Gophers Poised to Become an Elite Three-Point Shooting Team in 2026-27

Winters Grady

Grady played in only nine games last season at Michigan, but he built up a reputation of being an elite shooter at the high school level. He shot 42% from long range in his final season on the 3SSB AAU circuit. He still has to prove he can produce at the college level, but he has tremendous long-term potential as a shooter.

Kyan Evans

Evans struggled last season at North Carolina; there's no other way to put it. But if you go back to the 2024-25 season with Colorado State, he was one of the best three-point shooting guards in the country. He attempted 4.4 threes per game, and he made 44.6% of them, and he shot 85.2% from the free throw line.

Shooting can often be a confidence thing, and it's hard to think he had much of that after he essentially played his way out of the rotation. It's entirely reasonable to think he could be closer to his 2024-25 numbers next season at Minnesota.

Nolan Groves

Much like Grady and Evans, Groves didn't have a great 2025-26 season. He was an elite scorer at the high school level with 34.1 points per game as a senior. No matter what level of basketball it is, you don't put up those numbers unless you're a great shooter. There's plenty of reason to think he will knock down shots at a high level with the Gophers.

Nolen Anderson and Cedric Tomes

Minnesota's incoming freshman class is highlighted by two of the best scorers in the state of Minnesota. Anderson shot 45% from three during his final 3SSB season on the AAU circuit for D1 Minnesota. Tomes averaged more than 30 points per game as a senior at East Ridge, and he even erupted for 50 points in January against Totino Grace.

Both players will have to earn their playing time as true freshmen, but they've proven they're more than capable of lighting up the scoreboard whenever they step on the floor.

Other players

Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Isaac Asuma are set to return after shooting 32.3% and 30.4% from three last season, respectively. Those are obviously numbers you would like to see improve, and there's plenty of reason to think they will. They've both shown to be more streaky shooters, which is something Minnesota can handle with the other knockdown options they have on their roster.