Richard Pitino has agreed to become the head coach of the Minnesota Gophers.

Pitino was previously the head coach at Florida International.

"Richard Pitino has been selected as the finalist for the position of University of Minnesota men's head basketball coach," the school said in a statement. "Pitino and the university have reached an understanding in principle on the key terms of an agreement."

Eric Musselman was also a candidate for the job but never reached the interview stage.

Tubby Smith has been fired as head coach at Minnesota.

Smith has spent the past six seasons with the Gophers.

Smith made the NCAA tournament in three of his six seasons at Minnesota and was knocked out in the first round in both 2009 and 2010.

Trey Burke has been named the Big Ten Player of the Year, winning both the award voted upon by the Coaches and Media.

Burke was joined on the All-Big Ten First team (Coaches) by teammate Tim Hardaway Jr., Ohio State's Deshaun Thomas, and Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller of Indiana.

On the All-Big Ten Second Team by Michigan State's Keith Appling, Gary Harris and Adreian Payne, Ohio State's Aaron Craft and Wisconsin's Jared Berggren.

Oladipo won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, while Harris won Freshman Player of the Year.

The Big Ten ranks first in ESPN's weekly college basketball rankings.

The ranking is comprised of Top 25 polls and using computer analysis of the BPI.

The Big Ten has six teams in the Top 25 AP poll, four of which are ranked in the top 11 in the nation.

The Big East ranks second, followed by the Pac-12, ACC and Mountain West.

The Big 12 and SEC rank sixth and seventh.

The 2012-13 Naismith early season watch list was released on Wednesday.

Below is a full list of nominees:

Kyle Anderson, UCLA
Chane Behanan, Louisville
Kenny Boynton, Florida
Lorenzo Brown, NC State
Trey Burke, Michigan
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse
Rotnei Clarke, Butler
Jack Cooley, Notre Dame
DJ Cooper, Ohio
Aaron Craft, Ohio State
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville
Michael Dixon Jr., Missouri
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State
Tim Frazier, Penn State
Archie Goodwin, Kentucky
Elias Harris, Gonzaga
Pierre Jackson, Cincinnati
CJ Leslie, NC State
Mark Lyons, Arizona
Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota
James Michael McAdoo, North Carolina
CJ McCollum, Lehigh
Doug McDermott, Creighton
Rodney McGruder, Kansas State
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Tony Mitchell, North Texas
Mike Moser, UNLV
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Otto Porter, Georgetown
Alex Poythress, Kentucky
Phil Pressey, Missouri
Andre Roberson, Colorado
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Michael Snaer, Florida State
Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee
Adonis Thomas, Memphis
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
Christian Watford, Indiana
Jeff Withey, Kansas
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State
BJ Young, Arkansas
Patric Young, Florida
Cody Zeller, Indiana 

Minnesota received a verbal commitment from Alex Foster, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward who plays for Chicago Seton Academy.

Foster chose the Gophers over Wisconsin, Tennessee and Nebraska.

Daniel Edozie is no longer committed to Minnesota.

Edozie, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward, had given an oral commitment to Tubby Smith last week.

Minnesota received an oral commitment from Alvin Ellis, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard out of Chicago De La Salle High School.

"Alvin really loved his visit, and he especially got along great with the guys on the team, guys like Austin Hollins," De La Salle coach Tom White said. "Those players remind him of the players we have here. The Gophers got themselves a really good all-around player. I can't wait to see him play in the Big Ten next year."

Ellis picked Minnesota over Kansas State, Butler and Northwestern.

Tyus Jones underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and will not be cleared for basketball-related activities until next month.

"I'll be ready for the season," Jones said, his shooting hand protected by a splint.

Jones played host to Minnesota’s Tubby Smith, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Stanford's Johnny Dawkins and Kentucky’s John Calipari this week. North Carolina's Roy Williams is scheduled to visit next week.

"It's definitely starting to get more serious," he said. "You can kind of feel it. I'm still having fun with it, but it's picking up.

"It's a business for them, for the coaches, for the colleges. I'm trying to just have fun with it and not let it stress me out."

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge announced their schedule for the 12-13 season.

November 27th

- Iowa at Virginia Tech
- Minnesota at Florida State
- N.C. State at Michigan
- Nebraska at Wake Forest
- Maryland at Northwestern
- North Carolina at Indiana

November 28th

- Virginia at Wisconsin
- Purdue at Clemson
- Georgia Tech at Illinois
- Boston College at Penn State
- Ohio State at Duke