Written By Sam Ekstrom
On Tuesday evening in the Williams Arena Media Room, head coach Richard Pitino faced his largest media throng of the season. At this stage of the season, he might have hoped to be facing sizable media scrums to discuss the team’s NCAA tournament bubble hopes. Rather, he found himself facing a deluge of questions pertaining to an illicit sex tape that hung in the air like an eight-ton elephant.
Nobody knows many details, and the Gophers are understandably not eager to fill in the blanks, standing by “student privacy” regulations, as Pitino stated on Tuesday. What is known is that freshman Kevin Dorsey, Jr., posted an obscene video to his Twitter account on Friday, and teammates Nate Mason and Dupree McBrayer were accomplices in some unknown fashion (assuming the suspensions stem from the same incident). For the Gophers, it makes sense to be discreet around something of this sensitive nature. The fewer details people find out, the more face the program saves.
Regardless of what each guilty party’s role was, Pitino, his staff and interim athletic director Beth Goetz seem to have identified this situation as an opportunity to crack the whip on bad behavior at a time when precedent desperately needed to be set. “It was something that we felt was best for our program and best for our culture more than anything,” said Pitino, who used some version of ‘best for our program’ eight separate times during the presser. While that message may seem clichéd, it’s accurate. Minnesota cannot afford to mess up this generation of young talent, lest they deteriorate into a Penn State or Rutgers-type program.
The Gophers are already treading murky waters by giving a group of 18 and 19 year olds the reins to a team with very little veteran guidance. Coincidentally, the Gophers have such a dearth of mentors thanks to other off-court incidents and program incompatibility issues. Just last year DaQuein McNeil was charged with assault, Zach Martin transferred over playing time concerns and Zach Lofton didn’t meet team obligations.
The few remaining players that Minnesota’s youth should have been emulating this season haven’t set gleaming examples either. Redshirt junior Charles Buggs was benched earlier this season for some kind of internal issue. Senior Carlos Morris was dismissed from the team for reportedly arguing with Pitino following a game. The other senior, Joey King, is an admirably hard worker, but is somewhat quiet and not necessarily a galvanizing presence in the locker room.
In summary, the underclassmen have a decided majority on the roster and have, by default, been given the freedom to build their own culture at a dangerously young age. It’s vital that Pitino builds a disciplined foundation now while his pupils are still impressionable. Insubordination can be infectious if it lingers.
To his credit, Pitino has recruited some quality individuals in the latest freshman class. Jordan Murphy is a double-double machine on the court and a polite, motivated student that Pitino has said the academic department loves. Take a look also at Stephon Sharp, who played point guard for the first time since fifth grade on Sunday and scored 19 points. He could have gone to an Ivy League school if he’d wanted. “On the court, off the court, who’s going to represent this University the right way?” pondered Pitino. “Who’s going to fit in with our style of play from a basketball standpoint? Who’s going to fit in from a culture standpoint of what we’re wanting?”
In this instance, the Gophers have taken a short-term hit for a long-term payoff, or so they hope. While the loss of Mason, Dorsey and McBrayer diminishes their body count to eight and their chances of winning a Big Ten Tournament game to, well, probably about 8 percent, not to mention the bad press surrounding the team, the Gophers are trying to build a culture of accountability that will permeate from class to class. They’ve got Amir Coffey, Eric Curry and Michael Hurt coming next season – a trio more hotly-anticipated than any Pitino class to date – and the program can’t afford to raise them in a shaky environment. Coffey and Hurt are two of the better in-state recruits Minnesota has landed in years. Curry is the best power forward from Arkansas.
There’s a reason the Minnesota Timberwolves brought in Kevin Garnett, Tayshaun Prince and Andre Miller, or why the Twins brought in Torii Hunter. You can’t underestimate the power of mentorship.
“More than anything,” said Pitino, “we’re going to hold your kids accountable. You talk about that in recruiting. This is a great opportunity. We’re going to make sure that we’re entrusted in your son, that we’re going to do everything possible — not just about basketball — we’re going to do everything possible to make sure these guys leave better people.
“It may affect basketball a little bit, it may affect wins and losses. That’s just something we believe in now we’ll be better off in the long run because of it.”
Photo By Sam Ekstrom