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Minnesota gets pledge from transfer guard out of Morehead State

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

A day after adding former North Carolina standout forward Dawson Garcia, Minnesota has received another commitment from the transfer portal.

On Wednesday, the Golden Gophers received a commitment from 6-foot-4 guard Ta’Lon Cooper, who previously played at Morehead State. It’s a nice addition for Ben Johnson and his staff this offseason.

Cooper played for three seasons at Morehead State before opting to hit the transfer portal. He proved to be a do-it-all guard for the Eagles last season, averaging 9.1 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and just under 1 steal per game.

In his three years at Morehead State, Cooper scored 772 points, dished out 407 assists and collected 304 rebounds. He was named a first-team All-OVC selection following the 2021-22 season.

Cooper will have two years of eligibility to use at Minnesota.

Earlier this week, the Gophers received a commitment from Garcia, who spent a portion of last season with North Carolina before leaving the program because of family health concerns.

Garcia started his college career at Marquette as a freshman in the 2020-21 season. He averaged 13 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 48% from the floor. Last season at UNC, the 6-foot-11 forward/center appeared in 16 games and scored 9 points and grabbed 5.5 rebounds per contest.

As a high school prospect, Garcia was ranked as the No. 2 player out of Minnesota and was ranked No. 37 nationally.

Both Cooper and Garcia are joining a Minnesota team that finished with a 13-17 record. Last year was Johnson’s first year as the head coach of the Golden Gophers.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB