Haskins' anniversary present is an ovation of love, not derision

The Gophers drew Syracuse in the Southeast Regional semifinals in 1990 and upset the Orangemen 82-75. Two days later, the Gophers were back in the Louisiana Superdome and lost 93-91 to Georgia Tech in a fabulous battle.

Clem Haskins had coached the Gophers to a second consecutive NCAA tournament and to the school's first-ever appearance in a regional final.

When you check the official records, those numbers still stand for Haskins and the Gophers. There were four more NCAA berths over the next nine seasons, including a journey to the Final Four in 1997.

Those are gone now. You can find the Gophers' first NIT title from 1993 in the record book, but not the second in 1998.

These postseason achievements are gone, along with every other result from Clem's final six years with the Gophers -- from the fall of 1993 to the spring of 1999. All you can find in the official records are the list of games played, and season records that read 0-0 for the Gophers and for Haskins.

This was because of the academic scandal that surfaced in March 1999, when office employee Jan Gangelhoff told her story of writing papers for many of Clem's Gophers to the St. Paul newspaper.

Haskins collected a buyout and was gone by June. The university was so paranoid about its connection to Clem and the academic fraud that he was airbrushed out of a montage covering Gophers basketball history.

On Tuesday night, the Gophers decided to recognize the 20th anniversary of the 1990 team with a halftime ceremony. It took some lobbying from current coach Tubby Smith, Haskins' longtime friend, to get Clem to make the trip from Kentucky for the gathering.

Richard Coffey was the rebounding terror and the emotional leader of the '90 team. He said it was the current basketball program that initiated the idea of a 20th anniversary get-together.

"I never heard much from the university until Tubby became the coach," Coffey said. "Now, a card shows up on my birthday every year, along with an invite to come to practice anytime."

Coffey was asked how he felt the Williams Arena crowd would welcome Haskins. "Gopher fans know Clem did a lot of good things, and my guess is they are going to cheer him," he said.

Kevin Lynch also was asked for a prediction on Haskins' greeting. There was a brief catch in his voice and then the tall guard from Bloomington said:

Haskins and his wife, Yevette, were occupying the seats of athletic director Joel Maturi, a few rows behind the Gophers bench. Clem sat with arms folded for a time in the first half, but eventually started using body language to help coach the Gophers as they played defense in front of him.

The '90 Gophers walked onto the elevated floor a minute into halftime. Haskins stayed in his seat. Tubby Smith took the microphone, cited the team's trip to the Elite Eight, said a few kind words about the coach of those Gophers and then introduced Clem.

There was a robust cheer. Haskins tried to acknowledge this with a wave, but was interrupted as a sprightly octogenarian sportswriter came rushing up the aisle and put the former coach in an embrace.

Haskins maneuvered his way free of this grip and then accepted his players' encouragement to join them on the floor. The cheers grew louder, Clem engaged in hugs with every player he could reach, and then Willie Burton grabbed his coach's arm and waved it toward the crowd.

After a minute, Haskins made his way back to his seat, the players were introduced and then the Williams Arena faithful calmed to wait for the second half.

"Oh, man, I'm checking my heart," Haskins said. "I've had three attacks and I think I'm going to have a fourth. I thank everybody for this."