Jaylen Crocker-Johnson is looking at Minnesota’s men’s basketball team and seeing plenty of reasons for optimism.
“I feel like we can do a lot of things special,” Crocker-Johnson said at the U’s internal media day on Thursday. “We got the talent, the size.
Everybody here wants to work. I just feel like we can really surprise people this year.”
The Big Ten’s reporters aren’t nearly that bullish. In the Columbus Dispatch’s annual preseason poll of 27 conference writers, released Monday, the Gophers landed at No. 13 in the 18-team league.
That’s a middle-of-the-pack finish on paper, but it still reflects the uncertainty around a Minnesota group that was battered by injuries a year ago. The Gophers went 15-18 overall and 8-12 in Big Ten play last season, finishing 11th in the conference.
Now Niko Medved enters his second season with a roster that kept three starters in Crocker-Johnson, Isaac Asuma and Bobby Durkin. Minnesota also brought in North Carolina transfer guard Kyan Evans and 7-foot-2 Michigan center Malick Kordel, among others.
There’s also the possibility of another major piece returning. Wing Cade Tyson, who led the Gophers with 19.6 points per game last season, is still waiting on the outcome of his eligibility court case. His hearing is set for Oct. 13 in Colorado.
Minnesota didn’t show up on either of the poll’s two all-Big Ten teams, and it also drew no votes for preseason player of the year, freshman of the year or transfer of the year. Tyson, though, did receive three votes on one of the all-conference teams.
At the top of the poll, Illinois was picked first with 498 points and 18 first-place votes. Michigan State followed with 483 points and nine first-place votes, while Michigan checked in third with 436 points and one first-place vote.
The rest of the top 18 went: UCLA, Nebraska, Purdue, Southern Cal, Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Northwestern, Rutgers and Penn State.
In Other News...
P.J. Flecks Postgame Message Hit A Nerve For Gophers Fans
P.J. Fleck had plenty to celebrate after Minnesotas 20-14 win over Michigan, a result that delivered the Little Brown Jug and gave him the 100th victory of his head coaching career. For Gophers fans, it was the kind of day that felt bigger than the record book, especially with the trophy going home to Minnesota for only the fifth time in 49 tries.
Fleck spent his postgame message leaning into gratitude, stressing that every win deserves to be appreciated and every chance to celebrate should be embraced. He said that habit goes back to his first coaching victory in 2013, and it clearly resonated with a fan base that has waited a long time for moments like this, even if the larger season story is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
Minnesota Just Gave Fans A Reason To Believe Again
The latest Big Ten weekend did plenty to shake up the league race, and Minnesota was one of the teams that came away with real momentum. With Penn State and Michigan taking surprising losses and USC handling Washington, the conference picture shifted again, but the Golden Gophers showing stood out in the updated power rankings conversation because it added to the sense that they belong in the mix rather than just watching it unfold from the side.
Minnesotas spot in the recap was part of a broader look at several teams that helped redefine the leagues pecking order, with Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska also drawing notice for their performances. For Gophers fans, the encouraging part is not just the result itself but the way it fits into a week that left some of the conference heavyweights looking vulnerable, and that kind of opening is exactly what can keep a season interesting if Minnesota keeps taking advantage. [Read more 🡒]
P.J. Fleck Had One Powerful Reminder After Beating Michigan
P.J. Flecks milestone victory over Michigan was about more than a place in the standings or a notch in the record book. Minnesotas 20-14 win gave him his 100th career victory as a head coach, but what stuck with him afterward was a video he watched featuring more than 100 former players talking about what it meant to play for him, a reminder of how much his program has been built around continuity and buy-in.
That sentiment fits a team culture that leans heavily on small details, including the Gophers habit of having players hand the football directly to officials after every play as a sign of respect for the game. For Fleck, the Michigan win was a celebration of the present, but the larger takeaway was about the people and principles that have carried his program this far. [Read more 🡒]