University of Minnesota Athletics
GOLDEN GOPHER BASKETBALL TEAM PREPARES FOR 1999-2000 SEASON
11/4/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
"I am looking forward to the opportunity to coach in what I feel is the best conference in the country at one of the finest institutions in the nation," Monson said. "I've always said that it would take an incredible opportunity for me to leave Gonzaga, and Minnesota has presented me with the opportunity of a lifetime."
Monson comes to Minnesota fresh off an NCAA postseason run that made him the coaching darling of the nation. That run started when his Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated the Golden Gophers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Seattle. He followed that with wins over Stanford and Florida before losing to eventual national champion Connecticut in the Elite Eight.
The Golden Gopher team he takes over is a young one, with no seniors on the roster. The cupboard is not bare, though, with seven returning letterwinners and two starters returning. Add to that talented transfer John-Blair Bickerstaff and a highly-touted incoming trio of freshmen, all of whom were ranked in the top 35 in the country by the recruiting services.
"There is a strong nucleus of players returning and an excellent incoming class," said Monson. "We are very strong in the front court, and you need that to survive in the Big Ten, but we need to improve our depth and experience in the backcourt."
The departures from last year's team are significant, especially in the scoring area. The dynamic tandem of Lewis (Quincy) and Clark (Kevin) has moved on to the professional ranks and with them their combined 36 points per game, over half the team's average. Couple that with the loss of Miles Tarver's team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game and you can see that there are some holes to fill.
"You just don't replace that kind of experience and scoring overnight," said Monson. "Those guys had been through the wars and knew what it took to succeed in the Big Ten. That will be one of our biggest question marks going into the season. Who will be the go-to scorers?"
The top returning scorer is sophomore Joel Przybilla, who averaged 6.7 points per game as a freshman. A dominating defensive presence, his offensive game needs to step up to the next level. One of the top recruits in the nation last year, Przybilla has superstar potential.
The next highest returning scorer is junior Mitch Ohnstad. The first player off the bench last year, he led the team in assists with 75 and was fourth in scoring at 6.1 points per game. His 20.1 minutes per game average led all bench players.
Kevin Nathaniel returns after spending last year playing out of position at point guard. "Nate" started 22 of 28 games and averaged 4.0 points per game. He's a steady player who has made significant improvement each year. Four other letterwinners return as well as five other second-year players. Coach Monson will take those 12 and the three incoming freshman and mold them into the next edition of Golden Gopher basketball.
The cause was helped somewhat by a late-summer European trip that helped the returning players (other than freshman) and coaches get to know each other and gain valuable extra practice time to help prepare for the 1999-2000 season.
"The trip to Europe couldn't have come at a better time for the team," said Monson. "It gave the players a chance to get to know me and my staff and our style of play. The one thing I think we accomplished as a team on that trip was to come together as a unit with a focus of what we intend to achieve this year."
The Big Ten will be as tough as always this season, with two Final Four participants returning nearly intact. Last year the conference had six teams ranked in the top 25 most of the season, with as many as four in the top 10 at one time. That will make the task at hand for the Maroon and Gold difficult, but not impossible.
"One of the main reasons I took this job was because I wanted to compete at the highest level," said Monson. "I look at this as an opportunity to go against the best. Our players came to Minnesota for that very same reason: to compete against the best in an attempt to become the best. If we collectively look at this as an opportunity and focus all of our energy and determination to the task, I believe we can achieve some impressive results."
Following is a position-by-position breakdown of this year's team.
Center: This is probably the area of biggest strength for the team. Freshman All-America Joel Przybilla returns after an excellent season. He led the nation for half the year in blocks and finished eighth in the country. He comes back after adding 20 pounds of muscle to raise his weight to 260 to go with his 7-1 inch frame. He is backed up by junior co-captain Kyle Sanden, not undersized either at 6-11, 265. He started as a freshman and can play center or power forward. Sanden will sit out the fall semester to get himself back on track for graduation. Walk-on John Aune improved greatly over the course of last season and his 6-10, 270-pound frame makes for a large trio of centers. They will be joined at the post position by freshman Ryan Wildenborg of Kirkland, Wash. Wildenborg is another prototypical Big Ten widebody at 6-11, 250 pounds as an 18-year old. He was named the third-best center available and the 34th-best player overall by Hoop Scoop magazine. Wildenborg, along with the three veterans, will provide plenty of size for the physical battles of the Big Ten conference.
