Gophers lose three to the portal – what does it mean?

It was a busy day in the portal for the Maroon & Gold. Star sophomore big man Pharrel Payne, sophomore guard Braeden Carrington and veteran forward Isaiah Ihnen all entered their names into the NCAA Transfer Portal. In today’s college sports landscape a lot of people have a lot of opinions about the portal, so I will try and do my best to share what I think transpired and how I think it impacts Minnesota for next season.

Pharrel Payne

Easily the most significant and surprising Gophers player to enter the portal was Pharrel Payne. Originally from Cottage Grove, MN Payne had blossomed into one of the most promising young big men in the Big Ten conference. He averaged 10.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per-game this season, while starting 19 of 32 games. He dealt with back problems all season, slightly holding him back, but it looked like he was in line for monster junior and senior seasons.

Then he shocked the Minnesota fanbase by deciding to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal. I believe this situation did have a lot to do with NIL, but also Payne just was looking for a different situation. Anyone who has seen him play knows his talent, so he will almost certainly garner a significant NIL payday on the open market.

For example, let’s say Minnesota has three “big money” players on their roster, with Dawson Garcia, Cam Christie and Elijah Hawkins. The Gophers program could only have the budget for three big-money players, but Payne thinks he belongs in that discussion. So while the Gophers definitely wanted to keep Payne, I don’t know if they could have.

This is how the game is played now and teams essentially have a budget to spend and you sometimes cannot keep everyone. But I also think the Gophers saw Payne as the fourth most valuable player on their team and he might’ve wanted more than that, simply in an on-court perspective. So while Minnesota is not at a level to compete with the “big boys” just yet when it comes to NIL, I wouldn’t entirely blame Payne’s decision on that.

Braeden Carrington

Carrington has a very unique situation. The 2022 MN Mr. Basketball winner had high expectations when he arrived in Dinkytown. He showed flashes as a true freshman, scoring in double figures four times, but his season was impacted due to injuries. Fast-forward to this season, he started the first chunk of the year until, taking a leave of absence from the team due to mental health reasons. And he also missed a handful of games due to a concussion. He never really looked like himself all year shooting 22.1% from three-point range.

After a report from Charley Waters implied that he thought Carrington would enter the portal during the season, him deciding to do so now, cannot come as too much of a surprise to most. This is a situation again that I believe to be NIL-driven. In today’s landscape there are a lot of players that have an idea of endless money in the portal for any player of competence. But again, Carrington’s role shrunk significantly and he could believe that he deserves to have a bigger role elsewhere. Minnesota will have plenty of options to replace his production in the portal and that is just the name of the game now.

Isaiah Ihnen

Including Joshua Ola-Joseph from yesterday, Isaiah Ihnen’s decision to enter the Transfer Portal might be the least shocking on the entire roster. Ihnen is the last remaining player from the Richard Pitino-era. He was an incredibly talented prospect, but his career was derailed due to a pair of ACL injuries. After fighting back from back-to-back season-ending injuries, he showed flashes early in the season, scoring 20 points in November vs. UTSA, but he ultimately found himself out of the Gophers’ rotation.

I believe the modern portal rules were designed for players like Ihnen. He deserves to have a significant role on a division one college basketball team and he will now have the opportunity to do so.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, it’s never good to have to replace four players from your roster, but the sky is not falling. If Minnesota is able to keep in-tact the trio of Elijah Hawkins, Dawson Garcia and Cam Christie, they have every opportunity to build around them and compete for the NCAA Tournament next season. This is how college basketball is played now, the Gophers aren’t the only program dealing with this. They will now have to scout and recruit to find replacements, that is their job.