Minnesota Gophers men's basketball
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | ||||
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| University | University of Minnesota | |||
| First season | 1896 | |||
| Head coach | Richard Pitino (5th season) | |||
| Conference | Big Ten | |||
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |||
| Arena |
Williams Arena (Capacity: 14,625) |
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| Nickname | Golden Gophers | |||
| Student section | The Barnyard | |||
| Colors | Maroon and Gold |
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| Uniforms | ||||
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| Pre-tournament Premo-Porretta champions | ||||
| 1902, 1903 | ||||
| Pre-tournament Helms champions | ||||
| 1902, 1919 | ||||
| NCAA Tournament Final Four | ||||
| 1997* | ||||
| NCAA Tournament Elite Eight | ||||
| 1990, 1997* | ||||
| NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1982, 1989, 1990, 1997* | ||||
| NCAA Tournament appearances | ||||
| 1972*, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1994*, 1995*, 1997*, 1999*, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2017 *vacated by NCAA |
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| Conference regular season champions | ||||
| 1906, 1907, 1911, 1917, 1919, 1937, 1972, 1982, 1997* | ||||
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The Golden Gophers have played in the Big Ten since the conference began sponsoring basketball in 1905 and play their home games in Williams Arena.
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 forfeit of a Final Four appearance.
Initially, the Gophers team formed without any organized coach. L. J. Cooke took over the team in 1897. Cooke was put on the University payroll on a part-time basis in early 1897 and full-time by the fall; this made him one of the earliest professional coaches.
Cooke remained the coach of the Gophers for 28 seasons, and his .649 winning percentage is the second highest in school history.Dave MacMillan, who coached the team from 1927 to 1942 and 1945 to 1948, had the second longest tenure as coach at 18 seasons. John Wooden almost succeeded McMillan as Gophers head coach; Wooden claims that a dispute over retaining McMillan as an assistant coach and a delayed phone call led him to accept the job at UCLA instead.
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Wikipedia