It has been 14 years since the Gophers signed Minnesota's Gatorade Player of the Year

Orono's Nolan Groves is the latest added to a pretty jarring statistic.

Feb. 6, 2013; East Lansing, MI, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Joe Coleman (11) stands on the court against the Michigan State Spartans during 2nd half at Jack Breslin Students Events Center. MSU won 61-50. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-Imagn Images / Mike Carter-Imagn Images

Orono's Nolan Groves was announced as the 2025 Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year on Thursday and he will be playing college basketball at Yale next season. It marks 14 straight years that the best high school basketball player in the state will not be staying home to play for the Gophers.

Year	Player	High School	College
2024-25	Nolan Groves	Orono	Yale
2023-24	Jackson McAndrew	Wayzata	Creighton
2022-23	Nolan Winter	Lakeville North	Wisconsin
2021-22	Trejuan Holloman	Cretin-Derham Hall	Michigan State
2020-21	Chet Holmgren	Minnehaha Academy	Gonzaga
2019-20	Jalen Suggs	Minnehaha Academy	Gonzaga
2018-19	Matthew Hurt	Rochester John Marshall	Duke
2017-18	Tre Jones	Apple Valley	Duke
2016-17	Tre Jones	Apple Valley	Duke
2015-16	Gary Trent Jr.	Apple Valley	Duke
2014-15	J.T. Gibson	Champlin Park	Omaha
2013-14	Tyus Jones	Apple Valley	Duke
2012-13	Tyus Jones	Apple Valley	Duke
2011-12	Tyus Jones	Apple Valley	Duke

The traditional Mr. Basketball award is given to the state's top senior, but the Gatorade Player of the Year is handed out to the best player regardless of class. The Gophers have signed Mr. Basketball winners Amir Coffey (2016) and Braeden Carrington (2022), but it hasn't been since Joe Coleman in 2011 when they signed the Gatorade Player of the Year.

Minnesota high schools have produced some elite talent over the last decade, such as Gary Trent Jr., Tre Jones, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Suggs, but none of them stayed home to play for the Gophers. In a vacuum it's easy to defend the Gophers, as they had to recruit against some of the top programs in the country for those players, but over a span of 14 years, it's a pretty staggering statistic.

In-state recruiting continues to be a hot-button topic and the Gophers are never going to have a team full of in-state players, nor should they. But, up until 2021-22, the University of Minnesota was the only Division I program in the state, so 14 straight years without nabbing the Gatorade Player of the Year sticks out like a sore thumb.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Minnesota would sign a Gatorade Player of the Year every couple of years, which is an entirely reasonable expectation. There are always going to be unique situations, but 14 years is a significant sample size. Ben Johnson added top in-state talents like Jamison Battle, Dawson Garcia and Isaac Asuma, but the program still has a long way to go before reaching its full potential.

Other Midwest states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas, Ohio and Indiana have other Division I programs to compete against when it comes to recruiting and none of their top universities have a streak like the Gophers.

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