The transfer portal has completely transformed the college basketball landscape. It has its positives, but there are for sure some unforeseen negatives as well. My biggest gripe is that it is hard to get attached to a player like we used to for four years as they likely are gone after the year. The love of the program has completely gone away. But I will get off my soapbox for now.
Gopher Transfer Portal Incomers:
Brennan Rigsby: (6’3” SG from Oregon). Brennan played in 36 games as a junior with an Oregon team that came on hot of late and made the NCAA tournament which will give the Gophers the much-needed tournament experience. Not a well-known scorer, however, he has some really good high school tape out there if you want to go look, so we know he has it in him. He was an average three-point shooter at 35%, however, he doesn’t shoot many at a little over one a game, and he is a good defender which means he will likely look to fill the role of Braeden Carrington from last year, a solid role player that does what is asked.
Femi Odukale: (6’5 G from NMSU). Femi has been a lot of places and will look to play his senior year at Minnesota. The original Pitt commit has spent time there, as well as Seton Hall and New Mexico State. An All-CUSA player who averaged 10.7 Pts, 6.4 Rebounds, and 3 assists, he is a very well-rounded player with great length. Femi does not stretch the floor well, only being a 31% three-point shooter but attacks the rim with no care for his body.
Frank Mitchell (6’8 240lb Forward from Canisius): Here is your Pharell Payne replacement. He lacks a little size to compete with the big men in the Big Ten however, he plays very physically. He averaged a double-double last year and seemingly grabs every single rebound which will be a very nice luxury to have. I am not saying he will get to this level, but think the next Jordan Murphy. Very solid, undersized big man who plays bigger than he is.
Caleb Williams: If you would have told me one year ago today that Caleb Williams would be wearing Minnesota across his chest, I probably would have bought my purple Vikings “Williams” Jersey. I can get excited over this Caleb Williams too, however. A Division Three superstar, Williams averaged 20 PPG including a dominating performance in a scrimmage against the Gophers. There hasn’t been a ton of division three jumps to a high major that has worked incredibly well, but Duncan Robinson showed it’s possible. Expect Caleb Williams to be a scoring punch off the bench, when we are in need of an offensive jolt.
Potential Starting Five:
- **Lu’Cye Patterson (MN native, Transfer in from Charlotte)
- Mike Mitchell Jr. (Returner)
- Femi Odukale (Transfer in from NMSU)
- Dawson Garcia (Returner)
- Parker Fox/Frank Mitchell. Could see either here, Parker’s energy off the bench was so key last year, I could see Ben Johnson starting Frank and letting Parker play the key minutes and getting his energy five minutes into the game.
The addition of Patterson in for Hawkins is probably the biggest hit to the lineup. Patterson is a better scorer than Hawkins, so it will be nice to have consistent scoring production from that spot, however losing the sheer amount of assists that Hawkins provided and consistent offensive leadership will not be easy to replace. Losing Christie’s consistent shooting and defense sucks, I am not going to sugarcoat it. If we can find a way to create a well-rounded group around Dawson on the inside that can score consistently, we will be alright. I have no doubt in my mind, that Ben Johnson will get whatever team is in front of him to fight as hard as they possibly can. Hopefully, as the summer goes on, we will learn more of how this team is going to be built around each other.
