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Sports Notebook

Former Gopher basketball coach Jim Dutcher (left) and Trent Tucker

The jersey of former Minnesota basketball standout Trent Tucker (B.A. ’06) was raised to the rafters of Williams Arena during halftime of the Gopher–Indiana game February 10. Tucker’s No. 32 joined the jerseys of Gopher greats Kevin McHale, Lou Hudson, Mychal Thompson, and Jim Brewer, whose numbers have also been retired. Tucker, a native of Flint, Michigan, played four seasons at the U under Coach Jim Dutcher, leading the Gophers to the Big Ten title in 1982. Following his collegiate career, he played pro basketball for 11 years and won a world championship as a member of the Chicago Bulls. He returned to the U in 2004 to complete his degree in education. Tucker is currently vice president of community outreach and youth development at the U, where he works with middle school students on post-secondary readiness. He is also a basketball commentator on the Big Ten Network.

A survey conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education shows that the U has the smallest athletics endowment of any university in the Big Ten. At $25 million, the U’s endowment is about half that of Penn State and Ohio State, which led the conference. The endowment is used to fund athletics scholarships. Athletics director Joel Maturi acknowledged the need to increase the endowment but noted that the department’s priority in recent years has been raising money for construction of TCF Bank Stadium.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams each threw monkeys off their backs in January by snapping long-standing losing streaks against Big Ten opponents. The women upended nationally ranked Ohio State 59-56 on January 15 to record the Gophers’ first-ever win at Columbus after 23 previous attempts. The men, stymied in their previous 20 contests with Illinois, crushed the Illini at home 59-36 on January 29. It was the fewest points allowed by the Gophers against a conference opponent since 1951.

The reigning Big Ten champion Golden Gopher soccer team will try to extend its record-breaking home winning streak when it hosts the Minnesota Spring Classic April 18. The Spring Classic, which marks the end of the spring season, will feature the Gophers, Nebraska, North Dakota State, and Drake University. Last year the Gophers went 12-0 at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium, marking the team’s first-ever undefeated home season. The Gophers’ 22 wins overall set new school records for number of wins and winning percentage (.846), and earned them a ranking of No. 15 to end the season. The team advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, where they lost 1-0 in overtime to then-No. 1 Notre Dame.

Head football coach Tim Brewster made good on his intention to toughen the Gophers’ nonconference schedule by securing two games with national powerhouse University of Southern California. Minnesota will host the Trojans at TCF Bank Stadium on September 18, 2010, and will play at USC to open the 2011 season.

Gopher distance runners Chris Rombough and Hassan Mead each bested the previous school record in the 3,000-meter run at the Washington Husky Classic in February. Mead’s time of 7 minutes, 56.60 seconds broke the previous mark of 7:59:36, which Rombough set last year. Rombough’s time at the Husky Classic was 7:57:58. Rombough is a junior from Fremont, Wisconsin, and Mead is a sophomore from Minneapolis.

Gopher women swimmers won 10 events, but still came up short in defending last year’s title during the Big Ten championships. Led by senior Jenny Shaugnessy, who was named Swimmer of the Championships, the Gophers finished second to Indiana. The Gophers broke all but four school records during the meet.
—Cynthia Scott

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