Minnesota lost two key players for next season when coach Tim Brewster announced that safety Tramaine Brock and star recruit Hasan Lipscomb will not play for the Gophers.

Brock started all 13 games last season after transferring from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He finished third on the team with 73 tackles and also had an interception, adding some toughness to a defense that was one of the worst in the nation the year before he arrived.

Brock left school for academic reasons in January, and Brewster said then he expected the hard hitter to return in time to play this fall. But he has been unable to improve his academic standing enough in the ensuing six months to become eligible to return to the Gophers.

Kim Royston, who sat out last season after transferring from Wisconsin, will likely step in to fill the void.

Academic issues also will keep Lipscomb, a highly regarded running back from Houston, from playing for Minnesota this season. Lipscomb scored 41 touchdowns in the last two seasons for Cypress Ridge High School and was expected to compete for major playing time in the backfield.

Now Lipscomb will spend next season at a junior college instead. That leaves the Gophers with Duane Bennett, who is returning from knee surgery, DeLeon Eskridge and Kevin Whaley as the primary candidates for the starting tailback job.

Brewster also said recruit Josh Campion, an offensive lineman from Fergus Falls who also drew interest from Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Notre Dame, recently had surgery on an undisclosed injury and will miss the 2009 season.

The coach said in a statement that he is looking forward to Campion joining the program sometime in the future.

Posted on July 15th, 2009 by admin
Filed under: College football news, NCAA college football