Gophers player inserts self into media, asks about dealing with negativity

Emotions were firing on all cylinders after Minnesota's upset win over No. 20 Michigan on Thursday night in Minneapolis. Not only did Dawson Garcia bury the game-winning 3 from the logo at the buzzer in overtime, but it was the Gophers' first win over a ranked opponent in their last 18 opportunities and it gave them their first Big Ten win of the season.

Entering the game at 8-9 overall and 0-6 in Big Ten play, the narrative about the 2024-25 Golden Gophers has not been positive. There's been a lot of outside noise, and while head coach Ben Johnson believes his team has done well blocking out the noise, it's apparent now that senior Femi Odukale is listening.

Odukale, after filling the stat sheet with 7 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in the 84-81 win over the Wolverines, made himself a member of the media and asked Garcia and Lu'Cye Patterson a very specific question.

"I know I'm in the locker room with you guys and know the belief and how much you want it," Odukale said. "What is the motivation every day for you to keep going? And you see stuff on Twitter [unintelligible] with negativity. How do y'all just fight through it?"

We’ve been attending press conferences for 15 years, and think this is the 1st time a player not on the podium joined his teammates AND asked a great question.

Femo Ofukale is a legend for this 😂👏🏽! #Gophers https://t.co/GMrTzIEnjr pic.twitter.com/ICQqmxrUSo
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) January 17, 2025

Garcia's answer: "It's really just leaning on each other in the locker room. Just looking at the Man in the Arena quote. We know we're in there fighting every single day, putting our best foot forward, so really just leaning on each other and having each other's back through it all."

Patterson added: "Never leave my brother, man."

Odukale isn't wrong. There has been a tidal wave of negativity during the rough start to the season.

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Even though Big Ten media picked the Gophers to finish last in the 18-team conference, there was hope that a rebuilt roster — thanks to half of last season's team leaving in the transfer portal — would be able to rise above the low expectations. The Gophers are, in fact, one of the most experienced rosters in the country, albeit in their first year learning to play together.

But a home loss to North Texas while struggling to beat nonconference teams like Omaha and Central Michigan, along with woeful free-throw shooting, set the tone for the negativity. Clearly, Odukale and the Gophers are using it as motivation and they have an opportunity to rise from the ashes and make some noise over the next two months before teams are selected for the NCAA and NIT tournaments.

Perhaps the negativity was too harsh. Looking back, North Texas is good. At 12-4, they're a threat to win the American Conference and make the Big Dance. Recently, they almost beat No. 21 Memphis.

Minnesota's losses in the holiday tournament in Orlando to Wichita State and Wake Forest were both nailbiters and had one or two things gone the other way, the Gophers could've easily won. Hindsight, of course, is 20-20, and that didn't happen.

The six consecutive losses in Big Ten play include games against Michigan State, who has since been lauded as a juggernaut, and preseason Big Ten favorite Purdue. While the Gophers got blown out on the road by Indiana and Wisconsin, they were a couple of boneheaded mistakes from beating a really good Ohio State team and they gave a pretty good Maryland team a run on the road.

The end result is anything but pretty, but the win over Michigan coupled with some squinting to see positives in a handful of other games should provide a bit of optimism for the diehard fans who still believe the 2024-25 Gophers can make some noise.

Of course, the next three games are brutal: at Iowa on Tuesday, home versus No. 13 Oregon and then in East Lansing against Tom Izzo's No. 12 Spartans.