University of Minnesota Athletics
Vote for Blake Hoffarber at the ESPYs
7/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
University of Minnesota sophomore Blake Hoffarber has once again been nominated for an ESPY Award for “Best Play of the Year,” an annual award given to the best athletes and moments for the past year in sports presented by ESPN.
The nomination honors Hoffarber’s last second shot against Indiana on March 20th in the Big Ten Tournament. On the play, Hoffarber caught a court-length pass from teammate Travis Busch and drained a 15 foot shot while falling away to stun the Hoosiers 59-58, in the final second of the game.
This past week, Hoffarber’s shot was already honored by the Big Ten Network as the “Best Play” and “Best Finish” this past year in the conference, announced at the inaugural Big Ten Network Awards.
Voting for the ESPYs are purely fan based with the leading vote-getter earning the award. To vote, head to www.espys.tv and click on the vote tab on the left of the screen.
Hoffarber already has experience with the ESPY awards. In 2005 as a sophomore at Hopkins High School, he drained a shot while lying on his back to help his team win the Minnesota State Championship.
This season, Hoffarber averaged 8.4 points per game as a freshman in while shooting 43.6% from the field and 42.7% from behind the arc. His 70 three-point field goals made are the fourth-most in a season in Gopher history.
Minnesota wrapped up the 2007-08 regular season with a loss to the University of Maryland in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.
The Gophers finished the season 20-14 overall and 8-10 in the Big Ten. The 11-game improvement in the win column from the 2006-07 season is the largest season turnaround in school history and is tied for the second-best turnaround in Division I. Also, the eight wins in conference play tied Purdue for the biggest conference turnaround.
The nomination honors Hoffarber’s last second shot against Indiana on March 20th in the Big Ten Tournament. On the play, Hoffarber caught a court-length pass from teammate Travis Busch and drained a 15 foot shot while falling away to stun the Hoosiers 59-58, in the final second of the game.
This past week, Hoffarber’s shot was already honored by the Big Ten Network as the “Best Play” and “Best Finish” this past year in the conference, announced at the inaugural Big Ten Network Awards.
Voting for the ESPYs are purely fan based with the leading vote-getter earning the award. To vote, head to www.espys.tv and click on the vote tab on the left of the screen.
Hoffarber already has experience with the ESPY awards. In 2005 as a sophomore at Hopkins High School, he drained a shot while lying on his back to help his team win the Minnesota State Championship.
This season, Hoffarber averaged 8.4 points per game as a freshman in while shooting 43.6% from the field and 42.7% from behind the arc. His 70 three-point field goals made are the fourth-most in a season in Gopher history.
Minnesota wrapped up the 2007-08 regular season with a loss to the University of Maryland in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.
The Gophers finished the season 20-14 overall and 8-10 in the Big Ten. The 11-game improvement in the win column from the 2006-07 season is the largest season turnaround in school history and is tied for the second-best turnaround in Division I. Also, the eight wins in conference play tied Purdue for the biggest conference turnaround.
Players Mentioned
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