Will Gophers try to land ex-Austin standout Both Gach in transfer portal?
Former Austin High School standout Both Gach has entered his name into the NCAA's transfer portal, meaning the to-be junior guard has plans to leave the University of Utah.
As a sophomore, Gach averaged 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He improved enough from his freshman to sophomore seasons that he entered his name into the NBA Draft process, essentially gaining valuable experience to learn what NBA scouts think he needs to work on.
Sports Illustrated's Jeremy Woo told the Salt Lake Tribune that Gach is "not close to NBA-ready and will need to show he does more than just score moving forward."
The big question now is if the Gophers will try to lure 6-foot-6 wing back to Minnesota, where he last led the Austin Packers to an appearance in the 2016-17 Class 3A state championship game.
According to the Star Tribune's Marcus Fuller, "the Gophers are reaching out for sure."
As is the case with all non-graduate transfers, every transfer waiver will be decided on a case-by-case basis, though it's been reported that the NCAA won't pass a proposal to grant all transfers eligibility to play right away. That likely means the majority of transfers will have to sit a year before being allowed to play.
According to 247Sports' Ryan James, Gach is also considering options with the G-League and playing overseas if he opts to move away from college.
Minnesota has a pair of scholarships available after Drew Peterson, a transfer from Rice, reopened his recruitment and decided to commit to the University of Southern California instead of Minnesota.
The Gophers are currently waiting to learn if 7-foot Drake transfer Liam Robbins will be granted a waiver to play right away.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.