RandBall: Minnesota sports rise up when the Gophers are relevant in basketball

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I was in college at the University of Minnesota for the peak (and ultimately what proved to be the dramatic awful end) of the Clem Haskins era of Gophers men’s basketball.

It was a glorious time.

Williams Arena was rocking. The Gophers were often good and always relevant, no more so than in the 1996-97 season that culminated in a trip to the Final Four.

The Gophers women’s basketball team’s trip to the Final Four came in the 2003-04 season, part of a run that saw Minnesota make the NCAA tournament seven times in eight years.

Neither program has come anywhere near that level since then.

The most generous reading of the term “relevant” could be applied to the six Gophers men’s seasons under Tubby Smith, though it feels like “respectable” is a better term.

But it has been a long time since a wide expanse of the Gophers fan base was given any sustained reason to be rabid about either team.

That, and this modern college sports era of big money and transfers, are the hills that Niko Medved and Dawn Plitzuweit are trying to climb.

Medved’s first game as Gophers coach was a rousing success Monday, as I talked about on the Daily Delivery podcast, but the crisp 87-60 win over Gardner-Webb carried with it an announced crowd of just 7,669.

There is room for almost twice as many spectators in the nearly century old Barn. Sure, a lot of them can say they are waiting for the brighter lights and more formidable foes of conference play before they check out what Medved, a former student manager under Haskins, has cooking.

It’s fair and wise to wait-and-see.

Plitzuweit’s two seasons have been promising but not entirely fulfilling with the Gophers competing in non-NCAA tournament postseason play (including winning the WBIT a season ago) but finishing in the bottom half of the conference both years.

Season three begins Tuesday against North Dakota with considerable expectations but also questions of staying healthy and withstanding the surprising recent transfer portal loss of Mallory Heyer.

Both coaches are competing in an almost impossibly crowded sports landscape that includes almost every high-level pro team imaginable in addition to relative Division I newbie St. Thomas.

Carving out a place of sustained relevance won’t be easy. But history says it is both doable and good for the overall health and morale of Minnesota sports.

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