1996–97 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team American college basketball season
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.[ 2]
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[ 3]
28–3
Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
March 16 * CBS Regional
(1 MW) No. 3
vs. (9 MW) Temple Second Round
W 76–57[ 4]
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[ 5]
30–3
Alamodome San Antonio, TX
March 22 * CBS
(1 MW) No. 3
vs. (2 MW) No. 7 UCLA Elite Eight
W 80–72[ 6]
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 [ 7]
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll [
[ 8] . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
MW=Midwest
Source
[ 9]
[ 10] .
All times are in
Central Time .
Rankings
Awards
Team MVP
References
^ "Forfeits and Vacated Games" . Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved April 30, 2024 .
^ "Big Ten Strips Minnesota of 1997 Title" . ABC News .
^ "Golden Gophers Bury SW Texas State, 78-46" . The Washington Post . March 15, 1997. Retrieved February 16, 2022 .
^ "Minnesota Cruises Past Temple; Clemson Ousts Tulsa" . The New York Times . March 17, 1997. Retrieved February 16, 2022 .
^ "Gophers dig out 2-OT win over Clemson" . The Baltimore Sun . March 21, 1997. Retrieved February 16, 2022 .
^ "Golden Gophers Plow Into First Final Four" . The Washington Post . March 23, 1997. Retrieved February 16, 2022 .
^ "DI Men's Basketball Championship History | NCAA.com" . www.ncaa.com .
^ http://www.appollarchive.com/mbasketball/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=747 Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today AP Poll Archive – 97 Season
^ "1996-97 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com" . College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved April 12, 2018 .
^ "2019–20 Minnesota Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF) . University of Minnesota Athletics . Retrieved April 26, 2020 .
^ Awards and Honors Archived January 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine , May 4, 2006. Access date September 28, 2008.
Venues Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics