Recruiting: Teammate of Gophers’ McNeil Back on Market

May 20, 2013
Recruiting: Top 100 Teammate of Gophers’ McNeil Back on Market

2013 big man Dominic Woodson (#83 RSCI) is looking for a new school after deciding against attending Baylor. The Bears will return 7’1″ center Isaiah Austin (13.0p, 8.3r per game in 2012-13) and 6’9″ forward Cory Jefferson (13.3p, 8.0r).

Woodson spent the 2011-12 school year at Vermont Academy where he played with Minnesota Gophers’ incoming guard Daquein McNeil. Dominic is a native of Louisville, Ky. although he left the area in middle school.

During the 2011-12 season, Louisville and the Pitinos were quite involved with Dominic’s recruitment.
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Q&A: FIU’s Academic Mess is Minnesota’s Gain

May 15, 2013
Q&A: FIU’s Academic Mess is Minnesota’s Gain

Minnesota could add Florida International student-athletes Rakeem Buckles and Malik Smith for the 2013-14 season and have them be immediately eligible for competition. Both players would have no eligibility remaining after the season and thus they would not impact the Gophers’ 2014 recruiting class.

This morning Malik Smith said that he will be joining the Gophers. While things have been quiet on Buckles for several weeks, we believe there’s a high likelihood that both he and Smith will play as Gophers in 2013-14. However, beneath the scenes things may not be as cut and dry as they seem.
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Drake’s Joey King Transferring; Gophers a Possibility?

May 14, 2013
Drake’s Joey King Transferring; Gophers a Possibility?

Former Eastview high school (Minn.) standout Joey King will transfer from Drake after spending his freshman year at the Iowa school. Due to specific circumstances, if King landed at Minnesota he might receive a waiver allowing him to compete for the Gophers immediately.
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Big Ten Single Plays Announced for 2013-14

May 14, 2013
Big Ten Single Plays Announced for 2013-14

The Minnesota Golden Gophers won’t travel to Indiana or Illinois in 2013-14. The Gophers beat Illinois in Champaign 84-67 on January 9, 2013 and were the only team in the nation to win at Indiana during the 2011-12 season. A road game at Indiana would be difficult to win, but Illinois projects to be somewhat down this coming year.
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Video: Tyus Jones Not Being Very Nice

May 13, 2013
Video: Tyus Jones Not Being Very Nice

Howard Pulley guard Tyus Jones (2014 Apple Valley HS, Minn.) is known for his exceptional point guard skills. During the EYBL Session in Dallas this Saturday, Jones provided another example that he can be an aggressive/mean/nasty scorer as well. This play is flat out rude, but in a good way.

You’ll see Tyus’ good off-the-court pal #15 Jahlil Okafor playing defense above the free throw line. Howard Pulley PG #12 Jarvis Johnson dishes to Tyus who makes Okafor and the Fire pay for their positioning.

Jones turned 17 on Friday and celebrated the evening with 27 points, 7 assists, 6 steals and only 2 turnovers in a 74-72 win over CIA Bounce. Tyus was 11/11 from the field in that game (1/1 3FG, for an eFG% of 104.5%). Ridiculous.

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NCAA Basketball Practices to Start Earlier

May 3, 2013
NCAA Basketball Practices to Start Earlier
Impact in 2013 is up to three full weeks

As anticipated, the proposed changes to rules on the timing of NCAA men’s basketball  preseason practices have moved forward and should be in effect this fall.

Numerous others have reported on this today, but most have missed the mark when explaining some of the specifics (including a news release from NCAA.org).

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Patrick Reusse Commits Resume Gaffe

May 2, 2013
Patrick Reusse Commits Resume Gaffe

Last month Star Tribune writer and 1500 ESPN radio host Patrick Reusse couldn’t stop whining about an irrelevant item in the biographies of Minnesota men’s basketball head coach Richard Pitino’s. These bios could be found on the websites of several past employers as well as Gophersports.com. Reusse even wrote 750 words on the insignificant matter.

Reusse states that, “it’s not a big deal, at all.” At the same time, he says he still has unanswered questions. The selective outrage he exhibits is strange, but that’s a topic I’ll leave alone.
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EYBL Session #2: Tracking Minnesota’s “Big Three”

May 1, 2013
EYBL Session #2: Tracking Minnesota’s “Big Three”

With Reid Travis joining Tyus Jones on Howard Pulley’s roster and Rashad Vaughn playing for Wisconsin Playground Elite, each of Minnesota’s “Big Three” from the 2014 recruiting class are participating in this year’s Nike EYBL.

In this article Late Night Hoops takes a look at the statistical performance of each of these players during the second session of the season. Games were played Friday through Sunday in Virginia. The final session of the EYBL regular season (Session #4) will take place in Minnesota on the last weekend of May.
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