Author: David Shama

David Shama is a former sports editor and columnist with local publications. His writing and reporting experiences include covering the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Gophers. Shama’s career experiences also include sports marketing. He is the former Marketing Director of the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL. He is also the former Marketing Director of the United States Tennis Association’s Northern Section. A native of Minneapolis, Shama has been part of the community his entire life. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he majored in journalism. He also has a Master’s degree in education from the University of St. Thomas. He was a member of the Governor’s NBA’s Task Force to help create interest in bringing pro basketball to town in the 1980s.

U Football Start Times Official, Includes Party Time Kickoffs

Posted on May 29, 2025May 29, 2025 by David Shama

Haters of 11 a.m. starts for Golden Gophers home football games received good news today when the Big Ten Conference and its TV partners announced start times for six of the University of Minnesota’s 12 games in 2025.

Dreaded by students and others who like to sleep late on Saturdays, the anti-11 a.m. crowd will have to accept the nonconference Northwestern State home game on September 6 (BTN televising). Otherwise, night owls and party animals can revel in five night games for the Gophers, with three at home and two on the road. The start times for the six remaining Gophers games on the schedule will be announced later.

Minnesota opens the season at home Thursday, August 28 against Buffalo. The 7 p.m. kickoff nonconference game will be televised by FS1.

The final nonconference game will be on Saturday, September 13 at the University of California. Start time is 9:30 p.m. in Minneapolis and local fans can watch on ESPN.

Minnesota’s Homecoming game against Purdue on Saturday, October 11 will start at either 6 or 6:30 p.m. The TV partner will be announced later.

The Gophers host Nebraska at 7 p.m. on October 17, a rare Friday night home game. They play at Oregon on another Friday night, November 14, with an 8 p.m. kickoff. Both games will be televised by Fox.

Gophers-Badgers 2021 game at Huntington Bank Stadium photo by Marshall Tanick

Minnesota’s other six games are Rutgers, September 27 at home; October 4 at Ohio State; October 25 at Iowa; November 1 Michigan State at home; November 22 at Northwestern; November 29 Wisconsin at home. All dates are Saturdays.

Home games at night generally draw better than day games, unless arctic temps prevail. That will be a needed boost for home attendance because the Huntington Bank Stadium schedule of opponents is so-so.

Buffalo and Northwestern State are box office duds. Purdue will draw because it’s Homecoming and a night game. Nebraska, with Husker fans likely descending in droves, could produce the largest crowd of the season (possible sellout of 50,805) at Huntington Bank Stadium. The Michigan State and Wisconsin games will draw if the Gophers are producing a top 25 season. Even if they aren’t, the Wisconsin game may lure a lot of Badgers fans if their favorites have reverted back to winning football.

There’s real sizzle with the road schedule for fans who want to travel. All five destinations are attractive including West Coast trips to the Bay Area (Cal) and Eugene (first time at Oregon), plus border rival Iowa, Northwestern (at Wrigley Field) and defending national champion Ohio State.

Worth Noting

The NFL announced its preseason schedule today including for the Vikings. Minnesota will host the Texans at 3 p.m. Saturday, August 9 and the Patriots at noon on Saturday, August 16. The Vikings will play at the Titans on Friday, August 22 at 7 p.m.

The Vikings are partnering with the Minnesota Star Tribune to promote high school girls flag football throughout the state. The state’s first high school girls flag football league, supported through a $600,000 contribution from the Vikings, enters playoff competition next week.

The Timberwolves lost in five games to the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. The prediction here before the series was Minnesota would lose in six, but OKC is even better than many of us thought.

During the last two springs the Wolves have proven they’re one of the better teams in the NBA but not elite enough to make the Finals or rank among the best. Biggest needs? Better defense from more players and clutch scoring (which in playoff games can include producing points in the first quarter).

It appeared during the playoffs that Anthony Edwards was gassed late in at least some games. It certainly wouldn’t be surprising if a revised nutrition and conditioning program materializes in the offseason.

Minneapolis native Chet Holmgren, 23, has emerged as a star for the Thunder. He could become a superstar with his scoring, rebounding and shot blocking, if his rail thin body avoids injuries. Holmgren is listed at 7-1, 208 pounds.

