University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Sports: News & Notes
8/12/2026 6:07:00 AM | Athletics
Catch up on all the latest news from Gopher Athletics from the past week.
THIS WEEK
Thursday
7PM: Soccer vs. North Dakota | B1G+ | Promotions
Saturday
12PM: Soccer vs. #19 Georgia | B1G+ | Promotions
GopherSports.com: Soccer begins its 2026 season when it hosts North Dakota on Thursday and #19 Georgia on Sunday. Minnesota is 3-0-0 all-time against the Fighting Hawks and played to a 0-0 tie in Athens against the Bulldogs in 2023.
@GopherSoccer: Ava Westlund was named a 2026 Forward to Watch by the United Soccer Coaches.
NYTimes.com: Dan Hayes of The Athletic wrote about the impact of John Anderson (Gift Article).
WCCORadio.com: Coach McDevitt appeared on WCCO Radio before Monday's Celebration of Life.
GopherSports.com: After finishing 2025 ranked 15th, Volleyball will enter the year at No. 14 in the AVCA preseason rankings.
ESPNSiouxFalls.com: Coach Cook appeared on radio in South Dakota ahead of the team's season opener against Arizona State in Sioux Falls (23:00 mark).
BigTen.org: Tune into BTN on Monday at 5PM for the network's annual trip to campus for Football training camp.
@GopherFootball: Gopher Digital has an update in its Inside Fall Camp series.
GopherSports.com: Coach Fleck and his players met the media to recap the first week of camp.
YouTube.com: Coach Fleck previewed the 2026 season with NBC Sports' Todd Blackledge.
Preseason Honors
- Football: Rimington Trophy Committee Lauds Beers
- Football: Smith on Watch List for Lombardi Award, Wuerffel Trophy
- Football: Smith ranked No. 39 on The Athletic's annual Freak List.
@UMNNews: Goldy Gopher was announced as a 2026 inductee into the Mascot Hall of Fame.
GopherSports.com: Men's Golf earned the 2025-26 PLATFORM Golf Team Academic Award from the Golf Coaches Association of America.
GopherSports.com: Gymnastics announced the addition of Daelin Diaz-Luong to its 2026-27 roster.
GopherSports.com: Men's Basketball will compete in the 2026 Shriners Children's Charleston Classic, Nov. 20-22.
@GopherCCTF: Sophomore Jayden Green earned the 200m Bronze Medal at the U20 World Championships while Precious Fortune placed seventh in the Triple Jump and Able Mills reached the Discus finals.
GopherSports.com: Five Gophers will compete this weekend in British Columbia as the U.S. and Canada meet for a three-game series. One of them – Adrianna Milani - was featured in The Hockey News (Read).
Gopher Shorts:
- @GopherMBB: Combine Day
- @GopherHockey: What are the Rookies Most Excited About?
- @GopherFB: Guest Speaker Damon West
- @GopherFB: Full Pads Day
- @GopherFB: Goldy Gopher Shoutout
- @GopherFB: Blind Gopher Uniform Ranking
- @GopherVB: Monday Exhibition at Texas
GopherSports.com: Men's Basketball's 'Get to Know' series continues with Holy Angels product Blake Nixon Jr.
@GopherMBB: Men's Basketball's new series '94 Feet' kicked off with guard Kyan Evans.
@GopherSports: Signage was updated outside of The Barn by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.
@GopherSoftball: A trio of Gophers – Autumn Pease, Taylor Krapf and Makenna Dowell – helped the Atlanta Smoke capture a Professional Softball League (PSL) championship.
GopherSports.com: Receiver Jalen Smith took Gopher fans behind the scenes of the team's media day.
ESPN.com: ESPN gathered top intel on 43 of the top returning starting quarterbacks including the Gophers' Drake Lindsey.
GopherSports.com: Women's Basketball had a 'Lake Day' earlier this summer.
@JoeSmithNHL: Director of Player Development Matt Cullen was a guest on the Fellowship of the Rink podcast.
YouTube.com: Da Beauty League which was founded by former Gopher Ben Hankinson will wrap up after 10 years of summer hockey.
@GopherFootball: Jameson Geers had two catches for 20 yards in his NFL preseason debut with the Arizona Cardinals.
@MLB: Brett Bateman hit a double on the first pitch he saw in his major league debut on Friday night.
- @BlueJays: He signed his contract earlier that afternoon.
- @Sportsnet: He talked postgame on the field after two hits and two RBI in a win against Boston last night.
On This Date:
YouTube.com: On August 12, 1983, KSTP TV reported live from The Barn when a team of prominent Gopher alumni including Lou Hudson, Flip Saunders and Kevin McHale took on the 1982 Big Ten Championship team.