Men’s basketball: Money talks; Gophers jump at chance to play in Crown tournament
Gophers men’s basketball coach Niko Medved asked his short-handed roster a few weeks ago if they wanted to participate in the College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas. “They wanted to play,” Medved said. “And if they wanted to play, then I’m all in.
” Minnesota is betting on itself, pushing its chips into the middle as one of eight high-major programs to participate in the second-year tournament. A purse of $500,000 in name, image and likeness (NIL) surely had something to do with U players wanting to keep their season going. The criteria for the Crown’s field was expected to be the top two Big Ten teams in the NET ranking who were not included in the NCAA Tournament.
If that’s the exact order, Indiana, Washington, Northwestern and Southern Cal would have had to say, ‘no thanks,” for Minnesota to eventually get the nod. But Medved said he wasn’t surprised to get the call. “I knew going down the wire; we were right there,” he said Monday.
“We finished 11th in the Big Ten (and nine made March Madness). I think, obviously, they look at NET rankings and stuff. Maybe for some of the teams, with a different situation where they were, it didn’t make sense.
” The Gophers (15-17) will play Baylor (16-16) at 9:30 p. m. Wednesday at MGM Grand Garden Arena.