Big Ten Daily (May 2): Minnesota's Biggest Rival Might be NCAA Transfer Portal
Life in the new world of college athletics hasn't been overly kind to Minnesota's basketball program. On Wednesday, the Golden Gophers saw another player enter his name into the NCAA transfer portal: Cam Christie.
This was the latest development in what has been a rough offseason for coach Ben Johnson and his staff at Minnesota. Since the end of Minnesota's run in the NIT, the Gophers have lost four of their top six scorers to the transfer portal.
For clarification, Christie previously entered his name into the 2024 NBA Draft. His No. 1 goal is to remain in the draft and pursue a career at the professional level. Still, should he decide to return to college for a sophomore season, it appears unlikely it'll be at Minnesota.
Christie joined Pharrel Payne, Elijah Hawkins and Joshua Ola-Joseph to enter the transfer portal following the conclusion of the season. Combined, those four players accounted for 38.3 points per game for the Gophers. The team averaged 75.4 points for the year.
Additionally, Hawkins was one of the top passers in the nation, averaging 7.5 assists per game. Payne was the team's second-best rebounder, collecting 6.1 boards per game.
Minnesota finished last season with a 19-15 record and a 9-11 mark in Big Ten play. At one point in the year, Johnson found himself in the Big Ten Coach of the Year conversation. What's the reward for that success?
Losing essentially half your production to the transfer portal.
It puts Johnson in a tough position. You can argue that player retention falls on the coach, his staff and the program. But the lack of NCAA guardrails relating to the transfer portal and NIL has put programs like Minnesota in a pinch.
Essentially, it forced Johnson to assemble teams on a yearly basis vs. building a program. Minnesota isn't the only school facing this problem — far from it — but it has taken some of the hardest hits of any team in the Big Ten this offseason.
You could argue that Minnesota's biggest rival right now — bigger than Iowa and Wisconsin — is the transfer portal.
Thankfully for the Gophers, leading scorer and top rebounder Dawson Garcia has announced his intentions to return to Minneapolis. Mike Mitchell Jr. also plans to play for Johnson and the Gophers next season. There has been some good news since the sesaon concluded.
But had Christie, Hawkins, Ola-Joseph and Payne decided to return next season, Minnesota might have competed for a top-four spot in the conference standings. The Gophers would've been a serious NCAA Tournament team.
Now, we'll have to see what Johnson and his staff can put together after suffering such devastating blows during the offseason.
Rutgers' QB situation
There are still four months until the college football season kicks off, but Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has his starting quarterback heading into the 2024 campaign. Following the Scarlet Knights' spring practice schedule, he's named Minnesota transfer Athan Kaliakmanis the No. 1 quarterback.
After the news, former starter, Gavin Wimsatt, entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. Wimsatt spent the last three years at Rutgers. He played in 25 games and made 19 starts.
Wimsatt was Rutgers' starter in all 13 games last season.
Sources: Rutgers has named Minnesota transfer QB Athan Kaliakmanis the starting quarterback. Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt, who started 18 games the last two years, has initiated the process of entering the transfer portal and will have two years of eligibility remaining. pic.twitter.com/rPcJOLAoU1
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 1, 2024
Kaliakmanis decided to enter the transfer portal following the 2023 season at Minnesota. He was the starter for the Golden Gophers in all 12 games a season ago, throwing for 1,838 yards, 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Earlier this week on Big Ten Network, Schiano raved about the quarterback room in Piscataway.
"I'm excited. I think our quarterback room is as strong as it's ever been in all my years as the head coach here at Rutgers," he said. "And I know that it's a very fluid thing when you talk about college personnel.
"There is a transfer portal, there is NIL, there's all those things that make it that way. So, what you do is take it day by day. You have a plan, but you gotta be able to adjust. I feel good about Athan, I feel good about Gavin and I feel good about our other two quarterbacks, as well. They're doing a good job. We have some depth at the position, but you don't know how long that lasts all the time."
Wimsatt threw for 1,735 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions last season. He also had 497 rushing yards and reached the end zone 11 times on the ground.
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DUSTIN SCHUTTE