Minnesota's Mara Braun Is Set to Return to Gophers for 5th Season

After helping lead the Gophers to a Sweet 16 run in the women's NCAA Tournament, guard Mara Braun announced Wednesday that she will be back with the University of Minnesota for her redshirt senior season.

Braun, the former Wayzata standout who dealt with foot injuries as a sophomore and a junior, was healthy and started all 33 games for the Gophers. She averaged 11.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, while shooting 34.7% from three-point range.

Braun's return was expected after she linked up with Affinity Plus in an apparent NIL endorsement.

"It allows us to build our own platforms and how we want to be perceived. You're allowed to pick and choose what companies you want to work with and how people see you," Braun said of her NIL experience.

Braun was awesome in the NCAA Tournament, where she scored 16 points and drilled 3-of-5 three-pointers in a first-round win over Green Bay, followed by a 17-point performance in which she knocked down four three-pointers against Ole Miss.

Against Ole Miss, Braun's three-pointer with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter completed a furious rally, with Minnesota ultimately winning on Amaya Battle's baseline jumper at the buzzer.

As a fifth-year senior next season, Braun will undoubtedly be a team captain after Minnesota lost Amaya Battle and Sophie Hart to graduation. Braun, barring any decisions to enter the transfer portal, should be joined by fellow returning starters Grace Grocholski and Tori McKinney.

It's unclear what the rest of the starting lineup and depth will look like, but there's a chance that two highly-touted recruits, Natalie Kussow and Tori Oehrlein, receive opportunities to contribute right away. Kussow is the 2026 Wisconsin Miss Basketball winner and the No. 40 recruit in the national class of 2026, according to ESPN, while Oehlrein ranks No. 58.

Braun was a great player at the prep level, having starred at Wayzata High School en route to being rated by ESPN as a four-star recruit and the No. 28 player in the country in the Class of 2022.

Minnesota has seen very impressive results in men's basketball after Year 1 of the Niko Medved era, with Isaac Asuma, Bobby Durkin, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, and Grayson Grove all announcing that they'll return to the Gophers next season. Asuma, Durkin, and Crocker-Johnson were mainstays in the starting lineup most of this past season, while Grove, a redshirt freshman, blossomed in a big way off the bench.