Minnesota Basketball: 2024-25 season preview for the Golden Gophers

Potential Starting Lineup for the Gophers

Guard: Lu'Cye Patterson, Senior

The decision by Elijah Hawkins to transfer out not only robbed the Gophers of one of college basketball's premier distributors, it left a major hole in their backcourt. Johnson brought in several pieces, who will compete for major minutes right away, and it will be interesting to see who emerges.

Toledo transfer Tyler Cochran is sure to see heavy minutes but as he's expected to be sidelined for a big chunk of the non-conference, my bet is that it will be Charlotte's Lu'Cye Patterson early on for the Gophers. Patterson is now on his third school after pit stops at Missouri State and Charlotte, and brings the advantage of experience to the table, with 124 career games and 82 starts over his collegiate career.

Patterson is still working his way to 100 percent himself after missing some time this fall, but is expected to be ready to go for Minnesota's opener with Oral Roberts. At 6'2", he'll provide more size than Hawkins did and is less of a risk-taker. Certainly there will be a downgrade at playmaking here, but Patterson should be able to stabilize this backcourt and provide the Gophers a steady veteran who can run point.

Guard: Mike Mitchell Jr., Senior

The one known commodity in the Minnesota backcourt entering the season is certainly Mike Mitchell Jr., who is in his second year with the program after transferring from Pepperdine. There were growing pains for Mitchell as he adjusted to life in the Big Ten, but he finished with strong numbers across the board, finishing third on the team in scoring and the leader in three-point percentage.

Mitchell is best off-ball, but it's still likely we'll see a lot of the offense run through him, at least early on. With that in mind, Mitchell will need to clean up his turnovers and shot selection, which was a problem at times last season. He can certainly make three-pointers at a high volume but some of the shots he took last year were true head-scratchers. That can't happen in 2024-25 with how much the Gophers are going to be relying on his offense.

Guard/Forward: Femi Odukale, Senior

Minnesota could choose to deploy three-guard sets as Johnson mixes and matches with this roster, but in any case, Femi Odukale should carve out a role on this team. He's another veteran looking to wrap up his college career in impressive fashion, now with his fourth program. He previously spent time at Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, and New Mexico State.

Despite being a college journeyman, Odukale has proven to be a quality contributor, starting games at each location. He earned All-Conference USA honors with New Mexico State last season and his steady improvement throughout his career seems to indicate this could be his best yet. At 6'6", 215 pounds with elite athleticism, his versatility is a major selling point, and he should be able to play and defend multiple positions.

Forward: Dawson Garcia, Senior

Dawson Garcia was potentially the single most important returnee in the Big Ten heading into 2024-25 - at least in what he means to this program. Garcia easily could have chased NIL money, but he instead decided to stay put with his hometown Gophers, fresh off a season in which he earned All-Big Ten accolades after averaging 17.6 PPG and 6.7 RPG.

It's been fun to watch Garcia's growth over the course of his career. Coming into college at Marquette, he was an athletic but raw physical specimen that was a bit of a tweener. Since arriving at Minnesota, he's evolved into a legitimate low post presence, with a skilled interior game and solid defense. Last year, he also showed a willingness to take on a leadership role, an interesting transition for a player who often took the backseat during his first year in the Twin Cities.

With the Gophers almost sure to feed the fifth-year senior early and often, Garcia should put up monster numbers in his final collegiate season. Expect him to leave as the most decorated Golden Gopher in some time.

Center: Frank Mitchell, Junior

Losing Pharrel Payne was particularly painful after the big man's continued growth over two seasons with the Golden Gophers. However, Minnesota is hopeful they may have upgraded in the form of Frank Mitchell, who arrives after averaging a double-double for Canisius in 2023-24.

Mitchell is a bit smaller than your traditional Big Ten big at 6'8", but he makes up for it with pure tenacity and power of will on the block. He's a relentless rebounder on both the offensive and defensive glass, who will also make his presence felt defensively. His offensive game is rather limited, but he does just enough as an effective rim-runner and finisher around the rim.

Unfortunately, there are injury concerns here, too, after Mitchell injured his shoulder in Minnesota's exhibition game victory early this past week. It doesn't appear as though he'll miss significant time, but it's yet another factor to keep an eye on when evaluating the Gophers heading into 2024-25.