2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

The 2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the college basketball season of 2007–2008. The team's head coach, Tubby Smith began his first year at Minnesota after leaving Kentucky in March 2007. The Golden Gophers played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota and are members of the Big Ten Conference.

Season On March 7, 2007, it was announced that Tubby Smith would be leaving Kentucky after ten years to coach at Minnesota. Smith still had 4 years left on his contract, but elected to sign on for seven years with the Golden Gophers. The season was highlighted with a run in the Big Ten tournament, where the Gophers defeated Northwestern in the first round, then shocked Indiana with a last second, miraculous jump shot by Blake Hoffarber to advance to the semifinals. Blake's shot earned him the second ESPY nomination of his career. Minnesota would then lose to Illinois and be selected as a #4 seed in the National Invitation Tournament, where they made a first round exit on their home court.

Roster #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious Team(s)0Al Nolen6'1"180GFr.Minneapolis, MN, U.S.Minneapolis Henry HS1Lawrence McKenzie6'2"180GRSr.Minneapolis, MN, U.S.Minneapolis Henry HSOklahoma2Ryan Saunders6'1"180GRJr.Medina, MN, U.S.Wayzata HS3Kevin Payton6'5"215GRSo.Camden, NJ, U.S.Camden HS4Travis Busch6'4"220G/FRSo.Mounds View, MN, U.S.Mounds View HSCal Poly11Jon Williams6'9"285CRJr.St. Cloud, MN, U.S.St. Cloud Apollo HSNotre Dame Prep (MA)13Dan Coleman6'9"225FRSr.Minneapolis, MN, U.S.Hopkins HS20Lawrence Westbrook6'0"195GSo.Chandler, AZ, U.S.Winchendon Prep23Brandon Smith6'6"220G/FJr.Minneapolis, MN, U.S.Minneapolis Henry HS24Blake Hoffarber6'4"200GFr.Minnetonka, MN, U.S.Hopkins HS33Jamal Abu-Shamala6'5"210G/FJr.Shakopee, MN, U.S.Shakopee HS34Damian Johnson6'7"195FRSo.Thibodaux, LA, U.S.Thibodaux HS50Spencer Tollackson6'9"260CSr.Chaska, MN, U.S.Chaska HS

2007–08 Schedule and results

! colspan="6" style="text-align: center; background:#800000" | Exhibition

! colspan="6" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|Regular Season

! colspan="6" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|Big Ten Regular Season

! colspan="6" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|2008 Big Ten tournament

! colspan="6" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|2008 National Invitation tournament

Rankings

The 2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball team was not ranked during the season.

References