With their weak roster, he might even be a regular starter. Since Rigsby transferred to a B1G school, I will still be able to make bad Eleanor Rigby jokes for one more season.
Frank Mitchell played starting center for Canisius. At 6-8, I doubt he will play the same position in the B1G as he played in the MAAC. He was the #4 rebounder in the country last season.
Caleb Williams (not the SC QB) scored 41 points against the Minnesota in an exhibition game in November. The Wild Rose, Wisconsin native averaged 21.4 points per game for the Division III program last year. Caleb was named All Region and All-MIAC honors for the third consecutive season. Williams has one season of eligibility left.
It's a cliche about versatile players to say they even washed the uniforms. In this case it is literally true. Williams did the team laundry after games and after practice. (Life in Division III.) Caleb was a physics and mathematics double major at Macalester with a 3.94 grade point
Trey Edmonds with the 8th-leading scorer and the 2nd-leading recounder for the 13th place Roadrunners (out of 14 teams) in the AAC. In other words he was hardly a star for a bad team.
Femi Odukale played 2 season at Pitt, and one season at Seton Hall before transferring to New Mexico State. He was a starter at both Power 6 schools, so he can play at this level. He will likely start for Minnesota. However, he is less than 32% from the arc for his career.
Lu'Cye (don't call him "Lucy") Patterson led the 49ers in points and steals, and he was 2nd in assists. With no obvious point guard, he is likely to inherit that role.
Frank Mitchell is going from the Golden Griffins to the Golden Gophers. After this year, he will still have a season to play for the Golden Bears or the Golden Eagles. Or he could transfer to the Colorado School of Mines and play in Golden Colorado. They are the Orediggers.
The Orediggers have two mascots, Blaster the Burro and Marvin the Miner.
They also have a live Burro.
The running of the Burro doesn't seem quite as exciting as when Ralphie runs across the field in Boulder.
CONCLUSION
Somebody's got to finish in last place in the Big Ten. Minnesota is a likely candidate.
Without Cam Christie returns, the Gophers begin with two returning starters.
After those guys, they return a few guys who didn't produce much last year. They are going to have to depend a lot on freshman PG Isaac Asuma and journeyman Oregon transfer Brennan Rigsby. Perhaps Frank Mtichell can successfully make the jump from Division III to the B1G. That's not a roster that should bring smiles to people in the Twin Cities.
The Golden Gophers are seriously lacking in talent, with no 5-star and only one 4-star player. They look like a team destined to be fighting to stay out of last place in the Big Ten.
Torvick projects Minnesota to finish 69th in the country and 17th in the B1G. He projects records of 17-14 and 8-12 in conference.
247 predicts the Gophers finish dead last in the Big Ten.
Vrooman predicts a 17th place finish. Everybody agrees Minnesota will suck.
Vrooman writes:
17. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Projected Adjusted Efficiency Margin: +13.01 (+10.39 last year)
Coaching Info: Ben Johnson -2.95 (63rd)
5 Highest Rated Players: 6’11 F Dawson Garcia (17.6 pts, 6.7 reb), 6’2 G Mike Mitchell (10.2 pts, 39.9% 3pt), 6’2 G Lu’Cye Patterson (Charlotte- 14.6 pts, 3.4 reb), 6’8 C Frank Mitchell (Canisius- 12.1 pts, 11.6 reb), 6’6 G Femi Odukale (New Mexico St- 10.7 pts, 6.4 reb)
It looked like Ben Johnson may have been on the fast track to getting fired given that Minnesota went a combined 6-33 in B1G play over his first 2 seasons. He pulled out of the spiral though this past season and they finished a very respectable 19-15 (9-11) in year three. The good news is that Johnson was able to retain star forward and former UNC transfer Dawson Garcia who was 6th in the Big Ten in scoring last season and is the leading returning scorer in the conference. The bad news is that three other starters left either to the portal or the NBA.
Minnesota did what they could do replace those pieces in the portal. There are five new players who figure to factor into the rotation. Frank Mitchell averaged a double double at Canisius last season while Lu’Cye Patterson averaged nearly 15 points per game for Charlotte. Husky fans are familiar with Oregon transfer guard Brennan Rigsby who will help solidify the guard rotation. It’s not a terrible roster but there are no terrible rosters in this conference at the moment so someone has to finish near the bottom.
