From The Barn

Barn Blurbs – 4/18/12

zipsofakron — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:00:14 +0000

Good news was heard ’round Gopher Nation this week when Trevor Mbakwe officially announced via Twitter and a cool YouTube video that he would be returning for his tenth and final season at the college level. This, of course, means that Gophers should be taken extremely seriously next season, returning essentially every player they had this [...]

So long, Chip! Armelin decides to transfer

zipsofakron — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:19:43 +0000

Amid the speculation surrounding Trevor Mbakwe’s possible return to the Gophers and the administrative effects it would have on the team and its available scholarships, Chip Armelin made the foreseeable future a bit less messy by announcing that he will be taking his talents elsewhere. The U confirmed that Armelin has been granted a release [...]

Barn Blurbs 4/4/12

JF — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:23:28 +0000

More Big Changes The Big Ten continues to hemorrhage big men. Jared Sullinger will announce his professional aspirations today. Oft injured Jorge Brian-Diaz of Nebraska is headed back to Puerto Rico. We knew Ralph Sampson wouldn’t be playing college basketball, but he will have the chance to impress some NBA scouts. In too short for the [...]

Barn Blurbs 4/3/2012

JF — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:06:47 +0000

Now that the soon to be vacated national championship has been decided, the focus finally turns to next season. Unfortunately, it is 7 months away. Big changes for Big Ten big men Meyers Leonard will take his two last names to the end of the first round of the NBA draft. Derrick Nix was arrested [...]

An exhausting season, but save room for optimism

zipsofakron — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:24:58 +0000

Where do you even begin on a recap of a season like this? One that failed to follow any sort of blueprint, leaving us scratching our heads more often than not. I suppose I’ll start at the end. Be excited for next year. In a year where down was up, left was right, and things [...]

Barn Blurbs 4/2/2012

JF — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:08:02 +0000

We’ll get around to reviewing the Golden Gophers 2011-2012 season at some point. Until then, we’ll be resurrecting Barn Blurbs, our occasional round-up of stories around the series of tubes about Gopher Basketball and college basketball in general. Hiring a coach is a lottery It turns out that any coaching hire is a 50-50 proposition, [...]

A special guest post by Dan Hanner: The Future is here

JF — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:34:20 +0000

Something special is happening, and we aren't the only ones noticing. Statistical guru, college-basketball extraordinaire, and occasional Gopher observer Dan Hanner broke down the team's transformation by comparing the last six games to the season as a whole. Being born in Minnesota and witnessing the Gophers previous N.I.T. title runs in person, it still isn't obvious why he bothered to calculate Gopher basketball statistics right after digging through the NCAA Tournament statistics for every player who matters. Regardless, he was generous enough to share his work with us. Dan writes regularly over at RealGM, and is mandatory follow on Twitter.

Gophers face mid-major powerhouse Washington in NIT Final Four

JF — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:03:17 +0000

Mission accomplished. The Golden Gophers' post-season has already been a resounding success, and the opportunity to play two more games against solid competition in the arena that claims to be the most famous (the Roman Colosseum humbly disagrees) could lead to a mass outbreak of irrational exuberance. Over the last few weeks, we learned that this team could win basketball games, and in entertaining fashion. Add the news of Trevor Mbakwe's potential return for senior year part two, and more than a few Gopher fans are eagerly awaiting November. Who needs summer after last winter, and a chance to skip months of political ads would be pretty fantastic too.

Gophers transformation continues on to the Big Apple

zipsofakron — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:02:31 +0000

While it’s not THE Final Four, it’s certainly A final four. The Gophers won their third straight road game and overcame a raucous gym full of crazy Tennesseans to continue their impressive run through the NIT, finding themselves in the semifinal round and one game away from a postseason championship game. Now, I’m not going to hop [...]

On to Murfreesboro! Gophers play MTSU in the N.I.T. Elite Eight

JF — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:52:46 +0000

Coming off what could be considered their most impressive performance of the season, the Gophers take their talents from South Beach to Murfreesboro to take on the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders with a trip to New York City on the line. If you missed Minnesota’s win at Miami, you missed a dominating performance that [...]