Minnesota is cutting ties with Villa Seven, the basketball coaches recruiting network co-sponsored by Nike and inherited by the U when the Gophers hired former athletics director Norwood Teague in 2012.
Run by Teague and its founder, former U senior associate AD Mike Ellis, Villa Seven was touted as a bonus when Teague was hired away from Virginia Commonwealth University to replace Joel Maturi, who announced his retirement in February 2012. But its benefits to the university were never clear, and an audit conducted by the school in the wake of Teague's sudden retirement in August after a sexual harassment incident raised new questions.