Gophers Koi Perich adds 2,000-point scorer to his resume

Highly touted incoming Gophers freshman Koi Perich added another impressive distinction to resume Monday. The Esko, Minnesota superstar broke the 2,000 point scoring mark on the basketball court for the Eskimos.

Perich is the highest ranked football player to ever commit to the Maroon & Gold (internet-era), but he’s quite the two sport athlete. He has led Esko to a 18-8 record this season, most recently beating International Falls by 53 points, the same day he became the program’s all-time leading scorer.

Esko is the No. 1 seed in Section 2AAAAAAA, with a real chance of advancing the state tournament later this month at Williams Arena. Having already played future Gophers’ basketball player Isaac Asuma in a regular season matchup earlier this year, it would be very cool to see a rematch at the Barn, and it could be a realistic scenario.

Lob meeee pic.twitter.com/xZp9SkUszO

— Koi Perich (@koiperich3) January 24, 2024

Notable Accolades:

• Highest ranked recruit in Gophers history (internet-era)
• 2024 NBC High School All-American Game MVP
• 2022 Class A long jump state champion
• Esko High School All-Time leading scorer (2,000+ points)
• No. 53 ranked player in the entire country (On3sports)

In the grand scheme of things it might seem relatively minor for a future defensive back to be a 2,000+ point scorer in high school basketball, but it’s incredibly refreshing to see an athlete of Perich’s stature continue to play multiple sports, in an era of specialization. Koi also joins fellow incoming freshman Mason Carrier who became the all-time leading scorer at Detroit Lakes earlier this season.

The fact that Koi is not an early-enrollee and he will not be on campus until after he graduates high school this spring will put him behind the eight ball, but anyone that has watched him step foot onto a football field knows that he is built different than most. At the end of the day it’s incredibly cool to see him make some noise with his childhood friends on the hardwood before he arrived in Dinkytown.