Veteran lineup has No. 15 Minnesota on the rise (Nov 10, 2017)
The 2017-18 Minnesota team represents a rarity among high-major basketball programs. It has all five starters back from a 24-win squad that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament.
That probably is why the Golden Gophers start as the 15th-ranked team in the country, and why they are a big favorite in their Friday night season opener against South Carolina Upstate at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
Expectations for Minnesota have turned 180 degrees from this time last November. They were coming off a 23-loss season, and coach Richard Pitino's seat had flames rising from it, as there were also multiple off-court legal issues.
Now? The Golden Gophers are contenders to win the Big Ten Conference, their only significant graduation loss appears to have been covered by a solid recruiting class, and Pitino is re-established as a hot young name.
But to hear Pitino tell it, the process this preseason was the same as the last preseason.
"For me, it's business as usual," he said. "We were picked 13th last year, but I felt good about our team. That noise, even though it's more positive this year, is still irrelevant. I think we've got a good team. We just need to get better and stick to the plan."
Which means solid defense, balanced scoring and hard-nosed play inside will continue to be trademarks. The marquee name in the lineup is 6-foot-2 senior point guard Nate Mason, who last season was the program's first All-Big Ten first-team pick since Kris Humphries in 2004.
Mason averaged 15.2 points and 5.0 assists, canning 36 percent of his 3-pointers and helping Minnesota triple its win total from the previous year. He was one of four double-figure scorers in the lineup, which also features 6-5 guard Dupree McBrayer (10.9 ppg), 6-8 guard Amir Coffey (12.1) and 6-6 power forward Jordan Murphy (11.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg).
Reggie Lynch, a 6-10 senior center, doesn't score as much (8.4 ppg), but more than makes up for it with rebounding (6.2) and shot-blocking. Lynch's 3.5 rejections per game were second in Division I last season, and if he stays out of foul trouble, opponents have a hard time scoring in the lane.
USC Upstate is coming off a 17-16 season and is picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Spartans are led by 6-1 junior guard Mike Cunningham, who tallied 13.4 points and dished out 3.1 assists last season.
Malik Moore, a 6-6 junior, scored 10.5 points and grabbed 5.2 rebounds per game in 2016-17, and 6-3 guard Deion Holmes added an average of 8.9 points. Up front, 6-7 senior Ramel Thompkins contributed 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds, sinking 37 percent of his 3-pointers.
The big story at USC Upstate in the preseason was a surprise coaching change. Eddie Payne, who oversaw the program's ascent into Division I during his 15 seasons, resigned on Oct. 3 when the pain from a second ankle replacement became too much to bear.
Kyle Perry, an assistant under Payne for the past eight seasons, was named the new coach Oct. 20. He acknowledges that opening against a top-15 opponent will be a difficult task.
"It will be a good challenge for our kids and we'll have an opportunity to go see what we're made of," Perry said.
