Minnesota Preliminary Roster Preview

CHANGES

5/1 - Added Caleb Williams transfer from Division III Macalester.
5/1 - Cam Christie puts his name in the transfer portal.
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Next are the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 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.  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 number of wins in Johnson’s first two seasons combined. Now he returns 2 or 3 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
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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
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Declaring for the draft after his freshman season seems amitious for Christie.  He was a 4-star player ranked #135 out of high school.  However, some of the draft sites project him as a 2nd-round pick or even a late first-round pick.  However, I look at 11 points per game and 39% three-point shooting, and that doesn't scream NBA player to me.

After he also puts his name in the portal, it seems a lot less likely he is returning to the Golden Gophers.

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
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
Cam Christie	33	26	20	11	3.6	2.2	2nd leading scorer.

Cam Christie comes off a solid freshman campaign in which he was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team.  He also declared for the NBA draft.

Pharrel Payne – He started the last 19 games of the season and was a force inside. 

Joshua Ola-Joseph – He started in 19 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

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	FG%	3Pt%	A/TO	Class	Recruiting  Stars	Recruiting Rank
Dawson Garcia	31	31	32	18	6.7	1.6	49%	32%	0.8	Sr	4	37
Cam Christie	33	26	30	11	3.6	2.2	40%	39%	1.9	So	4	135
Mike Mitchell Jr.	34	24	30	10	2.7	2.6	42%	40%	1.5	Sr	3	179
Parker Fox	34	1	14	5	2.9	0.7	69%		1.5	Sr 7	Unranked
Kadyn Betts F	8	0	7	1	0.3	0.4	27%	13%	1.5	So	3	233

If Christie comes back, Minnesota returns three starters including their top three scorers and their leading rebounder.  After that, they don't return much production.  

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 .

Parker Fox will be back for a seventh season after transferring from Division II and sitting out two seasons with knee injuries.

Parker Fox – Fox made more of an impact than anyone outside of Johnson could’ve expected. He played in every game, got one start and averaged 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. His energy gave the Gophers a spark off the bench. 

Kadyn Betts – He played in just eight games and is a redshirt freshman. We don’t know enough about his game to make a determination on next season.

RECRUITS

Brennan Rigsby was a solid backup for the injury-plagued Ducks last season.  He should be able to provide some backup minutes for the Golden Gophers.  Since he 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, Wis., 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

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