If Niko Medved plans to make his first season at Minnesota a success, he’ll have to do it without a single Gopher on the Preseason All-Big Ten Team, which was announced Tuesday.
Purdue’s standout point guard Braden Smith earned Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year honors for the second straight season and headlines the 10-player preseason list, joined by:
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Bennett Stirtz, Sr., G, Iowa
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Yaxel Lendeborg, Grad., F, Michigan
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Nick Martinelli, Sr., F, Northwestern
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Bruce Thornton, Sr., G, Ohio State
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Nate Bittle, Sr., C, Oregon
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Jackson Shelstad, Jr., G, Oregon
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Trey Kaufman-Renn, Sr., F, Purdue
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Donovan Dent, Sr., G, UCLA
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John Blackwell, Jr., G, Wisconsin
Medved takes over a mostly rebuilt Minnesota roster, with only Isaac Asuma and Grayson Grove returning from last season. Grove redshirted, while Asuma averaged 5.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 24.7 minutes per game.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, who posted 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds last season at Colorado State, is expected to emerge as one of Minnesota’s key players. He wasn’t among the preseason selections but could work his way onto the postseason list with a strong year.
Of the 10 preseason honorees, three are newcomers to the Big Ten: Stirtz (from Drake), Lendeborg (UAB), and Dent (New Mexico, under former Gophers coach Richard Pitino).
This marks the sixth time Minnesota has been left off the preseason All-Big Ten Team since it expanded to 10 players:
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2024–25: Dawson Garcia
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2023–24: Dawson Garcia
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2022–23: Jamison Battle
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2021–22: Nobody
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2020–21: Marcus Carr
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2019–20: Nobody
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2018–19: Nobody
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2017–18: Amir Coffey, Nate Mason
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2016–17: Nobody
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2015–16: Nobody
Source: SI.com
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