The Wake

The Gophers Men’s basketball team was the Cinderella team of the Big Ten last season. Projected to finish tenth, Minnesota surprised the nation by earning a berth in the NCAA tournament and finishing fourth in their conference with a record of 10-6 and 21-11 overall. With the return of senior swingman Vincent Grier and the additions of sixth-year point guard Adam Boone from injury and fifth-year shooting guard Maurice Hargrow transferring back from Arkansas, one would suspect the Gophers to be ranked among the elite of the Big Ten, if not the nation.

Wrong.

It appears the Gophers will need to slide on the glass slipper and play Cinderella again this season because most experts don’t envision Minnesota finishing better than eighth in the conference. Despite the low preseason rankings, the Gophers are upbeat about what they can accomplish.

“I’m very excited about our chances and I think we should have a very good team in the Big Ten,” says Adam Boone.

This season the Gophers look to reclaim the up-tempo offense Coach Dan Monson used when he first came to Minnesota. Last season the Gophers often looked reluctant to push the ball up the court and relied on a half-court offense and stingy defense. With the loss of 7-foot center, Jeff Hagen, to graduation, Minnesota’s offensive strengths now revolve around their experienced backcourt and Monson looks to use these skills.

“Offensively, this is a very gifted team in many ways. Certainly, the strength of that is on the perimeter. So if you’re going to just set them into a half-court offense I don’t think that’s coaching to your strengths,” Monson says.

The biggest question mark entering this season centers on the experience of Minnesota’s frontcourt. Hagen, although slowed by injuries last season, was the team’s second leading scorer with 11.2 points per game. Sophomore Spencer Tollackson and redshirt freshman Jonathon Williams will replace him, while sophomore Dan Coleman, a member of the All-Big Ten freshman team, returns to play forward.

The Gophers schedule this season proves difficult because the Big Ten is infested with talent. The conference returns two teams from last season’s Final Four (Michigan State and Illinois) and features four teams from the Associated Press Top 25 (Michigan State, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana) in preseason. Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin are also contenders this season.

“The conference has many great players and a lot of veterans in there. It’s going to be a great season to be in the Big Ten this year,” says Vincent Grier.

If Minnesota can combine last season’s stellar defense with an aggressive up-tempo offense, it may be another Cinderella story for the Gophers.