Busch Leaves Program

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Busch received a tender the past two seasons at Minnesota and says he would stay if he could keep it.

"There comes a time in your life when you don't want to ask your parents for more money," Busch said Wednesday. "But when one door closes, another door opens."
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He got a lot more scholarship $ than expected when he walked on. And he's going to graduate next month. Is there a reason we should feel bad he isn't getting a scholarship here next year? (For the record I'm all for not asking your parents for more money!)
Congratulations Busch on a good BB career and on graduating!
 

If I understand correctly, as a 4-year graduate going into grad school, he can transfer to another D-1 school and play right away.

It almost seems strange that the NCAA has a rule that makes this much sense.
 



I guess the student's "Four more Years!" chants were in vain.

It's a shame that he didn't get the same send off that others graduating seniors get during the last home game. Best of luck to him, an extremely hard worker, and seems like a really good person.

Thank you Travis.

GO GOPHERS!
 

Say it ain't so...

this is just one thing I really didn't want to come true. Travis is a absolutely great kid - I wish every one of our players left it on the floor like he did...and got it done in the classroom like he did. As a walk on, he contributed more than I could of ever asked for, and added so much to the team.

I completely understand why he's leaving, and wish the best of luck to him, but I will really miss watching Travis Busch play. Good player, even better person.
 

Mikie S said:
If I understand correctly, as a 4-year graduate going into grad school, he can transfer to another D-1 school and play right away.
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I don't believe that's the case. He must transfer D-II to play right away.

There was a rule in place that allowed a fifth-year player who had earned his degree to transfer (it allowed Lon Kruger's son to go from Arizona State to UNLV). I am pretty sure that rule was rescinded.
 

There any reason that they took the article down? I've tried getting to it now, and it's no longer up?
 



That is so weird...they still have it as a headline on the sports page saying:


Walters: Busch leaving Gophers
AP
Junior Travis Busch has decided to leave the University of Minnesota men's basketball team after having his scholarship pulled.

But clicking on the link says it's gone, wonder what might have happened.
 

ShowinGoldyLove said:
There any reason that they took the article down? I've tried getting to it now, and it's no longer up?
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That's weird. I hadn't closed my window with the article, here it is:
Travis Busch leaving the Gophers men's basketball team after losing his scholarship
Pioneer Press
Updated: 04/08/2009 09:52:34 PM CDT

Junior Travis Busch has decided to leave the University of Minnesota men's basketball team after having his scholarship pulled.

Busch, a 6-foot-4 guard who averaged 3.7 points and 11.1 minutes a game last season, has been told by coach Tubby Smith that there is no scholarship for him next season.

Busch, who was Mr. Basketball Minnesota in 2005 at Mounds View High School, will graduate next month with a degree in communications. He has one season of eligibility remaining and plans to enroll in graduate school and play somewhere. But the cost would be too much to justify remaining with the Gophers.

Busch received a tender the past two seasons at Minnesota and says he would stay if he could keep it.

"There comes a time in your life when you don't want to ask your parents for more money," Busch said Wednesday. "But when one door closes, another door opens."

Busch, an academic all-Big Ten Conference honoree with a 3.6 grade-point average last semester, has nothing but positive things to say about Smith and the Gophers.

"(Smith) understands where I'm coming from, and I understand where he's coming from," Busch said. "It's not like there's any bad blood or animosity. He's been a great coach, and I've learned a lot from him.

"It's one of those things, a numbers game. That's why I've got to make a change. I've had a great time there; I love the coaches and players, and it's been a great experience."

Winona State and Nebraska-Omaha are among
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schools interested in Busch.

"We'll see what's out there," he said.
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tjgopher said:
I don't believe that's the case. He must transfer D-II to play right away.

There was a rule in place that allowed a fifth-year player who had earned his degree to transfer (it allowed Lon Kruger's son to go from Arizona State to UNLV). I am pretty sure that rule was rescinded.
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When was that rule rescinded? Kruger just transferred to UNLV like 2 or 3 years ago.
 




Too bad ... I hoped that Travis would still be a Gopher next year. Although it looked like he'd play less next year (part of the "numbers problem"), I thought his "pedal-to-the-metal" style of play and his in-your-face-defense caused opposing bigger men to get rattled.

