Gophers Basketball – Page 137 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Players and Agents Endorsed Zimmer

Posted on July 25, 2014July 25, 2014 by David Shama

Rick Spielman is excited to see new head coach Mike Zimmer open his first training camp this week in Mankato. Spielman went through an extensive information gathering process before hiring Zimmer last winter and when finished was convinced he found the right coach.

“I told our owners we were fortunate he was available,” the Vikings’ general manager told Sports Headliners.

Zimmer is 58 and had been a career assistant in the NFL before Spielman gave him his first head coaching opportunity. Spielman was in the Vikings’ front office as head of player personnel, not general manager, when Leslie Frazier was promoted from interim to head coach after the 2010 season. Nor did Spielman have the hiring responsibility when Brad Childress was made head coach about eight years ago, and so Zimmer is his first hire. What was Spielman looking for in a head coach?

A teacher and demanding leader, Spielman answered. Those are characteristics Spielman heard repeated when he talked to players and their agents as they described how Zimmer’s coaching made a difference in performance.

Ex-Viking Bob Lurtsema said Vikings players know they will be held accountable for mistakes and efforts by Zimmer and his staff. “Everything going in right now (in camp) is total competition,” Lurtsema said.

Lurtsema believes fans could be surprised about who makes the team and that players are excited about the competitive environment expected in Mankato. “They’re saying (the players) these coaches love to coach. That’s a contagious attitude. The players that deserve to be a member of the Minnesota Vikings will embrace it rather than fight it.”

Spielman has not only made a commitment to Zimmer by hiring him but the Vikings have also paid for a new weight room and meeting room. There are other changes too including an emphasis on healthier food with less fat and sugar.

Worth Noting

Zimmer at 58 is as old as Bud Grant when he retired as Vikings head coach after the 1985 season. Grant decided to give up football to focus on the outdoor life of hunting and fishing including internationally. Grant was the second head coach in franchise history. Zimmer is the ninth.

Although this will be Zimmer’s first year as an NFL head coach, it certainly won’t be the most painful emotionally. Zimmer’s wife Vikki died unexpectedly during the 2009 season.

The Vikings agreement with KARE-11 to televise preseason games runs through next year, positioning the NFL club to negotiate a new deal as the team moves into the opening season of its downtown Minneapolis stadium in 2016.

Based on past interest, about 400,000 viewers are expected to watch each preseason game this summer. If so, the KARE 11 telecasts will exceed any competing programming in local viewership including Twins games.

The Vikings’ final preseason game of 2014 will be on August 28 against the Titans in Nashville. That game begins at 7 p.m. while the Gophers have their nonconference season opener the same night at home starting at 6 p.m. against Eastern Illinois. The Minnesota game will be on the Big Ten Network and may also attract approximately 400,000 viewers with many Minnesotans switching back and forth between the Gophers and Vikings.

The Gophers start football practice a week from today. Prior to their opening game, the public will be allowed to watch practices on August 3, 4 and 5. All three practices will be at the Gibson-Nagurski Complex with a start time of 10:25 a.m. on August 3, and 5:15 p.m. for the other two practices.

According to numbers as of last week, the Gophers had sold 3,331 student season football tickets, compared with 1,921 last year. The nonstudent season ticket total was 28,106 compared with 27,951 a year ago.

Look for an announcement later this summer about how the public can donate to the Gophers $190 million campaign to improve athletic facilities. Athletic Department officials have focused on larger contributors since the campaign was announced last year but names of those making pledges haven’t been made public.

Tony Dungy is sometimes written about because of the opportunity the Gophers gave him as an African-American to play quarterback for the team. What’s not so well-known is that starting with Sandy Stephens in 1959 the Gophers had at least six African-American quarterbacks on their rosters prior to Dungy’s arrival in Minneapolis in 1973. Minnesota gave opportunities to African-Americans to play quarterback when other schools didn’t and Stephens was the first ever All-American black QB.

Giovan Jenkins begins his sixth season as Washburn High School’s head football coach when the Millers officially start practice on August 11 and he’s not used to losing City Conference games. Jenkins was an assistant coach at Washburn before he became head coach, and the Millers have won or shared the last 13 city titles. His 2014 team will be without almost all of last year’s starters but Jenkins expects to contend for a championship again and is likely to have about 65 players, including freshmen, out for the team—probably the biggest turnout for football among Minneapolis high schools.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino said Elliott Eliason’s conditioning has resulted in the senior center having less than 10 percent body fat. Returning senior point guard DeAndre Mathieu has added about “13 pounds of muscle,” and junior guard Carlos “Squirrel” Morris, a transfer, has put on 17 pounds, the coach said.

