Minnesota Golden Gophers

2023-24 Result: 19-15 (9-11 Big 10), NIT Appearance

Key Additions

Tyler Cochran (Toldeo)

Femi Odukale (New Mexico State)

Frank Mitchell (Canisius)

Brennan Rigsby (Oregon)

Lu’Cye Patterson (Charlotte)

Caleb Williams (DIII transfer)

Minnesota was very active in the portal this season after the departures of Cam Christie to the NBA and Elijah Hawkins and Pharrel Payne. Ben Johnson brought in 8 players via the portal this season including Tyler Cochran, Femi Odukale, Frank Mitchell, Brennan Rigsby, Lu’Cye Patterson, and Caleb Williams, who is a D3 transfer after scoring 41 points against the Golden Gophers in an exhibition game last season. Things will look different for Minnesota this year, especially since they lost three key pieces, but they do have Mike Mitchell and Dawson Garcia back to steady the team.

The loss of Pharrel Payne will be crucial for the Golden Gophers defense. He was a large part of their 51st best blocks per game stat a year ago. The return of Dawson Garcia was massive because without him, their defensive frontcourt would have been in a world of hurt. In the backcourt, the loss of pesky guard Elijah Hawkins will be a big loss, but Ben Johnson did a nice job bringing in other guards that can bother opposing backcourts. Tyler Cochran and versatile defender, Femi Odukale, will be key contributors to the defense. While losing Payne will hurt, the return of Garcia and the additions through the portal will have this defense in a better spot, but still right around the middle of the country.

Luckily for Minnesota, its best offensive player is back. Dawson Garcia will be ready to go as the go-to scorer for the Golden Gophers. Losing Cam Christie and Pharrel Payne, both of whom were double-digit scorers, will hurt, but Johnson did a great job bringing in guys to replace them like Cochran, Odukale, Frank Mitchell, and Lu’Cye Patterson. Having shooter and point guard Mike Mitchell back will be good too since the offense has a bunch of sub-35 % three-point shooters outside of him. One interesting player on this Golden Gopher team is Caleb Williams, who is a D3 transfer. He dropped 40 on Minnesota in an exhibition game a year ago, so they had to give him a shot. It is unlikely that it will translate to the BIG 10 from D3 Macalester, but you never know. Shooters can shoot anywhere. The Minnesota offense will go as far as Dawson Garcia can take them, but the supporting cast around him might be good enough to take some pressure off.

Dawson Garcia will win some games for the Golden Gophers, but that will be it. They will play hard and compete in some games, but they just aren’t deep enough or talented enough to finish well in this conference. Unfortunately, Garcia’s final season with Minnesota will be a rocky one leading to a bottom-end finish in the BIG 10.