On Friday, the Minnesota men's basketball team added another piece to the puzzle for the 2025-26 season as Maryland guard transfer Chance Stephens committed to Niko Medved and the Golden Gophers with two years of eligibility remaining.
Here's what Minnesota fans should know about the newest Golden Gopher.
1. Minnesota will be his third program
Stephens will be playing for his third collegiate program in 2025-26 as he joins the Golden Gophers. The Riverside, California native started his career at WCC program Loyola Marymount, where he spent the 2022-23 season playing in 28 games, including four starts. In those 28 games, he averaged 6.0 points and one rebound per contest. After the 2022-23 season, Stephens entered the transfer portal and would eventually commit to the Maryland Terrapins, where he spent the past two seasons.
2. He missed the 2023-24 season with a knee injury
While Stephens spent two years in College Park, the 6-foot-3 guard only appeared in seven games for the Terrapins. Prior to the 2023-24 season, Stephens would suffer a patellar tendon tear, forcing him to miss the entire season. Stephens would be ready for the 2025-26 season, appearing in seven games for Maryland. However, he would not appear in any games for the program after December 4.
3. Stephens is primarily a three-point shooter
Stephens is the definition of a three-point specialist. Of his 157 career shot attempts at the collegiate level, 143 have been from three-point range. In 2022-23 with Loyal Marymount, Stephens attempted 145 total shot attempts, with 131 coming from three-point range. He shot 37.4% from deep that season.
This past season, Stephens attempted just 12 shots in his seven games and 37 minutes of playing time. All 12 attempts were from three-point range. He was 3-for-12 on those attempts.
Outside of his three-point shooting, Stephens is a career 21.4% shooter from within the arc, making just 3-of-14 attempts in 2022-2,3 but was strong from the free throw line as a true freshman, making 14-of-19 free throws.
4. What Niko Medved said about Chance Stephens
“We’re excited to add Chance to the roster,” Medved said in a Minnesota press release. “He is an experienced guard with a high basketball IQ and can really stretch the floor. Chance also has a high motor, and we’re looking forward to having that energy on the team this year.”
5. He is the 12th member of the Gophers' 2025-26 roster
With Stephens' addition, Minnesota now has 12 players on their 2025-26 roster which is three short of the maximum roster limit of 15 players for the 2025-26 season. He is also the fifth guard on the Gophers' roster, joining senior Langston Reynolds, junior Chansey Willis Jr, sophomore Isaac Asuma, and true freshman 2025 signee Kai Shinholster.
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