The father of former Gopher Colton Iverson was supportive of coach Tubby Smith during an interview with Sports Headliners this week.
Iverson was granted permission by Minnesota last week to transfer to another school, although according to media reports the program can’t be in the Big Ten Conference or on the Gophers’ schedule next season. Chuck Iverson, speaking by telephone from Yankton, South Dakota where he is the athletics director at Mount Marty College, was asked if his son thought he received fair treatment at Minnesota.
He said Colton never expressed criticism of coaches or teammates. “He’s never expressed any regrets that way,” Chuck said. “I don’t think it (transferring) has anything to do with coaching staff or teammates. I just feel like he felt like it was something he needed to do. No, I don’t think there’s any issues that way.”
The older Iverson, a former player at the University of South Dakota and NBA draft choice, said his son’s decision was from the “gut.” Leaving the Gophers after three seasons came down to Colton feeling his basketball experience would be better elsewhere.
“There really wasn’t one specific thing,” Chuck said. “Sometimes you just go on a gut feeling. He just felt like he needed to make a change at this point.”
Chuck said Colton deliberated on his decision and made lists of “pros and cons” about leaving or staying. “It was a real tough decision for him,” Chuck said. “He didn’t do it lightly. I think he spent a lot of time thinking about it. …”
Iverson, a part-time starter during his Gophers career, was coming off the bench more as a junior this season than he did as a freshman (11 starts versus 27). The 6-10 forward-center had the lowest field goal percentage of his college career, .446 versus .603 as a freshman. Even some of his close-in shots were off target.
Chuck said his son “lost confidence” this season. “I think he’d take as much blame for that as anybody,” his father said. “Coaches make tough decisions (on playing time). He lost some confidence. Some shots that were going for him earlier. The mind is a very powerful tool.”