Your favorite (lesser known) Gopher moments

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From the Barn

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Since it is finals and there is not a whole lot of basketball until conference play starts in 2 weeks, why not reminisce a bit about some of our favorite moments that often get overlooked. I'm not looking for epic comebacks or half court shots. I'm looking for the random, unbelievable, or forgotten.

Some of my favorites

1. Courtney James cutting his head open on the bottom of the backboard. Trevor Mbakwe isn't the first Gopher power forward who can jump.

2. The brawls against Long Island and the Philippines national team. Haven't seen anything like that since then.

3. Miles Tarver dancing with Al McGuire. Had to be awkward or both.

4. On a less humorous note, Richard Coffey's epic return after his father's death. Wasn't he also wearing a ridiculous face mask or was that someone else?
 

- The first and apparently most significant fact in Tarver's bio: That he played with Jason Kidd in high school for one season.

- Lynch FINALLY taking the starting position from Gaffney.

- Bobby Jackson's monster dunk in the Howard Pulley league where he was literally horizontal to the rim. Then he broke his leg.

- Eric Harris' improvement from his sophomore to his junior season.

- Sitting at Embers and having freshman Randy Breuer offer us cookies that his mom made.

- First time I saw Bauer with his "Jim Carrey 'Hank'" haircut.
 

Hoosier guard Dane Fife hitting the scoreboard with a full-court pass, sealing a Gopher upset in 2001.
 

josh087 said:
Hoosier guard Dane Fife hitting the scoreboard with a full-court pass, sealing a Gopher upset in 2001.
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Oh man I forgot that. Good times. You'd think he would have looked where he was throwing.
 

Watching Mike Davis sit like this on his stool for the entire 2nd half
sports_pb_stool1110.jpg
 


Speaking of stools, didn't the U give Judd Heathcoate a stool as a retirement gift?
 

I don't know about Judd but I'm pretty sure I remember the U giving Gene Keady one for his retirement.
 

It's not a Gopher moment per se, but I was at the game in '94 where Ricky Byrdsong get the technical, and started walking around the crowd, sitting in a seat for a few minutes at a time, giving high fives to the fans, holding up signs, conducting the U pep band, etc.

It was literally the most bizarre thing I think I've ever seen at a basketball game.
 

From the Barn said:
Speaking of stools, didn't the U give Judd Heathcoate a stool as a retirement gift?
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Yep, half MSU half UM design. It was pretty humorous, as Judd always complained about Williams. He hated the raised floor. He kind of half-cracked a smile when it was presented.

RE: the Fife moment. The Gophs also hit the scoreboard in a game against ISU, basically ending the game. I want to say early 90s, but I could be wrong.
 




From SI

On The Tour, Heathcote has received a putter from Boilermaker coach Gene Keady. From Knight he got a green leather recliner. From Steve Fisher, his smiling foil at Michigan, he got a big-screen TV. From Illinois coach Lou Henson he got an antique watch and a football helmet with a face mask, the latter in recognition of the time Heathcote angrily threw a ball at the floor only to have it bounce up and almost break his nose. ("I never let anybody know how much that hurt," says Heathcote, "but, god, did it hurt.") From Penn State he got a Nittany Lion statue, from Ohio State a set of golf clubs, from Minnesota a stool.

A stool? See, over the years Heathcote has repeatedly disparaged the Gophers' Williams Arena, where team benches are set about three feet below the court. When asked a few years ago about renovations made to Williams that didn't correct that problem, Heathcote said, "Well, it's like when you have outdoor plumbing and you finally get indoor plumbing, but you don't hook up the water."



Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1006318/2/index.htm#ixzz18Iif8o5x
 

Lesser Known

Vosohn Lenard pissing off the the Hoosier fans by throwing himself an alley oop. The Gophs were comfortably out front, Vo got a breakaway and bounced the ball off the backboard to himself for a dunk. Admittedly it's not the classiest thing to do but I considered it payback for the bogus 5 Second call against Ariel McDonald a year or two before and the time years earlier when Knight slammed a phone down along the courtside and the ref was to cowardly to T him up.
 

In 1994, Trevor Winter draining a 3 pointer at the halftime buzzer in the Gophers rout of St. John's.
 



Voshon Lenard reverse dunk off the glass at Indiana

Kyle Sandin hitting the last second three from the top of the key to push overtime against Cincinnati at Williams

Traveling to Iowa and seeing Sam Jacobsen going baseline his freshman year at Iowa and throwing down a huge dunk!

Bobby jackson tip toeing the sideline and going in for the And 1 against Illinois at home.

