Will the Gophers land 6-foot-10 Lakeville forward Nolan Winter?

The son of Trevor Winter, who played for the 1997 Final Four team, can shoot the lights out.
Will the Gophers land 6-foot-10 Lakeville forward Nolan Winter?
Will the Gophers land 6-foot-10 Lakeville forward Nolan Winter? /

Gopher historians will remember the name Trevor Winter, who was a 7-foot center who stayed close the basket on both ends of the floor when he played for Clem Haskins at the University of Minnesota from 1993 to 1997. 

Winter, 48, has a teenage son, Nolan Winter, who is one of the most sought-after recruits in Minnesota entering his senior year at Lakeville North High School. But even though Nolan is 6-foot-10, he's far from the true center that his old man was. 

Instead, he's a 6-foot-10 forward who plays all over the floor. He can shoot from all over, create his own shot, protect the rim and rebound. Look at these highlights from a summer AAU game. 

According to 247Sports, Winter is a 3-star recruit who could very well end up committing to the Gophers. He began his official visit with Minnesota on Wednesday, and the Star Tribune's Marcus Full said earlier this week that Winter could announce shortly after his visit. 

Wisconsin, Nebraska and Wake Forest are among the others to have offered Winter. 

But 247Sports isn't the only recruiting service aware of Winter. In fact, On3 has Winter ranked No. 85 nationally and has him as a 4-star recruit. Rivals lists Winter as a 3-star player. 

The only Minnesota high school senior set to graduate in 2023 rated higher than Winter is Totino-Grace guard Taison Chatman, who is rated No. 60 nationally by On3, 31st by 247Sports, 39th by ESPN and 67th by Rivals. 

Chatman has yet to announce his college decision. 

Whatever happens, Minnesota head coach Ben Johnson is already ahead of the game with the 2023 recruiting class with a verbal commitment from the top guard in Illinois, Cameron Christie. He's the younger brother of Max Christie, who was drafted 35th overall in June by the Lakers after his freshman season at Michigan State. 

And news broke this week that Minnesota appears to be in on 2023 5-star Dennis Evans, a 7-footer from California

Minnesota's 2022 class features Park Center's Braeden Carrington, Park of Cottage Grove's Pharrel Payne and three out-of-state players in Jaden Henley, Kadyn Betts and Josh Ola-Joseph. 


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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

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.