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Golden Gophers Football Recruiting Alert: Mataalii Benjamin

Posted on May 28, 2025May 28, 2025 by David Shama

The first of two Gophers Summer Splash weekends starts on Friday in Minneapolis. The invitation only event is for high school football players Minnesota is targeting for its recruiting class of 2026.

The attendees will number about 25, including 10 who already have made verbal commitments to the Gophers, per recruiting authority Ryan Burns from Gopher Illustrated and 247Sports. He talked to Sports Headliners about prospects who already are, or will be, of high interest to Minnesota fans.

Yes, Burns said the Gopher coaches would be “through the roof” in the coming days if they received a verbal commitment from the state’s No. 1 ranked player, Roman Voss from Jackson.

“I’d also tell you they’d love to add a kid from Utah named Mataalii Benjamin who is a very high upside offensive tackle,” Burns said. “And being able to add tackle bodies is very important. They’re one of the toughest things to find across college football because they’re always in such high demand.

“Benjamin has offers from all over the country but being able to get him on campus this weekend is very important for them. …I think he’s one of the higher upside guys that they’ve been targeting along the offensive line in some time.”

A player Burns is locked in on is wide receiver Hayden Moore from Newberry, Florida. After Moore verbally committed to the Gophers, he picked up an offer from Big Ten power Penn State and he is “tentatively” scheduled to visit there next month, per Burns who is curious to learn the Florida native’s thoughts after this weekend.

Voss is the player who Gopher fans have zeroed in on. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound prospect is so versatile he could be a possibility at multiple positions in college, but Burns predicts he will be a tight end.

“I think he’s going to be a great college tight end,” Burns said. He added that Voss “is as athletically gifted a tight end as I’ve seen come out of this state since Brevyn Spann-Ford (former Gopher now with the NFL Cowboys).”

Burns said in college Voss could remind him of former Iowa All-American Sam LaPorta, now a standout tight end for the NFL Lions. He added that Voss and his family are on board with his playing tight end in college.

At one time it was thought Voss, who is expected at Summer Splash, might choose Iowa. The Hawkeyes are known as a tight ends factory and Jackson is near the Iowa border. “Iowa is not in it for (securing) Roman Voss,” Burns said.

Voss is “essentially bound” to either Alabama or Minnesota, per Burns who said the coveted prospect will visit the Crimson Tide in June with indications a college destination will be made after that. Jackson is a short drive to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer became acquainted with southwest Minnesota recruiting when he was leading the program at the University of Sioux Falls.

Four-star state of Minnesota recruits Howie Johnson, a defensive lineman from Forest Lake, and Andrew Trout, an offensive tackle from Cold Spring, are already Gopher commits and expected to be at Summer Splash. They are players Burns believes could contribute early in their college careers.

The next highest ranked in-state player is high three-star Dodge Center athlete Pierce Petersohn who is also expected to attend Summer Splash. Burns said the uncommitted Petersohn is projected as a college linebacker by Minnesota and Iowa State, and a tight end by Penn State. “He’s going to take official visits to all three of those schools coming up here in the next month or so, and then he’s going to try and figure out what’s best for him.”

How does Burns view the quality and depth of talent in the state for the class of 2026? “I just don’t think it’s a very good year in the state of Minnesota to be quite honest with you. I think it’s a below average year. It’s a year where you’ve got a lot of high-end guys at the top. Guys like Roman Voss, Howie Johnson, Andrew Trout, Pierce Petersohn, but I think the cliff drops off pretty steeply after the top five I would say; top maybe 6, 7, 8. …In terms of depth I don’t think it’s a great year.”

Despite not being that enthused about the in-state talent depth, Burns believes the 2026 Gopher recruiting class could be one of the best since head coach P.J. Fleck came to Minnesota in 2017. Burns offered praise to the staff for getting in early with a lot of their targets and building relationships.

An example is offensive tackle Daniel McMorris from Oklahoma who is expected at Summer Splash. Burns said Minnesota was the first school to offer McMorris but now he has over 20 offers including Wisconsin and Stanford.

To make this one of Fleck’s best classes Burns said the Gophers will need a “great next 30 days of recruiting.” He projects by the end of June the 2026 Minnesota will have “north of 20” verbal commitments.

