Photo by Charles Bertram.
Tubby Smith tells ESPN’s Andy Katz that his rebuilding job at Minnesota is ahead of a schedule.
The Gophers are one of just 13 Division I teams that are still undefeated.
Katz’s story just posted today. An exceprt:
Smith’s scheduling philosophy with the Gophers was quite simple: get wins and gain confidence. The Gophers made the NIT last season, losing in the first round to Maryland, in Smith’s first season since his stunning move from Kentucky to Minnesota and were an intriguing postseason pick this season in a fluid Big Ten. The Gophers have played one true road game — at Mountain West bottom dweller Colorado State. The best home wins so far are over the likely last-place ACC team in Virginia and the potential Ivy league champ Cornell.
“We knew we had a young team and with the schedule would have a chance to grow,” Smith said. “We’ve also had some injuries and Monday was the first day we had all 13 players back from injury.”
Minnesota plays Rick Pitino and Louisville in Glendale, Arizona on Saturday.
John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky and graduate of UK, he covered UK football for 13 seasons before being promoted to columnist in 2000. He lives in Lexington with his wife and two sons. You can e-mail him at jclay@herald-leader.com.
0 Responses to “Tubby says Gophers ahead of schedule”