Jaylen Crocker-Johnson Out Indefinitely, Season in Jeopardy

Minnesota will be without a third starter for the immediate future.

Jan 9, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (5) reacts during overtime against the Southern California Trojans at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Starting Gophers big man Jaylen Crocker-Johnson is out indefinitely with a foot injury, according to head coach Niko Medved. With just five regular-season games remaining, the rest of his season is in serious jeopardy.

News: #Gophers forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (foot) is out indefinitely, coach Niko Medved said Friday.

Context: The U has been without two other starters — point guard Chansey Willis and center Robert Vailhola — since November.

— Andy Greder (@andygreder) February 20, 2026

Crocker-Johnson started the first 24 games of the season for Minnesota after following Medved to the Gophers from Colorado State in the transfer portal during the offseason. He averaged 13.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game on 41.5% shooting from the field before missing the last two games with a foot injury.

He now joins Robert Vaihola and Chansey Willis Jr. as the third opening night starter for the Gophers to be out with an injury. Transfer reserves B.J. Omot and Chance Stephens haven't appeared in a game all season. That leaves Minnesota with just 10 healthy players, and Nehemiah Turner has been out for the past few games, so they likely will have just nine healthy players for the home stretch of the season.

"He’s out indefinitely,” Medved said when asked about Crocker-Johnson’s prognosis. “"t’s something we really want to be careful with. We’re just planning he’s not going to be back. "We’ll see what happens, but that’s kind of the way we’re approaching it."

Crocker-Johnson will have the option to return to Minnesota this offseason with one year of eligibility still remaining.

Redshirt freshman Grayson Grove had his best game in a Gophers uniform on Tuesday's win over Oregon. He finished with a career-high 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in 38 minutes. He's now essentially Minnesota's only healthy frontcourt player.

The Gophers' rotation has been short since November, and it just got shorter. Starters Isaac Asuma, Langston Reynolds, Bobby Durkin, Cade Tyson and Grove have Kai Shinholster and NAIA transfer Maximus Grizzi as the only scholarship players off the bench. That is a total of seven healthy scholarship players on the roster.

Medved has faced a ton of adversity in his first season as Minnesota's head coach, but the Gophers have still delivered three ranked wins over Indiana, Iowa and Michigan State. Their first of five final regular-season games will be on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT against Rutgers at Williams Arena.