5/1 - Added Caleb Williams transfer from Division III Macalester.
5/1 - Cam Christie puts his name in the transfer portal.
5/6 - Added transfer Trey Edmonds III from UTSA
5/12 - Added transfers CG Lu'Cye Patterson and Femi Odukale
5/29 Cam Christie stays in the draft
====================
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are coached by Ben Johson who is in his third season. This is his first head coaching job. If he doesn't start winning more, it may be his last. His last job was as an assistant at Xavier, where he was known as an excellent recruiter. So far he has won 25% of his conference games.
Minnesota finished in a three-way tie for 9th place in the B1G which is an improvement over Johnson's first two seasons when they finished 13th and 14th in a league with 14 teams.. The Gophers finished 19-15 overall, and 9-11 in Big Ten play. Their 19 wins is 10 better than the 9-22 debacle in 2022-23. The 9 league wins is more than the total number of wins in Johnson’s first two seasons combined. Now he returns 2 starters.
Minnesota had a decent offense at #58, but they were only #115 at defense.
Minnesota has had some coaches with interesting families and pasts. They include Bill Musselman (father of Eric, coach of the dark side), Jim Dutcher (father of Brian, coach of SDSU), Don Monson who came from Gonzaga, Tubby Smith who came from Kentucky, and Richard Pitino son of some old coach.
GRADUATING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes |
| Jack Wilson | 7 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0.4 | |
| Will Ramberg | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.9 | |
| . |
This isn't a big loss. These guys played less than Kenneth Nwuba.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Can Return? |
| Cam Christie | 33 | 26 | 30 | 11 | 3.6 | 2.2 | Yes |
Cam Christie's brother it Max Chiristie who left Michigan State after one season and plays for the Lakers.
Declaring for the draft after his freshman season seems amitious for Christie, even if he was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. . He was a 4-star player ranked #135 out of high school. However, I look at 11 points per game and 39% three-point shooting, and that doesn't scream NBA player to me. He didn't lead the Gophers in any statistical category.
Cam Christie doesn't care what I think, and he chose to stay in the draft.
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes | Destination |
| Pharrel Payne | 32 | 19 | 23 | 10 | 6.1 | 1.2 | 2nd in rebounds, led in blocks | Texas A&M |
| Joshua Ola-Joseph | 29 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 2.2 | 0.5 | California | |
| Braeden Carrington | 29 | 10 | 21 | 5 | 3.2 | 1.1 | Tulsa | |
| Isaiah Ihnen | 28 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 1.9 | 0.4 | Liberty | |
| Kris Keinys | 5 | 0 | ||||||
| Elijah Hawkins | 33 | 33 | 33 | 10 | 3.5 | 7.5 | #3 in the nation in assists | Texas Tech |
Pharrel Payne – He started the last 19 games of the season and was a force inside.
Joshua Ola-Joseph – He started in 18 games, but barely saw the floor by the end of the year as his minutes got heavily reduced.
Braeden Carrington – He played in 29 games and got 10 starts, having a brief absence from the team for mental health reasons. Carrington often drew tough defensive assignments and provided a spark from the perimeter.
Isaiah Ihnen – Coming off two knee surgeries, Ihnen didn’t have the season he would’ve wanted. He saw his minutes heavily reduced after starting seven games.
Kris Keinys – He played in just five games as a freshman.
Elijah Hawkins is the biggest loss. He had told Minnesota he was staying, but 9 days before the portal closed he changed his mind. He plays PG and led the team in assists and steals. He was #3 in the nation in assists per game. His 247 total assists set a Gophers single-season record.
RETURNING
| STAT | RETURNING |
| Starts | 33% |
| Minutes | 37% |
| Points | 37% |
| 3-Pointers Made | 38% |
| Rebounds | 33% |
| Assists | 29% |
| Steals | 43% |
| Blocks | 42% |
By today's standards Minnesota returns a decent amount of production. The assists are a bit low with the departure of Elijah Hawkins.
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3Pt% | A/TO | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Dawson Garcia F | 6-11 230 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 18 | 6.7 | 1.6 | 49% | 32% | 0.8 | Sr | 4 | 37 |
| Mike Mitchell Jr. F | 6-2 185 | 34 | 24 | 30 | 10 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 42% | 40% | 1.5 | Sr | 3 | 179 |
| Parker Fox F | 6-8 220 | 34 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 69% | 1.5 | Sr 7 | Unranked | ||
| Kadyn Betts F | 6-8 220 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 27% | 13% | 1.5 | So | 3 | 233 |
Minnesota returns two starters including their leading scorers and #3 scorer, as well as their leading rebounder.
