Maturi: Monson will stay as coach

There were tears in the eyes of some University of Minnesota men's basketball players Wednesday morning when the school's athletic director, Joel Maturi, addressed them before boarding a bus to the Cincinnati airport. It was then that Maturi told the players that Dan Monson would remain the team's coach.

"It was pretty emotional," Maturi said. "We talked about a lot of things. ... I told them I have faith in Coach Monson and we've got to stick together."

It was part of a bizarre 24 hours for the program that included: a season-ending loss in the National Invitation Tournament; a swirl of reports that Monson's seven-year tenure would end; meetings between Maturi and key university leaders, and an impromptu news conference at which Maturi and Monson answered questions about the future of the program.

It's a future that includes Monson.

The Star Tribune reported Wednesday that Monson was not expected to return next season, citing sources outside the university with knowledge of the situation.

When reached before the Gophers' season-ending loss to Cincinnati on Tuesday night in the NIT, Maturi wouldn't speak directly about Monson's future.

Twenty-four hours later, Maturi -- while disappointed with a 16-15 season -- stood behind his coach.

"We expected more than a 10th-place finish," Maturi said. "Coach Monson and I have talked about that often. We want to be champions of the Big Ten. We want to go to the Big Dance. We dream of getting to the Final Four. If I didn't think this coach had the ability to do it, he wouldn't be standing here."

Maturi did acknowledge that he met with President Robert Bruininks recently to discuss the state of the program and whether it was headed in the right direction. He said such a meeting is not unusual and that he has had those kinds of conversations about other programs in the past.

"When you finish 10th in the Big Ten, it's human nature to say, 'What's going on?'" Maturi said. "You talk about whether you believe the program is headed in the right direction. Does that mean I have lost confidence in Dan? No. Nor does that mean we talked about him not being our coach."

That said, Maturi said that if this decision was strictly about wins and losses, the outcome might have been different.

"I've told this to Dan, 'If this were the Timberwolves and I were the GM, maybe he wouldn't be coaching next year,'" Maturi said. "But I don't want to be the Timberwolves and I'm not the GM. I'm the athletic director at an academic institution that has some values, has some integrity and we're going to live that and walk the talk."

Maturi said he and Bruininks met again on Wednesday, but it was "not whether Dan Monson was going to be the coach or not."

University officials said Bruininks had no comment on the Monson situation and would let Maturi speak for the school.

The Star Tribune's story and subsequent conflicting media reports Wednesday prompted several readers to question the accuracy of the story.

"We had what we felt was very solid information that Dan Monson was not expected to return to coach the basketball team next season," managing editor Scott Gillespie said. "We talked to many people with knowledge of Monson's situation, including Joel Maturi. We did not take lightly our decision to publish. Today the university made clear that it is sticking by the coach."

Monson was hired in July 1999 to clean up the mess left behind after the academic fraud scandal under Clem Haskins. Graduating players and recruiting quality student-athletes has been very important for Monson. But at the Division I level, athletics is very much a business and winning is still the bottom line.

Monson is 116-101 in seven seasons at Minnesota but only 44-68 in Big Ten play. The Gophers have a pair of 10th-place finishes in the past three seasons.

Monson said he was told by Maturi several weeks ago that he would return as the Gophers head coach. That was reiterated late Tuesday after the loss at Cincinnati.

"It makes me feel like I have support, and that's what you need when you're not doing as well as you need to," Monson said. "We're struggling, and the only way you get out of there is to support each other and I feel I have the support I need to have that success and get us back on track."

The Gophers entered this season with expectations of returning to the NCAA tournament. All-Big Ten selection Vincent Grier returned from the 2004-05 team that overachieved, reaching the tournament for the first time since 1999. He was joined by a pair of senior guards who sat out last season, Adam Boone and Moe Hargrow.

After going 9-2 in an injury-filled nonconference season, the Gophers lost their first six games in Big Ten play. That slow start even had Monson concerned about his future.

"Well, you're coming off an NCAA berth on your first year after probation, you're 9-2, you don't think about it," Monson said. "But when you go on a six-game losing streak you always wonder how you're doing. That's the nature of this job. You understand that wins and losses are very important to people, and you're not going to please everybody."

While the Gophers coaches spent part of Wednesday calling recruits and reassuring them that there won't be a coaching change, Monson said the program will move forward.

"If I've had any experience in seven years, it's in handling adversity," Monson said. "I think we'll handle this and the program will handle it. We've got some explaining to do to recruits, but it's nothing that we can't overcome."

Staff writers Chip Scoggins and Mary Jane Smetanka contributed to this report.