Minnesota Golden Gophers Men's Basketball
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Golden Gophers have played in the Big Ten since the conference began sponsoring basketball in 1905. The team plays its home games in Williams Arena and is currently coached by Tubby Smith.
The Gophers had great success in the early years of basketball, but have been largely overshadowed by other programs since the end of World War I. In total, the Gophers have won nine Big Ten championships, but only four since 1919. College basketball research organizations have retroactively awarded Minnesota national championships in 1902, 1903, and 1919.
The team has also had several instances of NCAA sanctions on the program that have affected performance and recruiting. In the 1970s, the Gophers were in a violent brawl with the Ohio State Buckeyes and were barred from post-season appearances for two seasons after an incident involving the illegal resale of tickets. Still more severe was the mid-1990s academic scandal under then-coach Clem Haskins that resulted in the forfeiture of a Final Four appearance.
Read more about Minnesota Golden Gophers Men's Basketball: Coaches, Players, Facilities, Rivals, Results By Season
Famous quotes containing the words golden, men and/or basketball:
“How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tale,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“He said “Next time can I bring my friend?”
And I thought “Does he mean friend?”
And I thought “Yes he does mean friend.”
Which was quite bold in those days.
It was the Dark Ages. Men and men.
And they could still put you in prison for it.
And did, dear.”
—Alan Bennett (b. 1934)
“Perhaps basketball and poetry have just a few things in common, but the most important is the possibility of transcendence. The opposite is labor. In writing, every writer knows when he or she is laboring to achieve an effect. You want to get from here to there, but find yourself willing it, forcing it. The equivalent in basketball is aiming your shot, a kind of strained and usually ineffective purposefulness. What you want is to be in some kind of flow, each next moment a discovery.”
—Stephen Dunn (b. 1939)