P.J. FLECK – Page 47 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Gophers Target State Prep Tackles

Posted on May 5, 2021 by David Shama

Recruiting online source 247Sports lists the top five Minnesota prep football players in the class of 2022 in this order: Eli King, Tre Holloman, Lucas Heyer, Kristen Hoskins and Deylin Hasert. King, a superb athlete from Caledonia and football quarterback, has committed to play basketball at Iowa State. It’s possible the other four could become Gophers.

That last sentence comes with a twist. Holloman is a cornerback at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul but he is also a basketball point guard. He is a coveted recruit in both sports. “I know that there’s a lot of schools in the Big Ten, including Minnesota, who think he could be an incredible corner but it sounds like he’s going to play basketball,” recruiting authority Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated told Sports Headliners. Burns has heard the basketball Gophers are pitching hard and may secure a commitment.

For years Gophers fans have been frustrated to see top offensive linemen from the state choose colleges other than Minnesota. Burns describes the situation as “a thorn in the side” of Gopher head coaches going back more than 10 years. P.J. Fleck and his staff hope to flip that with their 2022 class. Heyer, from Hill-Murray, and Hasert, from Marshall, are both offensive tackles. So, too, is Tony Nelson of Tracy who has verbally committed to Minnesota and is ranked No. 8 among state prospects for 2022 by 247 Sports.

Heyer, 6-5 and 307 pounds per 247, reminds Burns of current Gopher Blaise Andries, who is one of the better offensive linemen in the Big Ten. “I think Blaise may be a little more athletic than Lucas, but very smart kids,” Burns said. “I mean very cerebral. They understand what their jobs are.”

Burns predicted Hasert, 6-5 and 280 per 247, may switch from tackle to guard his senior season at Marshall this fall and sees him playing the position in college. Hasert’s athleticism, including foot speed, could make him special as a pulling guard. “He is certainly a road grader,” Burns said.

Minnesota’s competition for Heyer includes Northwestern and Stanford. Iowa and Iowa State are among schools that interest Hasert.

Nelson, about 6-6 and 285, is passionate about the Gophers and Burns doesn’t see him changing his commitment. “He is all of 6-6, incredibly long, incredibly athletic,” Burns said.

Reversing the trend of seeing prep offensive linemen go elsewhere is now in play with Nelson, Hasert and Heyer. “I think they want to get three (of them) for sure and if they could get Deylin and Lucas, to go with Tony, they would be through the moon,” Burns said.

Hoskins is about 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds, and the Alexandria star has also verbally committed to Minnesota. He projects as a wide receiver with the Gophers but Burns believes Hoskins could first help as a return man on kickoffs and punts. He has touchdown making speed and quickness. “He’s just explosive,” Burns said.

Minnesota has five verbal commits so far for its class of 2022. Joining Hoskins and Nelson are Ohio defensive end Trey Bixby, Georgia safety Coleman Bryson, and South Dakota quarterback Jacob Knuth. All of the commits are three-star prospects except for four-star Bixby, per 247.

Burns will be surprised if the Gophers receive any more verbal commitments before June 1. With the pandemic easing, and campus visits being scheduled, and summer football camps starting next month, commitments will be coming across the country. A normal landscape is in stark contrast to all the travel lockdowns of the last 15 months that left some players making commitments to schools they never visited. “Starting on June 1, it’s going to be crazy,” Burns said about recruiting in late spring and summer.

Track Fleck’s past recruiting and it shows most of his commits come in May, June and July. Burns attributes part of that to players from the south arriving in Minnesota in June and seeing that it’s not “ice cold” here. Burns projects the Gophers will pick up five to 10 verbal commitments this June.

Worth Noting

Dick Jonckowski, the Gophers former public address announcer for basketball and baseball, received the best news this week regarding his lymphoma cancer when the doctor said “everything is gone.” This is the second time Jonckowski has won his battle with lymphoma. Going forward he will have checkups every six weeks.

The Gophers and UMD Bulldogs athletic directors, Mark Coyle and Josh Berlo, sent a letter this week to the Minnesota House and Senate tax chairs supporting a proposed provision in the House omnibus tax bill granting a sales tax exemption for scholarship seating donations at Minnesota colleges. The letter said “we believe Minnesota is the only state in the nation that taxes these types of collegiate athletic donations.”

