2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	0–0 (0–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Niko Medved (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Armon Gates (1st season); Brian Cooley (1st season); Dave Thorson (5th season); Chad Warner (1st season); Aaron Katsuma (1st season);
Home arena	Williams Arena

2025–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Illinois	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Indiana	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Iowa	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Maryland	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Michigan	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Michigan State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Nebraska	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Northwestern	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Ohio State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Oregon	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Penn State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Purdue	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Rutgers	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
UCLA	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
USC	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Washington	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Wisconsin	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–

† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of March 28, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gophers, led by first-year head coach Niko Medved, played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota as members of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Gophers finished the 2024–25 season 15–17, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a five-way tie for 12th place. As the No. 12 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost to Northwestern in the first round.

On March 13, 2025, the school fired head coach Ben Johnson.^[1] On March 24, the school named Colorado State head coach Niko Medved the team's new coach.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Frank Mitchell	00	F	6'8"	260	Junior	Toronto, ON	Transferred to St. Bonaventure
Mike Mitchell Jr.	2	G	6'2"	185	Senior	San Jose, CA	Transferred
Dawson Garcia	3	F	6'11"	234	Senior	Savage, MN	Graduated/undrafted in 2024 NBA draft; signed with the Detroit Pistons
Kadyn Betts	4	F	6'8"	225	Sophomore	Pueblo, CO	Transferred to Montana
Trey Edmonds	5	F/C	6'10"	250	Senior	Aurora, CO	Transferred
Caleb Williams	6	G	6'2"	200	Senior	Wild Rose, WI	Graduated
Max Sheridan	7	G	6'0"	175	Sophomore	Los Angeles, CA	Walk-on; transferred to Menlo
Femi Odukale	11	G	6'6"	215	Graduate Student	Brooklyn, NY	Transferred
Parker Fox	23	F	6'8"	220	Graduate Student	Mahtomedi, MN	Graduated
Brennan Rigsby	24	G	6'3"	185	Senior	De Beque, CO	Transferred to Radford
Lu'Cye Patterson	25	G	6'2"	202	Senior	Minneapolis, MN	Transferred
Tyler Cochran	28	G	6'3"	225	Senior	Bolingbrook, IL	Transferred to Rhode Island
Lincoln Meister	54	F	6'9"	240	Graduate Student	Rochester, MN	Walk-on; graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Chansey Willis Jr.	0	G	6'2"	190	Senior	Detroit, MI	Western Michigan
Bobby Durkin	3	F	6'7"	215	Junior	Darien, IL	Davidson
Nehemiah Turner	4	F	6'10"	265	Sophomore	Auburndale, FL	Central Arkansas
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson	5	F	6'8"	230	Junior	San Antonio, TX	Colorado State
Langston Reynolds	6	G	6'4"	205	Senior	Denver, CO	Northern Colorado
Cade Tyson	10	G/F	6'7"	200	Senior	Monroe, NC	North Carolina
Maximus Gizzi	11	G	6'1"	185	Graduate Student	New Palestine	Walk-on; Huntington
Chance Stephens	13	G	6'3"	185	Junior	Riverside, CA	Maryland
BJ Omot	20	F	6'8"	185	Junior	Mankato, Minnesota	California
Robert Vaihola	22	F	6'8"	260	Senior	San Mateo, CA	San Jose State

Recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Kai Shinholster SG	Philadelphia, PA	William Penn Charter School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sep 4, 2024
Kai Shinholster SG	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved July 24, 2025.

Roster

2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Chansey Jr. Willis	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Detroit King Western Michigan	Detroit, MI
G	1	Isaac Asuma	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	So	Cherry	Cherry, MN
F	2	Grayson Grove	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Fr	Alexandria	Alexandria, MN
F	3	Bobby Durkin	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Glenbard Davidson	Darien, IL
F	4	Nehemiah Turner	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	So	Auburndale	Auburndale, FL
F	5	Jaylen Crocker-Johnson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Warren Colorado State	San Antonio, TX
G	6	Langston Reynolds	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Colorado Prep Northern Colorado	Denver, CO
G	8	Max Lorenson (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Fr	Eden Prairie	Eden Prairie, MN
G	9	Kai Shinholster	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	William Penn Charter	Woolwich, NJ
G/F	10	Cade Tyson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Carmel Christian School North Carolina	Monroe, NC
G	11	Maximus Gizzi (W)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	GS	New Palestine Huntington	New Palestine
F	12	Erick Reader (W)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	New Life Academy	Bloomington, MN
G	13	Chance Stephens	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS Jr	Riverside Polytechnic Loyola Marymount	Riverside, CA
F	20	BJ Omot	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	RS Jr	Mankato East California	Mankato, MN
F	22	Robert Vaihola	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	RS Sr	Archbishop Riordan San Jose State	San Mateo, CA

Head coach

Niko Medved (Minnesota)

Assistant coach(es)

Armon Gates (Kent State)
Brian Cooley (Nebraska Wesleyan)
Dave Thorson (Hamline)
Chad Warner (Georgia)
Aaron Katsuma (Minnesota State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 16, 2025* TBA	North Dakota State	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
October 25, 2025* TBA	North Dakota	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
Regular season
November 3, 2025* TBA	Gardner–Webb	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 8, 2025* TBA	Alcorn State	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 12, 2025* TBA	at Missouri	Mizzou Arena Columbia, MO
November 15, 2025* TBA	Green Bay	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 18, 2025* TBA	Chicago State Acrisure Invitational campus site game	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 22, 2025* TBA	vs. San Francisco	Sanford Pentagon Sioux Falls, SD
November 27, 2025* 8:30 p.m., CBSSN	vs. Stanford Acrisure Invitational semifinals	Acrisure Arena Thousand Palms, CA
November 28, 2025* 6:00 p.m./8:30 p.m., TruTV	vs. Saint Louis/Santa Clara Acrisure Invitational 3rd place/championship	Acrisure Arena Thousand Palms, CA
December 14, 2025* TBA	Texas Southern	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 21, 2025* TBA	Campbell	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 29, 2025* TBA	Fairleigh Dickinson	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten tournament
March 11–15, 2026 TBA	vs.	United Center Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

^ "Minnesota fires Johnson after 4 years as coach". ESPN.com. 2025-03-13. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
^ Hamilton, Brian (2025-03-24). "Minnesota hiring Colorado State's Niko Medved as next men's basketball coach". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-24.

External links

"2025–26 Men's Basketball Schedule". gophersports.com. Retrieved 2025-07-24.

[1] "Minnesota fires Johnson after 4 years as coach". ESPN.com. 2025-03-13. Retrieved 2025-03-17.

[2] Hamilton, Brian (2025-03-24). "Minnesota hiring Colorado State's Niko Medved as next men's basketball coach". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-24.

[1]

[2]

Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
Venues	On-campus YMCA (1895–1896) UM Armory (1896–1925) Kenwood Armory (1925–1928) Williams Arena (1928–present)
Culture & lore	Goldy Gopher "Minnesota Rouser" Scandal
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics