The Gophers Won’t Win the Transfer Portal Championship — And That’s OK

Minnesota's incoming transfer portal class won't be catching any headlines from the big recruiting services.

Nov 3, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Niko Medved looks on during the first half against the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

We're past the bulk of transfer portal news for the 2026 college basketball offseason, which means many outlets are finalizing their rankings. Early indications are that Minnesota's class will not be bringing home any offseason championships. That shouldn't matter for Niko Medved's program. Here's why.

Gophers incoming transfer portal class (latest 247Sports ratings update)

Winters Grady: No. 225 OVR
Kyan Evans: No. 327
Malick Kordel: No. 358
Malachi Palmer: No. 372
Nolan Groves: unranked

73rd-ranked transfer portal class in the country.

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) May 13, 2026

According to updated rankings from 247Sports on Wednesday, Minnesota's class ranked 73rd in the country. Winter Grady is the top incoming prospect at No. 225 overall, followed by Kyan Evans at No. 327, Malick Kordel at No. 358, Malachi Palmer at No. 327 and Nolan Groves is currently unranked.

The Field of 68 pointed out Wednesday that Minnesota is only one of 14 high major teams returning three or more significant contributors. That's why their 13th-ranked incoming transfer portal class needs context. None of their five portal additions played big roles last season either, so a low ranking shouldn't come as a surprise.

Every high major team returning 3 or more Significant Contributors (per KenPom) 👏👀

Did YOUR team make the list? 🤔⬇️ pic.twitter.com/YtUnBt7s8b

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) May 13, 2026

If you look back at Minnesota's eight Division I transfers last offseason, you will quickly realize how fickle transfer portal rankings can be. If you ranked them by impact on last year's roster, the list would look a lot different.

Player	Overall ranking (247Sports)
Bobby Durkin	90
Chansey Willis Jr.	240
Cade Tyson	247
B.J. Omot	258
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson	340
Robert Vaihola	382
Langston Reynolds	390
Nehemiah Turner	454
Chance Stephens	503

If you mixed both classes, Grady would be the second-rated incoming transfer, based on ranking. But if you look further, his 0.89 star rating would be below Durkin, Willis, Tyson and Omot, implying that last year's transfer portal class was much stronger nationally.

Injuries played a major factor in Willis, Omot and Vaihola's time with the Gophers, but we saw important fit can be with transfer portal success. Crocker-Johnson thoroughly outperformed his expectations, and now he's arguably one of the most valuable players on Minnesota's roster.

Reynolds was ranked as the seventh-best transfer on Minnesota's roster last offseason, and he wound up averaging 11.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game last season. If you add a breakout season from Tyson, Minnesota's transfer portal class clearly outperformed expectations last season.

High school rankings have been around for much longer, and they take years of high school production and camp performance into account. Transfer portal rankings are thrown together in a month or two, and they're often based on the previous year's production.

Minnesota needed to fill some holes this offseason rather than build an entire roster like a year ago. They've done that efficiently with Evans at guard, Grady as a wing option, and Kordel, Groves and Palmer as depth pieces. Transfer portal rankings should factor very little into projecting a team's outlook.