Where does the Gophers' portal class rank in the Big Ten?

Minnesota gained six and lost six players to the transfer portal this offseason.

Jan 12, 2024; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Ben Johnson in the / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

According to popular recruiting site On3, the Gophers have the worst transfer portal class in the entire 18-team Big Ten conference.

The site gives each team an "index score" and Minnesota has a -17 mark, which is three points lower than the next closest, Wisconsin at -14. They're one of eight schools with a negative score. The metric takes into account both incoming and outgoing players.

Highlighted by Pharrel Payne and Elijah Hawkins, the Gophers have officially lost six players to the transfer portal this offseason. The site does include Cam Christie against the "transfer portal class," which could be misleading if he decides to remain in the NBA Draft.

Incoming Gophers' transfers (rankings via On3)

• Lu'Cye Patterson, Charlotte, PG (No. 159)
• Frank Mitchell, Canisius, PF/C (No. 552)
• Brennan Rigsby, Oregon, SG (No. 612)
• Trey Edmonds, UTSA, C (No. 658)
• Femi Odukale, New Mexico State. G/F (Unranked)
• Caleb Williams, Macalester, SG (Unranked)

For reference, last season, Minnesota added Mike Mitchell Jr. from Pepperdine, who ranked as the No. 87 transfer according to the site and Hawkins from Howard, who ranked No. 128.

There are over 1,000 players in the transfer portal, so there will be plenty of differing opinions, but the people over at On3 are not huge fans of what Ben Johnson and his staff have been able to do.

Full Big Ten Rankings

1. UCLA
2. Indiana
3. Michigan
4. Nebraska
5. Oregon
6. Washington
7. Maryland
8. USC
9. Illinois
10. Northwestern
11. Purdue
12. Michigan State
13. Rutgers
14. Iowa
15. Penn State
16. Ohio State
17. Wisconsin
18. Minnesota

Johnson and the Gophers have plenty of talent returning headlined by Dawson Garcia, Mitchell Jr. and Parker Fox, but Johnson and his staff will have plenty of work to do with six new transfers and two incoming freshmen next season.