If you look at things from the positive side you believe the Gopher Basketball program has a chance to take a step forward and be a Sweet 16 team. How could that potentially happen? Here are GI's five reasons why....

ONE - Amir Coffey Returns and is All Big Ten. If Minnesota is to return to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 23 seasons they will need Amir Coffey to decide on coming back to the University for his senior year. My Big Ten vote last March was Amir Coffey as a second team All Big Ten performer meaning he was one of the best ten players in the Big Ten at the least. Of that list of ten players only Michigan State junior Cassius Winston and Michigan junior Zavier Simpson are set to return (Anthony Cowan of Maryland and Lamar Stevens of Penn State could all return as well). This would make Amir a likely preseason All Big Ten player and one of the top three candidates for Preseason Player of the Year. Coffey is already a top 25 scorer in the history of Gopher basketball (total points wise) and with another 600 points he would leave Minnesota as the second leading scorer in program history. If Amir had a 21.6 point per game season in 35 games as a senior, he would surpass Mychal Thompson as Minnesota's all time leading scorer.

TWO - All Big Ten Level Freshmen Turned Sophs. With Romeo Langford, Iggy Brazdeikis, and Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois in the league an All Big Ten Freshmen spot was tough but you could argue that Minnesota's Daniel Oturu and Gabe Kalscheur had every bit the impact that Maryland’s Jalen Smith and Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp did in 18-19. Gabe was Minnesota's best defender and perimeter shooter while Oturu averaged 11 points and seven rebounds in year one. Both players will take big steps forward as sophomores with Kalscheur not only being the top shooter/rebounder again but he will likely be relied on even more offensively (a top 2-3 scorer on the team especially if Coffey doesn't return). Oturu is likely to rank with the Big Ten's top shot blockers and rebounders as a sophomore plus likely a top scorer in the paint. With that type of returning production in returning sophomores the Gophers have a great chance to make noise in the post-season.

THREE - A True Lead Guard. Amir Coffey was the starting point guard each game and although at times it wasn't ideal, the Gophers made the Final Four of the Big Ten Tournament and also played in the second round of the NCAAs with Amir starting at the one. Next year Marcus Carr will give the Gophers a true lead guard which could be more important defensively than offensively. Why? Because in Carr the Gophers have a guard with the foot speed to ball pressure the opponent from many spots on the floor. Kalscheur was strong in defending lead guards (Carsen Edwards is still having nightmares) but he's even better defending on the wing. Isaiah Washington didn't get the job done as a defender or as a table setter but in Carr, Coach Richard Pitino now has a lead guard that can score, distribute, and ball pressure defend. Pairing Carr with Kalscheur and Coffey as a defensive trio is something that likely has the Gopher staff excited (all three are also career double figure scorers at the college level).

FOUR - Eric Curry at Full Strength. Eric Curry had a strong freshman season plus helped the team as a red-shirt sophomore this year but you could tell Eric was never fully healthy. With three surgeries behind him Eric will step on the court in November as healthy as he's been since playing in the NCAA Tournament as a true freshman. Regardless if Eric is at the same level of agility as he was during the 2016-17 season, Eric's court intelligence and experience will give the Gophers a big lift. A potential starting line-up of Carr-Gabe-Coffey-Curry-Oturu? That should have everybody in Minnesota excited.

FIVE - Depth. Last year's biggest Gopher basketball argument was often the bench usage of Richard Pitino. Should he have used Matz Stockman, Michael Hurt, Brock Stull, and Isaiah Washington more? Whatever your opinion on that argument, you can't argue with the strong March that Golden Gopher basketball gave you. And if our projected starting five above is fully healthy, the Gophers will be able to bring experience off the bench in likely combo guard Payton Willis, forward Michael Hurt, and Drexel graduate transfer Alihan Demir. Those four players have ten years of college basketball experience to their name (and if Curry isn't at full strength we would expect Demir's size of 6-foot-9, 235 pounds starting next to Oturu). Add in Jarvis Omersa as a sophomore and three freshmen - Tre Williams, Isaiah Ihnen, and Sam Freeman - adding potential depth and there should be serious competition for time.

Five More

Six. Richard Pitino will be in his 7th year as Gopher coach and the honest leader of the maroon and gold continues to grow as the head man. Did you know that Pitino - a former Big Ten Coach of the Year - is tied with Chris Collins for 6th in Big Ten Head Coach seniority?

Seven. If Coffey returns that means that the Gophers have three returning starters from last year's team PLUS Carr and Demir were previously every day starters in other programs.

Eight. Interchangeable parts. Coffey could likely play four positions for the team while Willis could be used at three different positions offensively. Then you have Hurt, Ihnen, Demir, Curry, Williams, and Carr all able to play two different positions.

Nine. Interchangeable parts defensively. Kalscheur has shown he can guard three different positions and the same could be said for Amir because of his length. Add in that Curry, Willis, Hurt, Oturu, and Omersa could all guard a couple spots and you have team that could be defensively versatile.

Ten. Momentum. There is a lot of momentum to build off from the previous season. Four of the five months in 2018-19 were outstanding times of Golden Gopher basketball. Sure February continues to be a curse of 20 or more years but Richard Pitino's teams played some outstanding basketball in November, December, January, and March.