The 247 national rankings team led by Eric Bossi updated the 2026 prospect rankings for the first time since mid/late June.  A number of current, former and potential Gopher basketball targets were sprinkled throughout the rankings so GI is jumping in to run through the notes that are important for Gopher fans to know. 

Bossi said the following last night along with the release:

“The summer evaluation period allowed us to get eyes on all the top players in the 2026 class and witness them playing against the best players in the nation. After letting those extensive few months of basketball breathe and taking time to review notes, tape and statistics from the grassroots circuits, it’s time to update the national rankings for the 2026 class.”

To see the national rankings hit the link below:

2026 National Rankings Update

Top 50 Prospect to Visit vs Iowa

In two weekends time when the Gopher Football team takes on Iowa, Minnesota Head Coach Ben Johnson and his staff will have 6’8 offered prospect Joe Philon on campus for an official visit.  Philon jumped 18 spots in the rankings into a top 50 spot at 47th in the country. Joe visited Florida two weeks ago, he recently got a Florida Gulf Coast offer and he’s been offered by Florida State.  Minnesota is Philon’s most recent offer and he recently told GI the following about his connection to the Gophers:

“The coach I have been talking to, he has a really strong personality.  He’s really funny.  I definitely feel I can relate to him more.  He showed me some photos of the facility, the locker room, the campus, it all looked very beautiful.  They have high academics there so I could further my education.  And I am from Florida so I could definitely get used to seeing some snow and stuff up there.”

Philon is the highest ranked prospect that Minnesota is connected to. 

Highest Rated Minnesota Prospect

The highest rated Minnesotan in the recent national 247 rankings is 6’4 guard Christian Wiggins of Wayzata High School.  Wiggins has offers from Iowa, Iowa State and Wisconsin and those three programs have consistently been involved in his recruitment.  Wiggins is ranked 66th in the country and as the number one ranked player in the state of Minnesota for this class and this is ranking that we at GI definitely agree with.  

As for the Gophers, they have not offered Wiggins but they have watched Wiggins play regularly as they have been recruiting his AAU teammates Cedric Tomes and Dothan Ijadimbola who both have Minnesota offers.  Wiggins has been at Gopher Team Camp, he’s been a guest at games and there has been conversations but he has not yet been recruited by Minnesota in a strong way.  Wiggins visited Iowa last weekend unofficially. 

Other National Targets

Six-foot-2 guard Julius Price out of California is a player that Minnesota identified early as they watched him as a 15u aged player and offered him last summer.  The Gophers and Washington identified and watched Price early extending the early offers with Arizona State, USC, Washington State, and UCF following this summer. 

Price is ranked as the 71st ranked player in the nation and is a prospect we are still hoping to connect with to see his current Gopher interest from both sides.  Price moved up 45 spots in the rankings with the recent release.

Another name to keep an eye on is Jaidyn Coon out of Iowa.  The explosive 6’7 forward not only had Minnesota watching all of his live period games this year (he plays with D1 Minnesota), Coon was called by the Gophers once they could start reaching out to 2026 prospects.  The explosive forward’s father Martin is from Rochester and was a standout player for Mayo High School. –

Six-foot-5 wing Joseph Hartman out of Florida moved into the rankings at 143. The Gophers offered Hartman just over a week ago after seeing him at an open gym.  Hartman was also recently offered by Butler, UCF, and Tulane. 

In-State Ranked Prospects

Injuries have been the set back for Totino-Grace forward Dothan Ijadimbola.  Dothan, who had rightfully been the top ranked Minnesota prospect, has spent the last nine months dealing with a leg injury which caused him discomfort during his All State sophomore season for the Eagles and took him out of action for nearly all of the spring and the summer.  Dothan is ranked 126th nationally right now after having spent a lot of time resting/rehabbing his injury.  Minnesota was at Dothan’s open gym last week, Iowa State and Colorado State saw him yesterday. 

At 129 in the rankings is Faribault big man Ryan Kreager.  Ryan is a high level shot blocker and rebounder who is getting better every day with his offensive game.  His agility sets him apart and Kreager is working with trainers daily to become the skilled prospect that Wyoming, Colorado State and Northern Iowa have all come in to see this week. 

Others

The local targets that Minnesota has offered that were not ranked are Jayden Moore of Hopkins and Cedric Tomes of East Ridge, both of which are guards.  Also, combo guard JoJo Mitchell from Cretin-Derham Hall is another player that Minnesota has shown interest in.  He was recently at Iowa and has an Iowa offer.  Mitchell was not ranked nor was Gopher offered Daylen Sharper out of Arizona.