Dave and Linda Mona’s Camden’s Concert next Wednesday night at the Hopkins Center for the Arts will feature The Wright Brothers, a popular singing group that has prompted record ticket sales for the fifth annual event. The concert is named for the Mona’s grandson and benefits Cystic Fibrosis. An on-line auction with more than 125 items is also drawing attention. More at Camdensconcert.com.

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U, Not Iowa, Right Choice for Nuness

Posted on June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 by David Shama

When Al Nuness gave the commencement address this spring at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa he recalled how his decision to attend the University of Minnesota changed his life.

Nuness was pursued by Illinois and Purdue while playing high school basketball in suburban Chicago but his grades kept him from being admitted to either one of those Big Ten universities. Nuness enrolled at Fort Dodge Junior College (now Iowa Central) in 1965. By the time he departed in 1967, he was a junior college All-American who averaged 28.3 points per game.

Nuness planned to attend the University of Iowa. “I had my choice of schools and I chose Iowa,” Nuness told the commencement audience at Iowa Central last month. “That choice started a learning curve that would forever change my life.”

The announcement to be a Hawkeye was to come at a Monday night dinner in Iowa. But Nuness went home the weekend before, and it was then he met Minneapolis businessman and Minnesota alum Harvey Mackay who happened to be in Chicago.

Mackay, who has become a best selling business author, talked with Nuness and his parents. Mackay had a strategy for his conversation with Nuness who is African-American.

“He asked me why I chose the University of Iowa,” Nuness said at the commencement. “I told him it was based on basketball.

“He replied, ‘So, if you don’t play pro basketball, what do you plan on doing?’

“Before I could answer that question he said, ‘Will you be able to live and raise your family in Iowa City?’

“Hey, folks, this was 1967. I don’t think Iowa City was ready for the Nuness family.

“He pulled out a copy of Life Magazine. It listed all the Fortune 500 companies in Minneapolis. He also showed me where Minneapolis was number one in the country for job opportunities for African-Americans. It was also number two in the country for quality of life for African-Americans. That got my parents’ attention.”

Mackay also talked about summer employment in Minneapolis, and said if Nuness became a student-athlete at Minnesota he would become his mentor. He now had the attention of Nuness and his parents.

“Then he wanted to know what time the ‘I’ Club dinner was on Monday night,” Nuness recalled in his commencement talk. “My mom said, ‘Al’s not going to the dinner.’

“And the rest is history!”

Nuness, an outstanding shooter, played two seasons for Minnesota, 1967-68 and 1968-69. His senior year he captained the Gophers, averaging 16.4 points per game and he made second team All-Big Ten guard.

But if the story ended there Nuness would only be in the Iowa Central athletics hall of fame. He is also a member of Iowa Central’s distinguished alumni hall of fame.

His decision to attend school in Minneapolis created opportunities after college. First he became head basketball coach at Minneapolis Central High School and then a Gophers assistant coach. The name he made at Minnesota helped him gain a position at Pillsbury and later as an executive with the Timberwolves. But in the business community his name is most closely associated with Jostens.

Nuness, now retired from full-time work, spent 18 years with the Minnesota-based school products company. He was a vice president for 15 years with assignments that included heading up Jostens’ championship rings sales for the Super Bowl, World Series and Bowl Championship Series.

Nuness’ father had been a poor farmer and his son certainly couldn’t have been sure of his future when deciding on a college. Mackay showed Nuness how important college decisions are, and started him on a pathway to a productive career and life that has also included volunteer work in the Minneapolis area.

“I am living proof that the American dream is indeed alive,” Nuness told his audience at Iowa Central. “Hard work, preparation, and perseverance all help to make it possible for even the son of a share cropper to pursue his dreams.”

Worth Noting

Vinny Del Negro, who reportedly has interviewed with the Timberwolves regarding the team’s coaching vacancy, was featured in Mackay’s 2010 book Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You. The two are friends and although Del Negro had no NBA, college or high school coaching experience he became head coach of the Bulls in 2010. He later became head coach of the Clippers before being let go after the 2012-2013 season despite having a 56-26 and winning the Pacific Division championship.

