What if? Checking in on Gophers' transfer portal targets who opted to play elsewhere

Minnesota's roster could've looked a lot different this season.

Jan 19, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Andrew Morgan (23) looks on during the second half against the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images / Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

The Gophers were very active in the transfer portal last offseason, adding seven scholarship players. They targeted dozens of other players, who opted to commit elsewhere. Let's check in on some of them and see how their decisions worked out.

Andrew Morgan, Nebraska

Hailing from Waseca, Minn., Morgan played three seasons at North Dakota State and visited the Gophers in the offseason, but opted to join Nebraska instead of his home-state school. The Cornhuskers are battling for an NCAA Tournament birth, but he's playing only 18.2 minutes per game. He has averaged 8.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

Out of anyone else on this list, he would've been the most intriguing in Minnesota's system. A frontcourt with Morgan and Dawson Garcia would've presented a lot of unique challenges for opposing defenses. If he opted to sign with Minnesota, it probably would've meant Frank Mitchell or Trey Edmonds would be playing elsewhere and the Gophers frontcourt would look a lot different.

Grant Huffman, Vanderbilt

Beginning his career at Davidson, Huffman was another player who visited the Gophers and nearly signed with the program. He's also competing for a potential NCAA Tournament birth at Vanderbilt, but his role has progressively shrunk throughout the season. He is averaging 3.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19.0 minutes per game.

Huffman's situation is unique because he committed to Vanderbilt on April 18, which was before Brennan Rigbsy and Lu'Cye Patterson joined the Gophers. He opted to sign with the Gophers, I think that would've led to them not going after Rigsby and Huffman would've played a similar role. In this hypothetical situation, the Gophers are likely in a very similar spot if Huffman committed.

Isaiah Gray, Akron

Gray is another player who visited Minnesota but opted to go elsewhere. He played four years at Cornell, but he's now in the middle of a career year at Akron. He has started all 26 games for a Zips team that currently holds a 12-game winning streak. In 25 minutes per game, he's averaging 10.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game on 49.2/40.0/74.1 shooting splits.

Much like Huffman, if Gray committed to the Gophers it likely would've meant no Rigsby. It's hard to project how well he would've done in the Big Ten compared to the Mid-American Conference (MAC), but he would've likely been a serviceable two-way addition to Minnesota's bench.

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I had the idea to write this story out of curiosity, wondering how different Minnesota's roster could've looked this season. There were a few other players that were either close to committing or visiting, like Nate Heise, Luke O'Brien and Ken Evans Jr., but Morgan seems like the only one that could've changed their outlook, and that likely still wouldn't have been by much.

Everyone points at the players who opted to leave the program like Elijah Hawkins, Pharrel Payne and Cam Christie and it's rightfully so. Minnesota's roster was ravaged by the transfer portal in the offseason and it's a big reason why they're near the bottom of the Big Ten. Ben Johnson and his staff did the best they could to replace them.

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