In that same game....John Thomas making the two needed free throws at the end of the game

Playing Michigan state at home when the entire Izzone traveled to the game and were in the last rows of the student section. Opening tip went to Michael Bauer for a fast break dunk, we continued to go on something like an 11-0 run to open the game before Izzo called timeout. State was ranked in the top 10 if I remember right. During that timeout everyone (myself included) in the student section turned around and pumped their middle fingers at the end of the loudest rouser I have ever heard in my life!
 

GoGoGophers said:
The Gophs also hit the scoreboard in a game against ISU, basically ending the game. I want to say early 90s, but I could be wrong.
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Dana Jackson.

One of my favorite moments is a missed dunk by Rico Tucker. He was fouled, but he got the ball in the corner, took off towards the hoop and rose up over two defenders and damn near threw down an amazing dunk. Still might be the most athletic thing I've ever seen anybody do in person. Too bad Monson destroyed his career.
 

To me, it's some of the irritating opposing players

MSU's Ben Tower.

Indiana's Ted Kitchel.

Ohio State's Granville Waiters.

And Iowa. Oh my God, where to start. Jeff Moe. J.R. Koch. Les Jepsen. Jess Settles. And Jacob Jaacks.....:)
 

Eye of the Gopher said:
Playing Michigan state at home when the entire Izzo traveled to the game and were in the last rows of the student section. Opening tip went to Michael Bauer for a fast break dunk, we continued to go on something like an 11-0 run to open the game before Izzo called timeout. State was ranked in the top 10 if I remember right. During that timeout everyone (myself included) in the student section turned around and pumped their middle fingers at the end of the loudest rouser I have ever heard in my life!
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I remember that game distinctly. Winter 2003 maybe? I don't know how they were able to get that many tickets in the back of the student section. At the time, Goldy was still sledding down the stairs on the left side of 111 (to the left of the band when looking at the court). When Goldy went up to the top of the stairs the first time, he was catching all kinds of grief from the Izzone crew. After he crashed, he went up there again, and I thought a riot was going to start.

Also, the Indiana game the first or second year of the Barnyard. Monson starts Zach Puchtel against Hoosier all-everything Marco Killingsworth. I think the common reaction was "WTF?" Anyway, Puchtel gets Killingsworth in foul trouble and to the bench early on. Killingsworth (and Mike Davis, for that matter) doesn't take too kindly to this, only scoring 4 or 5 points. When he fouled out, he was openly taunting the Barnyard, which was in full dress-up mode for that Sunday afternoon game.
 

ShowinGoldyLove said:
It's not a Gopher moment per se, but I was at the game in '94 where Ricky Byrdsong get the technical, and started walking around the crowd, sitting in a seat for a few minutes at a time, giving high fives to the fans, holding up signs, conducting the U pep band, etc.

It was literally the most bizarre thing I think I've ever seen at a basketball game.
Click to expand...

It was the cover of Sports Illustrated! A picture of Byrdsong half way up the stands, stopped, looking dazed & my two best friends are in the 1st & 2nd seats on the aisle to his left. My friends literally have copies of themselves on the cover of SI framed in their houses to this day.
 

My favorite memories.....

* A couple hours after my 1st Gopher game we stopped by Trent Tucker's apartment (He lived in the same building as my uncle) & I got to meet him (Big deal for an 11 year old)
* Being in a barn in Western Wisconsin listening to WCCO as Darryl Mitchell sank both free throws to win the Big-10 title
* Willie Burton taking the 89' team on his back to the Sweet 16
* Bob Martin OWNING Derrick Coleman the next year in the Sweet Sixteen. As soon as Coleman got a T for shoving (and almost attacking) the mild mannered Bob Martin, I knew the Cuse was toast.
* Th excitement surrounding the recruitment of Voshon Lenard
* Clem saying "Well Voshonjussababystill, he gonna get better as he mature" after an NIT game at the end of Lenard's Junior season.
* Clem threatening to boycott the Big-10 season if Randy Carter & Ernest Nzigamasabo didn't get invites to the Portsmouth try out camp.

I've got to run, but that'd bring my list up to 1994 or so....
 

brucekaupa said:
- The first and apparently most significant fact in Tarver's bio: That he played with Jason Kidd in high school for one season.

- Lynch FINALLY taking the starting position from Gaffney.

- Bobby Jackson's monster dunk in the Howard Pulley league where he was literally horizontal to the rim. Then he broke his leg.

- Eric Harris' improvement from his sophomore to his junior season.

- Sitting at Embers and having freshman Randy Breuer offer us cookies that his mom made.

- First time I saw Bauer with his "Jim Carrey 'Hank'" haircut.
Click to expand...

You mention Kevin Lynch, got to sit at mid court 7 rows up from the floor for a game in '91 when Lynch was a senior. Walter Bond was hurt and Lynch scored, I believe 39 to beat Acie Earl and the Hawkeye's. Best seats I ever had for a game at the Barn. I sat by a good friend that was a Hawkeye fan and Chris Weber former Gopher player from the late '70's.
 

