BleedGopher
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per Dane:
The rafters inside Williams Arena offer no proof that the greatest men’s basketball team in program history ever existed.
No banners. No recognition. No nothing.
A collection of college students that captivated an entire community, rocking “The Barn” on a nightly basis, has watched their story get wiped off the map in the wake of one of the biggest academic fraud scandals in the history of college athletics.
To this day, the University of Minnesota has disassociated itself with the 1996-97 Gophers men’s basketball team and its magical run to the Final Four from more than 20 years ago.
Still, every year around this time, and maybe even more so this year with the Final Four being held in downtown Minneapolis, not far from the U, the memories come flooding back for the members of that team, as well as everyone else who was along for the ride.
“Everyone always feels connected with the first team to do something,” said Eric Harris, the 1997 team’s scrappy point guard from the Bronx, who recently moved back to the Twin Cities. “That sticks with people. You look at that team, for example, and there are a lot of fans that still love us even though it technically never happened.”
As much as the memories live on in the hearts of the players, the coaches and the fans, the record books don’t reflect it.
That much was decided after former academic counselor Jan Gangelhoff admitted to writing hundreds of papers for several men’s basketball players over a six-year period under former coach Clem Haskins. In the aftermath of a thorough investigation, the NCAA erased six seasons from the record books, starting with the 1993-94 team and ending with the 1998-99 team, all Haskins-coached teams, which averaged more than 21 wins per season in the winningest modern era of Gophers basketball.
Since then, Haskins has pretty much vanished from the collective consciousness. He hasn’t coached again and now lives quietly on his farm in Campbellsville, Ky. He keeps a low profile now that he’s out of the public eye, and when reached by the Pioneer Press this week, his wife, Yvette, declined comment on his behalf.
PLAYERS DEFEND CLEM
Although Haskins has been vilified by many around the Twin Cities, his former players were quick to defend him, remembering him for a lot more than the academic fraud scandal that ended his career.
“He’s affected all of our lives in a positive way,” said John Thomas, the team’s bruising center who now works for the Minnesota Timberwolves. “We had a leader that truly cared about us as people, and that bred success.”
Nothing showcased that more than the 1996-97 team, for which success came as a byproduct of the belief Haskins had in that bunch. He saw it coming the year before when the Gophers rattled off wins in seven of 10 games at the end of the season before ultimately bowing out in the second round of the NIT tournament.
“I think the only person that really had that vision for us was Coach Haskins,” said Quincy Lewis, the team’s sixth man who nows works in the Gophers athletics department. “He believed we could do something special, and we had a really good summer, and some guys matured, and the rest is kind of history after that.”
Upon returning to campus in the fall of 1996, the Gophers started to garner national recognition. They were the No. 22 team in the nation in the preseason poll and won their first five games before losing at Alabama in a game they probably should have won.
That seemed to be a wake-up call for the Gophers, because they were nearly untouchable the rest of the way. They won 22 of their final 24 games in the regular season and were ranked the No. 3 team in the nation heading into the NCAA tournament.
“We still felt like we were under the radar for most of the year,” Harris said. “We had people sleeping on us until they got on the court with us. We were tough, man. We had good perimeter players who got after it. We had good interior players who were a presence down low. Just a bunch of bruisers, and when the other teams came into the lane, they got beat up.”
HASKINS WAS TOUGH
As tough as the Gophers were on their opponents, Haskins was even tougher on them.
Ask anybody on that team, and they will describe those practices as some of the most intense they have ever experienced.
“Not only did they test the body, they tested the mind,” Thomas said. “There was everything from the gauntlet of student-managers hitting us with pads during drills to diving on the floor over and over again for loose balls. He was trying to create moments of adversity in practices so that once games started we were more than ready for it.”
No practice stands out more than the one in which Haskins made his players run 37 suicides together. After a win.
“We were playing a team and they were approaching 50 points and he pulled us in and told us that for every point they scored over 50 points we had a suicide,” Thomas said. “They ended up scoring 87 points. We got to practice the next day and were shooting around, and Coach Haskins walked in and was like, ‘Hold up.’ And he made us run.”
Looking back on it now, Thomas realizes Haskins was teaching his players to push through adversity, while also trying to create a sense of accountability so that no player felt bigger than the team.
‘HEART OF A LION’
That said, it helped to have a star like Bobby Jackson on the floor. He was without question the straw that stirred the drink for the Gophers after transferring in from Western Nebraska Community College.
“I remember when Bobby came on the visit, he came up on the weekend, I think, and he played pickup ball with us,” Harris said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘He’s all right. Nothing special.’ ”
Harris couldn’t have been more wrong. It wasn’t long before Jackson established himself as the go-to guy. He was worth the price of admission nearly every time he stepped onto the floor, and everyone else followed his lead on a nightly basis.
Now a member of the Sacramento Kings’ coaching staff, Jackson was not made available for interview, though his former teammates had no problem speaking for him.
