Gophers finally see the light

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 11/5/2003

 

 

Chicago, Illinois — Dan Monson’s six-year plan may not be the model to be used in rebuilding a tarnished University of Minnesota basketball program. However, annual early defections by players like Rick Rickert, Kris Humphries, Maurice Hargrow and Joel Przybilla, all leaving the program, and sliding home attendance at William’s Arena did not stop this year’s team from earning an NCAA Tournament bid.

Yes, the Gopher men (21-10) are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Clem Haskins was booted off campus in 1999, after the program was shamefully ravished with charges of academic fraud. The Gophers have secured the eighth seed and will play Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina, against Iowa State.

The Gopher program is Golden again and doing the NCAA two-step because Coach Pam Borton’s Gopher women received a three-seed and will play host to St. Francis (Pennsylvania) Saturday night at 8:30 pm at William’s Arena. Senior guard Aaron Robinson is not a big man, but he has played a strong role in helping the Gophers return to the NCAA Tournament.

Robinson’s strong leadership at point guard has been a big factor in the team’s successful return to the NCAA Tournament. “I don’t have time for regrets,” he said. “This is my last year. I’m trying to go places I’ve never been before, and I’m trying to see things I’ve never seen before. That’s how I look at it. That’s what every senior wants to do. I’ve been in this program when it was losing; now we’re having success.”    

The Big Ten Conference was rewarded with five teams receiving NCAA Tournament bids, headed by the nation’s number-one Illinois (32-1), Michigan State (22-6), Wisconsin (22-8), Iowa (21-11), and Minnesota (21-10).

Winning 20 or more games was a big factor for the NCAA selection committee because Indiana (15-13) was seeded number four in the Big Ten Tournament, but lost to number-five seed Minnesota 71-55 in the showdown on Friday. Indiana and the Gophers both finished with 10-6 records in the Big Ten regular season.

Indiana played North Carolina, Kentucky, Connecticut and Illinois, all champions of their Conferences — the ACC, SEC, Big East and Big Ten. But losing to the Gophers in Chicago cost Indiana big. The Big Ten Tournament was again successful, with 114,000 hoop fans in Chicago for the four days.

But it was all overshadowed by the tragic death of Illinois University Head Basketball Coach Bruce Weber’s mother, Dawn, who attended the tournament on Friday and was rushed to Rush University Medical Center, where she died after having emergency surgery to repair a ruptured aorta. She had complained of chest pain after coming to see her son’s team, Illinois, beat Northwestern 68-51.

“My mother has been very influential in my life and my career, and that is why I have decided to continue to coach the team,” said Weber. “My mother had a tremendous heart, and she gave so much to so many people. I’ll always love her for that.” Weber coached his team to a 64-56 win over Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday’s 54-43 Big Ten Tournament Championship win over Wisconsin.

 

Fitz Notes & Quotes

Dan Monson earned his 100th career win at Minnesota 71-55 over Indiana, and gave number-one Illinois a fight on Saturday before losing 64-56. The Gophers are only 3-17 all-time against number-one ranked teams.

Hot seat!

Vikings owner Red McCombs, who said he decided against firing Head Coach Mike Tice last season, might want to reconsider after Tice admitted to NFL investigators that he scalped Super Bowl tickets as Vikings head coach. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will decide on Tice’s fate this week.

Tice first lied when he told ESPN’s Chris Mortenson that he scalped Super Bowl tickets as an assistant Vikings coach but not as head coach. It does not matter.

The NFL requires that all players and coaches and club personnel who buy Super Bowl tickets from the league sign a release stating that they will not resell them at a profit.

It is clearly against league rules, and it is a major embarrassment to the NFL and the Vikings that one of the league’s 32 head coaches has compromised its integrity.