Janel McCarville- Banner Raising

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Finally!
 

Nice to be able to finally honor Janel with a banner. Now, if she would just come back and finish up that degree.

I'm excited they made an exception to the "must have your degree rule" to honor her, although I still support that rule in general! Our current 100% graduation success rate is a great thing rave about.
 

I'm surprised they are making this exception but happy for her. She was an undersized center but her passing and vision were legendary. I particularly loved her Shaq screens !
 

My second favorite Gopher women's player of all time. She and Whalen got me hooked on Gopher women's basketball. A terrific post passer. I too loved the screens she set.
 


GringaGopher said:
I'm surprised they are making this exception but happy for her. She was an undersized center but her passing and vision were legendary. I particularly loved her Shaq screens !
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I wonder how much Whalen had to do with this.
 













Gophers Sports info says ceremony should begin around 12:30 PM. So, don't be late or you will miss the fun.

Also, 2,000 mini-replica banners (like the Banham ones from when her's went up) to first fans in the doors.

And 100 special #4 posters will be at seats throughout the Barn.
 

One of the best post passers I've ever seen, men's or women's. I still remember the first Gopher women's game I ever saw. It was a televised game (on CBS, I think) in Madison against the highly rated Badgers. Whalen was a sophomore and McCarville was a freshman. The Gophers upset the Badgers and I remember how surprised to see such an entertaining style of basketball (with two future All-Americans on the same time. After seeing that game on tv, I bought tickets to the next home game and attended just about every other home game that season. The following year, I jumped on the season ticket bandwagon. Loved McCarville's game. A bit short for a post, but very strong and very athletic. Played the game with a passion. Was a perfect compadre for Whalen as a teammate.
 


gophersports.com

Chronicling the Career of Janel McCarville - University of Minnesota Athletics

Before Janel McCarville's banner gets raised on Sunday, let's take a look back through the career of one of the best to ever wear the Maroon and Gold.
gophersports.com gophersports.com

Gopher Sports recaps McCarville's career:

McCarville arrived at Minnesota out of Stevens Point, Wis., as the 2001 co-Wisconsin High School Player of the Year. The scouting report from that season's media guide was a sign of things to come as the outlook said "Janel should see immediate action this season and has the potential to be one of the most dominating post players in Gopher history."

She played in all 30 games with 28 starts and averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game en route to being named the first ever Big Ten Freshman of the Year in Minnesota history. She also earned a spot on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and was a Second Team All-Big Ten honoree as she helped get the Gophers back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1993-94 season.

McCarville's .580 field goal percentage still stands as a Gophers freshman record, while her 94 offensive rebounds and 147 defensive rebounds were records at the time.
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according to the gopher wbb account the doors will NOT open any earlier then the normal hour before tip.. which I find strange if they are expecting a good size crowd with the ceremony only starting 30 minutes after they open the doors.. hopefully they have a few more doors open then they did for the GOLD OUT..
 


www.startribune.com

Time has come for Janel McCarville to be honored by Gophers at Barn

One of the stars of Minnesota's 2004 Final Four team will have a banner hung in her honor at Williams Arena before Sunday afternoon's game.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Kent Youngblood:

The picture is part of a montage in Lindsay Whalen’s office.

Center court, Norfolk, Va. March 30, 2004. Just 4.6 seconds left in the Gophers’ regional final victory against top-seeded Duke, with Whalen about to go to the line for two, final free throws.

Whalen holding the ball she had just rebounded, like she didn’t want to let go. Janel McCarville, behind her, right arm wrapped tightly around Whalen’s neck, not letting go either.

“That was the culmination of it all,” Whalen said last week. It’s been 15 years, and the memory has aged well. “We’d made it to the Final Four. I was going to the line, up five. It was the culmination of everything we’d done. That was the symbol of what the team was about. We did it together.”
This is why, pretty much from the moment she took over the job as Gophers coach in spring 2018, Whalen has been thinking about closing that circle. Sunday, it will happen. Before the Gophers host California Davis, with McCarville having flown in from Sweden, with many of the players from that 2004 Final Four team in attendance, McCarville’s No. 4 banner will be raised to the Williams Arena ceiling.
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McCarville’s dad will be there Sunday, one of about 50 family and friends.

