Why the Gophers' latest transfer portal entry feels like déjà vu

Did Minnesota let a future star running back out of its building?

Dec 28, 2021; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers running back Mar'Keise Irving (4) against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Redshirt freshman running back Fame Ijeboi became the latest Gophers player to reveal his intentions of entering the transfer portal on Tuesday. His situation feels awfully familiar to something Minnesota fans saw following the 2021 season.

Legendary Gophers running back Mohamed Ibrahim went down with a season-ending injury in Week 1 of that season, followed by Trey Potts, who suffered a season-ending injury only four weeks later. That opened the door for highly-touted true freshman Bucky Irving to get an opportunity as Minnesota's lead back.

The former four-star high school recruit took the opportunity and literally ran with it. He finished the season with 133 carries for 699 yards and four total touchdowns, which is 5.3 yards per carry. Ibrahim's injury gave him the opportunity to return for one more season, then Oregon came in and swooped up Irving with a lucrative NIL deal in the transfer portal. He has since become a dynamic NFL running back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Fast-forward to 2025, star Gophers running back Darius Taylor went down with a hamstring injury in Week 2 against Northwestern State, which was followed by highly-touted Marshall transfer A.J. Turner suffering a season-ending injury the next week against California. That opened the door for Ijeboi to get an opportunity as Minnesota's lead back.

Ijeboi was a redshirt-freshman and not the same caliber of high school prospect as Irving, but he saw similar success with the opportunity. He finished with 97 carries for 441 yards and three total touchdowns, which is 4.5 yards per carry. Those numbers coincided with Taylor working in and out of the lineup all season. Neither Taylor nor Turner has announced their plans for next season, but Ijeboi plans to enter the transfer portal.

One FBS general manager told me that he expects Ijeboi to have a strong market in the transfer portal. He looked like a player who could handle a bigger workload, and he might get the opportunity to do so at a different school.

Is Ijeboi the same caliber of player as Irving? Only time will tell. They play the running back position in very different ways, but their situations at the University of Minnesota happened to transpire in very similar ways.

In 2022, Ibrahim returned to run for more than 1,600 yards and Potts added 474 on the ground. Depending on the status of Taylor and Turner, that could be their same fate in 2026, and Minnesota's running game could return to its dominant ways. But there is always going to be a part of the Gophers' fanbase that wonders if Irving was the one who got away, as he continues to have success in the NFL. Could a similar fate be ahead for Ijeboi? Only time will tell.