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Gophers land commitment from sharpshooting local high school star

Originally posted on Minnesota Golden Gophers on SI
By Tony Liebert | Last updated Jul 31, 2025 2:53 PM ET

Eden Prairie's Nolen Anderson was offered a scholarship from the Gophers on July 14, and just over two weeks later, he verbally committed to the program on Thursday.

Standing at 6-foot-6, Anderson is currently tearing up the Adidas 3SSB Circuit with local AAU program D1 Minnesota. He played his high school basketball with Eden Prairie last season, but he's expected to play for Wayzata High School in 2025-26.

BREAKING: 2026 (Wayzata HS) forward Nolen Anderson (@nolen_anderson7) has verbally committed to Minnesota.

Listed at 6-foot-6, he holds other top offers from Virginia Tech, Drake and Northern Iowa. He joins Cedric Tomes as Niko Medved's second in-state commit in the '26 class.… pic.twitter.com/4ZDQXnglRK
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) July 31, 2025

According to the latest 247Sports Composite, he's a three-star prospect, ranked 166th in the country and No. 4 in Minnesota. He chose the Gophers over notable top offers from Virginia Tech, Drake and Northern Iowa.

Niko Medved has only been the Gophers' head coach for a few months, but he has already shown some serious success recruiting in-state. Anderson now joins East Ridge guard Cedric Tomes as their second in-state commit in the class of 2026.