MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &045; Nobody outside the Minnesota men’s basketball program expects anything but failure this season.

After going 12-18 and finishing tied for last place in the Big Ten, the Gophers lost their top six players &045; one to the pros, one to injury, two to graduation and two more to transfers.

In college sports, there couldn’t be a worse formula for success.

Except maybe probation, from which Minnesota has finally and fully escaped &045; more than five

years after tutor Jan Gangelhoff revealed the egregious academic fraud scandal by admitting she wrote papers for several players. Coach Dan Monson, entering his sixth season, welcomed his first sanction-free recruiting class this fall.

&uot;We had some great Band-Aids,&uot; he said. &uot;We’re able to now start fixing. I’m ready to start doing it. … We’ve got to give our fans a reason to get behind us. It may not be 25 wins. It’s going to be how we play and how we conduct ourselves. Control the things that we can control.&uot;

Kris Humphries, the first freshman to lead the conference in both scoring and rebounding, was Monson’s third early departure for the NBA. Michael Bauer and Ben Johnson got their degrees. Stan Gaines transferred to Seton Hall. Moe Hargrow is ineligible after transferring to Arkansas &045; and then changing his mind and transferring back. Adam Boone has a torn right biceps tendon and will miss most, if not all, of the season.

Center Jeff Hagen, who averaged 4.3 points per game, is the top returning scorer. Guards Brent Lawson and Aaron Robinson are the only other players with previous experience &045; and the only other seniors, with Hargrow out and Boone sidelined.

&uot;Definitely, it’s a whole bunch of new people,&uot; said forward Vincent Grier, a transfer from Dixie State Junior College and one of a dozen players who will make their Gophers debut this season. Nine of those are freshmen.

Growing pains are a sure bet. But …

&uot;It’s also a new opportunity for our young guys who are our foundation of the future to get a lot of experience right away,&uot; Monson said.

That’s the best way, maybe the only way, for Minnesota to view this season &045; which begins Sunday afternoon with a game against Lipscomb University at Williams Arena.

If Robinson, Lawson, Grier, Hagen and J’son Stamper, another junior college transfer, make up the starting five, the Gophers could have a decent amount of experience on the floor at tip-off.

But anyone who comes off the bench is going to be a freshman.

Guard Rico Tucker and forward Spencer Tollackson, Minnesota’s prep player of the year from Class 4A state champion Chaska, were impressive in the team’s first intrasquad scrimmage.

Former Hopkins High School standout Dan Coleman, who redshirted last season, is a candidate to start at forward. Another redshirt, Kerry Woolridge, will provide part of Minnesota’s tenuous frontcourt depth.

&uot;We have to stay hungry, stay with ourselves, stay as a team &045; because everyone on the outside doubts us,&uot; Tucker said. &uot;We have to stay positive. … We’re going to hear the coach is going to get fired, that we’re no good and things like that. That keeps a lot of us motivated.&uot;

Monson’s job could be in jeopardy if the Gophers don’t show some signs of competitiveness this season, but he’s enjoying this bunch so far. He promised his players on the first day of practice that he would work harder and have more fun with them than any other team he’s coached.

&uot;I really believe this group has worked as hard as any group I’ve ever had,&uot; Monson said, &uot;and I’m just very optimistic that’s going to pay some dividends for them. What dividends? It’s way too early to know.&uot;

Humphries was a great player, but he didn’t help the program’s development in his only season. He had just 20 assists in 29 games, and some teammates were put off by the attention he received.

Though nobody on the roster can match Humphries’ talent, his departure could actually help by providing better scoring balance.

&uot;It keeps everybody’s mindset,&uot; said Hargrow, who’s hoping to lead a promising team in 2005-06. &uot;Each individual player on the team gets that, not just one individual. … A team is a team and as long as it plays together, anything can happen.&uot;