By Chad Graff

Pioneer Press

Early in this promising Gophers men’s basketball season, coach Richard Pitino met with his entire starting lineup for a chat about how the team could build on last season’s 24-win output.

Success would start, Pitino told them, with those five starters.

“I told the starting five, … ‘if you guys can be so rock solid like you were at Providence College, we’ll be able to deal with the bench not always being great,’” Pitino said.

The initial returns have been encouraging with all five Gophers averaging double-digit points per game as the team looks to continue it’s unbeaten mark Sunday in their fourth game, a matinee at Williams Arena against Western Carolina.

But for all the Gophers return from last season — including their four leading scorers — it’s still a team with a very inexperienced bench.

When Gophers starters need relief, Pitino’s options include: two players who were in high school last year (Isaiah Washington and Jamir Harris), a sophomore who averaged less than six minutes per game last season (Michael Hurt), and a junior who didn’t play either of the last two years (Davonte Fitzgerald).

“Our bench has a lot of uncertain parts,” Pitino said. “So it’s not the same team (as last year). The whole storyline of us having everyone back just isn’t true.”

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