STrib: Kent Youngblood on the Hire:

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Gophers hire West Virginia coach Dawn Plitzuweit to replace Lindsay Whalen

Plitzuweit is a Wisconsin native who coached South Dakota to the Sweet 16 last season before spending one year as West Virginia's coach.

www.startribune.com

After the Gophers announced the hiring of Dawn Plitzuweit as women's basketball coach Saturday, one of the best players she's ever coached explained why it was such a good move.

Plitzuweit changed Hannah Sjerven's life.

"When I went [to South Dakota], I wasn't the player who was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx," Sjerven said. "I was more like a Division II player. She turned me into the player I became."

[...]

Hit the ground running? Plitzuweit was scheduled to get to Minneapolis on Saturday for a meeting with Gophers players, and there was talk she was heading to watch the girls basketball state championship games at Williams Arena.

Before that she was already reaching out to local AAU programs. She called Nick Storm, founder and co-director of the Minnesota Fury. She reached out to North Tartan AAU director Bill Larson, who was vacationing in Rome.

"FaceTime in Rome," Larson said. "Not a bad start."

 

[SHGopher]

"I think it's a slam dunk," Prep Hoops recruiting analyst Grant McGinnis said. "She has relationships with AAU people, with the high school people. She's really well-respected in the basketball community.

"I would bet that every Minnesota kid on the Gophers roster now has been recruited by her at some point. She will hit the ground running."

 

[SHGopher]

This article by the Star Tribune is particularly excellent in the analysis. I cannot post more. I would encourage people to read the full article.