It’s been a wild month and a half for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. After another disappointing season with head coach Ben Johnson, the program opted to make a change and brought in former Colorado State coach Niko Medved to take over. He brings an exciting style of basketball with him and offers a more experienced approach than Johnson did.

However, in today’s world of college basketball, any coaching change means a massive roster transition and that’s exactly what Minnesota fans have observed over the last month or so. The Gophers’ roster has been decimated by transfers since the end of the season. Here are the exits:

Obviously, that’s a massive amount of Minnesota’s roster. In fact, it includes the team’s entire starting lineup from the 2025 Big Ten Tournament, save Parker Fox, who was a senior and is also departing. In short, it means Medved and his staff will be starting over.

The good news is that Medved has been active since taking the job and has added a plethora of pieces to rebuild the program. They include the following:

It’s a lot of bodies coming in the door, including multiple from the State of Colorado, where Medved spent the last few years. It should at least give the staff some bodies to work with next season.

So, what should Gopher fans make of these additions?

Generally speaking, they should be pretty excited.

The best way to evaluate the newcomers is to split between “difference makers” and additional pieces. As any fan knows, not all transfers are created equal. Some can make a difference immediately while others end up being role players.

Minnesota looks to add three players that look like potential difference makers in Durkin, Reynolds, and Willis. Durkin contributed on an underwhelming Davidson team, but put up efficient numbers and shot 35.1 percent from three. Similarly, Reynolds put up impressive numbers at Northern Colorado, playing over 80 percent of the team’s minutes and finishing with a 112.3 offensive rating. He was one of the best players in the Big Sky and got the Bears to the NIT. Willis was a scoring machine for the Broncos last season and should put up big numbers for Minnesota.

The remaining additions are a bit more uncertain. Crocker-Johnson only got limited minutes for Colorado State. Omot also only played limited minutes and will likely do the same next season. Conversely, Turner put up quality numbers, but did it for an objectively terrible Central Arkansas squad, so all of his numbers require a massive asterisk. Vaihola barely played over half of San Jose State’s minutes last season, so it’s hard to see him getting massive time for the Gophers.

That’s a pretty good group of newcomers and Minnesota still has room to add more pieces. Willis and Reynolds will likely grab the backcourt spots, Durkin and Crocker-Johnson look like the favorites on the wing, and Turner is likely to pencil in at the five. If the backcourt options can live up to expectations and Turner can surprise down low, it’s not hard to see Minnesota pushing for a postseason bid in Medved’s first campaign. The x-factor is Turner, who has a ton of potential if he hits. And fans have to be excited about that after the last few years.