1996–97 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 3 1996–97 Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball Minnesota Golden Gophers logo.svg Big Ten Conference Big Ten 3 0-4 (31–4 unadjusted) 0-2 (16–2 unadjusted) Clem Haskins 11th Larry Davis Bill Brown Charles Cunningham Bobby Jackson Williams Arena Big Ten Regular Season Champions (Vacated) NCAA tournament Final Four (Vacated) The 1996–97 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, coached by Clem Haskins, played their home games in Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 31–4, 16–2 in Big Ten play to win the Big Ten championship. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. There they defeated Southwest Texas State and Temple to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated Clemson and UCLA to advance to the Final Four for the first time in school history. There they lost to Kentucky. In 1999, an academic fraud scandal revealed that Minnesota academic counseling office manager Jan Gangelhoff had done coursework for at least 20 Minnesota basketball players since 1993. Four players from the Minnesota basketball team were immediately suspended, pending an investigation for academic fraud. Head coach Clem Haskins, men's athletic director Mark Dienhart, and university vice president McKinley Boston all resigned. The NCAA sanctioned Minnesota by vacating all appearances in the 1994, 1995, and 1997 NCAA Tournaments and 1996 and 1998 National Invitation Tournaments, as well as individual records of those student-athletes found to have committed academic fraud. The NCAA further issued show-cause penalties for Haskins and Newby (both until October 23, 2007) and Gangelhoff (until October 23, 2005). The Gophers were also stripped of the Big Ten title due to the scandal.https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100157&page=1 Big Ten Strips Minnesota of 1997 Title ABC News Roster 1996 Minnesota Golden Gophers y yes Russ Archambault 3 G 6 1 185 FR Fort Yates, ND Sartell Courtney James y 4 F 6 8 270 SO Indianapolis, IN Ben Davis Sam Jacobson y 5 G/F 6 6 210 JR Cottage Grove, MN Park John Thomas y basketball 12 C 6 9 275 SR Minneapolis, MN Roosevelt Aaron Stauber 15 G 6 3 185 SR Sheboygan, WI Sheboygan Quincy Lewis y 20 G/F 6 7 200 SO Little Rock, AR Parkview Arts and Science Magnet Kevin Loge 22 F/C 6 10 230 FR Morris, MN Morris Area Bobby Jackson y basketball 24 G 6 1 185 SR Salisbury, NC Western Nebraska C.C. Eric Harris 33 G 6 3 195 JR New York, NY St. Raymond Charles Thomas 34 C 6 4 200 SO Harlan, KY Harlan Miles Tarver 42 F 6 8 225 SO Oakland, CA St. Joseph Notre Dame Trevor Winter y 50 C 7 0 275 SR Slayton, MN Slayton Kyle Sanden 51 C 6 11 230 FR Thief River Falls, MN Lincoln Clem Haskins (Western Kentucky) http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/m-baskbl-mtt-96-97.html Schedule and results |- !colspan=9 style=Minnesota Golden Gophers|Non-conference regular season November 23 yes 23 1996–97 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 101–55 1–0 November 26 yes 24 1996–97 West Virginia Mountaineers University of West Virginia West Virginia Target Center Minneapolis, MN 76–61 2–0 November 29 yes yes 24 1996–97 Puerto Rico-Mayagüez University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Puerto Rico-Mayagüez San Juan, PR San Juan Shootout 104–62 3–0 November 30 yes yes 24 1996–97 Creighton Bluejays Creighton University Creighton San Juan, PR San Juan Shootout 64–63 4–0 December 1 yes yes 24 Clemson 10 San Juan, PR San Juan Shootout 75–65 5–0 December 5 yes yes 16 Alabama Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL 67–70 5–1 December 15 yes 17 St. John's Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 77–39 6–1 December 17 yes yes 16 Rhode Island Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, RI 82–72 7–1 December 21 yes yes 16 Nebraska Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, NE 70–56 8–1 December 23 yes 16 1996–97 Alabama State Hornets Alabama State University Alabama State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 114–34 9–1 December 28 yes 15 Long Island University Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 104–84 10–1 December 31 yes 15 1996–97 Mercer Bears Mercer University Mercer Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 94–53 11–1 |- !colspan=9 style=Minnesota Golden Gophers|Big Ten