Gophers Set to Host Bison for Exhibition Contest

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 7:01 p.m.

U OF M STUDENTS GET IN FREE

• For each the North Dakota State and North Dakota exhibitions, U of M college students get into the sport without cost. Please test the hyperlink HERE. 

STARTING FIVE

• The 2025-26 season begins with an exhibition sport in opposition to North Dakota State on Thursday, Oct. 16 at Williams Arena. Game time is about for 7 p.m., and might be streamed on B1G+. 

• New this yr, the NCAA has allowed scheduling two Division I exhibition video games. Along with the NDSU scrimmage, Minnesota additionally has an exhibition sport scheduled for Oct. 25 vs. North Dakota. The final time the Gophers performed NDSU dates again Dec. 11, 2012 when the Gophers gained an everyday season sport, 70-57, at Williams Arena. 

• The Gophers held a Maroon and Gold scrimmage on Homecoming Saturday. It was the primary open to the general public scrimmage since 2018. The Gophers performed two video games and adopted the occasion with autographs for followers. 

• Minnesota and NDSU each have a pair of former Western Michigan teammates in Chansey Willis Jr. and NDSU’s Markhi Strickland. Both had been two of the Broncos’ prime three scorers in the course of the 2024-25 marketing campaign. Willis Jr., led WMU averaging 16.8 factors in 24 video games performed, whereas Strickland ranked third on the workforce in scoring at 11.3 ppg.

• Thursday’s sport incorporates a Minnesota debut for a majority of the Gopher roster. The Golden Gophers welcome 13 new gamers to the roster from final yr’s workforce in addition to Niko Medved as the pinnacle coach. Medved, nevertheless, isn’t any stranger to Williams Arena, who served as a pupil supervisor underneath Clem Haskins from 1993-96 and was an assistant coach within the 2006-07 season underneath Dan Monson. 

NEW ERA BEGINS WITH COACH MEDVED 

• Head coach Niko Medved was named the University of Minnesota males’s basketball coach on March 24, 2025. He begins his Gopher head teaching profession with 12 years of head teaching expertise, most lately at Colorado State University. He enters his Gopher tenure with a profession document of 222-172. Medved helped the Rams advance to the NCAA Tournament three of the previous 4 seasons. Medved, a Roseville, Minn., native, earned each a bachelor’s and grasp’s diploma from Minnesota. 

• Medved is joined on the teaching sidelines by Brian Cooley, Armon Gates, Aaron Katsuma, Dave Thorson and Chad Warner. Cooley, Katsuma and Thorson all labored with Medved in earlier positions. Medved additionally introduced alongside Joe De Ciman (chief of employees), Rachel Herndon (director of operations), Anthony Holland (participant personnel), Lucas Stieber (participant improvement) with him from Colorado State and added former Gopher supervisor Drew Evenson (scouting & analytics).  

RETURNING FOR THE GOPHERS

• Minnesota had two gamers stay with the workforce from the 2024-25 workforce in Isaac Asuma and Grayson Grove. Asuma noticed vital time as a freshman final yr when he averaged 24.7 minutes and averaged 5.6 factors as a rookie. Grove redshirted the 2024-25 season.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

• Minnesota welcomes 13 new additions to the roster: Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Bobby Durkin, Maximus Gizzi, Max Lorenson, BJ Omot, Langston Reynolds, Kai Shinholster, RJ Spencer, Chance Stephens, Nehemiah Turner, Cade Tyson, Robert Vaihola and Chansey Willis Jr. Roster breakdown contains: six seniors (Reynolds, Vaihola, Tyson, Gizzi, Spencer and Willis Jr.), 4 juniors (Durkin, Crocker-Johnson, Stephens, Omot), two sophomores (Asuma, Turner) and three freshmen (Grove-redshirt, Lorenson, Shinholster). 

ABOUT THE BISON

• NDSU’s Noah Feddersen and Markhi Strickland had been voted to the preseason All-Summit League second workforce. Feddersen began all 32 video games for the Bison final season, averaging 8.3 factors and 6.0 rebounds with 52-percent taking pictures. Strickland began each sport for Western Michigan final yr, led the workforce in minutes, and averaged 11.3 factors per sport.

• NDSU was picked to complete fourth within the Summit League this season, in response to the annual preseason ballot of league head coaches, sports activities data administrators and media.

• NDSU graduated a trio of elite three-point shooters following final yr. The Bison return simply 20 p.c of their minutes performed and 14 p.c of their scoring from final season.

ON THE DOCKET

• Minnesota males’s basketball holds a second exhibition sport on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m., when North Dakota involves city. The Gophers and Fighting Hawks contest might be streamed on B1G+. 

• Following the exhibitions, the Gophers host Gardner-Webb for its common season house opener, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The sport can be streamed on B1G+. All common season video games, beginning with Nov. 3 sport, might be broadcast on the Gopher Radio Network with Mike Grimm and Al Nolen.