Going away to school

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Ski U Mah Gopher

Ski U Mah Gopher

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The Daily had an article about the women's basketball team and how about many of the city and suburban players go to other schools because they want the experience of going away to school.

If the U was located in a smaller town, where the U would be the focal point, would more metro players be drawn to the U?

http://www.mndaily.com/2010/02/22/Small Towns come up Big
 

Have a well run program with a great coach and they will want to play here. Not all of them, but enough of them to make this program competitive.
 

Excuses, excuses. People in Iowa City, Champaign, and West Lafayette say things like "if only we were in a big city, think of all the kids that would come here."

After reading the article, credit to Borton for NOT using this excuse. She said just the opposite. That we should be able to attract more kids to MSP.
 

Jenna Smith was this way. She never really considered the U (despite the Final Four success) because she simply wanted to go to a school out of the state. Some kids are just going to leave, no matter what.
 

tjgopher said:
Excuses, excuses. People in Iowa City, Champaign, and West Lafayette say things like "if only we were in a big city, think of all the kids that would come here."

After reading the article, credit to Borton for NOT using this excuse. She said just the opposite. That we should be able to attract more kids to MSP.
Click to expand...

I don't recall every seeing that used as an excuse. I'm from Mankato, there was never any part of me that wanted to stay there. While it's a great town, it wasn't the place I wanted to go for college. I think a lot of athletes from the metro may feel this way. College is about new experiences. Plus, it's not like Gopher athletics are dominating.
 


I dont know anything about womens basketball, but the football and men's basketball programs do have tons of longtime fans in out-state minnesota. My experience comes from Redwood and Renville counties (who could very easily be Mankato people, or even Iowa folks), but I assume this is general in the whole state. I see people wearing U hats, shirts, jackets, etc. all over the place out there, more even than around here it seems (outside of campus itself). Until something drastically changes, the U is very much Minnesota's University. Outstate recruits and even folks from the Dakotas does not surprise me at all.
 


I get the people that lived here their whole lives and want to get away. The reason I came to the U from Chicago is that I wanted to experience a different city for a while. Applying to a school anywhere in Illinois, not just Chicago, was never an option for me. I was leaving no matter what. My line of thinking regarding college can't be that uncommon.
 

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