In the 1970s, the Gophers were in a violent brawl with the Ohio State Buckeyes and were barred from post-season appearances for two seasons after an incident involving the illegal resale of tickets.

Cooke was put on the university payroll on a part-time basis in early 1897 and full-time by the fall; this made him one of the earliest professional coaches.

[9] Frank Lawler was another early star: he led the Big Ten in scoring in 1911 and was also named to the All-America team, and helped the Gophers to a contested conference title.

[11] Hall of Fame coach John Kundla was also a Gophers star and helped lead the team to its 1937 Big Ten Championship.

Among Thompson's teammates were former Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards head coach Flip Saunders, as well as Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame forward Kevin McHale.

[12] Other former Gophers with long NBA careers include Randy Breuer, Mark Olberding, Archie Clark, Jim Petersen, and Ray Williams.

Five players from the 1997 Final Four team played in the NBA: Bobby Jackson, Sam Jacobson, Quincy Lewis, John Thomas, and Trevor Winter.

[15] Roster Last update: December 15, 2024 The precise founding of the Gophers men's basketball program at the University of Minnesota is somewhat nebulous.

Cooke began to improve the team significantly and was responsible for shifts in the Gophers' scheduling that foreshadowed other changes to come.

MacMillan's squad also competed in a tournament in 1936 to represent the United States in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin; the team advanced several rounds before being ousted by DePaul.

[25] His squads were led by two-time All-American Jim McIntyre and three-time NBA Champion Whitey Skoog for the early years of his career and Big Ten MVP Chuck Mencel for the middle ones.

[33] It was also revealed that Olson had sold complimentary season tickets to a booster named Harvey Mackay, which prompted NCAA investigations.

[34] These charges, coupled with the earlier ticket selling scandal and other transgressions regarding payments and aid revolving around Harvey Mackay, resulted in a list from the NCAA of more than 100 rule violations in Musselman's four seasons at the school.

[35] Though wins did not come easily in the first couple years of Haskins regime, by the 1988–89 season he had the Gophers in the 1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as a #11 seed, and directed a Cinderella run into the Sweet 16.

Big men John Thomas, Joel Przybilla, and Trevor Winter (the latter two both Minnesota natives), also flourished under Haskins and went on to have careers in the NBA.

On March 10, 1999, the day before the #7 seed Gophers were to open the NCAA tournament against #10 Gonzaga, the St. Paul Pioneer Press ran a story detailing allegations of massive academic fraud in the men's basketball program.

When the Gophers played Gonzaga on March 11, the university suspended players Antoine Broxsie, Kevin Clark, Jason Stanford, and Miles Tarver since they allegedly had papers written for them by Ganglehoff in previous seasons.

The NCAA stripped the Gophers of all postseason awards, titles, personal records, and statistics dating back to the 1993–94 season citing a "lack of institutional control."

[49] The university also agreed to return 90% (approximately $350,000) of the profits earned by the basketball program during their appearances in the NCAA tournament, including the 1997 Final Four run.

Following Haskins' departure, the university hired Gonzaga's Dan Monson to be their next head coach, who coincidentally had just beaten the Gophers in the NCAA Tournament the previous March.

[51] Monson almost left the Minnesota program for the University of Washington following the 2001–02 season, but was thought of highly by the athletics department under Tom Moe and was persuaded to stay despite limited success.

[53] Despite Monson's inability to field a consistent winner, he was lauded by University officials for bringing integrity and cleanliness back to the program.

On March 23, 2007, Maturi made a move that surprised many when he hired Tubby Smith after he resigned from the University of Kentucky to be the next head Gopher basketball coach.

[55] Smith's name recognition and winning reputation gave the program a new optimism, something it badly needed to counter its dwindling fan interest.

[62] Despite the lack of success on the court, the Gophers were able to get Amir Coffey, a highly ranked player from Hopkins to commit to the men's basketball program.

Sophomore Eric Curry tore his ACL and MCL in late August, forcing him to miss the entirety of the 2017–2018 season.

On March 22, 2021, the University of Minnesota welcomed a former player and former assistant coach Ben Johnson to helm the Men's Basketball program for its next era.

Hamline had one of the earliest college basketball programs in the country and it was several years before Minnesota competed on equal footing with them; they played as late as 1935.

"[89] In the modern era of the program, as is the case with most Big Ten sports, Minnesota's primary rivals are the Iowa Hawkeyes and Wisconsin Badgers.

[90] Minnesota and Wisconsin's games together count towards the Border Battle, an annual trophy given to the points winner of several sports played between the two schools throughout the year.