Student-athletes flock to Minnesota for many reasons

Every year, the University of Minnesota welcomes new student athletes across its 25 sports.
While many young athletes don maroon and gold each year, they have chosen the University for a variety of reasons.
One of the women’s hockey recruits is Little Canada’s Bethany Brausen , a forward who was named the Minnesota girl’s hockey player of the year in her junior season by the Pioneer Press.
Growing up in a state she said is the “hub of hockey in the United States,” Brausen has followed Gophers hockey since her youth.
“I think that anyone growing up in Minnesota watching the girl’s program is obviously going to be a huge fan,” Brausen said.
Nick Leddy of Eden Prairie was a member of men’s hockey’s 2009 recruiting class and he too said that after following Gopher hockey for years he knew he wanted to play for the team.
“Growing up in Minnesota … I’ve always wanted to play for the Gophers,” Leddy said.
Brausen, who considered Ivy League schools Dartmouth College and Harvard University before deciding on the University, mentioned the fringe benefits of staying in her home state.
“I do love having family and friends be local, so that was a really, really nice perk,” Brausen said.
While Minnesotans like Brausen and Leddy have grown up in wintry Minnesota, there is a stigma that some athletes are put off by the state’s frigid climate.
Senior volleyball player Christine Tan said the cold weather wasn’t enough to deter her from leaving Florida to come to Minnesota, but admits to not having a full understanding of the weather before her arrival. After experiencing three Minnesota winters, Tan doesn’t sound as though she’s grown fond of the state’s longest season quiet yet.
“I don’t know if I’ve really totally adjusted,” Tan said inside Williams Arena during Tuesday’s snow storm.
Among the 2010 class’ notable signees announced in November were men’s basketball players Elliott Eliason, a 6’11’’ center from Chadron, Neb., and shooting guard Austin Hollins from Germantown, Tenn. Eliason was ranked as the 27th best center in the nation and Hollins the 34th best shooting guard.
The men’s hockey team nabbed five recruits, including Erik Haula, a Finnish center who played for Shattuck-St. Mary’s last year and forward Seth Ambroz of New Prague. Ambroz has spent the past two seasons with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League .