Gophers Basketball – Page 127 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Legend Predicts Big Ten Football Title

Posted on October 21, 2015October 21, 2015 by David Shama

Bobby Bell predicts the football Gophers will win a Big Ten championship in the next couple of years. “I believe in what they’re doing,” Bell told Sports Headliners.

Bell was a two-time All-American tackle for Minnesota in 1961-1962. He won the 1962 Outland Trophy as the nation’s most outstanding lineman. Gophers football historians place him at or near the top of any list of the program’s greatest players.

Although he lives in the Kansas City area, Bell was in town last weekend for the Gophers game on Saturday, and to watch the Chiefs, his former NFL team, take on the Vikings. He was asked if Minnesota can win the Big Ten in the next five years?

“Oh, yeah,” Bell answered. “I would say in another year or two. …”

Bell not only believes in head coach Jerry Kill but also bases his optimism about the program’s future on the support for athletics by University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler. Another reason Bell is upbeat about the Gophers is the commitment to build new football facilities that will help with recruiting.

When Bell watches Minnesota he sees a roster that is only a few key players away from being “trouble” for the rest of the Big Ten. More talent and the coaching of Kill and staff will deliver a title, he believes.

Bell was a great athlete who also played basketball for the Gophers. In college he was 6-4 and about 225 pounds, and he could play multiple positions. He competed during an era when freshmen weren’t eligible for varsity competition and during his first fall at Minnesota he played quarterback on the frosh team.

Coach Murray Warmath switched the Shelby, North Carolina native to tackle because highly recruited Sandy Stephens was a year ahead of Bell in eligibility and was establishing himself at quarterback. If Stephens, who was a 1961 All-American, hadn’t been at Minnesota, could Bell have been an All-American quarterback?

“Yeah, I think so,” Bell answered. “I played every position. I told them, wherever you need me, I’ll play. If you can coach (the position), I can play it, so they switched me from quarterback to offensive tackle, defensive end, center. I could have played them all. I did the same things in the pros, too. Played anywhere.”

Bell was the important player during the last dominant era of Minnesota football. From 1960-1962 the Gophers won Big Ten and national championships. They played in two Rose Bowls, winning the 1962 game 21-3 against UCLA. In a three year stretch the team’s record was 22 wins, 6 losses and 1 tie. Minnesota only lost four conference games from 1960-1962.

The 1962 team lost the Big Ten title in the last game of the season when an official made a controversial call on Bell for roughing the Wisconsin passer. The penalty helped set up the winning fourth quarter touchdown for the Badgers in the 14-9 game played in Madison. Bell, his teammates and Warmath never got over that game they felt was taken away from them.

Later that fall Bell met John F. Kennedy who had seen the game. It didn’t take the president long to tell Bell he thought the Gophers got “a raw deal.”

All these years later that’s small consolation for a Big Ten title lost. No doubt Bell looks forward to his prediction about Kill’s first conference title coming true.

Worth Noting

The Gophers basketball team will have a free scrimmage open to the public on Sunday at Williams Arena. The scrimmage begins at 4 p.m. with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. After the scrimmage players and coaches will sign autographs in the concourse. Minnesota’s opening game, an exhibition against Minnesota Crookston, is on November 1 at Williams Arena.

Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns and 21-year veteran Kevin Garnett are on one of the regional covers of Sports Illustrated’s NBA preview. The magazine has printed four covers and the issue with Towns and Garnett is for sale on newsstands starting today.

The Timberwolves played the Bucks last night in Madison and will see the same team in a final preseason game Friday evening in Minneapolis. The Bucks roster includes former Robbinsdale Cooper star Rashad Vaughn who has been among the rookie scoring leaders in the NBA, frequently totaling double figures.

The coaching staff includes ex-Cretin-Derham Hall and St. Thomas player Sean Sweeney. He has worked his way up in the coaching profession, having started with assistant positions at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

“It’s really kind of a cool story,” said Steve Fritz, who coached Sweeney at St. Thomas from 2001-2006. “He was our point guard. You could tell he was a student of the game.”

Sweeney was director of basketball operations at the University of Evansville and video coordinator at Northern Iowa before joining the NBA’s Nets in December of 2011 as the team’s assistant video coordinator. He was named a Bucks assistant to head coach Jason Kidd in 2014 and is known for his defensive knowledge. “He certainly lives the game,” said Fritz.

Fritz, 66, is in his 25th year as the St. Thomas athletic director. He retired as men’s basketball coach in 2011.

Dan O’Brien, Gophers senior associate athletic director, said his teenage son Casey had a successful surgery for cancer recently. In November the plan is for chemotherapy and then to be cancer free.

Todd Richards, the former Wild head coach now leading the Blue Jackets, has the only winless team in the NHL. The 0-7 Blue Jackets have given up a league high 34 goals, and play the Wild tomorrow night at Xcel Energy Center. Richards, a Crystal, Minnesota native, coached the Wild from 2009-2011.

The Wild have 12 players on the 23-man roster who are 25 or younger. That nucleus will be a key to sustaining playoff success on an annual basis. The youngest player is 21-year-old defenseman Matt Dumba, while the oldest is 37-year-old goalie Niklas Backstrom, who the Wild no doubt would like to swap in the right trade.

It’s a disappointing end to the season for Eagan High School alum Zach Zenner who made the Lions roster as an undrafted rookie free agent. Zenner suffered cracked ribs and a collapsed lung in the first half of Sunday’s Lions win over the Bears. He had been playing on special teams and as a reserve running back, gaining 60 yards on 17 carries.

The 3-2 Vikings, who play the 1-5 Lions in Detroit on Sunday, won the first game between the two teams, 26-16. The Vikings are 70-36-2 all-time against the Lions, including 31-22-1 in Detroit.

Any transplanted Minnesota sports fans now living in the Phoenix area have to be looking forward to an odd scheduling stretch in December. The Vikings play the Cardinals in suburban Glendale on December 10, the Wild have a game in Glendale against the Coyotes December 11, and then the Timberwolves are hosted by the Suns December 13 in Phoenix.

Twins fans can take encouragement from the Royals who are in the playoffs and trying to make the World Series for a second consecutive season. From 2003 through 2012 the Royals lost 90-plus games eight times, according to Wikipedia. Three of those seasons they lost over 100 games. The Royals rebuilt their roster and farm system through the draft—like the Twins are doing after 90-plus loss seasons from 2011-2014. This year the Twins improved to 83-79.

Although an official announcement granting Minnesota a Major League Soccer franchise is expected soon, it’s not known yet what the first year of operation will be. Minnesota and one other market are expected to be awarded a franchise.

Among the interesting facts about the MLS is the upper range of team payrolls is about $19 million. The most successful teams in the standings right now have payrolls of about $4 million.

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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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