MEGAN DAVIS: Hello Gopher fans. It’s Megan Davis.

SAMANTHA ROERING: Samantha Roering. 

GABBY HANSON: Gabby Hanson.

JASON LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Jason Lopez Martinez.

DAVIS: With the Minnesota Daily, and you’re listening to The Gold Standard, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota sports. So we have some, I wanna say exciting news, but not super exciting because Gopher women’s basketball lost to UCLA in the Sweet 16.

Samantha, you wrote a lot about that. You want to kind of, I don’t know, explain the game from your eyes or like kind of what you saw happening to Gopher’s basketball?

ROERING: Yeah, I mean, obviously, first of all, it’s really impressive for them to have made the Sweet 16 this year. There’s been a lot of growth in the program over the last few years, and so this was really a big milestone for them and they obviously were all really excited for it.

Fans were super pumped for it. And then you see that the first round opponent for the Sweet 16 is going to be UCLA, and that’s definitely tough. I mean, the previous meetings with UCLA this season hadn’t gone in their favor either, but they definitely were still playing, like they had a chance the entire game.

They went down 18 to 10, early in the first quarter, but they kept fighting the entire game. There were times they were within five points, but just every time they started to pull ahead. UCLA pulled ahead even more so. They definitely fought, but it was, it’s hard when you’re playing against teams like UCLA.

DAVIS: Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean, I remember ’cause we kind of talked a little bit after the Ole Miss win, like it was impressive, but at the same time, like they were the higher seed. But I remember like reading, like everywhere called it like an upset win. Like they weren’t expected to make it this far. And it was, it was great ’cause now they get to go to Sacramento and play, and then you see it’s UCLA. 

And led by 6’ 7” Lauren Betts and they’re just, they’re a tall team. They are projected to have four first round WNBA draft picks. A lot of their squatters are seniors like kind of finishing out their time with UCLA and they had a final four upset last year to UConn, I believe.

And it’s like they obviously came in there with the legacy, the height, you know, money, the good recruiting and all the odds were kind of stacked up against the gophers for that one. And it was really sad to watch that press conference after and see how Amaya Battle and Mara Braun and Coach P. kind of talked about the team and you know, where they were going.

Just kind of everyone’s hopes for the season and how they achieved it. But you know, once you achieve something you always kinda want more.

ROERING: Yeah, for sure. And I mean like the final substitution of the game, like it was kind of very much outta reach at that point and all the starters are coming off and people are kind of like in tears and there’s hugging and it’s just, it, it, it’s one of those things where it’s like there were tears of frustration, but it was obviously also tears of pride for a lot of them. 

Especially like, I mean for Amaya Battle, so it’d be hard to end their collegiate careers playing in the Sweet 16. That obviously means a lot and just, especially when you look at Amaya Battle and she’s stuck with the program for four years, like that’s not super common when players as talented as her like to stick for four years.

And just be committed to that program. This is a time in sports where people hop the transfer portal the moment they think they can go somewhere better. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

ROERING: And so to have players be loyal, they were rewarded for that.

DAVIS: Oh. And I mean, they were rewarded by like kind of fans who like, you know, stuck with the team, but also like after, ’cause Battle was there before Coach P. took over and you know, then she took over and every year they got better. 

Every year they did more, they succeeded more. They competed at a higher level and now it’s like, you know, with her record, maybe they’ll do even better next year, but Battle won’t be around to see it and neither will Hart. And it’s, it’s, you know, it’s a bittersweet ending to kind of see the program grow with them.

Exciting stuff. I’m excited to see what they kind of do recruiting wise, I’ve been hearing a lot about the incoming freshmen who are, you know, kind of mainly scattered throughout Minnesota high schools performing well. And what the recruitment and what the team will look like next year without those two key players. They definitely need a center.

ROERING: Oh, for sure. That’s like, that’s off season checklist number one.

DAVIS: Yeah.

ROERING: Get a center. Can we find one with height please? 

DAVIS: Yeah. Both men’s and women’s basketball need a center. It’s time. Especially Cade Tyson’s done men’s basketball, you know. Someone find some people with height.

They got everything else in other women’s sports. I know softball had their first home opener, but more home stadium opener. Because they played at U.S. Bank, but then they came back to Jane Cowell Stadium. Gabby, do you wanna talk a little bit about kind of what you saw this weekend from them?

