Gophers women's basketball coach Lindsay Whalen has a present for her program, to be delivered Friday the 13th:
Her jersey number.
Whalen, as any fan of hers knows, wore No. 13. She did at Hutchinson High School, the University of Minnesota and in the WNBA. Her Gophers and Lynx jerseys hang in the rafters at Williams Arena and Target Center, respectively.
That banner in the Barn will stay. But Whalen is making her number available, going forward, to the right recruit who wants it. No Gopher has worn it since Whalen left in 2004.
"We'll see from here on out, who comes in, who wants it," Whalen said. "I think it will be cool. There will be a bond you'll have with that player who wears the number after you."
There are a number of banners hanging at Williams Arena. Technically, those banners honor the player and the jersey but do not necessarily mean the number is retired.
There are two with No. 13, Whalen and Deb Hunter. Also: 1 (Rachel Banham), 4 (Janel McCarville), 21 (Linda Roberts), 42 (Carol Ann Shudlick) and 44 (Laura Coenen).
Jasmine Brunson, who graduated in the spring, wore 21; freshman Caroline Strande is wearing it this season. Sophomore guard Jasmine Powell is wearing No. 4.