The Mounds View Cabal© will have to reload with the loss of Travis and Justin Bostrom in the hockey program. Just two more years for Adam Weber. Son-of-Snowman is already in mourning over Bostrom and now I have to break the news to him about Travis. That will be his anguished cry of "Noooooo" that you'll hear from the northeast Metro. ..... :(
 

Best of luck to Travis. He played hard and contributed to many wins this last year. I'm sure Tubby hopes some of his other players and new recruits will emulate Travis' work ethic.:cool:
 

I hate to mention this because I liked Travis Bush a lot but with the players we have coming in does that free up another scholarship for next year or was Tubby planning on this ?
 

This is one Bush that I didn't want to leave.

I thought the team would have benefited by Tubby giving him more playing time because it seemed like good things happened when he was on the floor. He is athletic, aggressive and determined. Lots of big rebounds, key jump shots and serious defense. Best of luck to Travis. He will be missed.
 

Travis

Hey this has been one classy kid. I hope the remaining gophers live up to his standards. Practice hard. Play Hard. Graduate.

Best of luck to him. :clap: :clap: :clap:
 

Bummer. Best of luck to Travis-class act all the way.
 

Reserve said:
I hate to mention this because I liked Travis Bush a lot but with the players we have coming in does that free up another scholarship for next year or was Tubby planning on this ?
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We have four incoming recruits and only graduated two seniors. The plan from the start appeared that Busch's scholarship would go towards someone in this class and Coach Smith would have to find a fourth - which has long been assumed to be Kevin Payton's.
 

Best of luck to Travis. The coaching staff never had to worry about getting proper effort from Mr. Busch. He'll have a special place in Gopher history as the guy who threw "the pass" to Blake, leading to THE singular Gopher win that announced the future turn-around of a mostly medicore program.
 

Best of luck to Travis with his future. Sorry to see him go.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Best of luck to Travis. The coaching staff never had to worry about getting proper effort from Mr. Busch. He'll have a special place in Gopher history as the guy who threw "the pass" to Blake, leading to THE singular Gopher win that announced the future turn-around of a mostly medicore program.
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Not to mention he was a key cog in the biggest non-conference win of the Tubby era. His career high came against Louisville and he was huge in that game - guarding Earl Clarke of all people.

Congrats on a good career and best of luck to Travis.
 

He was huge not only in that Louisville game, but also the Iowa win on the road. If the Gophers lost either of those games, I doubt they would have made the tournament.

So, Travis Busch scorecard:

* Pass leading to Hoffarber's buzzer beating win in the Big 10 Tourney vs. Indiana

* Key contributions in wins over Louisville and Iowa that propeled Gophers into their first NCAA tournament since 2005 and first in the Tubby Smith era.

Not bad contributions for a walk on, especially considering the uptick in talent that arrived at the "U" since he first transferred back. I'm hoping he takes his skills to my alma mater, Winona State, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have his talent on the team.
 

I guess this is one of the unfortunate aspects of our program hopefully taking a step up. Its too bad though, great guy... and I can point to two games this year, where we probably dont win without him. He was instrumental in the win at Iowa, and the win over Louisville. Played well and hit a couple of big shots in each. Pretty safe to say we dont make the tourney without those wins.
 

Haha, wow, I clearly only read through the first page of this thread....my comments had already been expressed
 

Best wishes to him. Though a role player, I kinda felt some on this board were a little unfair with his play, but Tubby does need to increase the talent level and this is how it goes sometimes.
 

Gopher Lady: What part of Travis Busch's game did you enjoy most? Him being late on a defensive rotation, turning over the basketball at a crucial time, or just plain sucking? He's a glorified intramural player that I won't miss. He and Abu were DII players all the way and were in over their heads when they took the court.
 

tomdog said:
Him being late on a defensive rotation, turning over the basketball at a crucial time, or just plain sucking? He's a glorified intramural player that I won't miss. He and Abu were DII players all the way and were in over their heads when they took the court.
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Come on now Tom, that's a little harsh for a kid that gave up a scholarship to walk-on to his hometown team, played his tail off for 2 years, did well in the classroom, will graduate in a month, and represented the U in a positive way.
 

I disagree on both JAS and Busch being DII players that were in over their head on the court. Did they have flaws? Yes. At times were they overmatched? Yes. But the fact is, they realized a dream playing for their hometown school on a big stage and contributed greatly at times on the court and did what they could with the talent they had while they were here. It was Tubby's decision to play them...they weren't forcing their way in. Clearly Tubby saw DI material in them, and I would argue that most other's on this site did too.
 

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