Category: NCAA

Expectations among national media aren’t that optimistic for the Golden Gophers basketball team that plays a home exhibition game tomorrow night against Minnesota Duluth and then opens the nonconference schedule November 6 with a Williams Arena matchup versus Omaha.

Injuries and the suspension of senior center Reggie Lynch wrecked a potential top 20 ranked finish last winter. After a promising start, Minnesota ended 15-17 overall, 4-14 in Big Ten regular season games. The lingering disappointment of last season is apparently enough to darken the view by national media about the 2019 Gophers, with some predictors seeing a mediocre record ahead and no NCAA Tournament invitation.

Redshirt sophomore center Eric Curry countered that view. “We love being underdogs,” he said.

“Our goal is to win the Big Ten championship,” said sophomore point guard Isaiah Washington. “It’s nothing less than that.”

Michigan State, as usual, is the Big Ten favorite but Curry said his team isn’t intimidated by the Spartans. He believes the Gophers can make a “huge run in the (NCAA) Tournament.”

Minnesota coach Richard Pitino likes his team, too. Among reasons for his optimism is the roster’s versatility. He said redshirt senior center Matz Stockman is the only Gopher who can’t play multiple positions.

Junior Amir Coffey, who at 6-foot-8 appears to be emerging as the club’s starting point guard, can play three positions. A small forward and shooting guard in the past, Coffey has been impressing—even wowing—teammates in practice.

“He’s been amazing,” Curry said. “So unique that he can play three spots.”

Pitino, Curry and other Gophers talked to the media on Sunday. Then it was announced Monday Curry had surgery on his left knee, the same knee that caused him to miss all of last season following a more complicated surgical procedure. Expectations are it will be four to six weeks before he plays again.

Curry missed Sunday’s scrimmage open to the public because of swelling in the knee. Any long-term absence will not be good for the Gophers because he is a versatile scorer and passer, playing either center or power forward.

Pitino included defense when talking about Curry, explaining that the 6-foot-9 Curry does subtle things that are important. “We’re a much better team when Eric is healthy,” the coach said.

Curry said that in practices the top five players had been him, Coffey, senior forward Jordan Murphy, and senior Dupree McBrayer and freshman Gabe Kalscheur, who are shooting guards or wings in Pitino’s offense. Others who will play significant minutes include freshmen front courters Jarvis Omersa and Daniel Oturu, combo guard Brock Stull and Washington.

There’s proven talent in the group including with Coffey and Jordan who are on a short list of potential All-Big Ten players. By high school reputation there is promising talent, too, with Washington, Omersa, Oturu and Kalscheur. Oturu, who could be one of the Big Ten’s best freshmen, will have more opportunity early now with Curry sidelined. Oturu, 6-foot-10, has the potential to impact games on offense and defense while playing center.

The talent and depth could expand in the next couple of weeks if the Gophers receive a favorable waiver from the NCAA on combo guard Marcus Carr’s eligibility for this season. As a freshman last season at Pittsburgh he led the team in assists and steals, and at 10 points per game ranked third in scoring average. He and the Gophers are asking for eligibility this season, instead of having to sit out a year.

“Marcus plays like a veteran,” Pitino said. “He’s a fantastic competitor. He’s a special player.”

The Gophers’ backcourt depth might have taken a blow if rumors had proven true that Washington wanted to transfer after an up and down freshman season. The flashy point guard from New York City, who mostly came off the bench last season, denied the rumors were true.

“Oh, no,” he said. “I am just going to stay because I love the area, and I don’t think I got time to sit out a whole year and just waste time, so I’d rather just stay here and finish the job.”

Washington said he’s wanted to play in the NBA since he touched a basketball as a two year old and watched a game on TV. The fact is he is more entertaining than many players already in the pro league but he needs to be steadier in his play. “My biggest thing is improving on the defensive end,” he said.

The Gophers could prove talented, versatile, deep and even flashy this season with highlight reel plays by Washington, Coffey and others. If so, the wins will follow and so will the crowds at Williams Arena. The noisy and even intimidating home court advantage the Gophers have isn’t lost on the players.

“Oh, yeah, I see it coming,” said Omersa. “They’re going to come and watch.”

There’s been talk for awhile that Richard Pitino will pursue the right opportunity to move on from his position as head basketball coach for the men’s program at the University of Minnesota. It’s been gossiped that he doesn’t like this area and welcomes the thought of moving out East to live and coach.

Pitino’s hometown is Boston. He attended high school at St. Sebastian’s in Needham, Mass. After college at Providence he had assistant coaching experiences at Northeastern, Duquesne, Louisville and Florida before becoming, at 29 years old, head coach for Florida Atlantic. Family and friends in the East live a long way from Minneapolis.