Revenue retained from a sales tax exemption would support scholarships for student athletes, their wellness and academic costs. A volunteer group called Friends of Gophers Sports (FOGS) has been making progress on this proposed legislative change that could result in a seven-figure savings for the Gophers.

“It’s moving ahead and we’re hopeful it will stay in the tax bill,” said volunteer Tom Devine, who pointed out the Minnesota Vikings already have a sales tax exemption from seat licensing sales.

A Sports Headliners reader back from Las Vegas reported odds on the Vikings winning the Super Bowl are 50-1, according to the renowned William Hill book. Odds for Minnesota’s NFC North Division rivals are the Packers 10-1, Bears 60-1 and Lions 125-1. The Chiefs are the top pick to win the Super Bowl at 5-1.

Legendary Brainerd High School football coach Ron Stolski emailed that Joe Haeg, who played for him, will now be able to say he was teammates with two future NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Haeg, an offensive tackle, signed as a free agent this offseason to join the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger after being with Tom Brady and the 2021 Super Bowl champion Bucs.

MLB.com’s power rankings now have the Twins at No. 16 after being as high as No. 4 this spring. The AL Central Division favorite White Sox are No. 4 in the latest rankings, while the Royals are No. 9.

Don’t be surprised if Twins’ call ups from the Triple-A St. Paul Saints include top 100 MLB prospect Jhoan Duran, a right-hander who throws the “splinker,” a splitter-sinker hybrid.

Minnesotan Freddie Gillespie now has a two-year contract with the NBA’s Raptors. He had no Division I or II offers coming out of East Ridge High School, played two seasons at Carleton, walked-on at Baylor and signed with Raptors last year as a free agent. The 23-year-old forward has played in 14 games this season, averaging 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds.

Credit former Gophers basketball captain Al Nuness with impacting Gillespie’s career path. Gillespie’s mother, Alberder Gillespie, talked to Nuness when her son was at Carleton and asked for advice. Nuness saw potential in the 6-foot-9 Gillespie and contacted his son Jared Nuness, a member of the Baylor coaching staff. She said Al Nuness “instantly knew” that her son could become a special player.

“I couldn’t have scripted the way it happened,” Alberder said in describing her son’s basketball journey.

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Don’t Wager Vikings Draft Trey Lance

Posted on April 21, 2021April 21, 2021 by David Shama

It’s a wish that makes provincial Vikings fans salivate. Trey Lance to the Minnesota Vikings with the No. 14 selection in the first round of the April 29 NFL Draft.

Perfect.

Fans are always in search of the next quarterback hero. What could be better in these parts than drafting Lance, the Marshall, Minnesota native? Not only is he “one of us,” but his success story at North Dakota State caught this state by surprise and he has emerged as a national phenom. He wasn’t even a coveted quarterback out of high school, and he told NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread that Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck wanted him to play safety for the Golden Gophers.

As a redshirt sophomore last year, Lance announced his decision to enter the 2021 NFL Draft. He did so despite a short college career of only one full season—a headline making 2019 when he led the Bison to 16 consecutive wins and the FCS national title. He was honored with the Walter Payton Award as the top player in the FCS. He completed almost 67 percent of his passes, threw no interceptions and ran for over 1,000 yards.

A Minnesota homecoming sounds dreamy to many Vikings fans, but not so fast. While mock drafts predict a first round landing for the athletic, 6-4, 224-pound Lance, scouting authorities struggle to decide how early he should be selected and what kind of pro career awaits. Would it be a surprise to see Minnesota call his name at 14?

“Yes, I would be very surprised,” a former NFL executive told Sports Headliners this week. The authority, who chose to speak anonymously, said evaluators are unsure about Lance because of the lower level of competition he faced in college. “I think that’s the big question,” the source said.

The FCS isn’t the Big Ten, SEC or other Power Five FBS conferences. Still, no one has to look further than Carson Wentz to document a successful transition from North Dakota State to the NFL. The former Bison quarterback was the No. 2 overall selection in the first round of the 2016 draft and became a first-year starter for the Philadelphia Eagles. With five years on the Bison roster, he was far more experienced at NDSU than Lance.

