Minnesota Raided Michigan’s Bench—Smart Transfer Portal Strategy or Risk?

The Michigan Wolverines just wrapped up one of the best seasons in the recent history of college basketball with their first national championship since 1989. The Gophers have added two of their players from the transfer portal, who weren't able to crack the rotation. Will the strategy pay off for Niko Medved?

Every player's recruitment is unique in its own way. Minnesota obviously did not come into the offseason with the strategy of signing Michigan's bench, but it happened that way. Dusty May decided to use a roster spot on Winters Grady and Malick Kordel last offseason, and now they will both play for Niko Medved next season.

Both players had some real hype as prospects last season. Grady was a four-star high school prospect with numerous top offers from programs such as Oregon, Iowa and Oklahoma, among others. Kordel was also pursued by other high-major programs such as Iowa and Xavier before settling on the Wolverines.

If the Gophers landed either player last offseason, it would've likely generated more significant buzz on a national level, but their long-term potential should not be any different after not having a major role last season. Michigan rolled out one of the deepest nine-man rotations the sport has seen in the last decade. When Will Tschetter is your ninth man, it's going to be hard for any player to crack the rotation, especially two first-year additions.

Cade Tyson's improvement from 2.6 points per game at North Carolina to 19.6 points per game last season with the Gophers was enough proof that transfer portal recruits are a result of their entire basketball resume, not just the last season.

Minnesota added a consensus top-100 high school recruit and a legitimate 22-year-old international prospect. The fact that they didn't play a lot of minutes last season at Michigan doesn't change either player's profile — if anything, it could help it.

The transfer portal has been a big part of college basketball roster construction long enough for there to be a large sample size of evidence. Adding players with a lot of production from losing teams historically doesn't have a good hit rate. There are obviously exceptions to every rule, but adding players from winning teams goes a long way in creating a winning culture at your program.

Minnesota might never have the resources in the modern era of college basketball to hit a home run in the transfer portal, but Niko Medved has found a way to hit like prime Tony Gwynn and get on base with ease. Grady and Kordel are two low-profile additions that could seriously pay off in the long run.

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