coolhandgopher
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Over the course of this season, I've seen several posts advanced along the notion that the idea of the Gophers history in men's basketball has been exaggerated and the old saw, that the Gophers have never proven themselves to be able to win without cheating. I hope to refute some of those claims with this post.
1. The Gophers history is lacking
In all-time wins, the Gophers program ranks #36 (5th overall in the Big Ten) with a 58% win percentage (if you choose to use the data that wipes away the records vacated from Gangelgate they rank #50 in all-time wins, 7th in the Big Ten with a 57% win percentage).
In ESPN/Sagarin's rankings of Top 100 College Basketball programs, Minnesota ranks #14 overall, placing them seventh in the Big Ten, sandwiched between Michigan and Michigan State.
In college programs where players were drafted into the NBA and played at least one game in the NBA, the Gophers tie for #14 with Maryland, Michigan St, and Ohio State and are also tied for fourth place in the Big Ten in this category.
I will be the first to acknowledge that the Gophers history has been sparse in recent decades and much of the record books has been built on the success of teams from the distant past. However, just as we should not dismiss the success of the Gophers football teams from decades ago, neither should we do so with the Gophers basketball program. The program has never reached the heights of the Gopher football program, but they have established a solid history in the the best basketball conference, historically.
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2009/1004/cbe1.pdf
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/minnesota/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_in_NCAA_Division_I_men's_college_basketball
2. The Gophers basketball program has never won without cheating
Going back to the Bill Musselman era, the Gophers experienced great seasons under Bill Musselman, Jim Dutcher, and Clem Haskins, yet all three regimes ended in scandal. However, Jim Dutcher's greatest success at Minnesota (with Trent Tucker, Daryl Mitchell, Randy Breuer, etc.) was not marred by scandal; similarly, Clem's teams with Willie Burton, Melvin Newburn, Kevin Lynch, etc. also won cleanly. In fact, one wonders with both these coaches what happened; with Dutcher, his ship went down because of faith in the likes of Mitch Lee, but his players won before and after (Burton, Newburn, Shik were all Dutcher recruits).
Clem's downfall is more puzzling to me; it wasn't that he was luring McDonald's All-Americans onto the campus. His '97 squad was a typical Clem team, albeit deeper and with a transcendent star in Bobby Jackson, but the rest of the squad was some top 100 recruits mixed with under the radar guys. It turns out that the likes of Courtney James and Charles Thomas were bad characters, but I think the problem that occurred during this era was that Clem became a megalomaniac, began to rationalize that each questionable/illegal decision, and thought himself untouchable.
As for Musselman? He was before my time, but I believe he falls into that category of coach who cared solely about basketball and could care less for the rule book. That during his time with the Gophers the ugliest brawl in college basketball occurred further cements his rogue image.
Here's the thing though...take a look at the attached link and you will see that the number of NCAA basketball programs that have landed on probation far exceeds the "clean" programs, and that list includes Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, Indiana, and North Carolina, otherwise known as the blue bloods of college basketball. And when you consider some of the clean programs-I'm certainly no insider but when I see Georgia Tech (Stephon Marbury?), Colorado (Chauncey Billups?) and Oklahoma State (the Sutton father/son combo), excuse me if I'm dubious. The Gophers are part of the fabric of college basketball which is a history of cheaters. Unfortunately, the Gophers were associated with the Ohio State brawl, Mitch Lee's champagne glass, and Gangelgate which drew attention that more obscure, less juicy violations affected other programs. Minnesota has and can win cleanly.
http://sportsdelve.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/ncaa-probation-and-division-i-college-basketball/
3. Recruiting base
Perhaps I'm straying from the theme a bit here, but I think it's important to note that the quality of prep basketball has improved greatly over the last twenty years or so. Taking a look at the '89-90 and '96-97 teams, these teams while strongly represented by Minnesota preps were not overwhelmingly composed of Minnesota-bred talent (two players in the rotation back in '90-Lynch and Bob Martin; three in '97-Jacobson, John Thomas, and Trevor Winter).
