University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, October 16
7:00 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
North Dakota State
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Set to Host Bison for Exhibition Contest
10/15/2025 9:05:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 7:01 p.m.
U OF M STUDENTS GET IN FREE
• For both the North Dakota State and North Dakota exhibitions, U of M students get into the game for free. Please check the link HERE.
STARTING FIVE
• The 2025-26 season begins with an exhibition game against North Dakota State on Thursday, Oct. 16 at Williams Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and will be streamed on B1G+.
• New this year, the NCAA has allowed scheduling two Division I exhibition games. Along with the NDSU scrimmage, Minnesota also has an exhibition game scheduled for Oct. 25 vs. North Dakota. The last time the Gophers played NDSU dates back Dec. 11, 2012 when the Gophers won a regular season game, 70-57, at Williams Arena.
• The Gophers held a Maroon and Gold scrimmage on Homecoming Saturday. It was the first open to the public scrimmage since 2018. The Gophers played two games and followed the event with autographs for fans.
• Minnesota and NDSU both have a pair of former Western Michigan teammates in Chansey Willis Jr. and NDSU's Markhi Strickland. Both were two of the Broncos' top three scorers during the 2024-25 campaign. Willis Jr., led WMU averaging 16.8 points in 24 games played, while Strickland ranked third on the team in scoring at 11.3 ppg.
• Thursday's game features a Minnesota debut for a majority of the Gopher roster. The Golden Gophers welcome 13 new players to the roster from last year's team as well as Niko Medved as the head coach. Medved, however, is no stranger to Williams Arena, who served as a student manager under Clem Haskins from 1993-96 and was an assistant coach in the 2006-07 season under Dan Monson.
NEW ERA BEGINS WITH COACH MEDVED
• Head coach Niko Medved was named the University of Minnesota men's basketball coach on March 24, 2025. He begins his Gopher head coaching career with 12 years of head coaching experience, most recently at Colorado State University. He enters his Gopher tenure with a career record of 222-172. Medved helped the Rams advance to the NCAA Tournament three of the past four seasons. Medved, a Roseville, Minn., native, earned both a bachelor's and master's degree from Minnesota.
• Medved is joined on the coaching sidelines by Brian Cooley, Armon Gates, Aaron Katsuma, Dave Thorson and Chad Warner. Cooley, Katsuma and Thorson all worked with Medved in previous positions. Medved also brought along Joe De Ciman (chief of staff), Rachel Herndon (director of operations), Anthony Holland (player personnel), Lucas Stieber (player development) with him from Colorado State and added former Gopher manager Drew Evenson (scouting & analytics).
RETURNING FOR THE GOPHERS
• Minnesota had two players remain with the team from the 2024-25 team in Isaac Asuma and Grayson Grove. Asuma saw significant time as a freshman last year when he averaged 24.7 minutes and averaged 5.6 points 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 includes: six seniors (Reynolds, Vaihola, Tyson, Gizzi, Spencer and Willis Jr.), four 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 were voted to the preseason All-Summit League second team. Feddersen started all 32 games for the Bison last season, averaging 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds with 52-percent shooting. Strickland started every game for Western Michigan last year, led the team in minutes, and averaged 11.3 points per game.
• NDSU was picked to finish fourth in the Summit League this season, according to the annual preseason poll of league head coaches, sports information directors and media.
• NDSU graduated a trio of elite three-point shooters following last year. The Bison return just 20 percent of their minutes played and 14 percent of their scoring from last season.
ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota men's basketball holds a second exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m., when North Dakota comes to town. The Gophers and Fighting Hawks contest will be streamed on B1G+.
• Following the exhibitions, the Gophers host Gardner-Webb for its regular season home opener, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The game is also streamed on B1G+. All regular season games, starting with Nov. 3 game, will be broadcast on the Gopher Radio Network with Mike Grimm and Al Nolen.
Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 7:01 p.m.
U OF M STUDENTS GET IN FREE
• For both the North Dakota State and North Dakota exhibitions, U of M students get into the game for free. Please check the link HERE.
STARTING FIVE
• The 2025-26 season begins with an exhibition game against North Dakota State on Thursday, Oct. 16 at Williams Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and will be streamed on B1G+.
• New this year, the NCAA has allowed scheduling two Division I exhibition games. Along with the NDSU scrimmage, Minnesota also has an exhibition game scheduled for Oct. 25 vs. North Dakota. The last time the Gophers played NDSU dates back Dec. 11, 2012 when the Gophers won a regular season game, 70-57, at Williams Arena.
• The Gophers held a Maroon and Gold scrimmage on Homecoming Saturday. It was the first open to the public scrimmage since 2018. The Gophers played two games and followed the event with autographs for fans.
• Minnesota and NDSU both have a pair of former Western Michigan teammates in Chansey Willis Jr. and NDSU's Markhi Strickland. Both were two of the Broncos' top three scorers during the 2024-25 campaign. Willis Jr., led WMU averaging 16.8 points in 24 games played, while Strickland ranked third on the team in scoring at 11.3 ppg.
• Thursday's game features a Minnesota debut for a majority of the Gopher roster. The Golden Gophers welcome 13 new players to the roster from last year's team as well as Niko Medved as the head coach. Medved, however, is no stranger to Williams Arena, who served as a student manager under Clem Haskins from 1993-96 and was an assistant coach in the 2006-07 season under Dan Monson.
NEW ERA BEGINS WITH COACH MEDVED
• Head coach Niko Medved was named the University of Minnesota men's basketball coach on March 24, 2025. He begins his Gopher head coaching career with 12 years of head coaching experience, most recently at Colorado State University. He enters his Gopher tenure with a career record of 222-172. Medved helped the Rams advance to the NCAA Tournament three of the past four seasons. Medved, a Roseville, Minn., native, earned both a bachelor's and master's degree from Minnesota.
• Medved is joined on the coaching sidelines by Brian Cooley, Armon Gates, Aaron Katsuma, Dave Thorson and Chad Warner. Cooley, Katsuma and Thorson all worked with Medved in previous positions. Medved also brought along Joe De Ciman (chief of staff), Rachel Herndon (director of operations), Anthony Holland (player personnel), Lucas Stieber (player development) with him from Colorado State and added former Gopher manager Drew Evenson (scouting & analytics).
RETURNING FOR THE GOPHERS
• Minnesota had two players remain with the team from the 2024-25 team in Isaac Asuma and Grayson Grove. Asuma saw significant time as a freshman last year when he averaged 24.7 minutes and averaged 5.6 points 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 includes: six seniors (Reynolds, Vaihola, Tyson, Gizzi, Spencer and Willis Jr.), four 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 were voted to the preseason All-Summit League second team. Feddersen started all 32 games for the Bison last season, averaging 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds with 52-percent shooting. Strickland started every game for Western Michigan last year, led the team in minutes, and averaged 11.3 points per game.
• NDSU was picked to finish fourth in the Summit League this season, according to the annual preseason poll of league head coaches, sports information directors and media.
• NDSU graduated a trio of elite three-point shooters following last year. The Bison return just 20 percent of their minutes played and 14 percent of their scoring from last season.
ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota men's basketball holds a second exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m., when North Dakota comes to town. The Gophers and Fighting Hawks contest will be streamed on B1G+.
• Following the exhibitions, the Gophers host Gardner-Webb for its regular season home opener, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The game is also streamed on B1G+. All regular season games, starting with Nov. 3 game, will be broadcast on the Gopher Radio Network with Mike Grimm and Al Nolen.
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