BleedGopher
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Per Marcus:
St. Olaf men's basketball coach Dan Kosmoski strolled through Williams Arena last week and got nostalgia out of the way before playing the Gophers in Wednesday's exhibition game.
The longtime Minnesota hoops figure known widely as "Koz" once called The Barn home when he played for Jim Dutcher during the Gophers glory days with Kevin McHale, Mychal Thompson, and Flip Saunders in the late 1970s. He was a Clem Haskins assistant on the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight teams at the U in 1989 and 1990.
"I've spent a lot of time there as a coach and as player," said Kosmoski, who has been coaching St. Olaf since 1994. "The memories just flooded in."
On the opposite bench Wednesday, second-year Gophers coach Ben Johnson and assistant Dave Thorson have their own personal connection with Kosmoski, too.
That's one of the reasons why the Gophers contacted St. Olaf to gauge interest in playing an exhibition game this year. "Once a Gopher, always a Gopher," Kosmoski said about what Johnson told him.
"It's a Gophers family and always will be," Kosmoski said. "It just hit me. He didn't have to do this. He recognized there are traditions and history. He gave this Division III coach a [great] opportunity to play an exhibition game."
m.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
St. Olaf men's basketball coach Dan Kosmoski strolled through Williams Arena last week and got nostalgia out of the way before playing the Gophers in Wednesday's exhibition game.
The longtime Minnesota hoops figure known widely as "Koz" once called The Barn home when he played for Jim Dutcher during the Gophers glory days with Kevin McHale, Mychal Thompson, and Flip Saunders in the late 1970s. He was a Clem Haskins assistant on the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight teams at the U in 1989 and 1990.
"I've spent a lot of time there as a coach and as player," said Kosmoski, who has been coaching St. Olaf since 1994. "The memories just flooded in."
On the opposite bench Wednesday, second-year Gophers coach Ben Johnson and assistant Dave Thorson have their own personal connection with Kosmoski, too.
That's one of the reasons why the Gophers contacted St. Olaf to gauge interest in playing an exhibition game this year. "Once a Gopher, always a Gopher," Kosmoski said about what Johnson told him.
"It's a Gophers family and always will be," Kosmoski said. "It just hit me. He didn't have to do this. He recognized there are traditions and history. He gave this Division III coach a [great] opportunity to play an exhibition game."
Former Gophers assistant Dan Kosmoski set for Williams Arena homecoming with St. Olaf
Kosmoski played for Jim Dutcher and was on Clem Haskins' staff, where he forged a bond with current Gophers assistant Dave Thorson. The Oles play the Gophers in an exhibition game Wednesday.
Go Gophers!!