Five Minnesota preps have been McDonald's All-Americans, four of those coming since 1998 (Pryzbilla, Humphries, Rickert, and Cole Aldrich with Jim Peterson from the early '80s).
Recent Gopher squads, for better or worse, have had strong Minnesota prep presence throughout the squads. The prep class of '14 could be the most talented the state's ever produced. The quality of talent for a state with only one D-1 program that plays in a major conference should confer a strong advantage in building a team.
Summary
The Gophers do not have a history to be ashamed of-while not reaching the heights of NCAA championships, Final Fours, or Big Ten titles, the program has been a solid, middle of the road program throughout its history in the Big Ten while occasionally rising to the heights of the conference and/or noteworthy runs in the NCAA tournament. Since Gangelgate, the Gophers have fallen off that pace.
While the program may need a practice facility and certainly needs a dose of drama-free/injury-free seasons, my concern with the program under Tubby Smith hasn't been recruiting; I think through recruiting both in-state and nationally there was great potential over the last few years. My concerns have come more from the in-game decisions, the wholesale substitution patterns, the lack of an offensive identity.
I believe most rational Gopher fans think reasonable expectations for the program are this: a top-five finish in conference with an occasional push towards a Big Ten championship, a home court advantage where wins against any and all opponents is the expectation, and consistent trips to the NCAA tournament (when the Big Ten typically garners six seeds each season, not unreasonable) with occasional trips to the second weekend. It seems to me a reasonable goal when our neighbors to the east have chartered this path consistently with lesser history and without top-flight recruits.
Next year's a big year for the program, Tubby's era at MN, and his overall legacy, IMO. There should be a lot of talent coming back (regardless on Mbawke's 6th year status), a team that should be well accustomed to one another and hopefully without major injuries or distractions. An upper-division finish in the Big Ten and at least a second weekend in the NCAA tourney could go a long way towards clearing the malaise that has settled over the program (in addition to a new AD working on the logistics of getting the facilities upgraded).
1. The Gophers history is lacking
In all-time wins, the Gophers program ranks #36 (5th overall in the Big Ten) with a 58% win percentage (if you choose to use the data that wipes away the records vacated from Gangelgate they rank #50 in all-time wins, 7th in the Big Ten with a 57% win percentage).
In ESPN/Sagarin's rankings of Top 100 College Basketball programs, Minnesota ranks #14 overall, placing them seventh in the Big Ten, sandwiched between Michigan and Michigan State.
In college programs where players were drafted into the NBA and played at least one game in the NBA, the Gophers tie for #14 with Maryland, Michigan St, and Ohio State and are also tied for fourth place in the Big Ten in this category.
I will be the first to acknowledge that the Gophers history has been sparse in recent decades and much of the record books has been built on the success of teams from the distant past. However, just as we should not dismiss the success of the Gophers football teams from decades ago, neither should we do so with the Gophers basketball program. The program has never reached the heights of the Gopher football program, but they have established a solid history in the the best basketball conference, historically.
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2009/1004/cbe1.pdf
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/minnesota/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_in_NCAA_Division_I_men's_college_basketball
2. The Gophers basketball program has never won without cheating
Going back to the Bill Musselman era, the Gophers experienced great seasons under Bill Musselman, Jim Dutcher, and Clem Haskins, yet all three regimes ended in scandal. However, Jim Dutcher's greatest success at Minnesota (with Trent Tucker, Daryl Mitchell, Randy Breuer, etc.) was not marred by scandal; similarly, Clem's teams with Willie Burton, Melvin Newburn, Kevin Lynch, etc. also won cleanly. In fact, one wonders with both these coaches what happened; with Dutcher, his ship went down because of faith in the likes of Mitch Lee, but his players won before and after (Burton, Newburn, Shik were all Dutcher recruits).