A number of former players will be there, too, including Shannon Nelson (nee: Bolden) and Shannon Swanson (nee: Schonrock), who started alongside McCarville, Whalen and Kadidja Andersson on that Final Four team.

In Gophers women’s basketball history, McCarville stands seventh in scoring (1,835), first in field goal percentage (58.2), second in rebounds (1,206) and blocks (196). A center, she is third in steals (273).

After Whalen graduated, McCarville took the Gophers back to the Sweet 16 in 2005 before being the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft that year.

Her playing days winding down, McCarville’s interest in coaching is on the rise, and she said she’s excited to see where that passion goes.

But that’s looking ahead. For one weekend, she and Whalen, and their old teammates, and the fans, can look back as they look up in the rafters and see the two old teammates together again
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Great moment today @ the barn. I loved it when Whalen said " let's count down starting from 4 ".
 

gophersports.com

Janel McCarville Quotes - University of Minnesota Athletics

Janel McCarville Quotes
gophersports.com gophersports.com

McCarville Presser:

Press Conference Quotes Opening Statement:
“I’m very excited to be here. I’ve waited a long time for this moment. I’m glad the day has finally approached and I get to spend it with my friends, family and former teammates. I’m not sure the emotions I will have, but at this moment I’m very ecstatic and kind of jittery in a way, so as it approaches I think I’m going to be even more nervous but definitely happy that it’s happening and really looking forward to the moment.”

On the timeline and process to her banner-raising today:
“There’s a process that has to happen, I don’t know everything along the lines but it doesn’t matter. It’s happening now and that’s the only way I’m going to look at it. My career is kind of winding down, basketball playing-wise. I’m still playing overseas, not in the WNBA, that’s coming to an end so this is kind of the cherry on top of my career coming to an end.”

On returning to Williams Arena:
“Oh yeah, it all comes rushing back. They’re (team bench) sitting on the other side though, we sat on the other side so the court is a little different in that aspect. The court has changed a little in appearances, but for the most part, being up on the raised floor it seems like just yesterday we were doing it as a squad and doing big things here at Minnesota.”

On whether coaching is in the future:
“Well playing is not in the future for me so the next step would be coaching. I am testing the waters a little bit, see if I can get my foot in the door. Like I said I am still playing, so I am double duty. I coach a young girls team in a club I played for so it’s all interlocked. We run the same offenses, things like that, so they have us to look up to and they have something to emulate at the lower level. I’m trying to build a solid foundation of the young Swedish group that I have and change their mindsets a little bit. “With my playing career overseas being the majority of my time I haven’t thought about coaching stateside yet. Really just testing the waters and I’m going to try and play as long as I can because I found a good team, a good situation, and I still enjoy it for the most part. So as like as I enjoy it I’m going to continue to do it.”

On talking with Lindsay Whalen about their banners being next to each other:
“She’s excited. I’m thankful that she pushed to make it happen. I’m real excited that they put us next to each other because we’re best buddies like that. All the memories we shared together, we’ll be up in the rafters together. Just a tremendous moment and I’m excited for it. We’ve had a couple of conversations about the good times we had and everything that led to her being there and me now joining.”

On what Coach Whalen has shared about the transition to coaching:
“It’s tough. It’s a different aspect of it. It’s different when you are on the court and you can control things. But as a coach, you have to instill that in someone else and allow them to run the on-court offenses and make sure they are in a good, sound, stable situation. When I’m on the court, I know, I’m not nervous, I’m not worried, I’m cool, calm, and collected but now on the sideline when I have to sit and tell somebody else how to do it... phew. That’s kind of the hardest thing that she’s experienced, and I’ve experienced as well.”
 

