University of Minnesota athletics has had so many problems over the last how many decades that the real blame has to lie somewhere that is above the coaches. I mean real blame. Administration, Board of Regents? This has gone on for too long.

So I know I'll get shit for this but it sounds like the NASL team might get bumped up without a stadium deal in place. They'll play at the Vikings Stadium.

I'm pretty excited about this for my obvious reasons. So I'll take the shots.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

Nothing illegal. No NCAA violation. No involvement or knowledge from the school or coaching staff.

There is nothing here. Absolutely nothing. Unless we choose for it to be something. Totally 100% our choice.

I happen to think that the decision that Pitino and Goetz made was the right decision.. It gives authorities time to think over what they want to do with the situation after gathering all the facts. I am not sure there was another choice to make, really... I am pulling for the program to do the right thing, whatever that may be, and that those guys make good life choices from here on out. My guess is Pitino, staff, and Goetz love the kids but their job is to protect the program first and reach out to the kids after that.

The one thing I do wonder about is point guard play.. We dont have one for the rest of the year and did not recruit one for 2016....YET........ I am sure that Pitino and staff will be thinking about this immediately if they have not already.. We dont have a ball handler on the horizon... I know they will pick up somebody but I bet they are printing out every list of 5th year transfers and JC PGs in the nation, right now.. I am not saying all 3 or even any of them will leave or get kicked out but the possibility exists.. Lots of decisions to make now.

In the 2017 class, I am guessing McKinley Wright will be looked at much closer as well as any other PGs in state or in the area. This is a scary thing especially with no knowledge of the results of what the authorities will find and implement as punishment, if any..... I can speculate that Dorsey is gone or maybe 2 or all 3 players.. But this is really tough... Yes, Coffey can play guard and he would most likely be someone that will be the ballhandler next year... This is going to be a really interesting time because there is no indication of who will be available or what next year will look like until the end of the year.. In recruiting, timing is everything but it is trumped by how this situation is handled.. May be too late to get a HS pg but I am not sure that is what Pitino would want anyways..Lots of questions that wont have answers any time soon.

was in Twitter and came across this players account. Seriously posting videos of him tag teaming a couple women. Seriously we do not need this.

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Smith and Schiller Medal at Pan American Championships

With his 3-0 performance, Pat Smith earns his second consecutive Pan Am gold medal.

Scott Schiller won his first career international medal by capturing bronze at the Pan American Championships last weekend

GopherSports.com
Feb. 29, 2016

A pair of Gopher alums – Pat Smith and Scott Schiller – competed in the Pan American Championships in Frisco, Texas over the weekend, taking on competitors from across North, Central and South America. Smith captured the first of three gold medals won by Team USA on the Greco side of the competition, earning the top spot on the podium at 71 kilograms for the second straight year at the Pan-Ams, while Schiller won his first career international medal, one of eight won by the U.S. in freestyle.

Smith flew to the championship bout with a pair of convincing victories, first a fall at 1:46 of his opening match, followed by an 8-0 technical fall in the semis to reach the final match. In the gold-medal contest, Smith won a 2-2 decision over Jair Alexis Cuero Munoz of Colombia on the tiebreaker, tying the match late after blocking a throw attempt from Cuero. The gold was the second of Smith’s Pan American career. He marched through the Pan-Am field in Chile last April to win his first.

Schiller, who currently works for the Gopher program as a grad assistant, brought back to Minnesota his first international medal, a bronze from his work at 97 kilograms. The event was Schiller’s second international competition since reaching the finals of the U.S. Nationals as an unseeded competitor earlier this winter. He capped his first medal-winning performance with an 11-0 tech fall in his bronze-medal match against Nathaniel Rose from Trinidad and Tobago.

Match results:

71kg (GR):

Quarterfinals:
Patrick Smith (USA) 4-1 over Jose Jelmar Sanchez Betancourt (EC)

Semifinals:
Patrick Smith (USA) TF Mourio Molina Cortez (PER) 8-0

Finals:
Gold: Patrick Smith (USA) dec. Javier Alexis Cuero Munoz (COL) 2-2
Bronze: Jefrin Benito Meija Sambula (HON) TF Joilson De Brito Ramos Junior (BRA) 8-0
Bronze: Jose Jelmar Sanchez Betancourt (ECU) TF Mourio Molina Cortez (PER) 8-0


97kg (FS):

Semifinals:
Jose Daniel Diaz Robertti (VEN) dec. Scott Schiller (USA) 6-2

Finals:
Gold: Jose Daniel Diaz Robertti (VEN) id. Reineris Salas Perez (CUB)
Bronze: Scott Schiller (USA) TF Nathanael Emmanuel Rose (TTO) 11-0
Bronze: Ali Al Rekabi (CAN) id. Ivan Burtovoy (ARG)

I will ask it over here, I understand the video thing is kids being dumb but with your AD getting fired for his actions doesn't everyone know they are on double secret probation over there. It just seems to me that we are a bungling bunch of fools that can't seem to stop stubing our toes.

