Gophers sign Isaiah Washington, team's future point guard

Coach Richard Pitino's point guard of the future is now officially a member of the Gophers. Four-star recruit Isaiah Washington signed his national letter of intent Thursday.

The addition of Washington, who had an afternoon ceremony at St. Raymond's High School in the Bronx, completes Pitino's 2016 recruiting class. The 6-1, 160-pound senior is ranked as high as a top-50 player in the nation.

"He is a dynamic player, loves the game, and is a lot of fun to watch on the court," Pitino said. "We feel both Isaiah and Jamir will make an impact on our program right away when they arrive next year."

Guard Jamir Harris of Patrick School in North Brunswick, N.J., signed Wednesday.

The Gophers and Minnesota Duluth agreed to play four home-and-home series over a five-year period starting in 2018-19 and running through 2022-23. Dates and sites will be determined later. The two former WCHA rivals have played at least once every season since 1961-62, making it the longest continuous rivalry for Minnesota.

UMD is No. 1 in the latest USCHO.com poll, the Gophers No. 8.

Minnesota hunters registered nearly 69,000 deer on the first weekend of the state's firearms deer season. The Department of Natural Resources said Thursday the preliminary numbers were down 3 percent from opening weekend last year.

• Thomas Longbella, a Gophers freshman from Chippewa Falls, Wis., was named the Big Ten golfer of the week. He tied for 12th place at the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic last weekend with a 5-under 208 for 54 holes. His second round of 63 tied for the second-best score in program history.

• The four newest inductees to Hamline's Athletic Hall of Fame will be honored Saturday at halftime of the Pipers' football game against Bethel at Klaus Field and at a dinner that night. They are April Felt, a 2001 graduate, track and field; Tom Kreger, 2003, distance runner; Dave Polson, 1969, basketball, and Denny Wendell, 1964, football, hockey, baseball.

• Minnesota State Mankato signed nine men's hockey players, including five Minnesotans on USHL teams: forwards Dallas Gerads of Blaine (Dubuque, USHL), Jake Jaremko of Nowthen (Chicago) and Reggie Lutz of Elk River (Chicago), and defensemen Jack McNeely of Lakeville (Tri-City) and Riese Zmolek of Rochester (Cedar Rapids).

• Senior goalkeeper Tarynn Theilig of MIAC champion St. Thomas was named the conference defensive player of the year for the second time while teammate Mallory DeBoom was named offensive player of the year. Amanda Maxwell of Bethel was picked coach of the year. In men's soccer, senior defender Mark Heydt of regular season and playoff champion St. Thomas was named the player of the year and the Tommies' Jon Lowery coach of the year.

• Southwest Minnesota State outside hitter Taylor Reiss, a sophomore from Taunton, Minn., who played for Minneota, was named the NSIC player of the year in volleyball. Minnesota Duluth setter Emily Torve of Loretto was picked freshman of the year. Southwest Minnesota State's Terry Culhane was named the conference coach of the year.