The Minnesota Gophers’ men’s basketball team received some much needed good news on Thursday.
Gophers coach Richard Pitino announced that freshmen Gaston Diedhiou and Mike Lukashewich have been added to the roster.
Diedhiou, is a 6-foot-9 forward from Dakar, Senegal. The Star Tribune’s Amelia Rayno reports that he will be eligible to play immediately for Minnesota.
But just because Diedhiou is eligible, doesn’t mean he’ll be on the floor right away. He has been living on campus and using the Gophers’ facilities and participating in English intensive courses, but he hasn’t been allowed to work out or practice with the team.
According to FOX Sports Net, Diedhiou is expected to provide some depth at the forward position behind Joey King. Josh Martin, who was one of the players behind King, transferred out after just seven games.
Diedhiou was originally expected to join the Gophers for the start of the season, but wasn’t admitted to the university after failing to obtain a qualifying score on his English proficiency test.
He re-took the test this week and was admitted into school. Diedhiou played at Canarias Basketball Academy in the Canary Islands last season.
Additionally, Minnesota added Lukashewich. He is a 6-foot-3 walk-on guard out of Appleton, Wisconsin. Lukashewich played high school basketball at Appleton North High School.
