NCAA playoff hopes still very slim for U

The Gophers men's basketball team is 17-9 after beating Penn State 75-67 on Sunday. However, with Purdue, Indiana and Illinois remaining on the road and only Ohio State left at home before the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis, the chances of the team reaching 20 victories and garnering possible consideration for the NCAA tournament are slim.

The Gophers definitely will be underdogs in all three road games. The Gophers also can make the NCAA tournament by winning the Big Ten tournament.

This team likely is headed for the NIT, which would be a big improvement over last year.

But one thing new coach Tubby Smith has instilled in the players is the confidence they lacked a year ago, when they were playing just to get their 9-22 season over with.

"At this stage last year, we weren't playing for nothing," fifth-year senior Lawrence McKenzie said. "There wasn't no pressure on us, and I think right now, even though some people might not think that, and everybody has their opinion, I think we're still playing for an [NCAA] tournament bid.

"Even if we've got to go to the Big Ten tournament and win a number of games, I still think we're playing for a tournament bid. That's the main goal right now, I think guys are playing a lot more confident, and I think we're playing with a lot more confidence."

Well, the Gophers still are looking for that first signature victory, but you have to admire the attitude of McKenzie and his teammates.

"I think things worked out the right way. God had a plan for me and I think it worked out the right way," McKenzie said.

If he had to do it all over, would he have started at Minnesota? "I don't know," he replied. "If I had to do it again, maybe I'd do the same thing. Because I think this worked out perfect now, playing for a great coach in Tubby Smith. It's a blessing."

Sampson left Oklahoma before the 2006-07 season for Indiana, but he accepted a buyout Friday after he ran into more NCAA trouble for recruiting violations.

McKenzie said he was surprised to see Sampson have the problems he had with the Hoosiers.

"I feel bad for his family, but I know you've got to follow the rules, that's the name of the game," McKenzie said. "He's a great guy off the court, you know, he was kind of like another father figure for me down there in Oklahoma, but he's just a great guy. On the court, he's pretty tough but he also gives you a lot of confidence.

Wolves won't sign expensive free agents Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said because the team has to pay millions of dollars to players whose contracts were bought out such as Troy Hudson and Juwan Howard, there won't be a lot of money available to sign big-money free agents for the 2008-09 season.

For next season, the team will have to improve by experience of the current squad and the draft.

Despite the poor attendance at Wolves games this year, Taylor said that the team will lose only $15 million this year, less than they lost when they were drawing big crowds and had some bigger payrolls.

Taylor's partners have not been asked to contribute to any of the team's losses in recent years, but he said the team owes U.S. Bank $70 million on loans that were able to pay for losses over the years.

He added that the NBA now allows each team to have a credit line of $150 million. But Taylor said the Wolves have a credit rating of $400 million, even though the league wouldn't let them use it. But Taylor said the figure is at least an indication of what the bank believes the team is worth.

Jottings David Pittman, the highly recruited Pasadena (Calif.) City College quarterback joining the Gophers, said he played several positions in high school, and he wouldn't have any problem switching to wherever he was needed, either on offense or defense.

Gary O'Hagan, a local resident and a lead executive for the IMG sports management agency, said he is close to working out a multiyear contract for the Giants' Tom Coughlin that will make this year's Super Bowl winner one of the highest-paid coaches in the NFL. ... The rumors about Lane Kiffin being forced to resign as Raiders coach have quieted down, but the NFL Network reported the stalemate between the former Bloomington Jefferson athlete and team owner Al Davis has continued. Still, it appears Kiffin will back for a second year in Oakland. Meanwhile, Kiffin's father, Monte, the former Vikings assistant, has signed a multiyear contract as Buccaneers defensive coordinator, with a raise from $1.7 million to $2 million-plus.

Point guard Anthony Carter never got too much of a chance to show what he could do with the Wolves, but last week as the Nuggets beat the great Celtics, there he was playing in the crucial final minutes of the game helping Denver win. Playing about 30 minutes a game, Carter is averaging 7.9 points and 6.0 assists in 43 games, including 40 starts.

Freshman Justin Strommes of Cold Spring Rocori is a starting guard for Eastern Kentucky, averaging 6.5 points for the Colonels (14-13).

Gophers senior Clayton Rask, who is ranked No. 10 in the latest Golfweek men's national rankings, has been named to the 2008 Ben Hogan Award Watch List. Rask, from Otsego, is coming off a fall season that saw him average a team-best 71.33 strokes per round. He tied for medalist honors at both the Windon Memorial Classic and The Prestige at PGA WEST while posting two of the top 54-hole scores in Gophers history.