If the video scandel turns into diaster as it looks like it will now w the flashlight/camera quote, we can assume these 3 are gone and even pitino is gone.

Now we may have 4-5 open for 2017. Assuming the top guys leave state, what is the 2nd tier of the class looking like? Davison, el-amin, etc...if we fire pitino, are these good enough to play B1G and will they be too far gone to get once we get a new coach in place?

Statement from Head Men’s Basketball Coach Richard Pitino



After careful and continued consideration, I am suspending Kevin Dorsey, Nate Mason and Dupree McBrayer for the duration of the season. I believe this is the best thing for the basketball program as we strive to build a strong and respectful culture each and every day.



We do our best to continue to consistently teach, educate and serve all of our student-athletes. It’s a privilege to be a member of the University of Minnesota basketball program – something as a coaching staff we do not take lightly and that we stress daily to our student athletes. In this instance, these student-athletes failed to meet the standards we have set.



I thank our fans for their support and we look forward to another tremendous opportunity for our team at Williams Arena tomorrow night.


Statement from Interim Director of Athletics Beth Goetz



Coach Pitino and I have had extensive discussions during the last several days, and I support his decision to suspend three student athletes for the remainder of the season. The privilege of representing the University of Minnesota comes with great responsibility and we hold all of our student-athletes accountable.

That was in another thread. This is the response I typed up, but I thought I'd create a thread for it because I really believe the staff does a lot of homework on in-state prospects.

---

Under Brewster, yes, we passed over Minnesota kids. Under Kill and presumably Claeys, no way. The staff does their due diligence with in-state kids. Believe me. Even if they're not the first power five offer, they're almost always the first power five to recognize or start talk talking to a kid they're seriously interested in.

Let's look at 2016...

• Carter Coughlin - Minnesota was in on him early.
• JD Spielman - Minnesota was not the first power five to offer, and they started to talk to him around the same time as others. It did seem like they were a little late to join the party, but maybe Spielman's recruitment just came off that way because he was never truly interested.
• Tyler Johnson - Iowa offered but Minnesota was the first one talking to him and laying the groundwork.
• Patrick Kasl - Minnesota was talking to him before any other power fives. We filled up early so he ended up camping at Wisconsin, and we all know the story from there.
• Sam Schlueter - Minnesota was in on him early. Honestly I don't remember the details.
• Amani Hooker - Again, Minnesota was talking to him before any power fives, even though he ended up at Iowa.
• Kamal Martin - Minnesota was visiting him early in his junior year if I remember correctly. The Minnesota interest was way, way before anyone else.
• Phillip Howard - Minnesota scouted out Howard very early, and I don't think he was even hearing from other P5s when he was offered or committed. Wisconsin ended up putting in a small effort to flip him, but he was solid because how much early work Minnesota put in.
• Thomas Barber - Minnesota was obviously here first, inherently.
• Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman - Minnesota's offer came before Northwestern's and I think the Gophers were talking to him before Northwestern, too. I seem to remember NU not really knowing about him/talking about him whatsoever until he camped there.
• Conner Olson - Minnesota was in on Conner so early that his recruitment was over before it really began, just like Martin, Howard, Barber, and Hmielewski.
• Matt Kegel - Minnesota was by far the first P5 talking to him, largely thanks to the Gophers' relationship with Chaska and the fact that they were already recruiting Bronson Dovich.
• Drew Hmielewski - Minnesota was able to identify him very early and get him locked up. He's a type that probably would have gone to an NDSU and starred in the past. Because he's a multi-sport athlete and never really focused on football, didn't attend many camps, and missed games in both his junior and senior year because of injuries, Drew's exactly the type that would have gone to a small school and done extremely well there.
• Jamahl Johnson - Minnesota was aware of him probably a year before any other P5s but never decided to show much interest.

And let's look at NDSU's 2016 commits from Minnesota, since that's the school that was being referenced for guys that get players we should have offered...

