Gophers sophomore Joshua Ola-Joseph enters transfer portal

Joshua Ola-Joseph saw his role with the Gophers men’s basketball team decrease late this season. Now the forward will be heading elsewhere.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 27, 2024 at 5:35PM
Joshua Ola Joseph (1) of the Minnesota Gophers Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, at Williams Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. ] CARLOS GONZALEZ • carlos.gonzalez@startribune.com.
Joshua Ola-Joseph is the first Gopher on Ben Johnson's team to enter the transfer portal. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune,Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Gophers sophomore forward Joshua Ola-Joseph was the first on the team to enter the transfer portal on Wednesday.

The 6-7 Brooklyn Park native started 42 straight games dating back to the 2022-23 season before his playing time diminished to a bench role starting in late January. He averaged 7.5 points on 60% shooting and 2.2 rebounds this past season, but he averaged only 5.4 minutes in his last nine games. He was also out with a concussion at the end of the regular season.

“Obviously it sucked not being out there to help my teammates,” Ola-Joseph said after the Big Ten tournament loss to Michigan State. “It sucked how the [Big Ten] season ended because we have a great group of guys.”

Ola-Joseph was arguably the biggest surprise out of Gophers coach Ben Johnson’s 2022 recruiting class last season. Despite being a three-star prospect, he played sparingly off the bench at AZ Compass Prep his senior year in high school.

But Ola-Joseph averaged 7.1 points and 22.1 minutes while starting 24 games in his first year with the Gophers, more than fellow freshmen Pharrel Payne and Braeden Carrington.

This season, the Gophers saw Ola-Joseph score in double figures in nine straight games, including in wins against Nebraska, Michigan and Maryland. But they moved him out of the starting lineup in favor of Payne and Dawson Garcia in the frontcourt.

After going to the bench on Jan. 27 at Penn State, Ola-Joseph’s minutes declined with senior forward Parker Fox becoming the sixth man in a shorter rotation to finish the season.

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about the writer

Marcus Fuller

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Marcus Fuller covers Gophers men's basketball, national college basketball, college sports and high school recruiting for the Minnesota Star Tribune.

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