Minnesota guard Braeden Carrington enters NCAA transfer portal

Minnesota guard and true sophomore Braeden Carrington has entered the transfer portal following two seasons with the Golden Gophers, On3 has learned.

Carrington averaged a smidge under six points per game in his rookie year last season, then averaged 4.6 points per game in 2023-24 while playing just over 20 minutes a game each year.

This past season, Carrington started the first 10 games of the season, but all of a sudden, he decided to take a leave of absence from the program in late December, tweeting out this message:

“There’s areas of my life I am looking to improve and must step away from the program and put myself first. I plan on returning to the team when the time is right. For now please respect my space and allow me to ultimately do what’s best for me. Thank you gopher fans.”

He wasn’t a terribly high ranked prospect coming out of high school before attending Minnesota. Carrington’s a local kid, hailing from Minneapolis and attended Park Center high school, where he played hoops.

In On3’s Player Recruiting Rankings, Carrington was a three-star prospect in the 2022 class, a top-40 shooting guard, and the No. 9 player from the state of Minnesota.

Here is some additional background on Carrington’s high school career, via the Golden Gophers’ athletics website:

• Named Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball, an award given to the top senior boys’ basketball player in the state
• Guided Park Center High School to a 2022 4A state title
• All-tournament team selection
• Helped Park Center to a 31-1 record, a Northwest Suburban Conference championship and the school’s first-ever state title in program history
• Averaged 17.8 points per game his senior season and was also named to Star Tribune’s All-Metro Team
• Became the first Gopher commit since Amir Coffey to win Mr. Basketball
• Averaged 18.1 points as a junior
• Despite missing games due to injury, maintained four 30-point performances • scored in double figures 15 of 19 times as the Pirates went 16-5 his junior season
• Named to the Star Tribune All-Metro Second Team in 2021
• Played with Grassroots Sizzle and guided the team to a successful season in 2021