The season hasn’t even started yet and Minnesota forward Trevor Mbakwe is finding himself all over the news. First, he was arrested in July for drunk driving and was in danger of being removed from the team (after he was granted another year of eligibility after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year). And now Mbakwe is in the headlines again, this time for making a wager that sounds more like it’d come from an arrogant trust fund baby at the end of a long night of partying on campus. Perhaps Mbakwe thinks the Gophers have attracted doubters in the early going — though they handled Minnesota State – Mankato, 81-56, in their first exhibition game on Thursday — so he proclaimed on Twitter on Sunday that he’d pay back his scholarship for this season if Minnesota doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament.
“I love my teammates,” Mbakwe wrote from his Twitter handle, @TMbakwe32. “They have always been there for me. If we don’t make the tourney ill pay back this years scholarship.” He then reitereated: “That’s how much I believe in this years team” and “Some ppl say I’m cocky but that’s not the case I just know how hard my teammate have worked and I believe in them and our coach #easychoice.” In his first game since his injury last November, Mbakwe scored four points, pulled down three rebounds and added two steals in 11 minutes of limited play in the win over Minnesota State – Mankato.
The Gophers were voted sixth in the Big Ten in an informal poll by men’s basketball writers from around the conference, and ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi had them as an eight-seed in the NCAA Tournament in his latest update. They were not ranked in any preseason Top 25 polls, and have not made the Big Dance in each of the last two seasons. I, for one, also believe the Gophers will make the NCAA Tournament. Mbakwe is an All-Big Ten caliber player when reaching his potential and the team gained valuable experience through their NIT run last year without him. They’ve got young talent and an experienced coach in Tubby Smith. But this is the type of attention that Smith and the team may not want as they fight through the toughest conference in the country to break a streak of being locked out of the NCAA Tournament. If they are indeed left out, there’s a decent chance Mbakwe won’t have trouble writing that check — as hefty as it might be — as he’s listed with relatively high standing on most NBA Draft big boards. But any way you slice it — call him confident or cocky — the Gophers now have just a little bit more riding on this season.