University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set to Host NABC Classic
11/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NABC Classic
Minnesota opens the regular season with the NABC Classic at Williams Arena from Nov. 14-16, marking the first time Minnesota has hosted a tournament at Williams Arena since the early 1980s when The Barn played host to the annual Pillsbury Classic. Minnesota hosted the Pillsbury Classic from 1974-81. The first five years were contested at the Met Center in Bloomington with the final three at Williams Arena. Minnesota did host the BCA Classic at the Target Center in 1997 with Villanova and Utah State. The Gophers will be competing against the following schools:
Concordia-St. Paul - The Golden Bears, coached by Kelly Boe, return four starters and nine players overall from a team that finished the 2007-08 season with an overall record of 16-12 and a 10-8 record within conference play. Concordia’s top returning scorer is junior forward Craig Heiman, who averaged 18.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season. Concordia will play the Gophers on Friday, Georgia State on Saturday and Bowling Green on Sunday.
Bowling Green - The Falcons return 11 players from team that went 13-17 (7-9 MAC) during the 2007-08 season. By winning seven conference games in 07-08, Bowling Green more than doubled its MAC total from the 2006-07 season when they went 3-13. The top returning player for the Falcons is senior guard Brian Moten, who averaged 9.2 points and 2.0 rebounds a season ago. Bowling Green, led by head coach Louis Orr, will open against Georgia State on Friday followed by the Gophers on Saturday and Concordia on Sunday. The Gophers and Falcons have played two times prior, both won by Minnesota, 70-68 in 1968 and 64-50 in 1980.
Georgia State - The Panthers are coached by Rod Barnes and are coming off a 9-21 record a season ago. They are led by senior guard Leonard Mendez, a preseason first-team All-CAA performer that averaged 16.0 points per game last season. GSU will open the NABC Classic against Bowling Green on Friday, will play Concordia on Saturday before taking on the Gophers on Sunday.
New Look Gophers
Minnesota welcomes five new players to Gold Country for the 2008-09 season. Tubby Smith’s first recruiting class comes to Minneapolis as one of the best classes in the country. The class includes the following players:
Devron Bostick - Averaged 2.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 17.0 minutes played per game during the exhibition season... reigning NJCAA Player of the Year... led Southwestern Illinois Community College to a 28-5 record and a second place finish in the league last season... averaged a team-high 18.2 ppg while grabbing 4.1 rebounds and dishing out 3.2 assists per contest.
Paul Carter - Started both exhibition games and averaged 11.5 points, a team-high 6.5 rebounds and 20.0 minutes played per game... played one season at Missouri State-West Plains... led MSWP to a 27-5 record and a second place finish in the Region 16 regular season and post-season tournament... averaged 11.7 points, a team-high 8.7 rebounds and 24.3 minutes per game for the Grizzlies... named to All-Region 16 team.
Colton Iverson - Started both exhibition games and averaged 6.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 17.5 minutes played per game... attended Yankton (S.D.) High School ... averaged 17.9 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game as a senior... led Yankton to a fifth place finish in the South Dakota State AA Tournament as a senior... averaged a double-double in 20 of the 26 games played during senior season.
Devoe Joseph - Averaged 11.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 16.5 minutes played per game during the exhibition season... also contributed two assists and one steal... attended Pickering High School in Ajax, Ontario, Canada... averaged 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists as a senior to lead Pickering to a 70-2 record... three-time Canadian High School Player of the Year... a two-time member of the Canadian World Junior National Team... invited to the Canadian Men’s National Team training camp leading up to the 2008 Olympics.
Ralph Sampson III - Averaged 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 16.5 minutes played per game during the exhibition season... scored two points, grabbed four rebounds and swatted one shot... attended Northview High School in Duluth, Ga.... averaged 19.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.0 blocks as a senior in leading Northview to its first state tournament appearance and a 21-9 record... played in the Capital Classic All-Star game following senior season.
Each New Season
The University of Minnesota men’s basketball program has an all-time record of 85-22 in season opening contests, dating back to a victory over Company A in 1896 by a score of 5-4. The Gophers current win streak in season openers stands at 10 (1992-93, 1999-2007). Last season, Dan Coleman scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Damian Johnson came off the bench to score 12 points, grab eight rebounds, block four shots and steal four balls to lead Minnesota past Army 84-52 at Williams Arena.
Tubby Out of the Gate
Tubby Smith comes into the 2008-09 season with 407 career wins as a head coach, 14 of which have come via season opening victories, including the Gophers victory over Army in last year’s opener. While at the University of Tulsa Smith guided the Golden Hurricane to a 3-1 record in openers followed by a 2-0 record in his stint at the University of Georgia and a 8-2 record in his 10 seasons at the University of Kentucky. Coach Smith’s teams have won the last six season openers.
Key Losses
The Gophers have five new faces in part because the club had to say goodbye to four seniors, Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie, Spencer Tollackson and Ryan Saunders.
Coleman left the U as the 15th highest scorer in school history and is one of only 17 players in school history to amass 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. He finished with 1,317 points and 614 rebounds.
McKenzie played two season at the U after transferring from Oklahoma. He left Minneapolis with the third most three-point field goals made with 157 and is sixth all-time with a .402 (157-391) three-point field goal percentage.
Tollackson finished his Gopher career in sixth place on the school’s all-time field goal percentage list at .525 (390-743). He played in 119 career games in his four years, which is tied for the eight most in Gopher history.
Saunders technically hasn’t left the U, as he joined Tubby Smith’s staff as a Graduate Manager following his graduation last spring.
