Austin’s Both Gach announces transfer to Minnesota

A former standout for the Austin Packers boys’ basketball team is coming home.

Both Gach, the former University of Utah basketball player who recently put his name in the transfer portal after considering entering the NBA draft, announced on his Twitter page Monday that he’s transferring to Minnesota.

Gach, who helped to lead the Packers to a 29-3 record in the 2016-2017 season and a runner-up finish in the Class AAA boys’ basketball tournament was a four-star recruit before finishing his prep career in Arizona, and then starting his collegiate career at the University of Utah.

The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists as a sophomore at Utah this past season. Following the 2019-20 season, he made himself eligible for the NBA draft.  Gach was recruited by BYU and Utah State this spring before narrowing his list of finalists to Minnesota, Auburn, Creighton, Iowa State and Maryland.  Gach will need an NCAA waiver in order to be eligible to play in the 2020-21 season. Otherwise, he’ll use his redshirt season up and have two years of eligibility remaining with the Golden Gophers, assuming he ends up officially withdrawing from draft consideration in the upcoming weeks.

In his junior season, Gach helped Austin to a 20-2 record in the Big 9 Conference and 29-3 overall as the Packers defeated Albert Lea, Byron and Northfield to claim the Section 1AAA title.  Austin went on to defeat St. Thomas Academy in the State Class AAA quarterfinals and Marshall in the semi-finals before falling to DeLaSalle in the Class AAA championship game.