Hagen picking up for injured Boone
When Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson learned that star senior Aaron Boone would miss the first half of the season with an injury, there was cause for concern in the Twin Cities. After all, Monson’s star freshman Kris Humphries had jumped directly to the NBA and the team was relying on Boone to carry the workload for the Golden Gophers. However, senior Jeff Hagen has assumed the leadership role for the Gophers and has become their go-to-guy in Boone’s absence.
“When [Hagen] first got here, he was more of a role player and spent a lot of time on the bench,” Monson said. “When he got some minutes as a young player, he committed a lot of defensive fouls because he was trying to make things happen. Now, [Hagan] has developed into more of a pure shooter and has become a better defender and turned into a better overall player. He’s able to incorporate the young kids into the offense and that has helped our team.”
Two Sport Power
With Purdue having an all-around difficult season (0-6 in the Big Ten, 4-12 overall) in
Gene Keady’s final season as head coach, one of the lone bright spots of the season for the Boilermakers thus far is two-sport athlete Charles Davis. As an Academic all-Big Ten in 2003 and a constant threat at tight end, the junior has made a home for himself in the Purdue backcourt, averaging 11 minutes and 2.6 rebounds per game since joining the team January 1st. Despite the adversity he has faced in his last season, Coach Keady is grateful of the boost Davis has added to his struggling ball club.
“[Davis] played with our kids this summer and the players loved him,” Keady commented. “They asked me in the middle of October, they said if we need another player that Charles Davis would be a great addition to this squad. He is a great kid; a great contributor and he can play. He is probably the most competitive guy in practice and has done great things for us.”
RPI Success
The Big Ten announced Monday that the conference and the Big 12 are the only leagues with four teams ranked in the top 30 of the school rankings as the ACC, Pac-10 and SEC rank second with three teams each. The Big Ten contingent includes two ranked in the top 10 with Illinois at No. 9 and Wisconsin at No. 10. Michigan State sits at No. 20, with Iowa following at No. 26. In the league standings, the Big Ten continues to lead with a No.1 ranking in non-conference RPI rankings, while facing the nation’s toughest schedule in non-conference play.
