Portal profile: Can Cade Tyson regain his confidence with Minnesota?

Tyson could be one of the most underrated portal pickups of the cycle.

Oct 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Cade Tyson (5) with the ball in the second half at the Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

North Carolina foward Cade Tyson was Minnesota ninth and final scholarship addition from the transfer portal. Don't let his numbers with the Tar Heels last year fool you, because he could be one of their top newcomers next season.

• 2024-25 stats: 2.6 PPG, 1.1 RPG, 0.1 APG
• Previous school: North Carolina (ACC)
• Height: 6-foot-7
• Years of eligibility remaining: 1

Related: Portal profile: Is Chansey Willis Jr. the Gophers' starting PG?

Hailing from Matthews, N.C., Tyson played high school basketball for Carmel Christian School. He signed with Belmont over top offers from Charlotte, Radford, UNC Wilmington and Western Carolina.

Tyson immediately outperformed expectations with the Bruins. He averaged 13.6 points per game in 2022-23 en route to Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year honors. He continued to improve as a sophomore, averaging 16.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game on 49.3% shooting from the field and a 46.5% mark from three, which ranked among the best in college basketball.

Tyson opted to enter the transfer portal after two great years at Belmont. He became one of the most sought after players on the open market, and he chose to sign with North Carolina. He struggled to find his footing with the Tar Heels, averaging only 2.6 points in 7.1 minutes per game last season.

He comes from a basketball family as the brother of Nuggets forward Hunter Tyson, and he now looks to regain his confidence with the Gophers in 2025-26, his final season of college basketball.

Historical Gophers comparison: Joey King

Tyson is a remarkable 42.4% three point shooter on 3.6 attempts per game in his career. Those numbers remind of King, who shot 38.7% from beyond the arc on 3.4 attempts per game in his career. There are a lot of similarties between their games.

Listed at 6-foot-9, King averaged 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game on 42.1/40.1/88.6 shooting splits as senior with Minnesota in 2015-16. Those are realistic expectations for what Tyson could bring to the Gophers this season. If Tyson gets all the way back to the form he had at Belmont, Minnesota ceiling could dramatically increase in 2025-26.