Gophers appear to be in pursuit of Minnesota player of the year Nolan Groves

Minnesota's 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year, Nolan Groves, decommitted from Yale on Saturday, and he's already hearing from some high-major programs. Local Texas Tech reporter Jarret Johnson says that Groves has a visit with the Red Raiders scheduled for this weekend, and KSTP's Darren Wolfson is hearing that Groves is drawing interest from the Gophers men's basketball team and Iowa.

Groves (Orono HS) is a stud. Told he’s also hearing from #Gophers and #Hawkeyes. https://t.co/4y9beo8bFO
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) April 14, 2025

Groves had a dominant senior campaign for Orono, averaging 34.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. Alexandria's Chase Thompson won Mr. Basketball, and he's off to Clemson, but Groves took home Gatorade Player of the Year.

Listed at 6-foot-5, he had been committed to Yale since June 25, but he was offered by Texas Tech only one day after reopening his recruitment. The Red Raiders had some Minnesota flavor on this season's Elite Eight roster with former Gophers point guard Elijah Hawkins and former Hopkins High School standout Kerwin Walton. If the Gophers want to make a run at Groves, they have some competition.

Groves is followed by Gophers head coach Niko Medved and assistant coaches Brian Cooley and Dave Thorson on X, formerly Twitter, which is a positive sign that suggests they may have at least reached out to him. According to 247Sports, Minnesota, Clemson, Iowa and St. Thomas have shown interest, but none of the four schools have offered.

With five incoming transfers and only one incoming freshman, the Gophers still have six available spots on next year's roster. Medved has a long track record of developing four-year players into all-conference level talents, including David Roddy, Isaiah Stevens and Nique Clifford at Colorado State.

Groves is a big-time scorer, and he could develop very quickly in the Maroon and Gold.

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