The University of Minnesota is one of two colleges to feature at least one player drafted to the MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL in the last year.
Aside from those four leagues, the Gophers had three additional athletes drafted to the Professional Women’s Hockey League this year.
MLB
Connor Wietgrefe was the first Gopher drafted in the MLB this year. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected him with the 204th overall pick on day two of the draft.
Wietgrefe ended his collegiate career starting 14 of 15 games, totaling eight wins. His 74 strikeouts put him among the Big Ten’s elite baseball players. At the end of the season, he earned a spot on the All-Big Ten Baseball first team.
The newly appointed Gophers head baseball coach Ty McDevitt did not expect Wietgrefe to return to his roster.
“Connor was as good as gone,” McDevitt said. “We had planned on him being gone, he was a highly sought-after draft pick.”
The day after Wietgrefe was drafted, Tucker Novotny, another left-handed pitcher, was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 18th round of the draft.
During Novotny’s junior year, he appeared in 15 games, starting in 14 and had a 4.75 earned run average. In 2023, he made the All-Big Ten third team.
This year’s draft marks the 37th year in a row a Gopher was drafted to the MLB. No other Big Ten team has more than 12 consecutive years.
After Wietgrefe and Novotny were drafted, McDevitt spoke to them about their futures.
“Congrats,” McDevitt said. “Are you guys planning on signing?”
The pitchers said yes.
“From there it was really telling them how much we appreciated their commitment and dedication to our program,” McDevitt said.
NBA
The Los Angeles Clippers drafted Cam Christie with the 46th overall pick. He started in five games during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and averaged 11.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Christie was the first Gopher drafted to the NBA since Daniel Oturu was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2020.
Gophers head basketball coach Ben Johnson knew from the day he started recruiting Christie that he would find his way to the NBA.
“When we were recruiting Cam, I told him I thought he was an NBA player, whether it was first year or second,” Johnson said. “As the year goes on, I knew this could come up.”
Christie’s teammate and roommate Kadyn Betts knew how much Christie loved the University despite declaring for the draft after one season.
“He’d always talk about coming back,” Betts said. “He really enjoyed it here, enjoyed the guys, enjoyed the coaches, just the lifestyle that Minnesota offers, but his ultimate goal was always to go to the league.”
Former Gopher Jamison Battle went undrafted but signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Toronto Raptors. This means he has a one-year minimum NBA salary that can be converted to a two-way contract if the Raptors choose to do so before the beginning of the season.
NHL
Three incoming freshmen were drafted into the NHL this year.
Forward Brodie Ziemer was selected in the third round by the Buffalo Sabres. Ziemer spent last year with the USA Hockey National Development Team, scoring 70 points in 61 games.
Ziemer’s USA teammate, John Whipple, will join him in the maroon and gold this year. Whipple was selected 144th overall by the Detroit Red Wings.
Swedish forward Erik Påhlsson was selected in the seventh round by the Nashville Predators. During his time with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League, Påhlsson helped lead his team to the Clark Cup Final. He ranked sixth in the league in scoring at the end of the season with 72 points in 57 games.
NFL
The New York Giants selected Tyler Nubin 47th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. Nubin was the first safety selected overall.
The St. Charles, Illinois native was one of the best safeties in the country this past season, earning placements on the AP Second Team All-American, All-Big Ten First Team and Sporting News First Team All-American.
He set the Gopher record with 13 interceptions in 55 games. He also tallied 24 pass breakups, ranking eighth all-time.
Nubin will join his former teammates John Michael Schmitz Jr. and Carter Coughlin on the Giants.
PWHL
Three Gophers were selected in this year’s PWHL draft but not all of them played with a block M across their chest last season.
Abigail Boreen played for PWHL Minnesota last season and helped them win the Walter Cup in the league’s inaugural season, but she had to be drafted to play again this upcoming season.
Boreen played part-time last season as a reserve while she attended the University’s pharmacy school. She decided to enter her name in this year’s draft and was selected 17th overall to PWHL Montreal. Boreen plans to step into a full-time role with Montreal.
Madeline Wethington was the only Gopher from last year’s roster to hear her name at this year’s draft. She was selected 38th overall by PWHL Ottawa.
Amanda Kessel was the final Gopher drafted on June 10. The 32-year-old was selected by PWHL Montreal.
Kessel last played for the Gophers eight years ago. During her tenure, she helped the team win three national titles. Kessel also earned three Olympic medals with Team USA. She decided to take a break from hockey last year and joined the Pittsburgh Penguins front office staff.