HANSON: Yeah, I got to witness them win against Illinois on Sunday. That was their third game, and they ended up winning the series. They had two games and then Saturday was kind of all over the place with Illinois and Minnesota. Illinois ended up scoring 10 runs in the first two innings. Yeah, so it was kind of a lot of different pitching strategies.

They took out Sydney and then added in some other ones and like rotated them and it was just not, they couldn’t come off of that deficit.

DAVIS: I was there for the Saturday and Sunday games and that Saturday game was just kind of brutal to observe because Macy Richardson was their starting pitcher that day after Schwartz had completed her complete game the day earlier, and her very first pitch was a wild pitch straight into the helmet and you can literally hear the snap of the plastic.

And I think that Illinois batter was out for the rest of the game. And it was just kind of like, oh, it’s gonna be a rough day. It’s gonna be a rough day. And then Richardson pitched she just like, OK, it was really windy that day and it was cold. And those are not good conditions for softball or any outdoor sport really.

So give her a little leeway with that, but it was just not her day. There were a lot of wild pitches, a lot of pitches where she didn’t seem like she had a control over the ball. And then I know they subbed her out for, their nickname is Kylinn Stangl or whatever, and then they put in Natalie Susa. 

There was just no strikeouts. It was so many like ground balls and it was just like. It would bounce right between their legs. So much bad luck.

HANSON: Yeah, I saw that on Sunday just a couple times. You know, the gophers ended up winning two to zero. 

DAVIS: Mm-hmm. 

HANSON: So that was nice. But that they still had those couple of errors where it would just slip right past them. But it was nice to see them get a home run and then getting an RBI and then.

DAVIS: Yeah, getting it was finishing it out. 

HANSON: Yeah.

DAVIS: They looked a lot cleaner and not as many ground balls. A lot of just like easy outs, basically. I talked to Maggie Werner after the game. She was basically like, yeah, the second game was a complete bummer.

Like it’s all about kind of, because I asked her, I was like, well, what’s the communication like between you and the pitchers and the team? You know, when you’re struggling this bad and it seems like this inning’s never gonna end. And she was like, you know, it’s just kind of all about like trying to let them know that I’m there for them.

I believe that they can finish this inning and to know that like they have the support of their team. It seems obvious, but it was just like, it was, I don’t know. It was really sweet and like a heartfelt, like it’s a team sport, you know, and it’s all about just like kind of supporting one another. 

And then that all came through on Sunday when they were able to clean up and even though it was only a 2-0 win, it felt like they were pretty in much in control the entire game.

HANSON: Yeah, definitely. I talked to Sydney before the series and she kind of talks about how there’s just great team chemistry and also they kind of have this zero to zero mindset.

It doesn’t matter if they’re up 10 to zero or if they’re down 10 to zero like they were, but they just have that zero zero mindset and that kind of helps them get through the game.

DAVIS: And then Jason, I know that you went to the football spring practice. Was there anything that you kind of saw or heard or you know, kind of as they’re starting their serious practices, you know, what, what’s the team kind of looking like?

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: I would say that like the head coach Fleck, it sounded like he was pretty, more like open-minded. Sounded like he was doing more like scenarios. He told me that it was from an idea from a other head coach. So one of the practices they were doing like a scrimmage.

DAVIS: Mm-hmm. 

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: But it was mostly with like the defense versus offense. And then at the end, like. The winner would get the axe.

DAVIS: Oh, okay.

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Yeah. So he just mentioned how there was like four like rivalry games happening this season. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: This next season. So he just wanted to just simulate that and just have his players be ready for that. And then, I dunno, he also did mention that in one of the, the biggest groups that he’s worked with during like spring practices. 

DAVIS: Mm-hmm.

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Since he’s been there. And then he did give some praise for Jennings from. The University of Cincinnati, I’m pretty sure. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Yeah, so.

DAVIS: I know we kind of talked about before, like the wide receiver room was kind of unstable last season and it was something that like, I think a lot of fans were looking for a little bit more stability and they pulled in Jennings from Cincinnati and I know they pulled in a couple other players from JUCOS and stuff like that.