Dawson Garcia – A Second-Team All-Big Ten pick, Garcia led the Gophers in scoring and rebounding in 31 starts. You might remember him from Marquette.
Cam Christie – An All-Big Ten Freshman Team pick, Christie averaged 11.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 28 starts. He shot 39 percent from the perimeter. His defense and shot selection need work, but he’s also projected to be a late first round pick in the NBA Draft. Having Christie back would be huge for the Gophers next season.
Mike Mitchell Jr. – The Pepperdine transfer started 24 games this season. He gives the Gophers a backcourt scoring presence that they have lacked in the past. He has one year left .
After those two, there are a sub and a guy who was deep on the bench.
Parker Fox will be back for a seventh season after transferring from Division II and sitting out two seasons with knee injuries. Fox made more of an impact than anyone outside of Coach Johnson could’ve expected. He played in every game, got one start.
Kadyn Betts – He played in just eight games and is a redshirt freshman.
With only two proven players returning, the Golden Gophers need some serious help.
RECRUITS
Cam Christie – An All-Big Ten Freshman Team pick, Christie averaged 11.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 28 starts. He shot 39 percent from the perimeter. His defense and shot selection need work, but he’s also projected to be a late first round pick in the NBA Draft. Having Christie back would be huge for the Gophers next season.
Mike Mitchell Jr. – The Pepperdine transfer started 24 games this season. He gives the Gophers a backcourt scoring presence that they have lacked in the past. He has one year left .
After those two, there are a sub and a guy who was deep on the bench.
Parker Fox will be back for a seventh season after transferring from Division II and sitting out two seasons with knee injuries. Fox made more of an impact than anyone outside of Coach Johnson could’ve expected. He played in every game, got one start.
Kadyn Betts – He played in just eight games and is a redshirt freshman.
With only two proven players returning, the Golden Gophers need some serious help.
RECRUITS
(#76 class, #16 in BiG)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Isaac Asuma | 6-3 190 | PG | 3 | 181 | Iowa, Iowa St, Butler |
| Grayson Grove | 6-8 190 | PF | 3 | 290 | Colorado St, Central Arkansas, Illinois St |
| . | |||||
| . |
These guys don't look like instant impact players. Minnesota isn't getting serious help from the high-school ranks.
TRANSFERRING IN
| SOURCE | NATIONAL CLASS RANK | BIG TEN CLASS RANK |
| 247 | 78 | 14 |
| Evan Miya | 67 | 11 |
THe transfer class isn't all that much better than the high-school class. It just has more bodies, none of whom are ranked in the Top 300. Half of them aren't ranked at all.
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG % | 3-Pt % | A/TO | From | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Transfer Rank |
| Brennan Rigsby | 6-3 180 | 36 | 13 | 23 | 6 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 41% | 35% | 1.5 | Oregon | Sr | Unranked | 379 | |
| Frank Mitchell | 6-8 240 | 31 | 31 | 29 | 12 | 11.6 | 1.5 | 56% | 33% | 0.7 | Canisius | Jr | Unranked | 317 | |
| Caleb Williams | 6-2 | 25 | 25 | 36 | 20 | 4.0 | 2.8 | 44% | 34% | 1.2 | Macalester | Sr 5 | Unranked | Unranked | |
| Trey Edmonds III | 6-10 255 | 32 | 32 | 22 | 7 | 5.8 | 0.3 | 56% | -- | 0.3 | UTSA | Sr | Unranked | 394 | |
| Femi Odukale | 6-6 185 | 26 | 16 | 29 | 11 | 6.4 | 3.0 | 43% | 31% | 1.4 | New Mexico St | Sr 5 | 3 | 187 | Unranked |
| Lu'Cye Patterson | 6-2 195 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 15 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 44% | 35% | 2.0 | Charlotte | Sr 5 | Unranked | Unranked |
Brennan Rigsby was a solid backup for the injury-plagued Ducks last season. However, it should be noted that even with a ton of injuries, he couldn't consistently get into the starting lineup. He should be able to provide some backup minutes for the Golden Gophers. With their weak roster, he might even be a regular starter. Since Rigsby transferred to a B1G school, I will still be able to make bad Eleanor Rigby jokes for one more season.
