Gophers Basketball Back at Practice to Prep for New Crosstown “Rival” St. Thomas

The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team returned to practice for the first time since they were booted from the College Basketball Crown Tournament back on April 1 by the Baylor Bears.

Since then, the roster has seen quite a few changes. New names fans will get used to hearing include transfers Kyan Evans (UNC), Kai Shinholster (Colorado State), Winters Grady (Michigan) and Nolan Groves (Texas Tech), among others.

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However, an influx in NIL money for Niko Medved‘s program has allowed the second-year head coach to, not just bring in new quality talent, but to keep most of his best players (w/eligibility) from last year’s roster — including Isaac Asuma, Grayson Grove, Bobby Durkin and Jaylen Crocker Johnson.

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In other words, Medved’s second-year Golden Gophers look like a much better and more competitive team, overall, and one that should have a solid rotation that won’t be all that easy to crack if they can stay healthier than they did last season.

But the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team returning to practice this week was far from the only news of the day for Niko & Co. In fact, it wasn’t even the biggest item of the day.

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Minnesota Gophers announce basketball games vs St. Thomas

Before practice photos and clips started hitting the team’s social media accounts, they announced a new regular season game on the 2026-27 schedule, one that a lot of small school college basketball fans in the St. Paul area have been waiting five years for.

On November 6, later this year, the Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team will tip-off at Williams Arena against the University of St. Thomas Tommies. The women’s teams will also play each other. That game will take place on December 1.

For Gopher fans out there who aren’t sure why this is a big deal, go find one of your Facebook friends who graduated from St. Thomas and send them a DM about it. See what they say. Because come early November, they will get their college…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gophers-basketball-back-practice-prep-001459476.html

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Publish date : 2026-06-09 00:14:00

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