Jamison Battle is done playing college basketball for the Minnesota Gophers, having entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal along with three other Gophers – Ta’lon Cooper, Jaden Henley and Treyton Thompson – last week.
Minnesota head coach Ben Johnson previously said Battle and Cooper were going to explore pro options, and according to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson that remains the case but Battle has garnered attention from a bunch of high-profile basketball programs around the country.
“There is interest in just going the pro route, but with NIL money, playing in college, as long as you have eligibility, is not necessarily a bad thing,” said Wolfson during an appearance on Mackey & Judd Thursday morning. “Here are the schools in on Battle: Arkansas, Cincinnati, Clemson, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, LSU, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Santa Clara, Utah, Wake Forest, Xavier and Villanova.”
That’s 15 schools showing interest, including two that are in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16: Arkansas and Xavier.
Meanwhile, Minnesota native Eli King, who was a finalist for the 2022 Mr. Basketball award as the top senior hooper in Minnesota, entered his name into the transfer portal after playing in just nine games as a freshman at Iowa State.
“As of late last night the Gophers had not made contact,” said Wolfson, “but Ben Johnson was all over Eli King coming out of Caledonia.”
Wolfson went on to say Mike Mitchell, Jr., a guard who is transferring from Pepperdine, is “very much a high priority for the Gophers.”
Mitchell averaged 11.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5 assists per game while shooting 44.0% from 3 as a sophomore this season at Pepperdine. Other reports say Clemson, Oregon State and Utah have expressed interest in Mitchell.
And lastly, Wolfson said St. Thomas (Minnesota) freshman guard Andrew Rohde, who is also in the transfer portal, is “definitely” getting “some Creighton buzz.”
Rohde, a Wisconsin native, has also been linked to his home state Badgers.
