Portal Profile: Why Texas Tech's Jaylen Petty Could Be a Home Run for Minnesota

The Gophers are one of seven teams that have completed a Zoom meeting or are scheduled to meet with Texas Tech transfer guard Jaylen Petty, according to a report from On3's Joe Tipton on Thursday.

Texas Tech transfer guard Jaylen Petty has completed/is scheduled to Zoom with the following schools today, per his agent Ryan Murphy (@Ryanmurphhoop):

UCLA
Washington
Oregon
Minnesota
Vanderbilt
Kansas
Xavier https://t.co/Dj55VSKYcm https://t.co/za4Musak3O
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 9, 2026

Standing at 6-foot-1, 168 pounds, Petty is coming off a tremendous true freshman season at Texas Tech, and it was a bit of a surprise to see him enter the transfer portal. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game on 40.6% shooting from the field, 37.5% from three and 77.1% from the free throw line. He was essentially the team's No. 2 point guard behind Christian Anderson, who has declared for the NBA Draft, which made Petty's portal decision surprising.

It has been well established that Minnesota is showing interest in North Carolina transfer guard Kyan Evans and Petty's former Texas Tech teammate Nolan Groves. Interest in a player of Petty's caliber shows that Niko Medved and his coaching staff are not putting all of their eggs in one basket this offseason.

Petty is currently rated as the 43rd-best transfer portal prospect in the country and the ninth-best point guard. Minnesota clearly has a lot of competition for his services against schools like Kansas, Vanderbilt and UCLA, which all are presumed to have substantial NIL budgets to work with.

On the surface, it seems like the Gophers have better chances of adding Evans, Groves or even UT Martin transfer forward Matas Deniusas than Petty. If Medved and his staff are able to pull a rabbit out of their hat, Petty would be the ideal point guard to play alongside Isaac Asuma. With three years of eligibility remaining, he could become the star of the backcourt.

Leaving a program that's presumed to have a lot of money, like Texas Tech, made Petty's decision interesting. When you add the fact that he would've likely been the team's starting point guard next season, it's fair to think he might've had an idea of where he would like to transfer already. If that place is Minnesota, Medved deserves a standing ovation from Gophers faithful everywhere.

Petty taking the time to even meet with the Gophers at all is a great sign for where things are trending for under Medved. The transfer portal cycle has plenty of twists and turns, and his recruitment is just the latest. He joins a growing group of players that Minnesota seems to be showing interest in this offseason.