With the Gophers men's basketball season getting underway in Friday's opener against South Carolina Upstate, the team will look to Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy to lead the way.
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino announced Thursday that Mason, a senior point guard, and Murphy, a junior forward, were named team captains for the 2017-18 season.
Mason is a two-time captain. Both players were All-Big Ten performers last season. Mason led the team in several categories, including scoring (15.2) and assists (5.0). Murphy was the team's top rebounder (8.8) for the second straight year.
"It's a blessing," Mason said. "I'm happy that the guys voted me as a captain. So I'm just trying to go out there and lead them to the best and try to get the best out of them in every game. I think coach said a while ago, it's easier for them to listen to another player rather than a coach. So I'm just trying to be that extra coach on the floor, where I can talk to guys the right way as a teammate and as a friend."
Murphy dodged being a leader earlier in this career, but he embraced the role this season, Pitino said.
"He's not afraid to speak up," Pitino said. "The No. 1 thing you have to do if you want to be a leader is you've got to produce first from an effort standpoint every single day. If you don't do that it doesn't matter what you say, your credibility nobody is going to listen to you. You've got to do the right things off the court. You've got to do the right things in class. Jordan has done that. He works hard every day in practice. He's worked on his game. Jordan Murphy has absolutely become a really good leader."
PITINO ON 2018 RECRUITS
For the first time Thursday, Pitino was able to speak publicly about two members of his 2018 recruiting class, Cretin-Derham Hall's Daniel Oturu and Orono's Jarvis Thomas Omersa, who signed Wednesday at the start of the early signing period. Pitino couldn't talk yet about shooting guard Gabe Kalscheur, who will sign 3:30 p.m. Friday at DeLaSalle.
"Both guys I'm extremely excited about," Pitino said. "We feel like we've had back-to-back-to-back really good recruiting classes. And that's how you turn a program around."
Pitino raved about the potential of Oturu, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound four-star prospect from Woodbury, Minn. gives the Gophers their third straight top-50 recruit, joining Isaiah Washington in 2017 and Amir Coffey in 2016.
"Daniel I believe is one of the best big guys in the country," Pitino said. "Some have him ranked top 5 centers in the country. I think he's talented. I think he's going to come in and help right away. Bright days ahead for him."
Omersa, who changed his last name from Thomas last month, is a 6-foot-8, 225-pound freakishly athletic forward who can play multiple positions, Pitino said.
"He's one of the best athletes that we've brought in since we've been here," Pitino said. "He plays extremely hard. Very, very tough. Both guys I expect to be really good players. We always talk about closing down the borders. We're certainly doing that."
HURRICANE RELIEF MONEY
Sunday's charity basketball game between the Gophers and Wisconsin-Green Bay at Maturi Pavilion raised about $30,000 for hurricane relief, according to Pitino on Thursday. The money will go to the American Red Cross Hurricane Maria relief efforts in Puerto Rico.
