The Minnesota Golden Gophers ended their 2015-2016 season at rock bottom, having sunk to the lowest tier in the Big Ten. Coach Richard Pitino had a fractured program on his hands. He needed to bring his next team together and reverse what was clearly a downward trend. Pitino succeeded magnificently. His collection of different component parts jelled fluidly. The Gophers would normally fold under pressure in Big Ten play, but they won at Purdue in very early January, scoring a high-end win which proved elusive in the recent past. The team gained supreme confidence from that moment and established itself as a solid, upper-division Big Ten team. Minnesota easily moved into the NCAA Tournament and got a No. 5 seed. The Golden Gophers got a terrible draw by being paired with Middle Tennessee, which had knocked off Michigan State the year before, but the season was still an overwhelming success. Pitino now knows he can do well in Minneapolis, and he knows he has players he can trust.
Offseason Changes
New top-100 recruit Isaiah Washington, and also freshman Jamir Harris, will join a largely stable Gopher lineup. The leading scorers in the lineup from last year are back, but they will have more support this season. Washington could be the wild card on this team, and his evolution under Pitino’s tutelage could be the factor which determines just how far this season can go.
Will Succeed If…
Jordan Murphy evolves as an offensive player. Murphy is an extremely rugged defender and rebounder. He works harder than anyone else on the floor for Minnesota. He is muscular and very hard to dislodge from the spots on the floor he wants to attain. The Golden Gophers know what they will get from him, but now comes the challenge of trying to add to what was a solid team last season. Murphy doesn’t need to be the kind of player who invites his teammates to climb on his back and join the ride, but if he can make small additions to his offensive game, enough to make defenses pay more attention to him, that will balance the floor and enable a star such as Nate Mason, who will make a lot of preseason All-Big Ten teams, to have more room in which to break down defenders and showcase his skills without having to confront any more double-teams than necessary.
Won’t Succeed If…
Nate Mason and Amir Coffey think they have to make all the plays themselves. Balanced teams don’t have to be starless teams, but they do need an assortment of five players which will force opposing defenses to extend on the perimeter and guard the whole floor. If one or two players are not legitimate offensive threats, opposing defenses can cheat and hedge in all sorts of ways, thereby pinching on the leading scorers and not having incentive to adjust their strategy. Balanced scoring and production will enable Minnesota to divert attention from Mason, and that will remain one of the central keys to success this season for the Gophers.
Roster
Dupree McBrayer
Nate Mason
Jordan Murphy
Jamir Harris
Amir Coffey
Brady Rudrud
Isaiah Washington
Jarvis Johnson
Hunt Conroy
Davonte Fitzgerald
Bakary Konate
Reggie Lynch
Eric Curry
Matz Stockman
Gaston Diedhiou
Michael Hurt
Schedule & Outlook
The non-conference schedule is a busy one. It includes games against Arkansas, Providence, Alabama and Miami. Those are all teams which figure to be on or inside the NCAA Tournament bubble. It will be important for the Gophers to get at least two if not three of those games. Their first test figures to be the Alabama showdown, which is a neutral-site affair on November 25th. That’ll be followed up immediately by a visit from Miami in a game that will be featured on ESPN2.
In Big Ten play, their veteran experience and depth should be assets. Minnesota should not sweat a return to the NCAA Tournament. Whether the Gophers can make the Sweet 16 or not could become the main questions regarding this team’s ceiling.
The 2018 March Madness futures are out. There has been plenty of news to keep up with in the offseason but keep an eye on the betting lines as they move around at Diamond Sportsbook! Get the latest college basketball betting lines right here.
