Pam Borton said she was excited Tuesday when the U announced she had signed a new six-year contract.

If I was her, I would be much more than excited. I would be crying for joy, screaming like a lottery winner, doing somersaults (which I can’t do, but I would find a way.”

Borton’s six-year contract pays her $405,000 minimum her first year and goes up, steadily. She will receive $2.67 million over the contract’s entire length, plus incentives.

The smart alecks out there may sign Joel Maturi was just being smart, sensing other colleges would soon be chasing Borton.

After all, her Gophs just demolished three teams on their Italian trip by scores of 104-31, 101-40 and 108-18.

That’s wrong-headed thinking. Both JM and Borton signed her contract on Aug. 18 before the first of those games were played. The last signature needed on the contract, that of William P. Donohue, the deputy general counsel, was obtained on Sept. 2, hence the timing of the signing.

All kidding aside, the Gophers finished last season with a thud. They lost to Michigan State 56-51 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals. The U shot 25.9 percent and, in one stretch, were 1 of 22 from the field as a team. Then things got worst.

In the NCAA tournament, the Gophers lost to Texas 72-56 to finish the season 20-12.

They shot 17.9 percent in the first half, 31.1 percent for the game. They were 1 of 10 on three-pointers.

The next day, Maturi started talking a new contract with coach Borton. At least the U waited almost six months to get the contract done. Most people have forgotten that Texas game. Who’d want to remember it for long?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Gophers women's basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.