1996–97 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

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1996–97 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
Big Ten Regular Season Champions (vacated)
NCAA tournament, Final Four (vacated)
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record31–4 (4 wins, one loss vacated) (16–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPBobby Jackson
Home arenaWilliams Arena
Seasons
1996–97 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Iowa 12 6   .667 22 10   .688
Purdue 12 6   .667 18 12   .600
No. 19 Illinois 11 7   .611 22 10   .688
Wisconsin 11 7   .611 18 10   .643
Indiana 9 9   .500 22 11   .667
Michigan State 9 9   .500 17 12   .586
Ohio State 5 13   .278 10 17   .370
Penn State 3 15   .167 10 17   .370
Northwestern 2 16   .111 7 22   .241
No. 3 Minnesota* 0 2   .000 0 4   .000
Michigan* 0 9   .000 0 11   .000
Rankings from AP Poll
*Michigan: 24 games vacated; including NIT champ. vacated due to sanctions against the program
*Minnesota: 31 games including 5 NCAA Tournament games vacated due to sanctions against the program
Disputed records: Michigan-(24–11)(9–9); Minnesota-(31–4)(16–2)

The 1996–97 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, coached by Clem Haskins, played their home games in Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 31–4, 16–2 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten championship. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. There they defeated Southwest Texas State and Temple to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated Clemson and UCLA to advance to the Final Four for the first time in school history. There they lost to Kentucky.

In 1999, an academic fraud scandal revealed that Minnesota academic counseling office manager Jan Gangelhoff had done coursework for at least 20 Minnesota basketball players since 1993. Four players from the Minnesota basketball team were immediately suspended, pending an investigation for academic fraud. Head coach Clem Haskins, men's athletic director Mark Dienhart, and university vice president McKinley Boston all resigned. The NCAA sanctioned Minnesota by vacating all appearances in the 1994, 1995, and 1997 NCAA Tournaments and 1996 and 1998 National Invitation Tournaments, as well as individual records of those student-athletes found to have committed academic fraud. The NCAA further issued show-cause penalties for Haskins and Newby (both until October 23, 2007) and Gangelhoff (until October 23, 2005). The Gophers were also stripped of the Big Ten title due to the scandal.[1]

Roster

1996–97 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 3 Russ Archambault 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Sartell Fort Yates, ND
F 4 Courtney James 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 270 lb (122 kg) So Ben Davis Indianapolis, IN
G/F 5 Sam Jacobson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Park Cottage Grove, MN
C 12 John Thomas 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Sr Roosevelt Minneapolis, MN
G 15 Aaron Stauber 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Sheboygan Sheboygan, WI
G/F 20 Quincy Lewis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Parkview Arts and Science Magnet Little Rock, AR
F/C 22 Kevin Loge 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Morris Area Morris, MN
G 24 Bobby Jackson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Western Nebraska C.C. Salisbury, NC
G 33 Eric Harris 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr St. Raymond New York, NY
C 34 Charles Thomas 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Harlan Harlan, KY
F 42 Miles Tarver 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So St. Joseph Notre Dame Oakland, CA
C 50 Trevor Winter 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Sr Slayton Slayton, MN
C 51 Kyle Sanden 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Lincoln Thief River Falls, MN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 23*
No. 23 Stephen F. Austin W 101–55  1–0
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
November 26*
No. 24 West Virginia W 76–61  2–0
Target Center 
Minneapolis, MN
November 29*
No. 24 vs. Puerto Rico-Mayagüez
San Juan Shootout
W 104–62  3–0
 
San Juan, PR
November 30*
No. 24 vs. Creighton
San Juan Shootout
W 64–63  4–0
 
San Juan, PR
December 1*
No. 24 vs. No. 10 Clemson
San Juan Shootout
W 75–65  5–0
 
