Early Questions Minnesota Needs to Answer About Next Season's Roster

The Gophers still have five games left in the regular season before the Big Ten tournament, but things are always happening behind the scenes in modern college sports roster construction. Here are three questions Minnesota will need to answer about its 2026-27 roster.

Retention

The biggest question for almost every college basketball team in the country is, who's coming back? A multitude of injuries have completely rearranged the Gophers' plans for next season. The only scholarship players who cannot come back are Cade Tyson, Langston Reynolds and Maximus Gizzi. That means they could return as many as 11 players from this year's team, and I am expecting walk-on RJ Spencer will not be back.

Two early players that I am monitoring as potential portal entries are Maryland transfer guard Chance Stephens, who hasn't played this season due to health issues, and Central Arkansas big man Nehemiah Turner, who hasn't played since Dec. 21. If they both come back along with every other player with eligibility remaining, the Gophers would have just one available roster spot, with three incoming freshmen.

It's naive to think every player will be back with the Gophers next season. So the most important players to retain will obviously be Isaac Asuma, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Bobby Durkin, Grayson Grove and any of the three injured players. If Minnesota is able to keep just four of those players, the 2026-27 outlook could be very encouraging.

Boyuan Zhang

The Gophers already have in-state standouts Cedric Tomes and Nolen Anderson, along with California big man Chadric Mpoyi, signed to its 2026 recruiting class, but they could add one more. Four-star forward Boyuan Zhang was recently on campus for an official visit during their upset win over Michigan State.

Illinois and California are the other two schools to monitor in Zhang's recruitment. He's a dynamic talent that would give Minnesota another intriguing underclassman on its 2026-27 roster.

Potential portal targets to watch

This year's transfer portal will not open until April 7, which is the day after the National Championship. It seems a bit unnecessary to start making a portal targets list on Feb. 18, but there is always pieces moving around behind the scenes. North Carolina guard Kyan Evans is an obvious player to monitor with his connection to Medved, who was his former Colorado State head coach.

The players who enter the portal on the Gophers roster will impact their strategy, but some other players I am keeping an eye on include Colorado State big man Kyle Jorgensen and Texas Tech forward Nolan Groves, due to their Minnesota connections. A list of any names is so fluid at this point in the process, but many players and agents are already talking about their plans for next season.