Frank Mitchell played starting center for Canisius. At 6-8, I doubt he will play the same position in the B1G as he played in the MAAC. He was the #4 rebounder in the country last season.
Caleb Williams (not the SC QB) scored 41 points against the Minnesota in an exhibition game in November. The Wild Rose, Wisconsin native averaged 21.4 points per game for the Division III program last year. Caleb was named All Region and All-MIAC honors for the third consecutive season. Williams has one season of eligibility left.
It's a cliche about versatile players to say they even washed the uniforms. In this case it is literally true. Williams did the team laundry after games and after practice. (Life in Division III.) Caleb was a physics and mathematics double major at Macalester with a 3.94 grade point
Trey Edmonds with the 8th-leading scorer and the 2nd-leading recounder for the 13th place Roadrunners (out of 14 teams) in the AAC. In other words he was hardly a star for a bad team.
Femi Odukale played 2 season at Pitt, and one season at Seton Hall before transferring to New Mexico State. He was a starter at both Power 6 schools, so he can play at this level. He will likely start for Minnesota. However, he is less than 32% from the arc for his career.
Lu'Cye (don't call him "Lucy") Patterson led the 49ers in points and steals, and he was 2nd in assists. With no obvious point guard, he is likely to inherit that role.
Frank Mitchell is going from the Golden Griffins to the Golden Gophers. After this year, he will still have a season to play for the Golden Bears or the Golden Eagles. Or he could transfer to the Colorado School of Mines and play in Golden Colorado. They are the Orediggers.
The Orediggers have two mascots, Blaster the Burro and Marvin the Miner.
They also have a live Burro.
The running of the Burro doesn't seem quite as exciting as when Ralphie runs across the field in Boulder.
CONCLUSION
Somebody's got to finish in last place in the Big Ten. Minnesota is a likely candidate.
Without Cam Christie returns, the Gophers begin with two returning starters.
After those guys, they return a few guys who didn't produce much last year. They are going to have to depend a lot on freshman PG Isaac Asuma and journeyman Oregon transfer Brennan Rigsby. Perhaps Frank Mtichell can successfully make the jump from Division III to the B1G. That's not a roster that should bring smiles to people in the Twin Cities.
The Golden Gophers are seriously lacking in talent, with no 5-star and only one 4-star player. They look like a team destined to be fighting to stay out of last place in the Big Ten.
Torvick projects Minnesota to finish 69th in the country and 17th in the B1G. He projects records of 17-14 and 8-12 in conference.
247 predicts the Gophers finish dead last in the Big Ten.
Vrooman predicts a 17th place finish. Everybody agrees Minnesota will suck.
Vrooman writes:
17. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Projected Adjusted Efficiency Margin: +13.01 (+10.39 last year)
Coaching Info: Ben Johnson -2.95 (63rd)
5 Highest Rated Players: 6’11 F Dawson Garcia (17.6 pts, 6.7 reb), 6’2 G Mike Mitchell (10.2 pts, 39.9% 3pt), 6’2 G Lu’Cye Patterson (Charlotte- 14.6 pts, 3.4 reb), 6’8 C Frank Mitchell (Canisius- 12.1 pts, 11.6 reb), 6’6 G Femi Odukale (New Mexico St- 10.7 pts, 6.4 reb)
It looked like Ben Johnson may have been on the fast track to getting fired given that Minnesota went a combined 6-33 in B1G play over his first 2 seasons. He pulled out of the spiral though this past season and they finished a very respectable 19-15 (9-11) in year three. The good news is that Johnson was able to retain star forward and former UNC transfer Dawson Garcia who was 6th in the Big Ten in scoring last season and is the leading returning scorer in the conference. The bad news is that three other starters left either to the portal or the NBA.
Minnesota did what they could do replace those pieces in the portal. There are five new players who figure to factor into the rotation. Frank Mitchell averaged a double double at Canisius last season while Lu’Cye Patterson averaged nearly 15 points per game for Charlotte. Husky fans are familiar with Oregon transfer guard Brennan Rigsby who will help solidify the guard rotation. It’s not a terrible roster but there are no terrible rosters in this conference at the moment so someone has to finish near the bottom.