University of Minnesota Athletics
Maurice Hargrow Rejoins Men's Basketball Team
9/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
During the summer, Hargrow was released from his scholarship by Arkansas and elected to enroll at the U of M for the fall 2004 semester and petition the NCAA to allow him to play immediately for the Gophers. The NCAA has yet to rule on Hargrow's appeal. If the NCAA denies Hargrow's appeal, he will redshirt the 2004-05 season and finish his eligibility in 2005-06 with the Golden Gophers.
"We're happy to have Moe back," Monson said. "As a staff and as a team we felt Moe was sincere in his desire to come back and be a part of this team and family. Part of my job is to understand and help kids when they go through tough times and no one could ever say that Moe Hargrow isn't a good kid."
Hargrow has played in 77 career games for the Gophers and scored 719 points in his collegiate career, an average of 9.3 points per game. Hargrow averaged a career high of 13.2 points his sophomore season in 2002-03 and was averaging 11.4 ppg last season before transferring. He holds a .425 shooting percentage for his career, .367 from three-point range.
"I want to thank Coach Monson and my teammates for allowing me to come back," Hargrow said. "I made a mistake by leaving and I realized that soon after I left. Sometimes you can't appreciate how special a place is until you leave it. I hope I can play my way back into the hearts of Minnesota basketball fans, and they understand as much as my teammates did, that people make mistakes.
"I'm ready to get started and play this season, but if the NCAA rules I have to sit out, I'll use this year to get ready for 2005-06."
