Gophers running back Trey Potts and wide receiver Michael Brown-Stephens, two players who have combined to start 26 games in their Minnesota careers, have entered their names into the transfer portal, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Star Tribune on Monday.
Gophers' Trey Potts, Michael Brown-Stephens enter transfer portal
Potts and Brown-Stephens had 26 combined starts for the Gophers, but Minnesota has added depth at both running back and wide receiver this offseason.
March 14, 2023 at 11:27AM
Both Potts, a Williamsport, Pa., native, and Brown-Stephens, of Springfield, Ohio, have two years of eligibility remaining.
Potts rushed 239 times for 1,195 yards in his Gophers career, starting five games and scoring 11 touchdowns.
He carried 101 times for 471 yards and a touchdown in 2022 in his return from an undisclosed injury during the 2021 game at Purdue that caused him to be hospitalized in Indiana for six days. Potts was the Gophers' primary backup to Mohamed Ibrahim that season, rushing for 552 yards and six touchdowns before being injured.
Brown-Stephens started 21 games over the 2021 and '22 seasons and caught 33 passes for 338 yards and one TD in his career. He did not accompany the team to its Pinstripe Bowl victory over Syracuse.
The Gophers have turned to the transfer portal to bolster both the running back and wide receiver positions since the end of the 2022 season. At running back, they brought in Sean Tyler, who rushed 495 times for 2,820 yards and 23 touchdowns at Western Michigan.
At wideout, the Gophers added Corey Crooms Jr., who caught 115 passes for 1,766 yards and four TDs in four years at Western Michigan; and Elijah Spencer, who had 85 receptions for 1,324 yards and 15 TDs in two seasons at Charlotte.
The Gophers will lose senior setter Melani Shaffmaster, but they don’t expect players to leave via the transfer portal.