• Sean Engel - Because of his brother, Minnesota knew about him and was talking to him before anyone else. They decided not to offer because he's not that fast. Sean has great hands, size, and can really high point and come down with the ball, but he's not on the same level as Howard, Johnson, or Hmielewski. I saw Howard and Engel side-by-side in camp and Howard was far better. Johnson was making plays and starting in the Semper Fi game. I've never seen Hmielewski so I can't make a comparison there.
• Moses Nyangacha - Minnesota was talking to him very early. He received attention even before Junior Day, if I remember correctly. He was very much on Minnesota's radar but wasn't able to earn an offer at camp. He was somewhat close and probably would have been an offer for the staff if they were still at Northern Illinois. Side note: Minnesota liked Moses at safety, but NDSU likes him as a weakside outside linebacker. He's no bigger than 5'11 or 5'10.5 so we'll see how that goes.
• Dillon Radunz - Radunz camped at Minnesota, and the Gophers decided not to offer. Some say Missouri offered the night before Signing Day, and some say they called but didn't offer. Regardless, there was Missouri interest at the last second, but one contact I talked to seems pretty adamant he's not a power five-level guy.
• Henry Van Dellen - Henry I'm pretty sure camped at Minnesota, and he camped elsewhere and never drew up a ton of FBS interest. Minnesota was aware and didn't really have a reason to talk to him.
• Beau Pauly - This kid I hadn't heard of until I pulled up NDSU's commit list. It's likely that he camped at Minnesota, though, and I'm sure Minnesota was aware of him even if I wasn't. Not going to lose sleep over it.

The NCAA announced today that the SEC averaged 78,630 fans per home game during the 2015 football season, a conference record which also marked the 18th consecutive season in which the SEC led the nation in average football attendance http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/sec-sets-conference-football-attendance-mark

The Big Ten came in second, (66,008), followed by the Big 12 (57,347) Pac-12 (51,880) and Atlantic Coast (49,033) conferences rounded out the top five conferences in attendance.

Interestingly, the top two teams in average attendance this past season were Michigan (No.1) and Ohio State. Penn State was No. 7.

Anyway, we all know the SEC receives a lot of praise for its domination of national championships and how many NFL players it produces each year, but do you think attendance (gate receipt $$) has something to do with it?

FYI, Saint John’s (Minnesota) led Division III in attendance at 53,372 fans for an average of 7,625 per game.

This year has sucked, but Joey King just sold me on this team and our future. The emotion he just showed on the postgame interview let me know this is a tight team that is growing and will continue to grow. For all of you who bash Joey, it's too bad because he clearly bleeds maroon and gold. Love his passion and love for this team and belief in the youth.

If that makes Opie right somehow, so be it. It won't take away all my criticism, but it's nice to see we were still a "team" at 0-13. Pitino hasn't lost them, which I was figuring would happen.

Good for our fan support tonight, and good for the players and coaches! Well done!

He is going to hit , pads on every practice, go after each other create some attitude... You better ask for
his firing now !!

Attitude = 80%. Very very important.

I read Coach Claeys' comments about injuries to the defensive line. I have a comment and a question. It seems like the our Gophers have had many injuries to the offensive and defensive lines during the Coach Kill regime. I have no idea how our injury rate compares to other teams. Question. Are we unlucky or does strength and conditioning factor into it?

All of the ball handlers with a scholarship are suspended tonight. It was just announced.

Recruit different players , do something different then your doing richard, because the track record
of your recruits is deplorable.

Per the University of Minnesota Athletics office:


Linebacker De'Vondre Campbell and defensive backs Briean Boddy-Calhoun and Eric Murray were extended invitations to attend the annual event which is held in Indianapolis from Feb. 23-29 and broadcast on the NFL Network.

This is the second straight year that Minnesota will have three players at the event.

Andries picked up offers from Oklahoma, Virginia, and Memphis tonight.

Per the UM Athletic Dept. just a few minutes ago.

The University of Minnesota football team will host its pro day for outgoing Gophers on Monday, March 7, at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex.


The following former Gophers from last year's team are slated to participate: Brian Bobek, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, De’Vondre Campbell, Theiren Cockran, Antonio Johnson, KJ Maye, Peter Mortell, Eric Murray, Miles Thomas and Rodrick Williams.


This session, which begins at 8 a.m., is not open to the public but is open to the media. Any potential interviews with the athletes will be conducted at the completion of their workout.

Age 91. WWII vet and served with General Patton. He won two Bronze Stars. Also an Oscar in "Cool Hand Luke". He was in some very good movies and played along side Paul Newman, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and others.

His like will be missed!

Link: Douglas picks up legacy offer

Here is my holdover article on Demetrius Douglas until I'm able to interview him. The quotes are from July and earlier this month.

Oregon will obviously be very competitive with any Oregon kid they offer. Minnesota will be able to compete though because Omar went here and Demetrius grew up in Lakeville.

Rachel Banham. Tip of the hat Rachel! Hope you make it to the "dance"

Does the openness of Homosexuality on Campus and the recruitment of young men to play football hurt our team.

Poorly worded before. Not saying they are recruited by Gay Groupies!

We'll give updates throughout the morning on the press conference taking place to kick off spring practice. You can follow along @NickWilliams_MN and @MJessenHoward on Twitter