So yeah, I’m hoping that. You know, these early kind of showings of Jennings. I know that you talked to Lindsay and he said like, oh, it went good. I mean, I’m hoping that could probably develop a little bit more and, you know, we could see some results on the field come fall.

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: I don’t know, it just sounded like they, there’s like a new chapter happening.

DAVIS: Yeah. 

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Because like, I didn’t really write it, I didn’t think it was really that big of a thing, but Drake was talking about how he has like a new nutritionist and a new chef. 

DAVIS: OK. 

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: So he’s looking to fix himself for like the new season, have a healthier body and less injuries, so. 

DAVIS: No, I also am curious about Darius Taylor. Because that was a huge thing last season where he was just like, he was injured and then it seemed like he couldn’t ever quite come back to that. And so hopefully this is giving him the necessary time to maybe he got a new nutritionist too.

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Mm-hmm.

DAVIS: Yeah. And then obviously. No more Koi Perich, did you hear anything about that at practice or were they just kind of avoiding the object?

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: I don’t recall like hearing anything about that. Yeah.

DAVIS: Okay.

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Mm-hmm.

DAVIS: Yeah. I guess I’ll probably, I’m sure you know P.J. Fleck probably didn’t wanna talk too much about losing per to the transfer portal. Have you guys been paying attention to March Madness, not to segue away from Gopher sports, any kind of pro sports that have been catching your eye recently or?

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: I have seen the men’s March Madness. I did just watch the Duke versus UConn.

DAVIS: Oh, that was crazy.

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Yeah, it was. I, I was looking forward to it. Like before I was like. Two big teams. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: That are pretty well known. UConn, not too long ago they went back to back. So, and then Duke is a pretty big name.

DAVIS: And also they have Cam Boozer who’s, you know, suspected to go early on in upcoming NBA draft. Did you fill out a bracket?

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: No, I didn’t.

DAVIS: Mm-hmm. Decided to abstain. To be honest, I did abstain too because I feel like my picks are usually bad luck. But now that we kinda have the final four set, I, I’m hoping for an Arizona win, a little controversial, but I enjoy it a little bit more fun. I also like UConn.

Really, again, I don’t know these, these unnecessary repeats are, they’re too much for me. Speaking of UConn women’s basketball, they’re just slaughtering every opponent. Which is always fun to watch.

ROERING: Yeah, I have a feeling, I mean, whoever they end up playing in the, the final is gonna give them a fight. But I think like I’d like to see a UCLA UConn match. Like that’d be, that’d be great. But I think UConn might still like.

DAVIS: Take it. Yeah. I mean that was kind of the storyline kind of the entire season. It felt like, especially towards the end. Or it’s like you say UConn, like these are the two number one schools. These are the two number ones gonna be battling and out and.

I mean, women’s basketball is pretty predictable in terms of like who’s gonna go to the Final Four. Just ’cause the teams are, so, the legacy teams really hold a lot of strength and they, everyone’s heard about UConn’s women’s basketball and it’s it’s legacy just because of how like relevant it is and how much they keep winning over and over again.

Oh, back to Gopher sports baseball lost to Ohio State. Apparently it was really bad. I think it was all three games. I’m not that surprised it’s Gopher’s baseball. 

I’m trying to think of anything else that needs to cover any other hot topics in Gopher sports. Outdoor track field is, you know, kind of back into swing. They’re going to compete in the Battle of the Bayou after they’re doing a little St. Paul invitational this Wednesday I believe. And then they’ll travel to Louisiana, which they might set some of their distance runners and focus more on like hurdlers, weight throwers, kind of the more sports tolerant to the heat.

And then I talked in my solo podcast episode, I talked briefly about the departure of the men’s hockey coach and the women’s hockey coach. We officially have replacements taking over the men’s hockey coach, it’s the St. Cloud coach and the women’s hockey coach is an in-university hire, it’s their assistant coach who’s promoted.

You spent a lot of time with the women’s hockey team this season. What do you have to say about like the promotion of the women’s hockey coach?

ROERING: Yeah, I mean, from what I know, he seems like a, a solid guy. He showed up to an availability once when Frost couldn’t make it. So like he’s, he’s a very good speaker, was what I noticed just from his presser there, but also being announced as the head coach.

