Minnesota Scene: Gophers guard Jamir Harris to transfer

Gophers freshman guard Jamir Harris was granted a release from his basketball scholarship and will transfer, Minnesota coach Richard Pitino announced Friday.

Harris, a 6-2, 190-pound North Brunswick, N.J. native, averaged 3.9 points and had 38 three-point field goals in 28 games this past season. In the first of his two starts this season, he scored a career-best 16 points in an overtime win Jan. 15 at Penn State.

A former three-star recruit, Harris played at The Patrick School in New Jersey in high school. He was the second player to transfer in the past month, joining junior forward Davonte Fitzgerald.

Pitino now has three scholarships available for next season.

Marcus Fuller

The Gophers men's gymnastics team finished fifth in the Big Ten meet on Friday at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., with a score of 405.450. Illinois won the meet (413.900).

No. 2-ranked Minnesota had a narrow 0.700 lead over Illinois for first place after four rotations.

Megan Walstad of Eastview was named Miss Basketball on Friday night at the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association's banquet in Northfield. The award is presented to the state's top senior.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee recruit led the Lightning to its second Class 4A state championship in the past five years. Former teammate Madison Guebert won the same award in 2015.

The other four finalists were Sam Haiby of Moorhead, Heaven Hamling of Grand Rapids, Sydney Lodermeier of Goodhue and Maesyn Thiesen of Sauk Centre.

The Gophers baseball team tried to escape bad weather by moving three games with Penn State from Minneapolis to West Lafayette, Ind., but couldn't.

The Friday afternoon game at Purdue's Alexander Field was suspended after five innings — with the Nittany Lions leading 5-4 — because of the cold conditions. Pitchers from both teams struggled with their control, combining for 11 walks and two hit batters.

The Gophers football team will play nonconference games against Florida Atlantic and Eastern Michigan in the future, FBSchedules.com reported.

Minnesota will play host to Florida Atlantic on Sept. 3, 2020, a Thursday night season opener. Other nonconference games in 2020 are Miami (Ohio) and Brigham Young.

Eastern Michigan will visit TCF Bank Stadium on Sept. 9, 2023.

Gopher recruit Jarvis Thomas Omersa of Orono had 22 points as the Blue beat the Green 136-113 in the Minnesota high school boys' basketball all-star series at Halenbeck Hall on the campus of St. Cloud State University. Jarius Cook of Park Center had 20 points for the Green.

The Gold and Maroon teams met in the late game. The series culminates Saturday with the third-place game at 2 p.m., followed by the championship at 3:45 p.m. at Leonard Center on the campus of Macalester College in St. Paul.

• The Gophers' softball game with Michigan State on Friday in East Lansing, Mich., was postponed by inclement weather. The two teams will play at noon Saturday as scheduled, and play a doubleheader, starting at 9:45 a.m., on Sunday.

• The Gophers women's tennis team edged Ohio State 4-3 when Bita Mancera won 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) over Danielle Wolf at No. 4 singles.