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	6–5 (1–1 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
No. 15 Nebraska	2	–	0	1.000	11	–	0	1.000
No. 2 Michigan	2	–	0	1.000	10	–	0	1.000
No. 9 Michigan State	2	–	0	1.000	10	–	1	.909
No. 6 Purdue	2	–	0	1.000	10	–	1	.909
UCLA	2	–	0	1.000	8	–	3	.727
USC	1	–	1	.500	11	–	1	.917
Iowa	1	–	1	.500	9	–	2	.818
Ohio State	1	–	1	.500	8	–	2	.800
No. 18 Illinois	1	–	1	.500	8	–	3	.727
Indiana	1	–	1	.500	8	–	3	.727
Wisconsin	1	–	1	.500	7	–	3	.700
Washington	1	–	1	.500	7	–	3	.700
Minnesota	1	–	1	.500	6	–	5	.545
Penn State	0	–	2	.000	8	–	3	.727
Northwestern	0	–	2	.000	7	–	4	.636
Maryland	0	–	2	.000	6	–	5	.545
Oregon	0	–	2	.000	6	–	5	.545
Rutgers	0	–	2	.000	5	–	6	.455

† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of December 17, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represents 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, play 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

Minnesota departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Frank Mitchell	00	F	6'8"	260	RS Junior	Toronto, ON	Transferred to St. Bonaventure
Mike Mitchell Jr.	2	G	6'2"	185	Senior	San Jose, CA	Graduated; signed professional contract with Leicester Riders
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	RS Sophomore	Pueblo, CO	Transferred to Montana
Trey Edmonds	5	F/C	6'10"	250	Senior	Aurora, CO	Graduated; signed professional contract with KB Besëlidhja
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	GS Senior	Brooklyn, NY	Graduated; signed professional contract with BC Prievidza
Parker Fox	23	F	6'8"	220	GS Senior	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	RS Senior	Minneapolis, MN	Graduated
Tyler Cochran	28	G	6'3"	225	Senior	Bolingbrook, IL	Transferred to Rhode Island
Lincoln Meister	54	F	6'9"	240	GS Senior	Rochester, MN	Walk-on; graduated

Incoming transfers

Minnesota 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"	220	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"		GS Senior	New Palestine	Walk-on; Huntington
Chance Stephens	13	G	6'3"	185	RS Junior	Riverside, CA	Maryland
BJ Omot	20	F	6'8"	195	RS Junior	Mankato, Minnesota	California
Robert Vaihola	22	F	6'8"	260	RS 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.

Preseason

The Golden Gophers were picked to finish in 16th place in a preseason poll of media members.^[3] No Gopher players were named to the preseason All-Big Ten team.^[4]