“He had that pedigree coming from (a junior college program),” Harris said. “He never took anything for granted. That’s what made him really, really special. He had the heart of a lion. Never backed down from any challenge. He was maybe 6-foot-2 and had the heart of someone who was 7-foot-2. He inspired all of us every night.”
As the wins piled up, expectations grew, too, and the Gophers entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional.
There were other talented teams on that side of the bracket; UCLA, Cincinnati, and Clemson were the biggest threats. Yet somehow, the Gophers never let the pressure get to them.
“It’s not like we were sitting around talking about what the expectations were, or what the projections were or anything like that,” Lewis said. “We just always had a vibe about us. We weren’t out there trying to live up to the expectations that other people had for us. We came to work, had a good relationship with each other, and enjoyed the ride.”
That ride featured a blowout win over Southwest Texas State to start the NCAA tournament, followed by a convincing win over Temple.
Things started to get tougher in the Sweet 16, with Clemson giving the Gophers everything they could handle. In the end, Jackson dropped 36 points, and Sam Jacobson added 29 as Minnesota won 90-84 in double overtime to reach the Elite Eight.
“That game was so physical and everyone was so dog-tired after it was done,” Thomas said. “That’s the one thing I remember. That, and Eric Harris separating his shoulder.”
Less than 48 hours after that marathon matchup, the Gophers upended UCLA 80-72 to reach the Final Four for the first time.
MOVING ON
That was where the run came to an end. No doubt hampered by Harris nursing a separated shoulder, the Gophers struggled to handle Kentucky’s pressure defense in the semifinals. Minnesota ended up turning the ball over 26 times in a 78-69 loss.
“You never forget something like that,” Harris said. “That ended up being the worst game we played all year. I’ll never forget that game. They were the better team that day. It’s as simple as that.”
To this day, the Gophers feel like they were the best team in the field from top to bottom. Maybe things would have played out differently if they entered the Final Four fully healthy.
“If a couple of things go a little differently, very easily we go on to win the national championship,” Lewis said. “That team was built to win a national championship. No question about it. We had some injuries. We can’t do anything about that. It happens. We just had to move on. That’s what life is about.”
That is a lesson members of the 1996-97 team still carry with them. They have all had to move on, knowing that even though their accomplishments have been erased from the record books, nobody can take away the memories from that Final Four run.
“That will live with us forever,” Harris said. “All the stuff that happened can’t take away from the joy we got from that year. That run keeps us all bonded. It always will.”
“It is what it is,” Lewis added. “That was one of the best teams in program history. And I think everybody knows that.”
https://www.grandforksherald.com/sp...l-erased-gophers-lone-appearance-record-books
Go Gophers!!
The rafters inside Williams Arena offer no proof that the greatest men’s basketball team in program history ever existed.
No banners. No recognition. No nothing.
A collection of college students that captivated an entire community, rocking “The Barn” on a nightly basis, has watched their story get wiped off the map in the wake of one of the biggest academic fraud scandals in the history of college athletics.
To this day, the University of Minnesota has disassociated itself with the 1996-97 Gophers men’s basketball team and its magical run to the Final Four from more than 20 years ago.
Still, every year around this time, and maybe even more so this year with the Final Four being held in downtown Minneapolis, not far from the U, the memories come flooding back for the members of that team, as well as everyone else who was along for the ride.
“Everyone always feels connected with the first team to do something,” said Eric Harris, the 1997 team’s scrappy point guard from the Bronx, who recently moved back to the Twin Cities. “That sticks with people. You look at that team, for example, and there are a lot of fans that still love us even though it technically never happened.”
As much as the memories live on in the hearts of the players, the coaches and the fans, the record books don’t reflect it.
That much was decided after former academic counselor Jan Gangelhoff admitted to writing hundreds of papers for several men’s basketball players over a six-year period under former coach Clem Haskins. In the aftermath of a thorough investigation, the NCAA erased six seasons from the record books, starting with the 1993-94 team and ending with the 1998-99 team, all Haskins-coached teams, which averaged more than 21 wins per season in the winningest modern era of Gophers basketball.
Since then, Haskins has pretty much vanished from the collective consciousness. He hasn’t coached again and now lives quietly on his farm in Campbellsville, Ky. He keeps a low profile now that he’s out of the public eye, and when reached by the Pioneer Press this week, his wife, Yvette, declined comment on his behalf.
PLAYERS DEFEND CLEM
Although Haskins has been vilified by many around the Twin Cities, his former players were quick to defend him, remembering him for a lot more than the academic fraud scandal that ended his career.
“He’s affected all of our lives in a positive way,” said John Thomas, the team’s bruising center who now works for the Minnesota Timberwolves. “We had a leader that truly cared about us as people, and that bred success.”
Nothing showcased that more than the 1996-97 team, for which success came as a byproduct of the belief Haskins had in that bunch. He saw it coming the year before when the Gophers rattled off wins in seven of 10 games at the end of the season before ultimately bowing out in the second round of the NIT tournament.
“I think the only person that really had that vision for us was Coach Haskins,” said Quincy Lewis, the team’s sixth man who nows works in the Gophers athletics department. “He believed we could do something special, and we had a really good summer, and some guys matured, and the rest is kind of history after that.”
