Vanderbilt’s A.J. Hoggard (11) and M.J. Collins Jr. (2) take the ball away from California forward B.J. Omot (20) during an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Gophers portal profile: Is B.J. Omot being overlooked?

Originally posted on Minnesota Golden Gophers on SI
By Tony Liebert | Last updated Aug 1, 2025 11:05 AM ET

B.J. Omot was Niko Medved's second addition from the transfer portal this offseason. The former Mankato East High School standout will be coming back to his home state, but is he being overlooked in terms of a potential role with Minnesota in 2025-26?

2024-25 stats: 10.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 0.0 APG (4 gms)
Previous school: California (ACC)
Height: 6-foot-8
Years of eligibility remaining: 2

Omot was a relatively under-recruited coming out of high school, with offers from Providence, St. Thomas, Western Michigan, Cal Poly, Western Illinois and Bryant before settling on North Dakota. He was outside the top 12 in-state players in the class of 2022.

He immediately outperformed his recruiting ranking in his first season in Grand Forks. He started 33 games as a true freshman, averaging 12 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Those numbers improved as a sophomore to 16.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He opted to hit the transfer portal and he ended up at Cal for the 2024-25 season.

Omot played only four games for the Golden Bears and head coach Mark Madsen, but he'll now have two years of eligibility remaining with the Gophers.

Historical Gophers comparison: Alihan Demir

At 6-foot-9, Demir's skillset from his one season at Minnesota in 2019-20 compares quite similarly to Omot's. Both players have the exact same career three-point percentage at 29.3%. Omot shoots nearly twice as many from beyond that arc, but they both struggled with shooting efficiency.

Omot's role in Minnesota's rotation will be interesting because he missed the entirety of summer workouts recovering from a minor procedure due to a stress fracture in his leg. He's a tweener guard/forward, and he's likely the sixth best at that position on the roster behind Isaac Asuma, Chansey Willis Jr., Langston Reynolds, Cade Tyson and Bobby Durkin.

Last season at Colorado State, Niko Medved had a nine-man rotation, and the bottom three played 13 to 14.8 minutes per game. That might be where Omot's role is in 2025-26. He's competing with the five players I listed for minutes, and he's already a step behind after summer workouts.

Omot has proven that he's a capable power conference player, but he might just be the odd man out in the rotation. This is where this season's depth shows up because he might be among the most talented eighth men in the conference.