Gophers' Frank Mitchell is 'week-to-week' after dislocating shoulder

Minnesota's starting big man is expected to miss a little bit of time.

Frank Mitchell (00) wearing a sling for his right arm during a team huddle in Minnesota's exhibition win over Hamline. / Photo by Kelly Hagenson, Minnesota Athletics

Gophers men's basketball begins its 2024-25 regular season tomorrow night against Oral Roberts, but they will be without Canisius transfer big man Frank Mitchell, who is now "week-to-week" with a dislocated shoulder.

"He'll probably be week-to-week. Thankfully, as of right now, there's no surgery," Ben Johnson told the media. "So, now it's just seeing how much strength he can get back in the shoulder. We'll see where he's at next week. He'll be out for Wednesday."

Mitchell started both of the team's exhibition wins, but he suffered the injury against Hamline, which held him out for the entire second half. Johnson's reaction after the game made it seem like it was something that could hold him out for a while.

"It makes me sick, I am going to be killing myself on that one 'cause I was yelling at him to do the right thing on a loose ball. It's unfortunate. He was playing really well, he was playing with a ton of energy, a ton of juice. He's done everything to get himself to this point and to have a little setback, you feel bad for him," Johnson said after the game. "That part stings a little bit. But I think it talks about what this team is about. Playing the right way at all times and that was just an instinctive play by him."

Mitchell was expected to immediately play a big role for the Gophers. He averaged 11.6 rebounds per game last season at Canisius, which ranked fourth in college basketball. His official regular-season Minnesota debut will now have to wait.

He did not need surgery on the injury and it sounds like Mitchell will be able to return at some point soon. In the short term, Minnesota will now look towards UTSA transfer Trey Edmonds and veteran forward Parker Fox to fill Mitchell's void in the frontcourt.

Listed at 6-foot-10, Edmonds averaged 7.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season for the Road Runners. Fox has more experience playing alongside Dawson Garcia and he averaged 11.5 points per game in the team's two exhibitions and he shot a perfect 10 of 10 from the field.

Based on the Gophers' non-conference schedule and overall depth in the frontcourt, Mitchell's injury is something they should be able to overcome.