University of Minnesota men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino has said it at multiple stops this week on the Gophers Road Trip, and he reiterated it in Alexandria on Thursday: He really likes the team he has to work with heading into next season.
“If you look at our team, we have six kids on the roster who have played in the NCAA Tournament,” Pitino said in an interview with the Echo Press on May 24. “The goal is to get back to the NCAA Tournament. On those teams, Dupree (McBrayer), Amir (Coffey) and Eric (Curry) were major contributors.”
Pitino was part of the group of coaches who spoke to an almost full crowd at the Legacy of the Lakes Museum in Alexandria. The list included football coach P.J. Fleck and new men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko, who commended head coach Ian Resch and the Alexandria boys hockey team for their second-place finish in the Class A state tournament this winter.
For the Minnesota men’s basketball team, health was a major problem last winter as a season that started with expectations of competing for a Big Ten title were derailed into a 15-17 record overall. Curry, Coffey and McBrayer all suffered injuries that either ended their seasons or limited them on the court. Much like two years ago when the Gophers bounced back from an 8-23 record to go 24-10 and make the NCAA Tournament, Pitino likes this team’s potential to do the same with Curry, Coffey and McBrayer back healthy as part of the nucleus.
“Eric has looked good,” Pitino said of Curry, who is coming back from an ACL tear he suffered before last season. “Eric has probably done a little bit more than Amir. Amir has still got a long way to go, but he looks good. I think both of them will be fine. It’s annoying for me as a coach because I want to get going with them in the summertime, but once the fall hits those guys will be ready to go.”
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Pitino is excited about the depth he was able to add to this team through the incoming recruiting class. Center Daniel Oturu, forward Jarvis Omersa and shooting guard Gabe Kalscheur are all Minnesota kids who signed with the Gophers in the fall.
“Daniel Oturu is one of the best high school seniors in the country,” Pitino said. “Gabe Kalscheur is one of the best shooters in the country. Jarvis Omersa is one of the most athletic kids in the country. They chose Minnesota for the name on the front of the jersey, which is really important. I know they’ll get better. You never know with freshmen, but I’m excited to get them on campus.”
Pitino was able to supplement the roster with three transfers during the spring signing period. Guards Payton Willis from Vanderbilt and Marcus Carr from Pittsburg will likely have to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules. Carr averaged 10 points and four assists a game as a true freshman point guard for the Panthers.
The biggest immediate impact on the roster could come with the addition of graduate transfer Brock Stull, who signed in late May. Stull averaged 13.4 points per game and nearly five rebounds at Milwaukee. He shot 38 percent from three in 2017-18 and nearly 40 percent the year before, giving the Gophers another shooter on a team that badly needed it last winter.
“Marcus Carr is as talented a guard out there,” Pitino said. “Brock is a terrific player, Payton Willis is a terrific player. If you do your job, just with the way everyone is transferring, you need to have one or two (scholarships) ready at all times.”
Pitino said as hard as the end of the 2017-18 season was, it was good for players like sophomore Michael Hurt and freshman Isaiah Washington to have to play big minutes in Big Ten games. They return more experienced on a team that also has All-Big Ten forward Jordan Murphy back as a senior. Washington, a highly-touted point guard out of New York, struggled early in his freshman season but played better late.
“He was up and down last year,” Pitino said. “He went out at Michigan and had 26 points on the road (against) a team that went to the national title game. Then he had some games where it was like, ‘What are you doing?’ He was a freshman. They’ve all had those moments on our roster. As hard as it was to throw him into those meaningful minutes in the Big Ten, it’s great for him. He’ll be better for it this year.”
Pitino believes the whole team in hungry to bounce back after the disappointment of last season. If the Gophers can avoid setbacks, he likes the potential of this group.
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“We have a lot of depth,” Pitino said. “We’ve got some inexperienced depth, but that’s OK. I like a lot of what we got right now. We just have to stay healthy.”