Forwards: The forward positions offer a little of everything for the Maroon and Gold. There is great size when Sanden slides over to power forward, or explosive athleticism when Mike Bauer and John-Blair Bickerstaff line up together. There are six players at the forward position. Sanden is the biggest and most experienced. He also possesses a nice outside shooting touch.
Bickerstaff and Bauer are both tremendous athletes who can run and jump with anybody in the country. Bickerstaff was the USA Today Player of the year for Colorado as a senior and is looking to re-emerge after two years at Oregon State, where he showed glimpses of stardom. Bauer was the MVP of the Nike camp going into his senior year and has tremendous desire and potential.
Nathaniel can slide up to play small forward and he brings additional athleticism and experience. Dusty Rychart came on strong at the end of last year and proved he can do the dirty work by getting rebounds and put-back baskets. Highly-recruited (Hoop Scoop Top 50) Nick Sinville returns after seeing some action last year and he will be looking to make his mark at power forward. An explosive inside player once the ball gets in his hands, he is a little undersized, but has excellent jumping ability.
Guards: The guard position is the big area of question on the team. Last year the Golden Gophers played without a true point guard and the scoring ability of Lewis and Clark helped overcome that deficit. This year, with few proven Big Ten scorers, the development of a point guard is critical. Nathaniel is available and experienced, but at 6-5, he faces some difficult matchups against the quicker point guards of some teams.
Ohnstad will get a good look, but he is also the team's top shooter and will be instrumental at shooting guard in Coach Monson's up-tempo spread the court system.
Terrance Simmons will get another look at running the offense as well. Simmons struggled early last year and never regained his confidence. He played very well on the European trip and enters camp as the top choice. A transfer who played his freshman year at LSU, Simmons is looking for a fresh start under the new coaching staff. Sophomore Ryan Keating will get a look this year as well and may blossom under the new coach. The remaining returning guard in the stable is redshirt freshman Kevin Burleson, who could get a look at point guard but more likely will play shooting guard. He came on strong in practice at the end of the season and could help in the perimeter shooting area.
Ohnstad is the only proven shooting guard. He will be challenged by Burleson and highly-touted freshman Shane Schilling, who was the 32nd best player in his class according to Street and Smith magazine. Schilling can shoot the ball from long range (40 percent career in high school) or take it to the hole. An impressive athlete, he led Minnetonka to a state title and a runner-up finish last year and shattered the school's all-time scoring record with 1,882 points.
The schedule is as tough as always, starting with a Big Ten slate that has the Golden Gophers playing as many as three top-10 ranked teams.
"The Big Ten from top to bottom is unbelievably tough," said Monson. "The arenas are all tough places to win and there are no easy games. We must come prepared to compete every night or we will be in trouble."
Monson is known as a great chemistry builder and an excellent tactical coach. He has a big job ahead of him to pull the pieces together with his team and new staff, but already he has seen many positive things happen.
"I've been really impressed by the attitude of the players," said Monson. "They have been through so much since last spring, but they have hung together as a team and that is a great sign. They believe in each other and are working hard to get better, and that's all you can ask for as a coach."
The big challenge to Monson is fitting the existing pieces into his system. Gonzaga played in an up-tempo and spread the court system. The Golden Gophers certainly have the athletes to run the court and Przybilla proved last year he could start the break with his outlet passes and great court vision. Nathaniel, Bickerstaff, Ohnstad, Bauer, Schilling and Burleson are excellent athletes who are very good in the open court. The system also requires some perimeter shooters but besides Ohnstad, there are not a lot of proven performers in that area.
"We have a tremendous amount of potential on this team," said Monson. "We're very young and it's my job as the coach to find the right combinations and systems that fit the personnel we have. If they have faith in me and my staff and give me 110 percent effort every night, then we will have a good season."