The Sports Headliners source can’t see Vikings GM Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer using their first round choice on a 20-year-old quarterback needing time to acclimate and improve in the pros. The two decision makers are on short-term contracts with ownership and are coming off a season when Minnesota didn’t make the playoffs. ”They need to win and I don’t think they want to take a developmental quarterback at this stage, unless it’s a third round type guy,” the authority said.

This will be a quarterback-heavy draft in the first round. Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, Mac Jones and Lance are quarterbacks that all could be off the board before the Vikings make their choice, leaving Minnesota able to choose from high quality talent that play other positions. “If there are four quarterbacks taken before the Vikings pick, that’s great for them, and even if a fifth guy slides in there in the top 13, that would be amazing,” the NFL expert said. “I remember being in a lot of draft rooms where we had a good quarterback already, and we’d be thinking, ‘Please (other teams) take a quarterback.’ “

The Vikings have 32-year-old Kirk Cousins as their starter and are contractually committed to him for two more seasons. Spielman might opt for a quarterback later in the draft, perhaps someone like Florida’s Kyle Trask who would be a developmental player. Drew Brees, Dak Prescott and Russell Wilson are recent examples of quarterbacks who were selected after the first round and became stars.

The Vikings drafted Iowa’s Nate Stanley during the seventh round in 2020 and management might like him as a developmental quarterback. Sean Mannion, the team’s main backup to Cousins in 2020, is unsigned but could be retained because he knows the system and doesn’t command an expensive contract like some NFL subs.

Zimmer indicated earlier this spring the Vikings have made sufficient personnel changes during the offseason to feel comfortable about taking the best player available in the first round. “I think that’s where you want to be,” the Sports Headliners source said. “You don’t want to be reaching for positions of need in the first round. That’s where you get in trouble.”

At No. 14 the Vikings could be looking at both the best player available and filling a need. There are quality offensive linemen in this draft and the Vikings, in need of help at tackle, might be able to select Rashawn Slater from Northwestern, or Alijah Vera-Tucker of USC.

Spielman has a history of trading draft choices and accumulating picks. It could be the Vikings will move down in the first round rather than up—if they move at all. Minnesota doesn’t have a second round selection. Spielman might decide there are so many quality players in this draft it’s advantageous to select later in the first round if he can deal his pick at No. 14 for a lower choice, plus acquire a second rounder.

Worth Noting

Gabe Kalscheur’s mom, LeeAnna Kalscheur, told Sports Headliners her son is still at the University of Minnesota pursuing his business major. He will start school in early June at Iowa State where he is joining the Cyclones basketball program.

She said Gabe and the family appreciate the past three seasons and relationships with the U including the new Gopher coaches, but her son wanted a fresh start in basketball and entered the transfer portal earlier this spring. Gabe knows the coaches at Iowa State from previous experiences and chose the Cyclones over offers from Big Ten, ACC and SEC schools.

LeeAnna and her husband plan to make regular trips to Ames. She joked with Gabe that he added considerable “commuting time” to see him play college basketball.

Chet Holmgren committed Monday to Gonzaga after delaying a college choice he could have made last fall. Wait-and-see is a smart approach for some prep recruits because things can change at programs like North Carolina where legendary coach Roy Williams retired this spring. The Tar Heels and Williams were on Holmgren’s list of possible colleges after ending his high school career at Minnehaha Academy this month as the nation’s No. 1 recruit.

Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are presenting themselves as partners to reportedly pay $1.5 billion to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx, but that may not mean equal investors. It’s believed billionaire Lore’s “pockets” are considerably deeper than those of Rodriguez, the baseball star turned businessman.

Speculation is Bob Kurtz, the Minnesota Wild’s radio play-by-play voice since the franchise’s inception in 2000, may retire after this season. If so, Joe O’Donnell, who does radio games for the Iowa Wild, could emerge as a Kurtz replacement.

The struggling Twins, who have lost eight of their last nine games, finish a series with the Oakland Athletics today and then play the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday at Target Field where Minnesota was an MLB-best 24-7 last season.

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Twins Brass in Evaluation Mode

Posted on April 19, 2021April 19, 2021 by David Shama

The Minnesota Twins have experienced an unexpected start to the season. The club’s last three games have been postponed by MLB because of COVID-19 issues and the club is off to a slow start on the field with a 6-8 record.

