Author: David Shama

The journey to the Gophers best basketball season in more than a decade might begin tomorrow night in British Columbia when Minnesota plays the first of three late summer exhibition games.

Last season the Gophers were 21-14 overall, 9-9 during the Big Ten season, and won three of four in the conference tournament to earn their way into the NCAA tourney for a second consecutive year under coach Tubby Smith.  Off-season news included the transfers of guard Justin Cobbs and forwards Paul Carter and Royce White to other schools but the return of two talented ineligible players last winter has shifted momentum to the positive for 2010-11.

Senior point guard Al Nolen and junior power forward Trevor Mbakwe have skills that are the envy of many college players.  Nolen’s on-the-ball defense could make him one of the nation’s leaders in steals, while Mbakwe brings shot blocking, interior defense and rebounding that will draw attention next winter.

A long time ago legendary Marquette coach Al McGuire said: “You win with your seniors.”  The Gophers are likely to have two senior starters in Nolen, 21, and forward Blake Hoffarber, 22.  Mbakwe, a junior college transfer who started his post-high school career at Marquette, is 21 and a mature player.  Nolen was a regular last season before becoming academically ineligible and along with Hoffarber, junior guard Devoe Joseph and junior centers Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson, the Gophers have five experienced players who have been starters at Minnesota.

Smith spoke about experience recently on the Gophers website.  “We’ve got a good nucleus of veteran players that I think can compete with anybody in the country,” he said in a web interview. https://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=204980619

The Gophers haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since the 1997 team went to the Final Four.  The 2010-11 team will be experienced and accomplished defensively.  Smith said in the web interview he will be looking for improved rebounding and passing on the trip to Canada.  The Gophers have games tomorrow night, Friday evening and Sunday against Canadian university teams.

The NCAA allows a program to make a foreign trip every four years and the Gophers have been given 10 days of practice they otherwise wouldn’t have received in the summer.  The three games, along with the practices, are a bonus for a team that could be headed for a big season.

In April, the NCAA changed a rule regarding foreign trips to allow incoming freshmen to participate.  Minnesota has eight new players on its 2010-11 roster, six of whom will be making the trip to Vancouver, British Columbia: guards Maverick Ahanmisi, Austin Hollins and Eric Stark, forwards Trevor Mbakwe and Mo Walker and center Elliott Eliason.

After the Canadian trip, the Gophers don’t play again until they have home exhibitions November 2 and 8 against Northeastern State and Winona State.

Former Timberwolves player and front office executive Fred Hoiberg is making national news with four transfers coming into his program as the new basketball coach at Iowa State.  Those transfers not only include former Gopher and Minnesota Mr. Basketball Royce White, but also ex-Michigan State starter Chris Allen.  Both White, a forward, and Allen, a shooting guard, are considered pro prospects.

Here’s what you can believe about a proposed new stadium for the Vikings: the facility is unlikely to have a retractable roof because that adds about $200 million to the total cost of an open air stadium.  But a fixed roof stadium would be less expensive than a retractable roof and will satisfy the Vikings and also serve the community as a venue for other spectator attractions like a Final Four, and offer a site for amateur events and recreational activities.

It has been proposed in the past that the Vikings owners be responsible for about $222 million of the cost but in the coming legislative process that figure is likely to be negotiated up.  There is more political interest in making the stadium a reality than in the past and given the franchise’s enormous popularity it’s a big political risk for any of the three gubernatorial candidates to oppose legislation for the facility.

Determining the public funding will be controversial and various ideas are likely to be offered including a seven county metro area lodging surtax.  The stadium site seems almost certain to be where Mall of America Field is now.

It will be interesting to see if the Vikings are improved at catching passes tomorrow night in their final preseason game.  Last Saturday night there were too many balls thrown by quarterback Brett Favre that should have been caught.  That raised questions about whether this team has one or two high quality receivers who offer the speed and exceptional catching ability that’s missing with best receiver Sidney Rice sidelined for perhaps half the season.  As for running the ball, in three preseason games the Vikings have rushed for 101.3 yards per game.

Denver will be the opponent tomorrow night at Mall of America Field with a roster that includes former Gopher wide receiver Eric Decker who has caught six passes for 69 yards and one touchdown in preseason.

The Vikings and other NFL teams must reduce their rosters to the season limit of 53 on Saturday.

The Sporting News Magazine issue of August 30 ranks the Vikings’ Brad Childress   No. 14 among 32 NFL coaches.  The top five are Bill Belichick, Sean Payton, Jeff Fisher, Mike Shanahan and Mike Tomlin.

The same issue predicts the Vikings and Green Bay, both with 11-5 records, will tie for the NFC North title.  Sporting News has the Jets winning over Dallas in the Super Bowl.

Middle Tennessee State quarterback Logan Kilgore will make his first major college start tomorrow night against the Gophers.  He’s a junior college transfer who has been promoted to the No. 1 offense because the NCAA has ruled dynamic playmaking quarterback Dwight Dasher ineligible.  Dasher set a bowl record for a quarterback last December by rushing for 201 yards.

Gophers coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners that Kilgore is a better passer than Dasher.  He also said Kilgore completed 21 of 34 passes in the spring game.  Look for the Gophers to bring defensive pressure to test Kilgore early in tomorrow night’s game.

The game is telecast on ESPNU and the Gophers athletic department is hosting a viewing party at TCF Bank Stadium.

Deolis Guerra, who is the only player remaining that the Twins acquired in the Johan Santana deal in 2008, continues to struggle in the minors.  He is 2-10 with a 6.24 ERA pitching for Double A New Britain.

Twins third baseman Danny Valencia is the top hitting rookie in the American League at .328, 24 percentage points better than Detroit’s Austin Jackson who is second.

After last night’s games the Twins are four games ahead of the White Sox in the Central Division race.  The Twins look like the better team but one advantage Chicago has is being scheduled for 16 of its last 22 games at home.  The Twins play 12 of their final 22 on the road.

After defeating then No. 5 rated Central Washington in a season opening game last week, Minnesota-Duluth is ranked No. 3 in the American Football Coaches Association Division II poll.  Other NSIC schools in the top 25 are Minnesota State-Mankato at No. 18, Winona State at No. 24 and Wayne State, No. 25.