From Pat Reusse article “Those Janel McCarville-Lindsay Whalen Gophers teams paved the way to greater appreciation of women athletes” http://m.startribune.com/those-janel-mccarville-lindsay-whalen-gophers-teams-paved-the-way-to-greater-appreciation-of-women-athletes/566227912

... Whalen and McCarville were the co-stars for a 2004 Gophers team that went from being a No. 6 seed to the Final Four. ... Their first two games were played at Williams Arena. On a Sunday night, a crowd of over 12,000 showed up to watch Whalen’s 31-point return and a 92-81 victory over UCLA. Two nights later, the crowd was nearly 13,500 as the Gophers defeated Kansas State 80-61 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. ...

A few minutes before the McCarville pre-game ceremony, it was suggested to Maturi that those two home games, and the entire run to the Final Four, gave Twin Cities sports fandom permission (for wont of a better word) to get hooked into women’s athletics. ...
 

In the pre-game video tribute they showed the half court block that flattened the opposition guard. I remember seeing it live, glad they were able to retrieve and show it in the clip. Saw Jim Peterson there and it looked like Rebecca Brunson as well among others.
 

EaganGopher22 said:
In the pre-game video tribute they showed the half court block that flattened the opposition guard. I remember seeing it live, glad they were able to retrieve and show it in the clip. Saw Jim Peterson there and it looked like Rebecca Brunson as well among others.
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Yes, I'm glad a wicked pick was included-it wouldn't have been a true Janel high light reel without one.
 

CutDownTheNet said:
From Pat Reusse article “Those Janel McCarville-Lindsay Whalen Gophers teams paved the way to greater appreciation of women athletes” http://m.startribune.com/those-janel-mccarville-lindsay-whalen-gophers-teams-paved-the-way-to-greater-appreciation-of-women-athletes/566227912

... Whalen and McCarville were the co-stars for a 2004 Gophers team that went from being a No. 6 seed to the Final Four. ... Their first two games were played at Williams Arena. On a Sunday night, a crowd of over 12,000 showed up to watch Whalen’s 31-point return and a 92-81 victory over UCLA. Two nights later, the crowd was nearly 13,500 as the Gophers defeated Kansas State 80-61 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. ...

A few minutes before the McCarville pre-game ceremony, it was suggested to Maturi that those two home games, and the entire run to the Final Four, gave Twin Cities sports fandom permission (for wont of a better word) to get hooked into women’s athletics. ...
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I get the print version of the paper. This article was not anywhere to be found in the sports section. Reusse had a piece, but it was on the Men's team. Wonder if it got pulled after the huge upset?
 

EaganGopher22 said:
I get the print version of the paper. This article was not anywhere to be found in the sports section. Reusse had a piece, but it was on the Men's team. Wonder if it got pulled after the huge upset?
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Interesting. Reusse writes a very nice piece, on the occasion of our honoring Janel for her contribution to (among other things) the significance and enjoyability and viability of women’s NCAA athletics, and the Strib editorial team strikes a blow against the latter by not printing it, letting it lie on the cutting room floor, while Reusse is told to quick write a piece on men’s sports.

I, for one, will not be giving the Strib any of my money to avoid their paywall. If they’re too cheap to spend a couple square inches of paper pulp to print two Reusse articles instead of one, then I’m too cheap to give them even a nickel of my money. Vote with your pocketbook, they say. Nevertheless, I am appreciative of the work Kent Youngblood has done over the years.
 
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CutDownTheNet said:
Nevertheless, I am appreciative of the work Kent Youngblood has done over the years.
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He’s terrible. I think he only does women’s basketball because he was assigned. He definitely doesn’t treat the women’s coaches like men’s and ask the hard questions.
 

Shades said:
He’s terrible. I think he only does women’s basketball because he was assigned. He definitely doesn’t treat the women’s coaches like men’s and ask the hard questions.
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Good point, I guess. Pretty clear that Shades or I could do a better job. Perhaps what I’m appreciative of, is “some coverage is slightly better than none.”
 

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