The Minnesota basketball program has had a bit of a dark past in terms of being amongst the elite in the country. They have one of the harder venues in the Big Ten at Williams Arena. Yet team success has been hard to come by in the modern years of basketball. Nothing special outside of a couple of solid runs in the mid-2000s.
The Gophers had a special run in 1997, as they reached the highest point in their NCAA Tournament history when they advanced to the Final Four. However, that spectacular run was later taken away because of several academic issues. Before World War I, the Gophers were amongst the elite in college basketball, with three national titles well before the invention of the NCAA Tournament. They haven’t even sniffed the Sweet 16 since 1990. The last NCAA tournament appearance for Minnesota was in 2019.
Despite the lack of team success, there have been several individuals of note who have played for Minnesota basketball. Let’s take a closer look at the All-Time Gophers starting lineup.
Minnesota Basketball: Gophers All-Time Starting Lineup
Guard: Bobby Jackson
This player may have been at the forefront of the academic fraud scandal in 1997. He was still one of the most recent outstanding players for the Gophers. Bobby Jackson came to Minnesota as a junior college transfer and put up one heck of a two-year career from 1995-1997. The best of which was his senior campaign, where he scored 534 points atl go along with 213 rebounds and 139 assists. He was the face of the Big Ten during the 96-97 season as he won Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and was First Team All-Big Ten.
It didn’t stop there as he was also successful in the NCAA tournament that season leading the Gophers to the Final Four. In doing so, he was named to the All-NCAA Tournament team and was a Second Team consensus All-American. The hammer fell on Minnesota however as their Final Four berth and Jackson’s Big Ten Player of the Year award were later vacated.
Still, Jackson’s time at Minnesota led to an NBA Draft selection in 1997 where he was the 23rd pick. He turned into a solid backup point guard in the NBA, where he won the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2003. His best time in the league came during his tenure with the Sacramento Kings where he played from 2000-2005. His pro career lasted from 1997-2009, which is a very respectable NBA career. If he hadn’t got caught up in the academic scandal at Minnesota, who knows how things could have gone? Jackson currently serves as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Despite being blackballed, he’s the best point guard the Gophers have had in recent memory.
Guard: Lou Hudson
You have to go way back in time to find another elite-level guard for Minnesota. Lou Hudson may have only garnered an All-Big Ten honor, but at the time he played, he was special. He helped break the barrier in Minneapolis as he was part of the first African-American recruiting class in Minnesota basketball history. He also chose the Gophers over Dean Smith’s North Carolina Tar Heels.
When Hudson first cracked the varsity lineup at Minnesota as a sophomore, he did so with elite-level play averaging 18 points and eight rebounds per game. That led to an outstanding junior season in 1964-65. Hudson averaged nearly 25 points and 11 rebounds on his way to First Team All-Big Ten and an All-American honor. The team itself had a great season winning 19 games and finishing second to Michigan in the Big Ten. Despite an injured-plagued senior season, he left Minnesota with a career average of 20.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in 65 career games.
That led to an outstanding NBA career where he was the fourth overall pick in 1966, by the then St. Louis Hawks. He spent over a decade as a Hawk, before playing his final three seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and has his number retired both by the Hawks and the Golden Gophers. This basketball Hall of Famer is certainly deserving of his spot on the All-Gophers team.
Guard: Amir Coffey
This all-time Gophers lineup needs a third guard, and where better than to look at a Minnesota legacy. The Coffey family has meant a lot in Minneapolis and Amir Coffey carried on the tradition his father Richard Coffey set in the late 1980s. While his father spent four full seasons at Minnesota, Amir was a highly touted player coming out of high school.
The former Mr. Basketball of Minnesota quickly rose to prominence for the Gophers, as he was the team’s second-leading scorer as a freshman. That led to him making the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2016-17. He averaged 12 points per game as a freshman and helped the Gophers reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013. An injury-plagued sophomore season, led Coffey to return for his third and final season at Minnesota in 2018-19. It was the smart choice as Coffey once again was a prominent figure in the Big Ten earning All-Big Ten Honors, and once again leading the Gophers to the big dance. It was that season that he also helped Minnesota reach the round of 32 for just the second time in nearly 30 years.
Amir left Minnesota after that season but wasn’t lucky enough to be drafted in the 2019 NBA Draft. Still, his pro career didn’t end as he was quickly snatched up by the Los Angeles Clippers. He has since been a solid bench piece for the Clippers. Coffey is coming off his best season to date in 2023-24. He played in 70 games the most in his career to date.
Forward: Mychal Thompson
The Golden Gophers have had a great history of producing strong and standout big men. That is no different with the Bahamas’ Mychal Thompson. Yes, he is the father of former Splash brother Klay Thompson. Before he became the first overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft, Thompson was lighting up the stat book for Minnesota.
In his four seasons in Minneapolis, Thompson was one of the best big men that the Big Ten saw in the 1970s. He left the school as a three-time All-Big Ten player and a two-time consensus All-American. His stats alone were amazing, as he finished his Minnesota career averaging 20.8 points and 10 rebounds per game. His sophomore season alone was incredible, as he averaged 26 points and over 12 rebounds per game.
Once he got to the NBA, Thompson continued to be a very productive post player. He was a First Team All-Rookie during the 1978-79 season. After spending the first decade of his pro career in Portland and San Antonio, Thompson made the big move to the Showtime Lakers. He was rewarded for it, winning back-to-back NBA Championships in 1987 and 1988.
Despite the team’s struggles, Thompson remains one of the best players to ever step foot in Minneapolis.
Forward: Kevin McHale
The final piece to this all-time Minnesota basketball starting lineup is simple. Kevin McHale was able to step right into the frontcourt for the Gophers, as Thompson was on his way out. There wasn’t much drop-off between the two. McHale came to the Gophers as the Mr. Basketball of Minnesota. He spent four seasons in Minneapolis playing from 1976-1980. He left with a career average of 15.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
McHale was rewarded for his effort for Minnesota during his senior campaign, as he earned All-Big Ten honors. He was certainly part of a spectacular Big Ten conference at that time, alongside the likes of Purdue’s Joe Barry Carroll and Indiana’s Isiah Thomas. Following his strong senior campaign, McHale went third overall in the 1980 NBA Draft.
The Boston Celtics certainly lucked out as he got paired with Larry Bird, and they didn’t look back. An All-Defensive player throughout his illustrious career, McHale was also a seven-time NBA All-Star. He also won three NBA championships for the Celtics as well. Kevin was great both collegiately and professionally. His No. 32 is retired by the Celtics, while his No.44 Minnesota jersey also hangs in the rafters.
See Previous All-Time Big Ten Teams below:
Illinois Fighting Illini All-Time Starting Lineup
Indiana Hoosiers All-Time Starting Lineup
Iowa Hawkeyes All-Time Starting Lineup
Maryland Terrapins All-Time Starting Lineup
