Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
| Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball | |||||||||
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| University | University of Minnesota | ||||||||
| First season | 1895–96; 131 years ago | ||||||||
| Athletic director | Mark Coyle | ||||||||
| Head coach | Niko Medved 1st season, 15–17 (.469) | ||||||||
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota | ||||||||
| Arena | Williams Arena (capacity: 14,625) | ||||||||
| NCAA division | Division I | ||||||||
| Conference | Big Ten | ||||||||
| Nickname | Golden Gophers | ||||||||
| Colors | Maroon and gold | ||||||||
| Student section | The Barnyard | ||||||||
| All-time record | 1,748–1,335 (.567) | ||||||||
| NCAA tournament record | 14–14 (.500) | ||||||||
| NCAA Division I tournament Final Four | |||||||||
| 1997* | |||||||||
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| Pre-tournament Helms national champions | |||||||||
| 1901–02, 1918–19 | |||||||||
| NIT champions | |||||||||
| 1993, 2014 | |||||||||
| Conference regular-season champions | |||||||||
| Big Ten: 1906, 1907, 1911, 1917, 1919, 1937, 1972, 1982, 1997* | |||||||||
| Uniforms | |||||||||
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* vacated by NCAA | |||||||||
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota in NCAA Division I college basketball competition. The Golden Gophers competes in the Big Ten Conference and play their home games at the Williams Arena.
The Gophers had great success in the early years of basketball, but have been largely overshadowed by other programs since the end of World War I. In total, the Gophers have won nine Big Ten championships, but only four since 1919. The Helms Athletic Foundation has retroactively named Minnesota as national champions in 1902 and 1919, and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll has listed Minnesota as the top team in 1903. While the NCAA does not officially recognize Premo-Porretta, it lists the Helms champions in the annual Official NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book, and Minnesota claims the two Helms designations as national championships.
The team has also had several instances of NCAA sanctions on the program that have affected performance and recruiting. In the 1970s, the Gophers were in a violent brawl with the Ohio State Buckeyes and were barred from post-season appearances for two seasons after an incident involving the illegal resale of tickets. Still more severe was the mid-1990s academic scandal under then-coach Clem Haskins that resulted in the forfeit of a Final Four appearance.