Minnesota Basketball: Preview of Golden Gophers 2020-21 depth chart
By Ben Dickson
Minnesota Basketball comes into the 2020-2021 season with a new roster that includes a significant transfer presence.
Minnesota Basketball is coming off of a 15-16 season which they look to improve on starting this November. While finishing below .500 will never be good enough to get you into the “Big Dance,” there were a bunch of positives to take away from last year’s campaign.
As I mentioned in a previous article analyzing their newcomers, the analytics was a big proponent of the Golden Gophers in the 2019-2020 season. Ranking in the top-42 in KenPom, ESPN’s BPI, and the NET, Minnesota always had an outside chance at the tournament if they could improve their record.
Minnesota’s roster will have a new look for this upcoming season. They lose all-conference big man Daniel Oturu to the NBA. Guard Payton Willis took his talents to the College of Charleston for his final year of eligibility. With Alihan Demir graduating as well, those are three rotation spots that the current Golden Gophers will have to fill.
The good news for Minnesota is that star guard Marcus Carr is back after testing the NBA Draft waters. It is also “transfers galore” for Richard Pitino and his program. All-MAC big man Brandon Johnson and All-MVC center Liam Robbins are immediate impact transfers from Western Michigan and Drake, respectively. Former Utah guard Both Gach, a legitimate NBA prospect, is awaiting a waiver decision from the NCAA. While that is still up in the air, we will assume he gets one for the sake of this piece.
The Gophers also bring in a top-50 recruiting class featuring 3 top-200 players. If all goes right for Minnesota, they could potentially have the makings of an NCAA Tournament team. Let’s take a deep dive into Minnesota’s depth chart for this upcoming season.