Lindsay Whalen will hire former Gophers teammate and current Macalester head coach Kelly Roysland as one of her assistants.

The final steps of the hiring process were taking place Thursday, multiple sources told the Star Tribune, and the move is expected to be made official this week. Whalen also is closing in on picking a second assistant coach, sources said.

Whalen was named Gophers women's basketball head coach last week, 14 years after leading the team to the Final Four.

Roysland played one season with Whalen — the Gophers' 2003-04 Final Four season — and wound up making three trips to the NCAA tournament in her career. Roysland was the Gophers' Most Valuable Player as a senior and still ranks 15th on the team's career scoring list (1,074 points).

After graduating from the university, Roysland worked as an assistant at North Dakota State from 2008-10 and then was an assistant coach with the Gophers under Pam Borton from 2010-14. Roysland also served as Gophers interim coach after Borton was fired. The Fosston, Minn., native has been the Macalester coach since the 2014-15 season.

Ron Haggstrom

Big Ten hoops foes set

The Big Ten released the men's and women's conference basketball opponents breakdown for 2018-19.

The Gophers men's Big Ten schedule will feature 20 games, including 10 at home and 10 on the road. Seven opponents will be faced home and away: Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin. Three teams will travel to the Barn for their only meeting with Minnesota: Indiana, Iowa and Penn State. The Gophers will visit Michigan State, Northwestern and Ohio State in their only matchups.

The Gophers women's team will see its Big Ten schedule expand to 18 games this winter.

Included in that are home-and-away matchups with Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin. The Gophers' only meetings against Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State will come in Minneapolis, while they will travel to face Indiana, Maryland, Michigan and Nebraska one game each.

Dates and times will be announced at a later date.

Deer plan meetings

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has scheduled two more metro-area open houses for hunters and others interested in reviewing and asking questions about the recently released draft deer management plan.

The added meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday at DNR Headquarters (500 Lafayette Road) in St. Paul and on April 30 at Wood Lake Nature Center (6710 Lake Shore Drive S.) in Richfield.