Iowa and the Gophers close their regular season schedules at Williams Arena on Sunday. The Hawkeyes are 10-20 overall, 4-13 in the Big Ten. This is coach Todd Lickliter’s third season as Iowa head coach and he’s yet to have a .500 season overall or in the conference. That contrasts with former coach Steve Alford who was 63-35 in his last three seasons at Iowa, 27-21 in the Big Ten. Alford, who was at Iowa for seven seasons, is 27-3 this season coaching New Mexico.
The Gophers will be trying to put on a better face to end their schedule after losing 83-55 to Michigan on Wednesday. Minnesota is 17-12 overall and 8-9 in the conference. On Sunday the program will say goodbye to seniors Lawrence Westbrook, Damian Johnson and Devron Bostock. Neither Iowa nor Minnesota will be invited to the NCAA tournament unless the Hawkeyes or Gophers win the upcoming Big Ten tournament.
Joe Coleman, the Hopkins High School junior forward, has impressed this season with his athleticism. He’s the brother of former Gopher forward Dan Coleman.
Condolences to former Gophers basketball coach Bill Fitch whose mother, Lucy Fitch, 99, passed away earlier this week.
Harvey Mackay, the former Gopher golfer and New York Times best selling author, did nine hours of book signing in Phoenix last Saturday to promote his latest publication, Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You.
Edina native Whitney Taney won her second career Big Ten Athlete of the Week award this week when she was honored for her singles and doubles play in helping Michigan defeat two ranked opponents, Baylor and TCU. https://www.bigten.org/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/030210aab.html
The Gopher track program, whose 34 athletes produced a third consecutive indoor Big Ten title last Sunday, will have its first outdoor meet March 19-20 in Tempe, Arizona. The Gophers had six individual champions last weekend. The entire Big Ten Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships will be shown on the Big Ten Network starting at 9 p.m. on March 9.
The MIAC office is looking for qualified intern applicants for a position that will begin in mid-August and continue through December. The intern will be assigned to several duties including sports information, awards, championships, sportsmanship, scheduling and grants. See the MIAC website for application details. https://www.miac-online.org/