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| | Tuesday, October 24 Motivation won't be a problem now for Gophers | |||||
| Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS -- Outright joy, a sense of gratitude, relief and the feeling that the University of Minnesota was treated justly were the reactions to the punishment handed down Tuesday by the NCAA. The NCAA placed the university on probation for four years and stripped it of five scholarships after finding academic fraud in what the NCAA determined were some of the most serious rules violations in two decades. The Gophers will not be banned from another year of postseason play -- following the self-imposed postseason ban last season -- but they must take down their postseason banners, such as those from the 1997 Final Four and the 1998 NIT championship. "In my view, the initial penalties imposed on the university were fair," President Mark Yudof said. The university will not appeal the NCAA's decision. For the men's basketball team, the sanctions boil down to one major component: the team this year will have the chance to win a postseason berth in the NCAA or NIT tournaments. "Obviously, the players and my staff are ecstatic with the decision," coach Dan Monson said. Monson, who was hired after former coach Clem Haskins had his contract bought out by the administration in the wake of the scandal in June 1999, said he spend the last several days dreading the possibility of telling his players about another postseason ban. "Until you've been in that locker room and seen how players dreams are taken away, I don't think you understand how difficult that is and now it's ... in the hands of the players," Monson said. The task will be momentous, because the Gophers are expected to finish at or near the bottom of the Big Ten standings. It will be even more difficult in the future; the NCAA-mandated scholarship reductions mean the Gophers will play the next several seasons with only nine scholarship players. But Monson, who publicly has sounded as optimistic as an expectant mother about the program's future despite sanctions for incidents that occurred before he arrived, said that won't be as much of a handicap as it seems. "Certainly, it doesn't take 13 guys to field a quality basketball team," Monson said. "We have to get the right ones and be fortunate about injuries to make things happen. We're a ways away from that. I think we all know that realistically." Last season, Louisiana State reached the sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with just nine scholarship players. But LSU had Stromile Swift, the No. 2-overall choice in the NBA draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. Minnesota has no future first-rounders and is barely better than the squad last year that went 12-16 with just four Big Ten victories. On Tuesday though, players talked like they'd just won their first game, even though the season doesn't start until Nov. 17. "I was ecstatic when I heard they just had us on four-year probation and the loss of scholarships," Dusty Rychart said. "I'm just happy to play for a postseason berth this year. Last year we didn't have that and it was kind of hard to play a whole season without anticipating postseason NIT or NCAA." Beginning Wednesday, the attitude in the locker room will shift to the task at hand, rather than waiting for impending doom. "You want to go out and focus on basketball instead of having to focus on what they're going to do to us next and what else can happen. I think it's important to get that off your backs," said John Blair-Bickerstaff. But that also means there will be no more crutches for the Gophers to lean on if they don't at least put forth maximum effort this season. "It's been a big distraction. We have no more distractions. We can't make any more excuses. You can't say 'Well, I'm letting this stuff bother me about the NCAA,"' Terrance Simmons said. The first affect of the NCAA's decision could be felt as early as Tuesday night. Duluth East center Rick Rickert, the best high school player in the state, was expected to announce early Wednesday whether he would choose Arizona or Minnesota. He had planned to decide last week, but put off a decision until after the NCAA's announcement. Around campus, not everyone was excited about the news. "It hasn't been a huge issue," said Emily Jensen, a sophomore. "I mean, I've seen a few things in the (student newspaper) about it, but it's not like people are talking about it really." Said Leah Gruhn, who graduated in the spring: "It doesn't affect me too much because I think that people know that athletes are here for basketball and not for an education." | ALSO SEE NCAA hits Gophers hoops with four years' probation Bilas: Current players pay price for tarnished Gophers Minnesota scandal timeline Gopher recruit delays announcement | |||||