I don't think anybody has mentioned a couple of my favorites:

- Arriel McDonald (still one of my all time favorite gophers) beating Michigan State on a last second jumper.

- The Fifty Point Butt Whooping of Indiana.

- Somebody already mentioned the Sanden shot, but that was spectacular.

- Vince Grier just going off against various squads, and then partaking in extremely awkward fist bumps with Danny Monson.

- Other great memories that are more personal include playing basketball in my basement while pretending that my little brother was Acie Earl so I could dunk over him.

- Watching Shaq at the barn (for some High School deal).

- Meeting Clem (still one of the nicest guys ever, although Tubby's also very gracious).

- Seeing Sam Jacobson finally fulfill his promise.

- Seeing Dusty Rychart, a player from my Mom's home town, so the person I expected to take the mantle as the next Hosea, become a great Big Ten Player.

- And who could forget seeing Hosea hit a three on Hosea Night?
 


Chris Kingsbury's lack of conscience

In terms of "unbelievable" moments involving the Gophers/Barn, one of the first things I think of is the (lack of) conscience of Iowa's Chris Kingsbury. He did not hesitate to fire from anywhere inside the half-court line. I don't think Kingsbury ever differentiated between what was a good shot and what was a bad shot, time & score, etc. Have to give Kingsbury some credit, though, the dude had some serious range, and I'm talking Trent Tucker-type range.
 

Eye of the Gopher said:
Kyle Sandin hitting the last second three from the top of the key to push overtime against Cincinnati at Williams
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Sanden's 'no-no-no-what-are-you-thinking-I-mean-yes-great-decision!' shot, which was from the wing/corner right in front of the team bench IIRC, actually gave the Gophers a 2-pt. lead with only a few seconds left. Then Melvin Levitt (sp?) drove down and hit what was called a 3-pt FG with no time left to give Thuggins and Cincy an apparent win. However, after the review, Levitt's foot was on the line, resulting in only a 2-pt. FG, and OT. Cincy went on to win it in OT.
 

How about Tommy Coverdale kicking the ball in mid-air as it bounced off the rim back to where he was standing at the FT line after a FT miss. How did he not get Teed-up?!

That whole 2nd half vs. Indiana in 2002 was still probably the loudest I've ever heard the barn. Almost 60 put up by the boys in that half vs. the eventual national runners-up - the whole team was just unconscious.
 

josh087 said:
Then Melvin Levitt (sp?) drove down and hit what was called a 3-pt FG with no time left to give Thuggins and Cincy an apparent win. However, after the review, Levitt's foot was on the line, resulting in only a 2-pt. FG, and OT.
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This part didn't happen. Levett's shot was a runner from inside of 15 feet on the right side of the lane and wasn't ever called a three and reviewed.

Actually, I don't believe they even had rules for video review in 1999.
 

josh087 said:
How about Tommy Coverdale kicking the ball in mid-air as it bounced off the rim back to where he was standing at the FT line after a FT miss. How did he not get Teed-up?!

That whole 2nd half vs. Indiana in 2002 was still probably the loudest I've ever heard the barn. Almost 60 put up by the boys in that half vs. the eventual national runners-up - the whole team was just unconscious.
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Beating Illinois at home with the Newbern/Burton team when they were number one.

A Mel Newbern spin move on the base line that left Brado's shorts on the floor and ended with a huge Newbern dunk.

The whole Final Four run.

Mussleman's pregame warmup and talented squads in a jam packed Barn with 17-18K rabid fans in house.

Getting 35-40 points of Indiana AFTER one half at the Barn and watching Bobby Knight sit the whole second half on his chair and just let his team take the shellacking.

Watching Monson's Grier led squad get to the NCAAs - unbelievably considering the talent and depth shortage.
 

josh087 said:
Sanden's 'no-no-no-what-are-you-thinking-I-mean-yes-great-decision!' shot, which was from the wing/corner right in front of the team bench IIRC...
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This part is wrong too! The shot was from a little left of the top of the key, on the other side of the court from the bench. Were you at the game? Or am I the one that's losing it?

I remember during the timeout when Sanden ran over to the scorer's table to check in. At least 50 people in my section immediately groaned. It was a set play to Sanden...I still can't believe it.
 

GoGoGophers said:
This part is wrong too! The shot was from a little left of the top of the key, on the other side of the court from the bench. Were you at the game? Or am I the one that's losing it?

I remember during the timeout when Sanden ran over to the scorer's table to check in. At least 50 people in my section immediately groaned. It was a set play to Sanden...I still can't believe it.
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I must have been drunk or something during the game. Sanden hit so many clutch shots, maybe they all blend together.
 


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