On Friday, Minnesota will finally get shovels in the ground for a $166 million Athletes Village project that has been in the works since the summer of 2013.
Sadly for Minnesota, facilities fundraiser and champion Jerry Kill will no longer be the school's football coach when the first pieces of earth are tossed. The groundbreaking does, however, mark a big moment for Gophers athletics; the new facilities are expected to be done by 2018 and will, in a way, move the program into the 21st century.
"It's progress, which is awesome," Gophers men's basketball coach Pitino said last week. "I'm very grateful for the Regents, very grateful for the president. [Interim athletic director] Beth [Goetz], what she's been able to do and certainly the donors to come forward, get this done, it's going to change our athletic department. It's going to change all the programs. And that's something that's extremely, extremely exciting. We've got so much to offer, now you put that in the mix as well – it's going to be really special. So we're really excited about it."
Gold in the Barn: startribune.com/gophers