He was very eloquent with what he was saying, basically being like, yeah, we need to be competing with Ohio State and Wisconsin again. And I think there were a couple big takeaways for me from that. And one was that ultimately someone asked Coyle basically being like, so did you ever think about just like talking and sitting down with Frost and asking him what he could do, like set, making it clear with him and giving him another season.

And Coyle said he could not have made it any more clear. So, you know, don’t know how good of terms that one ended on. It was very different than with men’s hockey where they said mutually parted ways. 

DAVIS: Yeah. 

ROERING: Where Frost’s contract is, it was just up, they decided not to renew him.

DAVIS: And then men’s hockey, they hired Brett Larson from St. Cloud State. You are St. Cloud State alumni. 

ROERING: Yeah. Spent a few years there and talked to Brett Larson a couple times there. So, I’m pretty familiar with that hire.

DAVIS: Mm-hmm.

ROERING: Just what he has done for that program is he managed to bring in recruits to St. Cloud and they’re a program that hasn’t had a lot with NIL.

DAVIS: Yeah. 

ROERING: And just, they don’t have the name and reputation of Minnesota where I think now Larson’s in a spot where he is going to be able to recruit even better. And I’m very curious of some of St. Cloud’s guys, if any of them are gonna try to follow him in the portal. Because there’s a few who I was like, I’d, I’d like to see them with Minnesota.

DAVIS: Yeah. I’m kind of curious like. I don’t know. When both of these things got announced, it felt like, oh, this is like a new era of Gopher’s hockey. And then the coaching replacements got announced and I was like, oh, it’s kind of the same era of Gopher’s hockey. Yes, we have new coaches, but they’ve been following the same pattern.

Like an inside hire and pulling from St. Cloud State are classic Gopher tropes. I don’t know. Kind of less exciting than I was expecting. Something more. These felt like very safe hires.

ROERING: I agree. I think there was like, as soon as, uh, both of those coaches were let go of, I think there was so much speculation online and people were like, oh, they’re gonna go after this person, that person.

And then for a lot of people, like it was disappointing to see, oh, these are like internal hires and it’s not really as nationwide as maybe it was.

DAVIS: Portrayed.

ROERING: Yeah.

DAVIS: I felt like Coyle really stressed that we’re going nationwide aspect and then you go like a hundred miles away.

ROERING: I’ll say the good news for the women’s team though is when you have coaching changes like this, you often expect like transfer portal.

DAVIS: Yeah. 

ROERING: And I think there were a lot of players where initially you’re like, oh, are they gonna wanna go to Wisconsin or Ohio now if there’s an opening. And so far there’s only been one person to enter the portal. 

DAVIS: Mm-hmm. 

ROERING: And it’s been Sophia Johnson, and she did not see the ice much this year. And she’s a goaltender. They have another goaltender recruit coming in. So they haven’t lost much, which I, which I would say is a positive. It seems like all the players feel like this is a good move, but definitely worth keeping an eye on with the men’s team too. What’s gonna happen with that portal?

DAVIS: Yeah, I think, I don’t know, as we approach summer and sports kind of start winding down, obviously we’re still on a kick with baseball, softball, track season, stuff like that.

I think we’ll probably be doing a lot more publishing of transfer portal just because. So many of Gopher sports have been in upheaval recently of just like constantly having to replace players. Changes in coaching. I mean, you always get the regular, like people graduating and stuff like that, but men’s basketball’s gonna have to do some restructuring.

Again, women’s basketball is gonna have to probably do the most recruiting they’ve done in a while. Women’s hockey looks to be stable for now, but you never know. And then men’s hockey seems like they could use some recruits if they run it back with the same team. I don’t think very many Gopher fans will be happy about that. So a lot to pay attention to in the upcoming future. 

This episode is by Megan Davis.

ROERING: Samantha Roering. 

HANSON: Gabby Hanson.

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Jason Lopez Martinez.

DAVIS: And produced by Ceci Heinen. As always, we appreciate you listening in, and feel free to send a message to our email inbox at [email protected] with any questions, comments or concerns.

I’m Megan Davis. 

ROERING: Samantha Roering. 

HANSON: Gabby Hanson. 

LOPEZ MARTINEZ: Jason Lopez Martinez.

DAVIS: And this has been The Gold Standard.