regular season January 2 15 Wisconsin Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 65–48 12–1 1–0 January 4 yes 15 Michigan State Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 68–43 13–1 2–0 January 8 yes 11 Indiana 15 Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN 96–91 OT 14–1 3–0 January 11 11 Michigan 16 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 70–64 15–1 4–0 January 14 yes 7 Illinois Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 90–96 15–2 4–1 January 18 yes 7 1996–97 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State University Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 73–67 16–2 5–1 January 23 8 Iowa Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 66–51 17–2 6–1 January 25 8 Purdue Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 91–68 18–2 7–1 February 1 yes 6 1996–97 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern University Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL 75–56 19–2 8–1 February 5 4 1996–97 Penn State Nittany Lions Pennsylvania State University Penn State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 85–70 20–2 9–1 February 12 yes 3 Purdue Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN 70–67 21–2 10–1 February 15 yes 3 Iowa Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA 68–66 22–2 11–1 February 19 2 Ohio State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 60–48 23–2 12–1 February 22 2 Illinois 23 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 67–66 24–2 13–1 February 26 yes 2 Michigan 24 Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI 55–54 25–2 14–1 March 1 2 Indiana 22 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 75–72 26–2 15–1 March 6 2 Michigan State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 81–74 27–2 16–1 March 8 yes 2 Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 65–66 27–3 16–2 |- !colspan=9 style=Minnesota Golden Gophers|NCAA tournament March 14 yes 1 MW yes 3 Southwest Texas State 16 MW Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO First Round CBS Regional 78–46Golden Gophers Bury SW Texas State, 78-46 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/colbask/men/articles/swtexminn.htm The Washington Post March 15, 1997 February 16, 2022 28–3 March 16 yes 1 MW yes 3 Temple 9 MW Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO Second Round CBS Regional 76–57Minnesota Cruises Past Temple; Clemson Ousts Tulsa https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/17/sports/minnesota-cruises-past-temple-clemson-ousts-tulsa.html The New York Times March 17, 1997 February 16, 2022 29–3 March 20 yes 1 MW yes 3 Clemson 14 4 MW Alamodome San Antonio, TX Sweet Sixteen CBS Regional 90–84 2OTGophers dig out 2-OT win over Clemson https://www.baltimoresun.com/1997/03/21/gophers-dig-out-2-ot-win-over-clemson-minnesota-blows-lead-in-regulation-but-steps-up-to-elite-eight-90-84-jackson-hits-career-high-36-with-4-fouls-he-leads-1st-ot-rally-win-in-2nd-minn-point-guard-hu/ The Baltimore Sun March 21, 1997 February 16, 2022 30–3 March 22 yes 1 MW yes 3 UCLA 7 2 MW Alamodome San Antonio, TX Elite Eight CBS 80–72Golden Gophers Plow Into First Final Four https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/colbask/men/articles/minnucla.htm The Washington Post March 23, 1997 February 16, 2022 31–3 March 29 yes 1 MW yes 3 Kentucky 5 1 W RCA Dome Indianapolis, INhttps://www.ncaa.com/history/basketball-men/d1 DI Men's Basketball Championship History | NCAA.com www.ncaa.com Final Four CBS 69–78 31–4 AP Poll Central Time MW Midwest Sourcehttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/minnesota/1997-schedule.html 1996-97 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com en 2018-04-12 2019–20 Minnesota Men's Basketball Media Guide https://gophersports.com/documents/2019/10/11/MBB_Media_Guide_Web_2019_20.pdf University of Minnesota Athletics April 26, 2020 Rankings 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings Awards Team MVP Bobby JacksonAwards and Honors https://web.archive.org/web/20100110021707/http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=39209&SPID=3302&DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=274577 January 10, 2010 , May 4, 2006. Access date September 28, 2008. References Minnesota Golden Gophers Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons Minnesota Minne Minne