Upon returning to campus in the fall of 1996, the Gophers started to garner national recognition. They were the No. 22 team in the nation in the preseason poll and won their first five games before losing at Alabama in a game they probably should have won.
That seemed to be a wake-up call for the Gophers, because they were nearly untouchable the rest of the way. They won 22 of their final 24 games in the regular season and were ranked the No. 3 team in the nation heading into the NCAA tournament.
“We still felt like we were under the radar for most of the year,” Harris said. “We had people sleeping on us until they got on the court with us. We were tough, man. We had good perimeter players who got after it. We had good interior players who were a presence down low. Just a bunch of bruisers, and when the other teams came into the lane, they got beat up.”
HASKINS WAS TOUGH
As tough as the Gophers were on their opponents, Haskins was even tougher on them.
Ask anybody on that team, and they will describe those practices as some of the most intense they have ever experienced.
“Not only did they test the body, they tested the mind,” Thomas said. “There was everything from the gauntlet of student-managers hitting us with pads during drills to diving on the floor over and over again for loose balls. He was trying to create moments of adversity in practices so that once games started we were more than ready for it.”
No practice stands out more than the one in which Haskins made his players run 37 suicides together. After a win.
“We were playing a team and they were approaching 50 points and he pulled us in and told us that for every point they scored over 50 points we had a suicide,” Thomas said. “They ended up scoring 87 points. We got to practice the next day and were shooting around, and Coach Haskins walked in and was like, ‘Hold up.’ And he made us run.”
Looking back on it now, Thomas realizes Haskins was teaching his players to push through adversity, while also trying to create a sense of accountability so that no player felt bigger than the team.
‘HEART OF A LION’
That said, it helped to have a star like Bobby Jackson on the floor. He was without question the straw that stirred the drink for the Gophers after transferring in from Western Nebraska Community College.
“I remember when Bobby came on the visit, he came up on the weekend, I think, and he played pickup ball with us,” Harris said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘He’s all right. Nothing special.’ ”
Harris couldn’t have been more wrong. It wasn’t long before Jackson established himself as the go-to guy. He was worth the price of admission nearly every time he stepped onto the floor, and everyone else followed his lead on a nightly basis.
Now a member of the Sacramento Kings’ coaching staff, Jackson was not made available for interview, though his former teammates had no problem speaking for him.
“He had that pedigree coming from (a junior college program),” Harris said. “He never took anything for granted. That’s what made him really, really special. He had the heart of a lion. Never backed down from any challenge. He was maybe 6-foot-2 and had the heart of someone who was 7-foot-2. He inspired all of us every night.”
As the wins piled up, expectations grew, too, and the Gophers entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional.
There were other talented teams on that side of the bracket; UCLA, Cincinnati, and Clemson were the biggest threats. Yet somehow, the Gophers never let the pressure get to them.
“It’s not like we were sitting around talking about what the expectations were, or what the projections were or anything like that,” Lewis said. “We just always had a vibe about us. We weren’t out there trying to live up to the expectations that other people had for us. We came to work, had a good relationship with each other, and enjoyed the ride.”
That ride featured a blowout win over Southwest Texas State to start the NCAA tournament, followed by a convincing win over Temple.
Things started to get tougher in the Sweet 16, with Clemson giving the Gophers everything they could handle. In the end, Jackson dropped 36 points, and Sam Jacobson added 29 as Minnesota won 90-84 in double overtime to reach the Elite Eight.
“That game was so physical and everyone was so dog-tired after it was done,” Thomas said. “That’s the one thing I remember. That, and Eric Harris separating his shoulder.”
Less than 48 hours after that marathon matchup, the Gophers upended UCLA 80-72 to reach the Final Four for the first time.
MOVING ON
That was where the run came to an end. No doubt hampered by Harris nursing a separated shoulder, the Gophers struggled to handle Kentucky’s pressure defense in the semifinals. Minnesota ended up turning the ball over 26 times in a 78-69 loss.
“You never forget something like that,” Harris said. “That ended up being the worst game we played all year. I’ll never forget that game. They were the better team that day. It’s as simple as that.”
To this day, the Gophers feel like they were the best team in the field from top to bottom. Maybe things would have played out differently if they entered the Final Four fully healthy.
“If a couple of things go a little differently, very easily we go on to win the national championship,” Lewis said. “That team was built to win a national championship. No question about it. We had some injuries. We can’t do anything about that. It happens. We just had to move on. That’s what life is about.”
That is a lesson members of the 1996-97 team still carry with them. They have all had to move on, knowing that even though their accomplishments have been erased from the record books, nobody can take away the memories from that Final Four run.
“That will live with us forever,” Harris said. “All the stuff that happened can’t take away from the joy we got from that year. That run keeps us all bonded. It always will.”
“It is what it is,” Lewis added. “That was one of the best teams in program history. And I think everybody knows that.”
https://www.grandforksherald.com/sp...l-erased-gophers-lone-appearance-record-books
Go Gophers!!
