Where Does Cade Tyson’s Season Rank in Gophers History? Higher Than You Think

The Gophers' 2025-26 season officially ended on Wednesday night with a loss to Baylor in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Crown. Cade Tyson scored 19 points to give him the third-most points for a single season in Minnesota's program history. Let's break down where his lone season in the Twin Cities stacks up.

When Tyson signed with Minnesota last June, there were plenty of questions about his potential. He was coming off a season with North Carolina, where he averaged just 2.6 points per game, and he was an extra year removed from averaging 16.2 points per game at Belmont in 2023-24.

He quickly shattered those expectations with 20 or more points in four of Minnesota's first five games. He went through some ups and downs all season, but it was clear that he was one of the best scorers in the Big Ten in 2025-26. He finished the season with 19.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game on 50.0% shooting from the field, 41.3% from three and 82.2% from the free throw line.

Tyson's 628 total points rank third-most for a single season in the history of Gophers men's basketball, trailing just Mychal Thompson and Kris Humphries. He's notably ahead of legendary players like Willie Burton, Quincy Lewis and Daniel Oturu.

Cade Tyson finished his 2025-26 season with 628 points, which is the third-most for a single season in the history of Gophers MBB.

Where would you rank Tyson's season in the history of Gophers men's basketball?? 👇🤔👇 pic.twitter.com/QwZNlBQfzL
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) April 2, 2026

The transfer portal has had a serious impact on players' legacies at just one program. Tyson obviously played just one season at Minnesota, but that year should be remembered as one of the best scoring displays in the history of the program.

If your first thought is, "Well, he didn't make the NCAA Tournament", neither did Thompson or Humphries in their high-scoring seasons. Minnesota went 16-10 in 1975-76 and 12-18 in 2003-04, which was Humphries' lone season with the program.

Lewis went to the NCAA Tournament in 1998-99, and Oturu could've been on that way in 2019-20 before the COVID pandemic cancelled the tournament. The 1989-90 season ended in the Elite Eight, so Burton's campaign that season, averaging 19.3 points per game, is hard to beat.

Ultimately, it's not a hyperbole to call Tyson's 2025-26 campaign one of the best single-seasons in the history of Gophers basketball. What makes it most impressive is how efficiently he did it. Shooting 50% from the field on 11.9 field goal attempts per game is not an easy thing to do.

A 15-17 season with a first-round exit in the Big Ten tournament and College Basketball Crown will likely not be a season that many Gophers fans remember. But Tyson's scoring display could be a sign of things to come under Niko Medved.