Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-14, 6-12)
Coach Tubby Smith (90-61) enters his fourth season at Minnesota.
Project starting five:
Sr. F Trevor Mbakwe
Fr. F Andre Ingram
Jr. G Julian Welch
So. G Austin Hollins
Sr. F Ralph Sampson III
Important departures:
Blake Hoffarber: 13.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 38.9 percent from 3-point range
Al Nolen: 8.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.7 apg
Colton Iverson: 5.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg
Additions:
Fr. SG Joe Coleman (Rivals.com three-star player)
Fr. SG Andre Hollins (Rivals.com three-star player)
Outlook:
Minnesota looks solid with their two returning starters in Mbakwe and Sampson, both of whom entertained notions of leaving for the NBA. The Gophers surprised people last year with a late run in the Big Ten tournament, but unfortunately that fluke will not play out again. A lot of Minnesota’s players are good, but few are great and teams will exploit their weakened bench.
Schedule highlights:
A very weak nonconference schedule will help inflate the Gophers’ final record, but after being cannibalized in their conference, Minnesota will sink to somewhere at or below .500 overall.
