Tubby Smith wants a timetable for a new practice facility.

"I think there's a lot of room for improvement in areas and we've come across some that we're discussing with people on campus and that's where it ought to stay," Smith said. "I'd like to see something done to help basketball. We've done our part. We need to get that done because there really hasn't been anything done for basketball since I've been here in a major way. ... I think it's just the times. You had the financial economic struggles. But I think the university as well as the economy is starting to move in a different direction.

"[It's] kind of like the NASCAR. You want to win? You better put some money in there," he said. "You got to [have] the right engine, you got the right people running it, you've got to have the right pit crew. You'd better be changing and looking to evaluate every day. You've got to have that because you're competing. You're competing against everybody else."

Minnesota was the 17th-most-valuable program in the country last year, according to Forbes magazine. The publication estimated the Gophers' worth at $13.5 million, which included the $9 million profit it recorded that year.