This fall Pitino begins his sixth season at Minnesota with a contract that runs through 2022. What does he say about rumors he wants to move on if given the opportunity to head East?

“I’ve signed two extensions since I have been here. I’d sign another one right now if (athletic director) Mark Coyle would offer it to me,” Pitino told Sports Headliners during a one-on-one interview this week. “I am from back East but I consider Minnesota home. I’ve had two children born here. I am ingrained into the community. My wife (Jill) and I love it here. We’ve met some great friends.”

To Pitino’s pleasure, he has witnessed major changes in the athletic department since he was hired as Minnesota’s head coach in 2013. The new $160 million Athlete’s Village, with all its amenities including for basketball, is a dramatic difference maker for impressing recruits and serving his players. Upgrades have been made to historic Williams Arena and Pitino has experienced how that building can give his team a special home court advantage in big games.

After working for two previous athletic directors, he’s seen stability come to that position with the hiring of Coyle who has been on the job since 2016. Pitino knows he benefits, too, from having the only Division I basketball program in Minnesota, and that the state is turning out high school recruits coveted across the country.

For those reasons and others Pitino said his job “checks all the boxes” for a place he wants to be. That checklist includes strong academics at the U and Pitino made it clear during the interview how he values the kind of student-athlete experience the coach said he wants for his players at Minnesota.

Add up all the positives and Pitino describes himself as “fortunate” to have the Gopher job. “I am here forever long as they’ll have me,” he said.

In the years ahead Pitino expects his teams to compete for Big Ten championships. “Yeah, now that we’ve got all the pieces (resources),” he said. “Two years ago we finished fourth (in the standings). I thought last year, if we had stayed healthy, we could have won it. So I think we’ll bounce back this year, have a really good team.

“The biggest thing is …it’s a fine line between the top of this league and the middle and the bottom. It can be a lucky free throw here, a bounce there, a lucky call by the ref.

“I’ve been here five years. I really thought for four years we had as good of a chance to be at the top of it as any. Certainly my third year we were really rebuilding, but we’ve been close (other seasons) and I think we’ll be back there this year.”

The Gophers started last season at 13-3 and were nationally ranked. By January, though, injuries to key players and the suspension of center Reggie Lynch had the Gophers in big trouble and headed toward a final Big Ten record of 4-14.

“Last year was hard because we felt that could be a special team,” Pitino said. “The rug was pulled out from underneath us with a lot of things that we couldn’t control. The biggest thing you learn is just keeping coaching those guys. Every day there is something you can do to make them better. Make them stronger.”

The Gophers play their first and only exhibition game November 1 when Minnesota Duluth comes to Williams Arena. After that there will be challenging nonconference games including a home test against Utah November 12. There are two Big Ten regular season games in December and then after January 1 it’s all conference play until hopefully qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in March.

Pitino has talent and experience to work with including four players returning who have been starters in the past, plus promising newcomers. The roster includes senior forward Jordan Murphy who was named by a media panel yesterday to the All-Big Ten preseason team. Pitino likes the potential of his team and knows a successful season can lessen pressure on him and the program. After five seasons the results have been very mixed.

The Gophers won 25 games in Pitino’s first season of 2012-13. The success included winning the NIT title. The 2017 team had a surprising 11-7 regular season Big Ten record and finished fourth in the conference, the best the Gophers had done since 2005. As a result, Pitino was voted Big Ten Coach of the Year by media and coaches. Program lows during the Pitino era include off-the-court problems with players and a 2-16 Big Ten record in 2016 (8-23 overall) that made the 2017 season such a surprise to almost everyone.

Pitino believes he is a better coach than when he arrived here as a 30 year old. “I would think that every year I get a little bit better,” he said. “I am more…confident every year that goes into it. I believe we can compete with everybody in this league. We got some hall of fame coaches…Tom Izzo (Michigan State), John Beilein (Michigan), and then you’ve got some younger guys who are really good as well.

“So I humbly say that I am confident as I’ve ever been going against those guys. (With) the players that we have right now, we’ve got some young guys that are really good. We’ve got some veterans who are ready to go, so I feel good about it.”

What does Pitino consider his greatest strength as a coach? “An understanding of young athletes in today’s world,” he answered. “I am 36 years old. I get what they’re dealing with.

“I think that I have a really good connection with our guys. I think they like playing for me, playing for what we’re trying to do. I think if you look at three years ago (the 2015-16 season), we won eight games and we had some embarrassing things happen at the end of the season and nobody transferred.

“That says a lot about our program—and that’s probably, as sad as it sounds, one of the more proud moments for me was that…they believed in me, their families believed in what we were doing, that we’re going to hold them accountable, make them better, tell them the truth.

“There’s not a lot of B.S. to me. I am going to tell you exactly where I think you stand, where we can get better together. I am probably going to say that’s my greatest strength.”