San Juan, PR
December 5*
No. 16 at Alabama L 67–70  5–1
Coleman Coliseum 
Tuscaloosa, AL
December 15*
No. 17 St. John's W 77–39  6–1
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
December 17*
No. 16 at Rhode Island W 82–72  7–1
Keaney Gymnasium 
Kingston, RI
December 21*
No. 16 at Nebraska W 70–56  8–1
Bob Devaney Sports Center 
Lincoln, NE
December 23*
No. 16 Alabama State W 114–34  9–1
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
December 28*
No. 15 Long Island University W 104–84  10–1
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
December 31*
No. 15 Mercer W 94–53  11–1
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten regular season
January 2
No. 15 Wisconsin W 65–48  12–1
(1–0)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
January 4
No. 15 at Michigan State W 68–43  13–1
(2–0)
Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
January 8
No. 11 at No. 15 Indiana W 96–91 OT 14–1
(3–0)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
January 11
No. 11 No. 16 Michigan W 70–64  15–1
(4–0)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
January 14
No. 7 at Illinois L 90–96  15–2
(4–1)
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL
January 18
No. 7 at Ohio State W 73–67  16–2
(5–1)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, OH
January 23
No. 8 Iowa W 66–51  17–2
(6–1)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
January 25
No. 8 Purdue W 91–68  18–2
(7–1)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
February 1
No. 6 at Northwestern W 75–56  19–2
(8–1)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
February 5
No. 4 Penn State W 85–70  20–2
(9–1)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
February 12
No. 3 at Purdue W 70–67  21–2
(10–1)
Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, IN
February 15
No. 3 at Iowa W 68–66  22–2
(11–1)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena 
Iowa City, IA
February 19
No. 2 Ohio State W 60–48  23–2
(12–1)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
February 22
No. 2 No. 23 Illinois W 67–66  24–2
(13–1)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
February 26
No. 2 at No. 24 Michigan W 55–54  25–2
(14–1)
Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, MI
March 1
No. 2 No. 22 Indiana W 75–72  26–2
(15–1)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
March 6
No. 2 Michigan State W 81–74  27–2
(16–1)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
March 8
No. 2 at Wisconsin L 65–66  27–3
(16–2)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, WI
NCAA tournament
March 14*
 CBS Regional
(1 MW) No. 3 vs. (16 MW) Southwest Texas State
First Round
W 78–46[2]  28–3
Kemper Arena 
Kansas City, MO
March 16*
 CBS Regional
(1 MW) No. 3 vs. (9 MW) Temple
Second Round
W 76–57[3]  29–3
Kemper Arena 
Kansas City, MO
March 20*
 CBS Regional
(1 MW) No. 3 vs. (4 MW) No. 14 Clemson
Sweet Sixteen
W 90–84 2OT[4] 30–3
Alamodome 
San Antonio, TX
March 22*
 CBS
(1 MW) No. 3 vs. (2 MW) No. 7 UCLA
Elite Eight
W 80–72[5]  31–3
Alamodome 
San Antonio, TX
March 29*
 CBS
(1 MW) No. 3 vs. (1 W) No. 5 Kentucky
Final Four
L 69–78  31–4
RCA Dome 
Indianapolis, IN[6]
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll[[7]. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
MW=Midwest
Source[8] [9].
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Awards

Team MVP

References

  1. ^ "Big Ten Strips Minnesota of 1997 Title". ABC News.
  2. ^ "Golden Gophers Bury SW Texas State, 78-46". The Washington Post. March 15, 1997. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  3. ^ "Minnesota Cruises Past Temple; Clemson Ousts Tulsa". The New York Times. March 17, 1997. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  4. ^ "Gophers dig out 2-OT win over Clemson". The Baltimore Sun. March 21, 1997. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "Golden Gophers Plow Into First Final Four". The Washington Post. March 23, 1997. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "DI Men's Basketball Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com.
  7. ^ http://www.appollarchive.com/mbasketball/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=747 Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today AP Poll Archive – 97 Season
  8. ^ "1996-97 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  9. ^ "2019–20 Minnesota Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Minnesota Athletics. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  10. ^ Awards and Honors Archived January 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, May 4, 2006. Access date September 28, 2008.