The Gophers will host a second Summer Splash June 13-15, with a smaller number of targets expected to attend, per Burns.

Under NCAA rules, prep players can’t make signed agreements with schools for several months from now.

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Shannon Overcame Challenges to Become Wolves Hero

Posted on May 25, 2025July 8, 2025 by David Shama

Terrence Shannon Jr. came off the bench last night to ignite his teammates and the Target Center crowd as the Timberwolves defeated the Thunder 143-101. He contributed to the team energy and physicality that overwhelmed the Thunder and delivered the first win for Minnesota in Game 3 of the best of seven Western Conference Finals series.

The seldom used rookie, 23 years old, scored 15 points in 13 minutes, making five of eight shots and all four of his free throws. He was electric dribbling toward the basket and also hit a three-pointer as the Wolves set a franchise playoff record scoring 143 points. He joined a stealth defensive effort by his teammates, too, and had a steal.

Shannon had played briefly in six previous playoff games, averaging one point. He entered the game last night in the second quarter when the score was somewhat competitive and when he left the floor he had scored nine points in four minutes. The delirious crowd gave him a standing ovation.

What prompted coach Chris Finch to use the 6-4, 220-pound guard so early in the game? Well, he was looking for an additional talent to be part of the player rotation. And he hit the jackpot with Shannon who played in just 32 regular season games and averaged 4.3 points.

“…He’s just a guy that can stretch the floor in transition,” Finch said. “Downhill player, got a good body…we needed some physicality out there. Kind of just a different type of player than we have in other positions, so, we kind of knew coming into the game what we were gonna get.”

Shannon certainly delivered last night, just like he did at Illinois where he was a third team All-American in 2023-2024 averaging 23 points per game. “… I feel like with the way I play, the defense has to adjust to me because I’m going so fast and fearless downhill that they gotta adjust. And when they crowd the paint, I’m gonna kick it out, and if they don’t, I’m just gonna score the ball.”

Shannon was a hero last night but his journey to the NBA has produced challenges. The Wolves selected him at No. 27 in the first round in the 2024 NBA Draft last June, just a couple weeks after a Kansas jury found him not guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman.

The alleged crime hung over Shannon for much of his senior season at Illinois and potentially jeopardized his pro future. The verdict last June brought closure and Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly saw a prospect with tantalizing offensive skills to attack the basket, along with the athleticism and instinct to be a special contributor defensively.

Shannon didn’t draw much attention from Division I schools when he was a high school player in Chicago. So he spent a year in prep school, at IMG Academy in Florida. He made himself into a four-star, top 100 recruit.

He played three seasons at Texas Tech where he did make the Big 12 All-Freshman team in 2019-2020. But he didn’t show the drastic improvement for the Red Raiders that he achieved at Illinois where he averaged 17.2 points per game his first season and then followed up with a senior season that included being named the Big Ten Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as the Illini defeated Wisconsin for the tourney championship.

Edwards, Finch photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves

Shannon values being a good teammate. At Illinois, he wanted his bio to include that he was the funniest guy on the team. In Minneapolis he hit it off with superstar Anthony Edwards, 23, who had a game-high 30 points last night.

“That’s my dog man,” Shannon said. “We talk all the time, give each other feedback. …We both work hard, and we love the game, so we gelled right away when I got here.”

Wolves Notes

The Wolves had a noticeable difference compared with the Thunder in energy and physicality from the game’s start. Minnesota led 34-14 after the first quarter and then 72-41 at halftime.

“…They were here to play, and they did everything correctly from the jump,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault . “Dug ourselves a hole. I thought we tried to jump out a couple different times, but they did a good job holding us off as well. We can learn from it, obviously. Not our best punch, but again, we tip our hats to them.”

Led by Shannon’s playoff career-high 15 points off the bench, the Wolves subs scored a postseason franchise-high 66 points in the victory, besting the previous high by 20 points (46: May 8, 2025, against the Warriors).

The Wolves had seven players with 10-plus points (Edwards: 30, Julius Randle: 24, Shannon: 15, Nickeil Alexander-Walker: 12, Leonard Miller: 11, Naz Reid: 10, Jaden McDaniels: 10). That set a franchise record for most players with 10-plus points in a playoff game.

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