Before the season the Twins were a consensus top 10-12 team, with some boosters listing Minnesota as one of MLB’s top half dozen clubs. The Twins opened the season going 5-2, but more recently the team is in an April swoon having lost six of its last seven games.

Close games have been troublesome. Minnesota is winless in extra innings and has lost four one-run games. But regardless of outcome and record, general manager Thad Levine likes a wait-and-see approach with his team each season.

Levine said he learned from baseball mastermind Billy Beane to evaluate your team in April and May, make necessary adjustments in June and July, and hopefully watch a championship contender in August and September.

“We’re going to take April and May to really evaluate the club,” Levine told Sports Headliners a few days ago. “We haven’t really had our opening day lineup, such as it is, play for a whole series together, and until that happens I think we’re just going to sit back and enjoy this club and make adjustments as necessary. …”

Injuries have impacted the team’s start. “So I think it’s a little bit premature to talk aggressively about trades at this juncture…because I think our team is still jelling,” Levine said.

As recently as last Monday MLB.com’s power rankings had Minnesota No. 4 behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees. That’s lofty company and Levine was asked about high expectations.

“Time will tell whether we earn that. I do think we’re a very talented team. The club has performed very well over the last couple of years. We have depth, we have quality, we have quantity on this club, and I think we expect to be very competitive this season.”

Spotrac.com reports the Twins rank near the MLB average for 2021 cash payrolls at $127,292,324. Because of the pandemic MLB’s 30 teams have suffered huge financial losses (perhaps over $70 million for the Twins) but Levine describes Minnesota ownership as “amazing” in its support of the organization. He said the Twins are among the minority of franchises who haven’t been forced to cut employees and “infrastructure.”

Levine also said he and president of baseball operations Derek Falvey experience an open door policy with club president Dave St. Peter and ownership to make their case regarding major roster changes, even if expensive. “Their support of our pursuit of putting a championship caliber team on the field has really never flagged,” said Levine who joined the Twins organization in 2016 along with Falvey.

Two names fans speculate about being part of the payroll in the future are starting pitcher Jose Berrios and center fielder Byron Buxton. Neither is signed long-term and the twosome are in their career prime years at 26 and 27. But signing them to lengthy extensions soon doesn’t appear likely.

Levine said that while contract negotiations are always kept private, usually the club prefers to get deals done during the offseason. The Twins’ approach is to allow players to keep their focus on the field and not divert their attentions to future contracts.

Worth Noting

Levine joking about April’s cold weather impact on baseball games: “Yeah, I have to wear a heavier coat when I am watching the team play.”

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer talking about defensive end Danielle Hunter who didn’t play last season: “He is a great team guy. He is a terrific player. He is one of the best people that I’ve been around in professional football.”

Happy Birthday today to 38-year-old Joe Mauer. He retired from the Twins in November of 2018.

The University of Minnesota athletic department has a tickets wait-list for the May 1 spring football game. The initial offering of 10,000 free tickets was claimed within a couple of hours, with the total restricted because of the pandemic. The largest Gophers spring game attendance in memory is a 1980s gathering (of over 40,000) at the Metrodome when promoter extraordinaire Lou Holtz was Minnesota’s head coach.

Kevin Harlan, the former Minnesota Timberwolves peerless play-by-play radio voice, speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers via Zoom Tuesday. Harlan, the 2019 National Sportscaster of the Year as selected by the National Sports Media Association, is the brother of Bryan Harlan, the agent who represents Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck.

Former Golden Gophers basketball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski said his chemo treatments for cancer are going well. He has stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The Wild, forecast before the season as a non-playoff team, could be one of the NHL’s best stories in the postseason with several players performing at a high level including 33-year-old goalie Cam Talbot who is on track to appear in more games in 2021 than he did the two previous years. Wild GM Bill Guerin gets the credit for acquiring Talbot, part of multiple moves that have improved the team.

With the death of Elgin Baylor last month, all the Minneapolis Lakers who are enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame are deceased. George Mikan was the first to be inducted in 1959, followed by Baylor, Jim Pollard, Slater Martin, Clyde Lovellette, Vern Mikkelsen and coach John Kundla.

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