Niko Medved and staff have secured a portal commitment from Nolan Groves who had entered the portal after playing his freshman season at Texas Tech.
Nolan Groves
Pos: SG/SF
Ht: 6’5”
Wt: 205
Groves is from Long Lake and played his high school ball for Orono, where he led the Spartans to a third-place finish in state and he finished his career averaging over 34 points per game, along with 8.5 rebounds and six assists. He initially committed
to Yale out of high school but reopened his recruitment in the spring and chose Texas Tech while also having offers from Minnesota and Wisconsin.
During his freshman season in Lubbock Groves started the first two games and in those two games he played 21 minutes per game, scored 7 points in each and had 16 rebounds in one game alone. And then his playing time plummeted. He finished the season averaging under six minutes and just one point per game.
What is next?
Niko Medved is very good at identifying players who fit well into what he’s trying to do. And Groves fits. He will be a tough player both mentally and physically, he rebounds well for his position and will be a guy can defend at multiple positions. The hope is that with a fresh start at Minnesota, he will find his shooting stroke again and become dangerous from behind the arc.
I would expect that Groves is a rotational guy, coming off the bench and while he’s not going to be a guy who carries the team, he will make this team better. And there’s a chance that this is the right system for his skillset and we see him thrive over the next three seasons.