Clem's downfall is more puzzling to me; it wasn't that he was luring McDonald's All-Americans onto the campus. His '97 squad was a typical Clem team, albeit deeper and with a transcendent star in Bobby Jackson, but the rest of the squad was some top 100 recruits mixed with under the radar guys. It turns out that the likes of Courtney James and Charles Thomas were bad characters, but I think the problem that occurred during this era was that Clem became a megalomaniac, began to rationalize that each questionable/illegal decision, and thought himself untouchable.
As for Musselman? He was before my time, but I believe he falls into that category of coach who cared solely about basketball and could care less for the rule book. That during his time with the Gophers the ugliest brawl in college basketball occurred further cements his rogue image.
Here's the thing though...take a look at the attached link and you will see that the number of NCAA basketball programs that have landed on probation far exceeds the "clean" programs, and that list includes Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, Indiana, and North Carolina, otherwise known as the blue bloods of college basketball. And when you consider some of the clean programs-I'm certainly no insider but when I see Georgia Tech (Stephon Marbury?), Colorado (Chauncey Billups?) and Oklahoma State (the Sutton father/son combo), excuse me if I'm dubious. The Gophers are part of the fabric of college basketball which is a history of cheaters. Unfortunately, the Gophers were associated with the Ohio State brawl, Mitch Lee's champagne glass, and Gangelgate which drew attention that more obscure, less juicy violations affected other programs. Minnesota has and can win cleanly.
http://sportsdelve.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/ncaa-probation-and-division-i-college-basketball/
3. Recruiting base
Perhaps I'm straying from the theme a bit here, but I think it's important to note that the quality of prep basketball has improved greatly over the last twenty years or so. Taking a look at the '89-90 and '96-97 teams, these teams while strongly represented by Minnesota preps were not overwhelmingly composed of Minnesota-bred talent (two players in the rotation back in '90-Lynch and Bob Martin; three in '97-Jacobson, John Thomas, and Trevor Winter).
Five Minnesota preps have been McDonald's All-Americans, four of those coming since 1998 (Pryzbilla, Humphries, Rickert, and Cole Aldrich with Jim Peterson from the early '80s).
Recent Gopher squads, for better or worse, have had strong Minnesota prep presence throughout the squads. The prep class of '14 could be the most talented the state's ever produced. The quality of talent for a state with only one D-1 program that plays in a major conference should confer a strong advantage in building a team.
Summary
The Gophers do not have a history to be ashamed of-while not reaching the heights of NCAA championships, Final Fours, or Big Ten titles, the program has been a solid, middle of the road program throughout its history in the Big Ten while occasionally rising to the heights of the conference and/or noteworthy runs in the NCAA tournament. Since Gangelgate, the Gophers have fallen off that pace.
While the program may need a practice facility and certainly needs a dose of drama-free/injury-free seasons, my concern with the program under Tubby Smith hasn't been recruiting; I think through recruiting both in-state and nationally there was great potential over the last few years. My concerns have come more from the in-game decisions, the wholesale substitution patterns, the lack of an offensive identity.
I believe most rational Gopher fans think reasonable expectations for the program are this: a top-five finish in conference with an occasional push towards a Big Ten championship, a home court advantage where wins against any and all opponents is the expectation, and consistent trips to the NCAA tournament (when the Big Ten typically garners six seeds each season, not unreasonable) with occasional trips to the second weekend. It seems to me a reasonable goal when our neighbors to the east have chartered this path consistently with lesser history and without top-flight recruits.
Next year's a big year for the program, Tubby's era at MN, and his overall legacy, IMO. There should be a lot of talent coming back (regardless on Mbawke's 6th year status), a team that should be well accustomed to one another and hopefully without major injuries or distractions. An upper-division finish in the Big Ten and at least a second weekend in the NCAA tourney could go a long way towards clearing the malaise that has settled over the program (in addition to a new AD working on the logistics of getting the facilities upgraded).
