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Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson was hopeful a month ago that the core of his 19-win NIT team from this past season would be coming back.
After the transfer portal closed May 1, the Gophers ended up with seven players in the portal, including four of their top six scorers. The mass exodus resembled a similar period when Johnson took over the program in 2021.
Key departing players this year included Cam Christie (NBA draft, transfer portal), Pharrel Payne (Texas A&M), Elijah Hawkins (Texas Tech), Braeden Carrington (Tulsa) and Joshua Ola-Joseph (California Berkley).
Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, Johnson and his staff went to work to build the team back up again around leading scorer Dawson Garcia and three-point ace Mike Mitchell Jr., who resisted the pull for bigger NIL opportunities.
How did the Gophers fill more than half of their new roster in the spring? Here’s the 2024-25 team breakdown after additions from the portal and incoming recruits. Summer practice starts in early June.
Returning players
Mike Mitchell, 6-2 senior (San Jose, Calif.)
Started the last 23 games alongside Big Ten assist leader Hawkins. Mitchell averaged 10.2 points and 2.6 assists and shot a team-best 39.9% from three-point range with 77 threes.
Dawson Garcia, 6-11 senior (Savage)
Led the Gophers in scoring (17.6) and rebounding (6.7) in back-to-back seasons. Also had career highs in field-goal percentage (48.6), free-throw percentage (80.2), blocks (1.0) and minutes (31.9) to earn All-Big Ten.
Parker Fox, 6-8 senior (Mahtomedi)
After back-to-back seasons missed with injuries, Fox was a sixth man and ranked second in team history at 68.3% on field goals last season. Will be back for his seventh season.
Kadyn Betts, 6-9 sophomore (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Former four-star recruit averaged 7.1 minutes in eight games last season. Was consistently the team’s top performer on the scout team in practice.
Incoming transfers
Trey Edmonds, 6-10 senior (Texas San Antonio)
At 255 pounds, the Denver…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gophers-men-basketball-roster-gets-193600189.html
Author : Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Publish date : 2024-05-15 19:36:00
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