Will Niko Medved go international to round out the Gophers' 2025-26 roster?

Minnesota still has four open spots for next year's roster.

Mar 23, 2025; Seattle, WA, USA; Colorado State Rams head coach Niko Medved works the sideline against the Maryland Terrapins in the first half at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Niko Medved has completely revamped the Gophers' roster this offseason with seven additions from the transfer portal. With 11 players currently expected to be on next year's roster, Minnesota has four available roster spots. There continues to be rumblings in the portal, but could Medved look overseas to fill out the rest of his roster?

On his final Colorado State roster, Medved had two international players — Rashaan Mbemba from Austria and Nikola Djapa from Serbia. Djapa began his college career at LIU, but neither player went to American high school. In Medved's last five seasons at Colorado State, there was at least one player on their roster who didn't attend American high school, as he also coached James Moors from New Zealand, a player Medved originally recruited to Drake.

Basketball is more international than ever, and it's becoming increasingly common for college programs to look overseas for talent. Illinois might be the best example of modern roster construction. They added future lottery pick Kasparas Jakucionis and dynamic big man Tomislav Ivisic to their roster last season. They've taken a similar approach this season with Mihailo Petrovic and David Mirkovic, who both played professionally in Europe last season.

Related: Ranking Niko Medved's first transfer portal additions with the Gophers

The current rules of college sports make it more appealing for a young player, who is playing professionally overseas, to come to America and develop closer to NBA scouts, while still making money. You're selling a much different recruiting pitch compared to a traditional high school recruit or someone else from the transfer portal.

Will Medved and the Gophers look internationally for the rest of their 2025-26 roster? Possibly, but they seem to be keeping their plans close to the vest. There are plenty of players left in the transfer portal, and North Carolina forward Cade Tyson is one potential target who has been on campus in recent weeks.

The proposed House v. NCAA settlement would be a hard cap at 15 total players on your roster, regardless of scholarship status. It's almost a guarantee that Minnesota will add more players to its roster for the sole purpose of more bodies to practice against. Medved and his staff have been incredibly busy since taking over, and they're probably recruiting as you're reading this, but the international route could be an interesting one to monitor.