Minnesota tips off their 2021-22 season with an exhibition match against local Division 2 school Concordia St. Paul tonight at Williams Arena! This marks the start of the Ben Johnson era, and is the first meeting between these two teams since the 2017-18 season when they also faced off for an exhibition match. Since this is the first game of the season and there aren't any stats to breakdown for either team, I'll approach this preview by going over some storylines and players to watch for in tonight's game.
Who will be the go-to scoring option?
Without much prior stats to go off of in a Minnesota uniform, the Gophers enter the season without a definitive "go to" scorer. My guess is that it could end up being either Payton Willis or Jamison Battle. Willis has the previous Big 10 experience and showed that he could produce at Minnesota a couple of years ago, while Battle put up some impressive numbers at George Washington before transferring. Although this could be a season where scoring is balanced, this exhibition game is a good chance to see if anyone emerges as the number one option.
Will the Gophers go small?
The Gophers already lacked a lot of size with just one player above 6'10 in freshman Treyton Thompson, and additionally Minnesota's frontcourt took a hit during the off-season as two forwards suffered season ending injuries. With that being said, there aren't a lot of experienced big men for the Gophers to rotate between. With most of this year's roster being guards, could we see the Gophers go small and play with four guards/wings on the floor? This type of style could put Jamison Battle at the 4, and allow the Gophers to slot in another shooter on the wing instead of playing a traditional power forward.
The Treyton Thompson Debut
6'11 freshman center Treyton Thompson will make his Gophers debut tonight, something that Minnesota fans are eager to see as the Minnesota native was a nationally ranked recruit out of high school. He's Minnesota's tallest player, and has reportedly added 30 pounds since he arrived on campus. Although it won't be against Big 10 competition, Concordia St. Paul does have some size on their team. 6'10 freshman Jonah Zeller as well as 6'9 Roy Grigsby and a pair of 6'8 forwards will man the frontcourt for CSP. This will be a good opportunity to see how Treyton handles the physicality at the college level, as well as what type of role he'll play early this season.
Minnesota Players To Watch
I'm looking forward to seeing Jamison Battle's debut for Minnesota. The 6'7 sharpshooter had a productive two years at George Washington, and will look to transfer that production over to Minnesota. Luke Loewe is another player I look forward to seeing in his Minnesota debut. I'm interested to see how Ben Johnson plays him, as he's a smart decision maker with the ball, but can also play off the ball as a shooting threat. Finally, will we see walk on sophomore Will Ramberg get minutes? He's reportedly had a strong fall, and with limited size the Gophers may need to rotate in more guards than usual. At 6'5 he brings some size and defensive versatility to the wing.
Concordia St. Paul Players To Watch
Sophomore guard Jax Madson is one to keep an eye on tonight. The 6'2 sharpshooter played his high school ball at Mankato East, and is a product of the Howard Pulley AAU program that has produced a handful of Gophers stars in the past. He started in all 14 games during his freshman season, putting up 10.2 ppg which was good for second on the team.
Marcus Skeete is another sophomore to keep an eye on. The 6'5 wing is tough on the glass and a versatile player on the offensive end. I had the chance to watch him play AAU a couple years back, and he's the type of player that will do a bit of everything for his team. Averaged 9.9 ppg and 5.7 rpg as a freshman.
Matt Johnson provides a presence in the post for CSP. The 6'8 senior formerly played at South Dakota, and in his first season at Concordia he scored 8 points per contest while also averaging 3.8 rebounds and an impressive 1.6 blocks per game. He's a physical presence who will look to battle with the Minnesota size.
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