Chris Murray/RGJ
In 1971, Minnesota assistant basketball coach Jim Williams approached the team’s new head coach, Bill Musselman, with a proposal. He had heard of the prodigious all-around athletic talent of one of the stars of the school’s baseball team – a guy named Dave Winfield – and asked Musselman if he could join the team.
So, Musselman, in his first season as Minnesota’s head coach, added Winfield to the roster and during the 1971-72 season that Gophers squad won its first Big Ten title in 53 years, won an NCAA Tournament game and finished the season ranked 11th in the nation, with Winfield averaging 7.