By Zach Eisendrath

A few things worth mentioning with classes officially over for the year:

One of Tubby Smith's last recruits at Kentucky, Morikinyo "Mike" Williams has been granted a release from his scholarship by Wildcats coach Billy Gillespie. The 6'11" center, who also received offers from Pittsburgh, Virginia, DePaul and American, didn't play much during his only year in Lexington, but with the Gophers still looking for depth in their frontcourt after losing out on California big man Krys Faber, rumors are surely going to start swirling about Williams in Minneapolis - as they likely would with any former Tubby recruit thinking of transfering .

According to Gophersports.com, all four Minnesota seniors this year - Lawrence McKenzie, Spencer Tollackson, Dan Coleman and Ryan Saunders - will be earning their degrees this spring.

Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune is reporting that Georgia State and Western Michigan will be two of the teams playing in the NABC Tournament at Williams Arena in November. It is expected that the third team, other than the Gophers, participating in the tournament will be from a BCS conference.

Forgot to mention this earlier, but the date for Minnesota's game against Louisville in Phoenix has been finalized. The Gophers will challenge Rick Pitino's squad on Dec. 20.

Finally, the Howard Pulley/Sabes Invitational takes place this weekend at Bloomington Jefferson High School. I'm going to try to make it out there and take a look at Royce White and Rodney Williams. If I do, I'll be sure to post updates on the blog.

Thanks and take care.