http://www.si.com/college-basketbal...ruiting-canarias-academy-minnesota-seton-hall
Last August, Minnesota’s basketball team took a 10-day trip to Barcelona and Madrid, winning four exhibitions, as well as visiting a basilica and touring the stadium of soccer team Real Madrid. The Golden Gophers’ athletic department ran a $1.5 million deficit in the 2014 fiscal year according to analysis by The Washington Post, but associate AD Chris Werle told the Pioneer Press that the school used booster donations to pay for the trip, which was contracted for a minimum of 35 travelers and a cost of $211,000. It ended up costing $224,245, making it the largest party and the most expensive trip of the Promosport tours SI analyzed. (The cost was significantly more than the 10-day tour Iowa State took to Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia on the same dates; the Cyclones’ contract with Global Sports Management, which is based in Knoxville, Tenn., was for a minimum of 25 travelers at $122,500.)
The contract for the Golden Gophers’ trip was drafted on Oct. 14, 2014, and signed the following month by then athletic director Norwood Teague and Sosa Cruz. Six months earlier Minnesota coach Richard Pitino had announced the signings of two foreign recruits to bolster his thin frontcourt. One was 6'9" Senegalese forward Gaston Diedhiou, who played the previous season at CBA. The other was 6'11" Malian center Bakary Konaté, out of Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kans. Before arriving in the U.S., Konaté played for the junior program of CB Gran Canaria, the club that once employed CBA’s Orellana as a recruiter. Konaté has started all but five games this season as a sophomore, while Diedhiou, whose admission to Minnesota was delayed until December after reported problems with an English-proficiency test, has appeared in 23 games off the bench. Minnesota declined multiple requests for comment from SI regarding Promosport.
Last August, Minnesota’s basketball team took a 10-day trip to Barcelona and Madrid, winning four exhibitions, as well as visiting a basilica and touring the stadium of soccer team Real Madrid. The Golden Gophers’ athletic department ran a $1.5 million deficit in the 2014 fiscal year according to analysis by The Washington Post, but associate AD Chris Werle told the Pioneer Press that the school used booster donations to pay for the trip, which was contracted for a minimum of 35 travelers and a cost of $211,000. It ended up costing $224,245, making it the largest party and the most expensive trip of the Promosport tours SI analyzed. (The cost was significantly more than the 10-day tour Iowa State took to Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia on the same dates; the Cyclones’ contract with Global Sports Management, which is based in Knoxville, Tenn., was for a minimum of 25 travelers at $122,500.)
The contract for the Golden Gophers’ trip was drafted on Oct. 14, 2014, and signed the following month by then athletic director Norwood Teague and Sosa Cruz. Six months earlier Minnesota coach Richard Pitino had announced the signings of two foreign recruits to bolster his thin frontcourt. One was 6'9" Senegalese forward Gaston Diedhiou, who played the previous season at CBA. The other was 6'11" Malian center Bakary Konaté, out of Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kans. Before arriving in the U.S., Konaté played for the junior program of CB Gran Canaria, the club that once employed CBA’s Orellana as a recruiter. Konaté has started all but five games this season as a sophomore, while Diedhiou, whose admission to Minnesota was delayed until December after reported problems with an English-proficiency test, has appeared in 23 games off the bench. Minnesota declined multiple requests for comment from SI regarding Promosport.
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