Joey King appreciates supportive Gophers fans but pays minimal attention to critics.
The Gophers’ senior forward is focusing on his last three regular season games during a career that has seen both praise and criticism of him and his teammates. As the only native Minnesotan playing significant minutes, King may receive more mean-spirited comments on social media and elsewhere than his teammates. It sometimes seems like the hometown crazies will pounce first and with more venom on local athletes.
“I do my best to avoid them (the critics),” King told Sports Headliners. “Throughout my career I’ve had so much respect for people that have stuck with us through our ups and our downs. Those are the people that I celebrate success with. …”
Perhaps no time during King’s career was the celebration more special than earlier this month when the Gophers (with a 0-13 Big Ten record) stunned the college basketball world by upsetting top-10 ranked Maryland. After the game King and teammates celebrated with Gophers fans who stormed the court at Williams Arena.
“The people that are left in the arena after our games are (among) the people that love us,” King said. “They just understand that this locker room has got a lot of character, and even though we have lost a few games here and there, we’ve continued to fight. Now we’re starting to reap some of the benefits from that. We’re starting to win some games. We’re starting to feel good about ourselves.”
The Gophers have won two straight after following up the Maryland win with a victory over Rutgers last Tuesday night. King, the team’s only senior, was a major contributor in both games. The 6-9 forward from Eagan had six rebounds and 15 points including key free throws in the Maryland game. He matched that point total against Rutgers and also had seven rebounds.
“Starting to get my shot back,” King said. “That feels good. Went through a little bit of a slump earlier this year.”
King, who played his freshman season at Drake in Des Moines, is having the best season of his college career for points and rebounds—averaging 11.6 points and 3.7 rebounds. His free throw percentage of .888 is a college best, too.
In three seasons playing for the Gophers King has shown relentless effort. Whether diving for loose balls, or playing to near exhaustion, King has been an exceptional competitor.
With only three regular season games remaining including at Illinois on Sunday, he hopes to improve his skills. The other night he talked about learning new ways to get off his shots, and how he has become more adept at jumping into passing lanes on defense to steal the ball.
As a sophomore two seasons ago King played on a Gophers’ team that didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament but did win the NIT. Last season’s club, a preseason favorite to finish in the Big Ten’s first division, stumbled to a 6-12 Big Ten record and didn’t participate in postseason play.
With a 2-13 Big Ten record and 8-19 overall, this year has been a major disappointment. Minnesota hopes to close with more wins and then add to the total in the Big Ten Tournament but the Gophers don’t figure to be in any postseason tournaments. Instead, they’re trying to finish strong and build momentum for spring workouts and next season.
How does King feel about being on a team that has won only two conference games? “I don’t really think about that anymore,” he said. “I’ve erased it.
“Now that we’ve got two in a row I am not going to dwell on the past. We’re really not going to let anyone get in our heads in regards to that.
“We’re not going to be completely fired up that we have two wins in a row. We obviously have three big ones left and we want to try and win out. …I am just looking forward to trying to steal a road win at Illinois.”
Gophers Basketball Notes
At home in January the Gophers lost in overtime to Illinois, 76-71. “I thought we had that game won and we gave it away at the foul line,” said Minnesota coach Richard Pitino. “Did a couple of silly things at the end.”
Freshman forward Jordan Murphy is emerging as a team leader. “I am really trying to make my voice heard and stuff like that,” he said. “I am just really trying to get our guys going. Just let them know I am here with them. I am supporting them.”
Murphy is tied with Michigan State’s Matt Costello for third in rebounding among Big Ten players. They are averaging 8.1 rebounds per game in combined Big Ten and nonconference games. Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan and Iowa’s Adam Woodbury are averaging 8.5 and 8.3 respectively, so it’s possible Murphy could finish first among Big Ten players.
Gophers freshmen next season will include Hopkins High School guard Amir Coffey. “He’ll be one of the best freshmen in the league,” Rivals.com Gophers basketball writer Ryan James told Sports Headliners.
James said Coffey, 6-6, could average eight to 10 points, four to five rebounds and three assists playing 20 minutes or more during his first season with the Gophers. He also praised Coffey, the son of former Gophers center Richard Coffey, for his defensive skills including shot blocking.
Apple Valley High School junior guard Gary Trent Jr. is one of the most coveted players nationally in the high school class of 2017. Although the Gophers were the second school to offer a scholarship (Texas Tech was first), James doubts Trent will ultimately choose Minnesota. “He’ll probably go to (one of) those big-name programs, I would assume,” James said.
Trent’s teammate, sophomore guard Tre Jones, is another player that interests Minnesota but the competition is stiff including from Duke where older brother Tyus attended school. “A lot of people think it’s Duke (as Jones’ college choice)) because there’s obviously been interest there but he‘s never said anything like that,” James said.
Ex-Gophers coach Tubby Smith is in his third season at Texas Tech, and although he and his staff continue to recruit the state of Minnesota for prep players, they have no commitments yet. James said Shakopee High School senior forward Steffon Mitchell has received lots of attention from Tech but James has no indication Mitchell will become the first Minnesotan to join Smith in Lubbock.
Gophers basketball attendance for home games is on the decline. With one remaining regular season game, Minnesota is averaging 10,175 for 17 games—11th lowest in the 14-team Big Ten. The Gophers haven’t sold out a single game in 14,625 seat Williams Arena and have reported only one crowd of more than 12,000. Last season the home attendance average was 12,188.
It was three years ago tonight that the Gophers upset No. 1 ranked Indiana at Williams Arena, 77-73. Minnesota went on to win only two of its last six games including an NCAA Tournament loss to Florida, and Smith was fired as coach.
Dick Jonckowski, the public address announcer in his 30th season working Gophers game at Williams Arena, will be a guest on WCCO TV’s Rosen Sports Show this Sunday. Jonckowski was presented with a No. 30 Gophers maroon basketball jersey earlier this month that has his name on it. During a presentation at halftime of the Maryland game he received a standing ovation from fans.
Congratulations to Dick Jonckowski, long time friend, a great Gopher fan/announcer and human being.
Charley Mencel
Maybe the Gophers can approach a sellout when they play Wisconsin although I fear a large contingent of vocal Badger fans will fill The Barn. We’ll see if the U of M is serious about selecting a qualified AD when the makeup of the selection committee is determined. I know that former Gophers AD Mark Dienhart and former Gophers football player and Timberwolves executive Bob Stein have been nominated and if chosen would insure a credible AD selection. The U of M can’t afford to make a mistake in the selection of the next AD.