MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Malick Kordel was an avid handball player growing up in Germany, starting at age 6 until nationwide social distancing orders during the pandemic cut off gym access.
He went outside and picked up another team sport instead, a well-timed foray into basketball that has brought his 7-foot-2, 275-pound frame to the U.S. at the highest level of the college game.
After spending last season with national champion Michigan, practicing against
three big men who became top-12 picks in the NBA draft earlier this year, Kordel sought an increase in playing time and picked Minnesota in the transfer portal. The Gophers, meanwhile, met their goal of adding size and depth after an injury-ravaged season in coach Niko Medved's debut.
“I just needed that time at my development stage, because I haven’t played that much basketball in my life so I need the game reps," said Kordel, who appeared in 14 games for the Wolverines. “Being able to practice against NBA players every day is great, but at the end of the day you want to be able to be on the court and play.”
Adding Kordel, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, and 6-11 freshman Chadrack Mpoyi has allowed the Gophers to take the frontcourt load off returners Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Grayson Grove. Their games are both better suited for the power forward spot, and Crocker-Johnson after fully recovering from a foot injury is poised to be one of the best two-way players in the Big Ten.
“When I first started talking to Minnesota it was pretty clear to me they had kind of the same direction I wanted,” said Kordel, who regularly faced the 7-3 Aday Mara — now with the Oklahoma City Thunder — in practice. “They wanted to develop me. They wanted to make me to play through mistakes.”
When Kordel first planted himself on the blacktops of Oberhausen in northwest Germany in 2021, the Milwaukee Bucks were making their run to the NBA championship behind superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. That gave Kordel an natural role model to try to emulate on the court, and a European one at that.
“He’s doing a lot of great things with the basketball, and he’s a great human being, and I’m trying to be, too,” Kordel said. “I can learn a lot of things from him.”
Meanwhile, the Gophers are learning how to throw the lob pass with such a tall target to aim for in the paint.
“It takes some adjustment, because especially coming from high school two years ago I never really even looked in there or never really looked to throw lobs,” sophomore guard Kai Shinholster said.
Call it a good problem to have for the Gophers, who open their season on Monday against North Dakota.
“We needed to get bigger. We needed to get more physical,” Medved said. “I’m really excited about him. He’s a developing young player. He’s going to have his ups and his downs. He’s going to learn how to play. He’s going to learn how people scout him and what he does well, but he’s worked really, really hard. I think he’s going to have an impact for us this season.”
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