March is the craziest month on the court for college basketball, but it is also the start of #PortalSZN. With teams getting knocked out of conference tournaments, ending seasons for players, many have started to already enter the transfer portal.
If everyone returns that can for next season, the Gophers would have zero open scholarships. But Parker Fox already partook in Senior Day festivities and we all know the likelihood of no player currently entering the portal would be pretty low. So chances are, Minnesota has one or two open scholarships to play with this offseason.
Given their scholarship situation, I would imagine, that the Gophers would be a very late arriving team to the transfer portal if they were to be active. Fox’s decision will likely not happen right away and Garcia or Hawkins could always go pro. The previous two offseasons have seen Minnesota be active early and often, I do not think that will be the case this offseason.
With all that being said, the names I am going to mention are ENTIRELY SPECULATIVE and I have zero information, that Minnesota even plans to add a player from the portal at all this offseason. This is basically a list of players with Minnesota ties, that people have connected or will connect to being a Gopher.
Dennis Evans, Louisville
Dennis Evans’ situation is one of the most interesting in the entire country. After getting out of his National Letter of Intent (NLI) with the Gophers and flipping his commitment to Louisville, he appeared in only seven games a true freshman. After averaging 1.6 PPG he suffered a shoulder injury in late November. Then in early January, Louisville made a statement regarding his status.
“[Dennis Evans] will not be medically cleared to compete at the University of Louisville moving forward,” per the school. “We are disappointed by the news and will not be releasing any additional information out of respect for Dennis’ privacy,” the release stated.
Louisville has officially moved on from head coach Kenny Payne after only two seasons, so the staff that lured Evans away from Minnesota will likely be cleaned out. Based on the vague nature of the school’s statement on Evans’ injury there is a lot of question whether or not he even plays basketball again. Ultimately, nobody outside of his circle likely knows the full situation, but if he was to enter the portal, Minnesota’s connection is certainly interesting.
Taison Chatman, Ohio State
Ohio State is another program to let go of their head coach, Chris Holtman. True freshman guard Taison Chatman has also struggled to find time on the court, making on seven appearances, averaging 0.7 PPG. Hailing from Totino Grace High School in Minneapolis, the Gophers were in Chatman’s final list of schools and they were the first Division I school to offer him a scholarship.
Ultimately, the staff focused on other recruits and Chatman only visited Ohio State, Xavier and Kansas. But there is obviously familiarity between Chatman and the Gophers. Interim Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler has done an impressive job down the stretch of the season, but there is no saying what direction the program will go when it comes to a long-term option. Whoever takes over the job will likely have to re-recruit Chatman to retain him. So if he were to enter the portal, it would be worth monitoring.
Brody Fox, UW-Stout (D3)
Brody Fox is the first player on this list to already be officially in the Transfer Portal. The younger brother of current Gophers big man Parker Fox, entered his name into the portal as a grad-transfer in late February. He will only have one season of eligibility remaining, but listed at, 6-foot-6, he averaged 26.6 PPG, which ranked second best in the entire country. The jump from D3 to D1 is incredibly rare for a scholarship player, but with current Gophers’ walk-ons Will Ramberg and Jackson Purcell partaking in senior day festivities, the Gophers could be looking to add a preferred walk-on and Fox could make sense and maybe lure his older brother into playing another season.
Caleb Williams, Macalester (D3)
Caleb Williams is another D3 players who is already in the portal. He has already played a college basketball game in the Barn. In the Gophers’ early season exhibition vs. Macalester, Williams scored a remarkable 41 points. Listed at 6-foot-2, he averaged 20p, 4r, 2.8a, and 1.2s for the season and he is a native of Wild Rose, Wisconsin. Again, making the D3 to D1 jump is rare, but he has reportedly already received interest from Arkansas, Washington, UNC Wilmington, Western Kentucky and Iona among other schools. I would honestly be kind of surprised of Minnesota went after him, but he could be an ideal reserve guard.
Other names:
- Leo Torbor, New Mexico JUCO
