Projecting the Gophers' starting five and top role players

Niko Medved says the Gophers will use a 9-10 man rotation. Here’s our early guess at the starters and top role players.

The Gophers men's basketball team during a 2025 summer session. | University of Minnesota Athletic

Among the myriad of things we learned from head coach Niko Medved during his Monday press conference to open fall camp was that he'll usually deploy nine players, or sometimes 10, in a game.

"I think most of the time, we're going to play nine guys," Medved said. "Typically it's going to be nine and possibly 10, especially in the frontcourt — you might have room for another player."

Playing nine or 10 guys is nothing out of the ordinary, but it does help us in our attempt to figure out the nine or 10 players Medved will have in the rotation. It'll be another three-plus weeks before the Gophers host NDSU in an exhibition game, at which point we'll have a great idea of the starting five and the four or five role players off the bench.

What will the starting five look like? Here's our guess...

• G: Chansey Willis Jr. (6'2'' junior)
• G: Langston Reynolds (6'4'' senior)
• F: Bobby Durkin (6'7'' junior)
• F: Cade Tyson (6'7'' senior)
• F: Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (6'8'' junior)

It's an undersized lineup, but Medved made it clear Monday that he's prepared to play with a smaller roster in his first year coaching at the Big Ten level.

"We're a little bit undersized, but I think we got some tough guys. Listen, just because a guy's big doesn't mean he's a great rebounder or he's a smart player and he's a tough player and all those things. But yeah, I do think we're going to be a little bit undersized at times this year in this league, but that's OK. We gotta find a way to mitigate that and find what our strengths are and leverage those," Medved said.

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Who are the 4-5 role players? Our guess...

• G: Isaac Asuma (6'3'' sophomore)
• G: Chance Stephens (6'3'' redshirt junior)
• G/F: B.J. Omot (6'8'' redshirt junior)
• F/C: Robert Vaihola (6'8'' redshirt senior)
• F/C: Nehemiah Turner (6'10'' sophomore)

In this scenario, I'm playing with a fire since Asuma is a local favorite who many expect to be in the starting five. However, Medved's words about Asuma on Monday could be considered a polite way of saying he's not quite ready for the starting lineup.

"He's a really talented young man, but he's just an exceptional dude. I just love being around this guy every day," Medved said. "He just needs to continue to get better and kind of find that fire in him and that confidence that he can really be a guy. I think you'll start to see him grow that way this year."

Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't see a scenario where Willis and Reynolds aren't the starting guards — and Durkin, Tyson and Crocker-Johnson seem like surefire starters. The numbers support that theory.

Reynolds was First Team All-Big Sky at Northern Colorado last season and he was 20th in the nation with a 59.3% field-goal percentage while averaging 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He also shot 40.9% from three. He's not coming off the bench as a senior. Willis averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists last season at Western Michigan. There's no way he transferred to Minnesota to come off the bench.

Omot is going to be a terrific option off the bench if he's healthy, which Medved says he is. The Mankato, Minn. native was limited to four games at Cal last season due to injury, but he was an all-around stud at North Dakota in the two seasons prior.

Vaihola is the tough, undersized rebounder Medved is going to love having off the bench, and Turner could get some run as a true big man with developing skill as a sophomore.

That leaves these guys on the bench...

• F: Grayson Grove (6'9'' redshirt freshman)
• Max Lorenseon (6'2'' freshman)
• Kai Shinholster (6'5'' freshman)
• Max Gizzi (6'1'' senior)
• Erick Reader (6'8'' junior)

I could also see a scenario where Grove plays his way into a role or takes advantage of an injury. Gizzi is out another six weeks with an injury, so his chances of making an impact have taken an early hit.