Roster

2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Chansey Willis Jr.	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Western Michigan	Detroit, MI
G	1	Isaac Asuma	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Cherry HS	Cherry, MN
F	2	Grayson Grove	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Fr	Alexandria Area HS	Alexandria, MN
F	3	Bobby Durkin	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Davidson	Darien, IL
F	4	Nehemiah Turner	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	270 lb (122 kg)	So	Central Arkansas	Auburndale, FL
F	5	Jaylen Crocker-Johnson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Jr	Colorado State	San Antonio, TX
G	6	Langston Reynolds	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Northern Colorado	Denver, CO
G	8	Max Lorenson (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Eden Prairie HS	Eden Prairie, MN
G	9	Kai Shinholster	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	William Penn Charter School	Woolwich Township, NJ
G/F	10	Cade Tyson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	North Carolina	Monroe, NC
G	11	Maximus Gizzi	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	GS	Huntington	New Palestine, IN
G	12	RJ Spencer (W)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Totino-Grace HS	Blaine, MN
G	13	Chance Stephens	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS Jr	Maryland	Riverside, CA
F	20	BJ Omot	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Jr	California	Mankato, MN
F	22	Robert Vaihola	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	RS Sr	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)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 16, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	North Dakota State	W 80–54		28 – Tyson	14 – Vaihola	6 – Reynolds	Williams Arena (7,332) Minneapolis, MN
October 25, 2025* 2:00 p.m., B1G+	North Dakota	W 82–62		26 – Tyson	7 – Vaihola	8 – Willis Jr.	Williams Arena (7,512) Minneapolis, MN
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Gardner–Webb	W 87–60	1–0	30 – Tyson	14 – Crocker-Johnson	7 – Asuma	Williams Arena (7,669) Minneapolis, MN
November 8, 2025* 11:00 a.m., Peacock	Alcorn State	W 95–50	2–0	21 – Tyson	16 – Crocker-Johnson	5 – Asuma	Williams Arena (7,166) Minneapolis, MN
November 12, 2025* 7:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+	at Missouri	L 60–83	2–1	17 – Tyson	12 – Crocker–Johnson	3 – Willis Jr.	Mizzou Arena (8,969) Columbia, MO
November 15, 2025* 8:00 p.m., BTN	Green Bay	W 72–65 ^OT	3–1	27 – Tyson	11 – Crocker–Johnson	7 – Asuma	Williams Arena (7,431) Minneapolis, MN
November 18, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Chicago State Acrisure Series campus-site game	W 66–54	4–1	22 – Tyson	8 – Vaihola	6 – Reynolds	Williams Arena (6,774) Minneapolis, MN
November 22, 2025* 4:30 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN	vs. San Francisco	L 65–77	4–2	16 – Reynolds	5 – Tied	3 – Tied	Sanford Pentagon (2,467) Sioux Falls, SD
November 27, 2025* 8:30 p.m., CBSSN	vs. Stanford Acrisure Invitational semifinal	L 68–72	4–3	23 – Crocker-Johnson	6 – Reynolds	4 – Tied	Acrisure Arena Thousand Palms, CA
November 28, 2025* 8:30 p.m., TruTV	vs. Santa Clara Acrisure Invitational third-place game	L 75–86	4–4	29 – Tyson	7 – Shinholster	5 – Asuma	Acrisure Arena Thousand Palms, CA
December 3, 2025 6:00 p.m., BTN	No. 22 Indiana	W 73–64	5–4 (1–0)	17 – Tied	8 – Tyson	4 – Tied	Williams Arena (8,582) Minneapolis, MN
December 10, 2025 6:00 p.m., BTN	at No. 6 Purdue	L 57–85	5–5 (1–1)	17 – Crocker-Johnson	5 – Tied	5 – Asuma	Mackey Arena (14,876) West Lafayette, IN
December 14, 2025* 12:00 p.m., BTN	Texas Southern	W 89–53	6–5	38 – Tyson	11 – Tyson	10 – Reynolds	Williams Arena (8,254) Minneapolis, MN
December 21, 2025 5:00 p.m., BTN	Campbell						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 29, 2025* 8:00 p.m., BTN	Fairleigh Dickinson						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 3, 2026 4:00 p.m., BTN	at Northwestern						Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
January 6, 2026 7:00 p.m., BTN	Iowa						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 9, 2026 7:30 p.m., BTN	USC						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 13, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN	Wisconsin						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 17, 2026 11:00 a.m., BTN	at Illinois						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
January 20, 2026 5:30 p.m., BTN	at Ohio State						Value City Arena Columbus, OH
January 24, 2026 11:00 a.m., FS1	Nebraska						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 28, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN	at Wisconsin						Kohl Center Madison, WI
February 1, 2026 1:00 p.m., Peacock	at Penn State						Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA
February 4, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN	Michigan State						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 8, 2026 1:00 p.m., BTN	Maryland						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 14, 2026 9:00 p.m., BTN	at Washington						Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA
February 17, 2026 9:30 p.m., FS1	at Oregon						Matthew Knight Arena Eugene, OR
February 21, 2026 11:00 a.m., BTN	Rutgers						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 24, 2026 7:30 p.m., BTN	at Michigan						Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI
February 28, 2026 1:00 p.m., FS1	UCLA						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
March 4, 2026 5:30 p.m., BTN	at Indiana						Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
March 7, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN	Northwestern						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.
^ Burkhardt, Dylan (2025-10-08). "Michigan picked 2nd in "official unofficial" Big Ten poll (and a breakdown of my ballot)". UM Hoops.com. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
^ "Big Ten basketball preseason media poll 2025-26: Purdue, Michigan State overrated; Indiana underrated". CBS Sports. 2025-10-09. Retrieved 2025-10-15.

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.

[3] Burkhardt, Dylan (2025-10-08). "Michigan picked 2nd in "official unofficial" Big Ten poll (and a breakdown of my ballot)". UM Hoops.com. Retrieved 2025-10-15.

[4] "Big Ten basketball preseason media poll 2025-26: Purdue, Michigan State overrated; Indiana underrated". CBS Sports. 2025-10-09. Retrieved 2025-10-15.

[1]

[2]

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[4]

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 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 2025–26
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics