Gophers Basketball – Page 123 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Basketball Recruit Coffey, Mr. Versatile

Posted on October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by David Shama

Amir Coffey is so versatile his coach may ask him to guard other players this coming season—regardless of their height, weight and playing positions. Hopkins High School coach Ken Novak Jr. is also hopeful the 6-6, 170-pound guard will average a triple-double in points, rebounds and assists.

Coffey was a big get for Gophers coach Richard Pitino last month when the Rivals.com four-star high school senior verbally committed to his home-state school. Coffey is the elite senior prospect in Minnesota, and giving his word to play for the Gophers is a step in the right direction for Pitino’s struggling program—6-12 in the Big Ten last season and in rebuilding mode.

Novak has coached high school basketball for more than 30 years. At Hopkins he has coached championship teams and great players including Siyani Chambers, Joe Coleman, Kris Humphries and Royce White. Novak considers Humphries, who was a rebounding whiz along with other skills, to be his best player ever, but said Coffey is unique. “I am not saying he’s (Coffey) the best player. He’s definitely the most versatile player,” Novak told Sports Headliners recently.

Novak wants defensive improvement out of Coffey this season. His ability to defend at a high level will go a long way toward determining the Royals’ success. “For us, Amir is going to have to be guarding the best player most of the time, and he has the smarts to be able to do that,” Novak said.

Coffey tore his left ACL last season and missed most of the Hopkins schedule. Novak said the injury and resulting surgery lessened his player’s explosiveness. “His strength in his legs aren’t quite what they were but…he will get that back,” Novak said.

The Royals begin practice for next season on November 9 and Novak has high expectations for Coffey. “He’s one of those guys that could average a triple-double,” said Novak who will be starting his 26th season at Hopkins.

Novak admits not being sure if he ever heard of a high school player averaging a triple-double but that’s his objective for Coffey. “I think scoring won’t be a problem,” the coach said. “I think assists and rebounding will be tough to average. …That would be a goal (triple-double).”

Although Coffey is tall, he is a good ball handler and his passing prompts raves from the coach. “He’s a phenomenal passer,” Novak said. “Passing ability is what he does best. Vision wise, as good a point guard as you will find.”

Coffey’s dad, Richard Coffey, was a 6-4 undersized, overachieving forward and center for the Gophers from 1986-1990. Richard was all about the team and probably nobody ever graded him less than A+ for attitude.

Novak said Amir is also about teammates first. “He’s a really unselfish kid,” Novak said. “He’s not a kid that’s looking to try and go out and get 30 points. He likes to set people up and he does it all the time.”

Novak believes Coffey could become a superb shooter and scorer because he has “great hands.” In college he likely will need to shoot long range in Pitino’s offense emphasizing three-pointers. With his scoring, passing, rebounding and defending potential, Coffey could eventually be a special college player but he will have to polish his total game and become physically stronger.

“He’s not coming in and dominating Big Ten basketball with his size,” Novak said. “Can he in a few years? Yeah, I think he can in a few years. …”

For the more immediate future, Novak, Coffey and the rest of the Royals can focus on the season ahead and trying to win a 4A state championship. Hopkins has three starters back including Mr. Versatile. That’s a good start but Novak knows there are challenges ahead including defending 4A state champion Apple Valley led by junior wing Gary Trent Jr. and sophomore point guard Tre Jones.

“Apple Valley, I think, is by far the best team,” Novak said. “They’ve got two guys offered to Duke. I don’t know if this state has seen a team that probably is as talented as they are, and they’re young too. And for anybody to beat them, they’re going to have to play well. You’re going to have to be an awfully, awfully good team.”

Worth Noting

Shannon Brooks, the freshman Gophers running back who rushed for 176 yards last week against Purdue, didn’t command a lot of interest from big time college programs coming out of Pickens High School in Jasper, Georgia. Georgia Tech was interested but he didn’t like the Yellow Jackets’ triple option offense, preferring Minnesota’s multiple set scheme. He said the University of North Carolina at Charlotte would have been his choice if it wasn’t for the Gophers scholarship.

Obviously a lot of recruiters missed on Brooks. Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover recalled one of his best friends is a high school coach in Atlanta (about a one hour drive from Jasper) and he knew Brooks was a special running back. Limegrover said the coach told him, “I thought that was the best kid I had seen in the state the past two years.”

Senior Jon Christenson, one of the Gophers best offensive linemen, returned from injury for part-time duty against Purdue. Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said Christenson will continue to split time with senior Joe Bjorklund at left guard.

“We have two kids that have knee injuries…Joe Bjorklund and Jon, and there’s no way they can play 50, 60 plays a game,” Kill said. “So we played them pretty much evenly in the (Purdue) game, which helps both of them. We substitute them more than we ever have.”

A Gophers spokesman said Saturday’s Minnesota-Nebraska game is “close” to a sellout at TCF Bank Stadium. If there is a capacity crowd, it will mean the Gophers have sold out all four home games so far—the first time a sellout streak has reached that total since 2009.

Twins telecasts on Fox Sports North in 2015 increased 24 percent from last year and had the 10th highest viewership among MLB teams on regional sports networks with a 4.12 average household rating. Twins telecasts were No. 1 on cable and No. 3 in primetime for all Minneapolis-St. Paul TV programming during the past season.

“Twins Season Review 2015,” a 30-minute program, debuts Thursday night on Fox Sports North starting at 8 p.m.

Jim Bruton, the former Gophers football player who has written books with Minnesota sports legends, has a new book called I’m Alive, an inspiring story about Duke Pieper. Almost six years ago Pieper, then a freshman hockey player on the Hill-Murray varsity, “suffered a brain bleed before his first game,” according to an e-mail from Bruton. “On two occasions, the family asked Bill Lechner, HM coach, to be a pallbearer for Duke’s funeral. His doctor told the family ‘it was time to let him go.’ Duke lived after having only a five percent chance to survive surgery.”

The Wild has interesting road games coming up including Sunday evening in Anaheim against a Ducks team that is a popular choice to win the Stanley Cup. The Wild lost all three regular season games to the Ducks in 2014-2015. All three losses were by one goal.

The Wild will see Marian Gaborik playing for the Kings on Friday night in Los Angeles. Gaborik, the former Wild star, is the franchise’s all-time leader in goals with 219. Tomorrow evening the Wild play the Coyotes in Arizona where Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk faces the team he played for part of last season (9-5-2 record, 2.72 GAA).

Skilled marketer and WCHA men’s commissioner Bill Robertson is promoting all-tournament ticket packages for the 2016 Final Five in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 18 and 19. Priced at $69 each, a ticket package provides admission to the two semi-final games on March 18 and the Broadmoor Trophy championship matchup the next day. Tickets are available via multiple sources including Ticketmaster. “As we saw last season with three nationally-ranked teams competing, the Final Five remains the sport’s finest conference tournament,” Robertson said in a news release on Monday.

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Ex-Teammate Lauds Molitor’s Managing

Posted on September 18, 2015September 18, 2015 by David Shama

Paul Molitor has impressed a lot of observers during his first season as a major league manager. Among the admirers is John Anderson, the Gophers baseball coach, who was a teammate of Molitor’s at the University of Minnesota.

Anderson was asked if Molitor should be the American League Manager of the Year. “I don’t see why not. Look at the turnaround,” Anderson answered. “Look what he’s done with that team.”

A year ago the Twins were 65-87 and 19 games out of first place in the Central Division. All those losses had Minnesota way out of contention for a wild card spot in the playoffs. Today the Twins, whose fans suffered through four consecutive 90-plus loss seasons, are only 1.5 games behind the Rangers in the chase for a playoff spot. Minnesota’s record is 75-71 and the team is in second place in the division, 11 games behind the Royals, with the regular season schedule ending on October 2.

“They’ve had moving parts and changed players…guys coming and going,” Anderson said about the Twins. “It hasn’t gone smoothly and that just tells you his ability to keep them together. They’ve been gritty (in games). They haven’t given up. There haven’t been many bad blowouts, and that’s a testament to his leadership—and of that coaching staff.

“I am not there (at the ballpark with the Twins). I am just watching from (the) outside but I know how difficult it is.”

The American League Manager of the Year Award is voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America. In the history of the award, two Twins managers have won it—Tom Kelly in 1991 and Ron Gardenhire in 2010.

Molitor, 59, had never managed a professional baseball team when he succeeded Gardenhire after last season. He did have two tenures as a coach with the Twins, working first for Kelly and last year on Gardenhire’s staff. He also coached with the Mariners for one season.

Anderson isn’t at all surprised by Molitor’s success in putting together a staff of coaches, juggling players, and strategizing before, during and after games, and turning the Twins into a competitive team that has restored the faith of fans. “He has the highest baseball IQ of anyone I’ve been around,” Anderson said.

The two men became teammates with the Gophers in 1974 and played three seasons together. “He was a student of the game back then,” Anderson recalled.

Molitor and Anderson played for legendary Gophers coach Dick Siebert. During their freshman year Molitor was a base runner on third base in a game against Texas. He sized up the Longhorns left-handed pitcher and thought he could steal home. He did just that, and when he went into the dugout Siebert asked who told him he could pull that off. Molitor explained he had expressed his confidence about stealing home to the third base coach and been granted approval. “Great, do it again,” Siebert said.

That’s pretty savvy stuff for a freshman but Molitor has always been looking for an edge. He was willing to learn as a young player from wonderful coaches in Siebert and St. Paul American Legion coach Bill Peterson.

Anderson told a story about how former Gopher Dan Wilson marveled at Molitor when the two were together in Seattle with the Mariners. Wilson, a catcher with the Mariners who played 13 years in the big leagues, said it was “unbelievable the things” Molitor observed and analyzed on the baseball field as part of his learning process. “Paul is going to try to be prepared for every situation that comes up,” Anderson praised.

Molitor knows the tendencies of his players and those on other teams. White Sox left-hander Chris Sale is one of the league’s better pitchers but the Twins have hit him hard, while he can be lights out against other clubs. Is that part of the Molitor impact?

Could be because the Minnesota native has been studying everybody and everything about baseball for a long time. A Hall of Famer as a player, Molitor even used down time when he was injured to more intently study players and what was happening on the field, Anderson said.

The Twins have been an overachieving bunch this season, a collection of talent that doesn’t quite seem like it should be playing such meaningful games in September. But the players perform like they trust the manager and know what they’re doing. “He’s a mentor. He’s encouraging,” Anderson said about Molitor. “He’s patient. He’s going to create a winning culture there.”

Unless the Twins do a complete flop between now and season’s end, it looks like they already have the foundation for that culture.

Worth Noting

Adrian Peterson, who had only 10 carries and 31 yards on Monday night against the 49ers, will have more than a dozen supporters sitting in a box and rooting for him at Sunday’s game with the Lions at TCF Bank Stadium. After missing 15 of 16 games last season, the game will be the first for Peterson at the Gophers stadium.

Teammate and defensive end Brian Robison had Peterson singing a few lines from a favorite song yesterday in the team locker room. Robison, who wears jersey No. 96, was interviewing teammates for his “96 Questions” segment on Vikings.com.

Rookie offensive lineman T.J. Clemmings, a fourth round 2015 draft choice, didn’t figure to be a starter in the Vikings opening game but had to because regular right tackle Phil Loadholt is injured. Clemmings gives himself a letter grade of C for his debut performance on Monday night.

Clemmings, 6-foot-5, was an all-state high school basketball player in New Jersey. Clemmings said he had serious “hops” and probably could have dunked the ball on an 11-foot high basket.

The Vikings first round draft choice, cornerback Trae Waynes, didn’t play in the secondary during the opening game and apparently hasn’t shown the coaches he is ready to help defend. Head coach Mike Zimmer was asked what the rookie has to do for playing time? “Cover guys better,” Zimmer replied.

Vikings wide receiver Mike Wallace joking about how he used to have three cell phones but now only two: “That’s when I was really important.”

Junior Gophers slot receiver Drew Wolitarsky has dropped his weight from 230 as a freshman to 215. He’s Minnesota’s leading receiver with 161 yards after having 106 total yards in 2014. He credits being faster with helping him improve. “A lot leaner, a lot less body fat percentage—about eight percent now,” he said.

The 6-foot-3 Wolitarksky, who reduced his body fat from 12 percent to eight in one year, caught the second touchdown pass of his career against Colorado State last week with a 38-yard reception.

Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner said about 50 percent of the play calls last week in the win over Colorado State were his. Although plays come from the coaches, the quarterback can make changes in the system.

Leidner, a redshirt junior, is in his fourth year at the University of Minnesota. He will graduate in December with a degree in kinesiology. He is planning grad school work in sports management.

Leidner is unsure about career plans. Asked about going into media work, Leidner wasn’t enthusiastic and would prefer living in a “cabin in Alaska.”

The former Lakeville South quarterback is aware of media and fan criticism, but coach Jerry Kill has given him perspective about it. “He tells me all the time when you win the game, everybody loves the quarterback and the head coach. When you lose, everyone hates you.”

The Gophers defense ranks ninth among Big Ten teams in points allowed per game at 21.5, and 10th in total defense yielding 381.5 yards. Those stats are misleading because the Gophers have played nonconference games against national title contender TCU and Colorado State, a team with a 10-3 record last year. Both programs have reputations for high scoring offenses. “We’ve got a really, really good defense,” Kill said.

Four of the most respected coaches in Hamline University history will be recognized at halftime in tomorrow’s Gustavus-Hamline football game. Banners of recognition will be displayed on the north wall of Klas Field for Kent Stahly (track/field, cross country), Dick Tressel (football), Dick Mulkern (football, track/field) and current cross country/track/field coach Paul Schmaedeke.

The Wild begin practice today and a hockey source told Sports Headliners the team’s early season storyline will be how goalie Devan Dubnyk performs. Dubnyk was the team’s most important player last winter after being acquired in a trade, and he led the Wild into the playoffs. The 29-year-old goalie had an unexpected career season and was rewarded with a new six-year contract during the offseason, but there’s no guarantee he will excel this fall and winter at the same level. If not, the source asked, what is the alternate plan for high performance in goal? Reserve Darcy Kuemper wasn’t able to establish himself last season.

The Gophers basketball team will finish 12th among 14 teams in the Big Ten and not even be invited to the NIT, according to Athlon Sports College Basketball Magazine. “The problem for Minnesota is that the Big Ten is loaded with a bunch of good teams—several great ones,” the magazine said in its analysis section about the Gophers.

Big Ten teams in the magazine’s national top 25 are No. 4 Maryland, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 16 Purdue, No. 17 Indiana, No. 19 Wisconsin and No. 22 Michigan. Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina are ranked first, second and third in the country.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino turned 33 years old on Wednesday.

The Lynx, who won the WNBA championship in 2011 and 2013, hope to start another title run tonight. Minnesota opens the Western Conference semifinals playoffs against Los Angeles in an 8 p.m. game at Target Center. The Lynx have 127 regular season wins over the last five seasons, ranking second in WNBA history (Los Angeles – 130, 2000-2004). During the 2015 regular season the Lynx finished first in the Western Conference with a 22-12 record while Los Angeles was 14-20.

Timberwolves 2015 first round draft choice Tyus Jones is providing 500 complimentary tickets for tonight’s game.

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ESPN’s Mark May: Gophers to Go 9-3

Posted on September 4, 2015September 4, 2015 by David Shama

Longtime ESPN football analyst Mark May told Sports Headliners last night he believes the Gophers will finish the season with a 9-3 regular season record. May made the prediction at TCF Bank Stadium prior to kickoff but he indicated win or lose he is buying into the program, saying a “win tonight catapults them into the national title picture.”

The Gophers lost 23-16 to No. 2 ranked TCU, a team that was 12-1 a year ago and a favorite to win the national championship. Nobody will have Minnesota in national title discussions anytime soon but May expects the Gophers to be better than last year’s 8-4 team and to contend for the West Division championship in the Big Ten Conference.

May praised Minnesota’s fifth-year coach Jerry Kill who inherited a bottom-feeder program in 2011. “I think you’ve got the right guy, for the right job,” he said about Kill who has made a career out of rebuilding programs.

There’s no reason for Gophers fans to be too discouraged about last night’s loss, despite the usual irrational comments from some disappointed fans who had unrealistic expectations. TCU is one of college football’s best teams and was favored by about 16 points. The Gophers, not even ranked in the top 25 nationally in polls, came within seven points of winning. Near the game’s conclusion Minnesota was within one long touchdown of tying the game and going ahead with an extra point.

Minnesota’s defense, predicted to be among the best in the Big Ten, exceeded expectations. TCU averaged 46.5 points per game last season and returns 10 of 11 starters including Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Trevone Boykin. But the Horned Frogs could produce only two touchdowns and three field goals last night. One of the touchdowns came after Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner fumbled, setting up an easy Horned Frogs touchdown starting at the Gophers’ 15 yard line.

Playmakers on defense were numerous including true freshman outside linebacker Julian Huff who made an impact rushing Boykin. Another Gopher in his debut game, redshirt sophomore middle linebacker Cody Poock, had seven tackles. Redshirt senior cornerback Briean-Boddy Calhoun made nine tackles (seven solo).

As expected, the Gophers’ offense looked like a project and the challenge of producing points was made more difficult playing without two of the best offensive linemen, redshirt senior tackle-guard Josh Campion and redshirt junior tackle Ben Lauer. The blocking was inconsistent, a word that described the work of the entire offense.

The Gophers are in search of playmakers and are without two of their stars from 2014, running back David Cobb and tight end Maxx Williams who have moved on to the NFL. Last night senior wide receiver KJ Maye caught four passes for 73 yards including a 22-yard catch in the fourth quarter that made the score 23-17. Redshirt freshman running back Rodney Smith showed changes of speed and elusiveness in the open field like Cobb did last season. Smith, replacing senior Rodrick Williams whose first half fumble in the TCU was another game-changing miscue, ran for 88 yards and a touchdown.

Redshirt junior quarterback Mitch Leidner was impressive at times including on that late fourth quarter drive putting his team within seven points of going ahead. He completed 19 of 25 passes for 197 yards. He had some poor throws but despite challenging moments he demonstrated leadership and a strong will.

On both sides of the ball last night, and on special teams, the Gophers showed grit. That will be a key ingredient if they’re to make good on May’s prediction of a 9-3 season.

Worth Noting

Scout ranks the Gophers No. 35 in the national recruiting listings for 2016. Under Kill Minnesota has never finished that high in the rankings. Ryan Burns, publisher for Scout’s GopherDigest.com, told Sports Headliners the close game last night is “something they (Gophers recruiters) can point to” in building further momentum.

Burns said nine players the Gophers are recruiting will be on campus for the Michigan game at TCF Bank Stadium on October 31, Halloween night.

TCF Bank Stadium football capacity is 52,525 but a record crowd of 54,147 attended the game including fans who paid $40 for standing-room only tickets.

The M Club Room in the stadium where University of Minnesota letter winners and their friends and families socialize for Gophers games can accommodate about 200 people. On the walls are the names of about 7,000 individuals who have lettered in athletics at Minnesota.

The fourth season of selling beer and wine at the stadium for Gophers football games began last night. The commission revenues the previous three years were: $185,023, $325,567, and $557,597 last season. Athletic department spokesman Chris Werle said alcohol is provided as a service to fans and issued this statement via e-mail:

“Our philosophy is to provide the best in-game experience to our many fans and given that we reside in a market with multiple professional sports teams that serve beer at their events, our fans prefer that we do as well.”

Sports Illustrated describes the Vikings as “the sleeper’s sleeper” in its NFL preview issue that came out this week. The magazine predicts the Vikings, 7-9 last season, will finish at 10-6 and in second place in the NFC North but will just miss the playoffs. Writer Chris Burke praises the defense but frets about the offensive line.

S.I. forecasts the Packers winning the division at 12-4, followed by the Vikings, Lions (8-10) and Bears (3-13). The Ravens will defeat the Seahawks in Super Bowl 50.

College basketball coaches are cautious about the number of quality opponents they schedule for nonconference games. Gophers fans want to see nonconference games between Minnesota coach Richard Pitino and his father, Louisville coach Rick Pitino. It probably doesn’t enhance the likelihood of a multi-game series between the two now that Louisville has made a three-year commitment to play Indiana in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Gophers prep basketball recruits Eric Curry and Amir Coffey attended last night’s Minnesota-TCU football game on official visits to campus. Curry, a power forward from Little Rock, is a Rivals.com three-star recruit while Coffey, the shooting guard from Hopkins High School, is a four-star.

During the last school year 989 MIAC student-athletes were academic all-conference, achieving at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average. More than 6,000 athletes—over 70 percent of them coming from the state of Minnesota—are expected to participate in MIAC sports again in 2015-2016.

The first game of the season involving an MIAC football team was played last night when Bethel won a nonconference matchup at Wisconsin-Stout, 35-20 as the Royals rallied with three fourth quarter touchdowns. Saint John’s, the preseason favorite to win the MIAC title as voted in a coaches poll, opens at home on Saturday against Buena Vista in another nonconference game.

Morning show host Dave Lee congratulated Sid Hartman earlier this week on his 60th anniversary of being on WCCO Radio. Hartman, who has been writing for Minneapolis newspapers even longer, turned 95 last March.

Wild regular season single game tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. on September 19, exclusively at the Xcel Energy Center Box Office. Beginning at noon that day, they will also be available at Ticketmaster locations and Wild.com. Tickets for preseason games are on sale now.

The four newest members of the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame will be honored in a ceremony Saturday. They are former jockey Tad Leggett; Minneapolis Star Tribune sports reporter Rachel Blount; state veterinarian Dr. Richard Bowman; and retired thoroughbred Wally’s Choice who ranks third all-time in earnings at Canterbury. “Wally the Beer Man” (Wally McNeil) and his wife Joyce McNeil and Canterbury Park board chair Curtis Sampson have been longtime owners of Wally’s Choice.

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