How Different Would Minnesota's 2025-26 Season Look Without Injuries?

The Gophers have been forced to overcome plenty of adversity this season.

Nov 18, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Chansey Willis Jr. (0) dribbles the ball as Chicago State Cougars guard Dakari Thomas (25) defends during the first half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Injuries have ravaged Niko Medved's first season as head coach of the Gophers. Opening day starters Chansey Willis Jr. and Robert Vaihola have suffered season-ending injuries, and potential sixth man B.J. Omot hasn't played in a regular season game all season. How different would this season look without injuries?

Maryland transfer guard Chance Stephens has also been out all season due to what Medved called "unique health stuff," but the healthiest the Gophers were was in their season-opening exhibition against North Dakota State. They played eight players for 13 or more minutes in that game.

Minnesota's rotation in first exhibition vs. NDSU

• G: Chansey Willis Jr. (23 min)
  
• G: Isaac Asuma (30 min)
  
• F: Cade Tyson (24 min)
  
• F: Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (22 min)
  
• C: Robert Vaihola (22 min)
  
• 6th: Langston Reynolds (25 min)
  
• 7th: Bobby Durkin (25 min)
  
• 8th: B.J. Omot (13 min)

Willis' injury bumped Reynolds into the starting lineup, and Vaihola's injury bumped Crocker-Johnson to the five, and Durkin into the starting lineup. Omot's injury has given opportunities to underclassmen Grayson Grove and Kai Shinholster to be the top options off the bench. Shinholster could've been a legitimate redshirt candidate if Stephens, Willis and Omot were all healthy.

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Latest game vs. Ohio State

• G: Asuma (43 minutes)
• G: Reynolds (41 minutes)
• F: Durkin (43 minutes)
• F: Tyson (33 minutes)
• C: Crocker-Johnson (39 minutes)
• 6th: Grove (17 minutes)
• 7th: Shinholster (9 minutes)

No coach starts the year out with a plan of having a seven-man rotation. The Gophers played four starters at least 39 minutes in Tuesday's OT loss against Ohio State. The only reason Tyson was far below that number was due to foul trouble.

Minnesota only has 11 healthy players, and Omot is expected to be out for the rest of the season, according to a X post from KSTP's Darren Wolfson on Thursday. Central Arkansas transfer big man Nehemiah Turner hasn't more than three minutes in a game since Dec. 3 and veteran guard Maximus Gizzi hasn't played more than two minutes in a game all season. With walk-ons RJ Spencer and Max Lorenson rounding out the bench, Minnesota's roster has essentially shrunk to seven players.

With narrow losses to Stanford, USC, Wisconsin and Ohio State, it's fun to hypothesize how different Minnesota's season could look, but there's no way of knowing for sure. Gophers fans will have to wait and see how different things can look with Medved's staff and a full roster.