KSTP: Former Gophers AD Joel Maturi: 'I Hope we Keep (Kill) Here for a Long Time'

[WAGopher]

The difference between where he [Jimmie Williams] cheated (here) and any other university is that he didn't cheat for them.

I don't recall Williams ever being fired from Minnesota. In fact, the U thought highly enough of him to promote him to interim head coach after Dutcher resigned. Both of these would not be true if he was known to have cheated. Maybe you can shed some light on this contradiction.

 

[UpnorthGo4]

I don't recall Williams ever being fired from Minnesota. In fact, the U thought highly enough of him to promote him to interim head coach after Dutcher resigned. Both of these would not be true if he was known to have cheated. Maybe you can shed some light on this contradiction.

On April 2, 2007, Williams faxed his resume to Smith's office, and the two talked that evening about Williams coming to Minnesota. Smith indicated he could offer an annual salary of $175,000, plus $25,000 for running Smith's basketball camp, to match Williams' Oklahoma State salary, according to deposition transcripts.

"(Smith) asked me (whether) I was ready to come to Minnesota, and I kind of told him, 'yeah,' and he said, 'Well, I'm offering you the job, and I can get you the salary that you talked about,' " Williams testified in December 2007.

"And then (Smith) asked me, 'do you accept the job?' And I told him, 'yes, I do.' "

A compliance officer for Minnesota e-mailed Maturi NCAA reports of recruiting violations for which Williams was cited in 1976 under head coach Bill Musselman and in 1988 under Dutcher.

They included providing prospects with financial aid, airline tickets, clothing and meals. Williams was barred from recruiting for two years while the men's program was placed on two years' probation.

Maturi immediately telephoned Smith, who was unaware of the seriousness of the violations, and told him hiring Williams was out of the question, the athletics director testified in a deposition.

Less than seven years after NCAA sanctions from the academic fraud scandal decimated the program, Maturi was acutely sensitive to the political risks of justifying Williams' return and the baggage he carries.

"We are talking about a men's basketball program that has had a history of social ills, a history of NCAA violations, a history of misconduct and incidents ... (that) certainly had an awful lot to do with the depths of the program in the last couple of years," Maturi testified in 2007.

"I did not believe it was the right thing to start this new era of Minnesota basketball with one of the most highly respected coaches in America to have someone on the staff with a known listing of violations that occurred, let alone occurred while at the University of Minnesota.

"And when coach Smith and I had that discussion, he agreed."

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_15074772

 

[UpnorthGo4]

The Maturi Haters in GopherHole are clueless. Even though most of them can read they have no idea how bad it got for Gophers sports in the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. Maturi was a huge advancement over what came before him.

Wow, I was never a Paul Giel fan since he allowed Memorial Stadium to fall into disrepair and on paper is responsible for the Metrodome era from hell, but what a statement!

I'd line up with Tom Moe and Mark Dienhart on my side in any situation, and you both, Rupy and UPNorth, can line up with Joel Maturi. Guess who wins in any competition, physical or mental?

Enlighten us. What exactly did Moe and Dienhart do to improve and advance Gophers athletics during their time as AD's? Some people at the U a lot closer to the situation than you liked the way Maturi did his job. Maybe you should reserve your criticism of Maturi for them.

“Joel Maturi has been an outstanding leader for Gopher Athletics,” university President Robert Bruininks said. “He successfully led the merger of men’s and women’s athletics, significantly increased fundraising, played a major role in the effort to build TCF Bank Stadium and put an unprecedented focus on enhancing academic support.” Bruininks praised Maturi for leading Gopher Athletics through substantial financial challenges. Maturi has increased fundraising by 40 percent. Also during this time, the current endowment for athletics went from $12.4 million to $22.3 million – an 80 percent increase.

 

[WAGopher]

A compliance officer for Minnesota e-mailed Maturi NCAA reports of recruiting violations for which Williams was cited in 1976 under head coach Bill Musselman and in 1988 under Dutcher.

They included providing prospects with financial aid, airline tickets, clothing and meals. Williams was barred from recruiting for two years while the men's program was placed on two years' probation.

Thank you for finding that article.
I always thought that under Musselman (who did violate recruiting rules), Williams must not have participated in any violations because he was allowed to remain on Dutcher's staff. Under Dutcher, the violations were not what would be considered cheating to win like recruiting or academic violations. They were helping players that didn't have enough money to buy a winter coat or travel home during a break.

Since Williams was on the staff of two coaches that had NCAA sanctions, I agree that Maturi correctly blocked his return to Minnesota.

 

[station19]

Thank you for finding that article.
I always thought that under Musselman (who did violate recruiting rules), Williams must not have participated in any violations because he was allowed to remain on Dutcher's staff. Under Dutcher, the violations were not what would be considered cheating to win like recruiting or academic violations. They were helping players that didn't have enough money to buy a winter coat or travel home during a break.

Since Williams was on the staff of two coaches that had NCAA sanctions, I agree that Maturi correctly blocked his return to Minnesota.

I would imagine every new head coach hired at Minnesota is told all asst coach hires must first be approved by the AD and possibly the U of M President, and this case is cited as the reason.

 

[oak_street1981]

Enlighten us. What exactly did Moe and Dienhart do to improve and advance Gophers athletics during their time as AD's? Some people at the U a lot closer to the situation than you liked the way Maturi did his job. Maybe you should reserve your criticism of Maturi for them.


Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha !!!!!! I am sure some of those clowns at the U of M were real happy to have their lapdog Junior HS Principal Maturi around to do their incompetent bidding! Heck, if I was near the top of the pyramid, I'd like to have at least one Joel Maturi around to kiss my backside, do whatever I told him to do, and take the heat if my ideas backfired. I bet some of those people like the way Maturi did his job more than you know!

Obviously you know nothing about Deinhart and Tom Moe, both who are extremely strong leaders with histories of success at the most elite levels of Twin Cities business, legal and educational circles.

Both also knew that Gopher Football and Basketball were the key areas of focus, something the pencil pushing, elevated typing teacher, JV Coach Maturi never quite figured out. Maturi would have lasted five minutes in the worlds Moe and Dienhart operate in, and anyone with any real perspective knows that.

The results of the disastrous Maturi hiring will live on for years and please do not pretend that the bungling Maturi deserves any credit for TCF Bank Stadium being built. The only good thing you can say is that it happened despite Maturi, and he did not do anything typical of Maturi to screw up what was handed to him to much in the planning and construction phase.

Once TCF came on line, Joel Maturi screwed the pooch as much as any AD could.

I will blame Maturi though for letting the near cavity searches occur at the gates for two years, and allowing the City of Minneapolis to bully all the private business owners around TCF to kill all private parking, tailgating, and also much of the anticipated game day atmosphere. Maturi was a weak yes man who never stood up against the PC crowd, the City or anyone else to advance Gopher Football.

Then again hiring the buffoon Brewster all but killed the buzz around TCF and in some ways muted the impact of a 300M new stadium.


The sooner he shuts up and moves to some trailer park in Tucson (or more likely a luxurious McMansion in Naples) thanks to the taxpayers of Minnesota, the better.

 

[Deleted_User]

Nut jobs should be limited to pleasure and not the state of a persons mental rantings. Too often, it is the latter.