Henry Ellenson, the power forward from Rice Lake, Wisconsin who will be a senior next winter, is now rated the No. 5 player in the national class of 2015 by Espn.com. Ellenson’s brother Wally left the Gophers program during the past season.

Grand Rapids power forward Alex Illikainen is ranked No. 90. A good guess is Illikainen will become a Gopher while Ellenson will be a Badger.

Kevin Love turns 26 in September and the next few years of his NBA career are potentially his best. The Timberwolves have a massive sales challenge trying to convince Love to remain with a franchise that has missed the playoffs each of his six seasons in Minneapolis. Don’t look, though, for Love to be dazzled by the Lakers and Hollywood or the Knicks and Broadway. His next move is likely to be a lot more about winning games than geography.

New WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson is relocating the league offices from Denver and Madison to Minnesota. He is temporarily working in Bloomington but soon plans to have permanent offices in Saint Paul or the Minneapolis suburbs. Robertson said WCHA representatives will have business meetings in Saint Paul next week for future planning.

It seems likely Adam Weber has suggested to Mitch Leidner that the Gophers sophomore quarterback try for an invite to the prestigious Manning Passing Academy held each summer in Louisiana. Weber, who has been working out with Leidner, twice attended the academy as a counselor when he played for the Gophers. The academy is for campers entering grades 8-12 in the fall.

The Twins swept the Brewers in four games last year but that won’t happen this season. The two teams split two games in Milwaukee earlier this week. Tonight they start a two-game series at Target Field. Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez is tied for seventh with 11 home runs among National League players and is eighth in batting average at .310. If the Twins hadn’t traded him away to the Brewers in 2009 they could feel almost cocky about the deal they made to originally bring him to the organization. Gomez was one of four prospects the Twins acquired from the Mets in the 2008 trade sending former Cy Young award winner Johan Santana to New York. But Gomez didn’t produce at a high level here and the Twins haven’t realized much value from the trade.

The Tapemark Charity Pro-Am the men’s tournament at Southview Country Club in West St. Paul is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The women’s event is Thursday and Sunday, also at Southview. Spectators are welcome and will see some of the area’s best golfers.

The Tapemark, now in its 43rd year, benefits people with developmental disabilities. More at Tapemarkgolf.org.

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GM, Coach Bios Give Vikes Draft Clues

Posted on May 2, 2014May 2, 2014 by David Shama

Anyone who claims to know for certain who the Vikings will draft first next week is hallucinating.

The Vikings have eight picks in the NFL Draft next Thursday, Friday and Saturday including the No. 8 choice in the first round. The team’s personnel decision makers have extensive information on prospects and know who they prefer and what their needs are going into next week’s seven round draft.

But locked and loaded on who to choose first? No chance.

Look at last year’s draft when general manager Rick Spielman made trades that gave his franchise three first round picks, not one. In 2012 Spielman maneuvered to secure two choices in the first round and extra picks in later rounds.

Spielman’s past willingness to make trades and shuffle his team’s draft order is a clue about what might happen next week. So, too, is the background of new head coach Mike Zimmer who made his reputation in the NFL as defensive coordinator of the Bengals. He will take his best shot at upgrading Minnesota’s defense as fast as possible. That could mean a preference in this draft for aggressive and rangy defensive players.

While the Zimmer file provides some draft clues, remember the offense looks like it will be at least partially entrusted to new coordinator Norv Turner. A former head coach and veteran quarterback authority, Turner’s views on offensive personnel figure to weigh heavily in the draft.

Opinions about the potential of the top quarterbacks are varied and controversial but if Turner is enamored with one or two prospects that could mean the Vikings stay at No. 8 in the first round, or even try to move up in the draft. Chris Burke’s mock draft in this week’s Sports Illustrated has the Vikings choosing Central Florida quarterback Blake Bortles. At 6-foot-5 with a strong and accurate arm, Bortles not only has classic NFL quarterback attributes, but his intelligence also seems like a good fit for Turner’s complex offense.

Spielman has scored in the past with some quality players in the draft including tight end Kyle Rudolph and wide receiver-kickoff returner Cordarrelle Patterson but his reputation with fans is tarnished because Christian Ponder, his No. 12 choice in 2011, hasn’t developed into a franchise quarterback. But because Spielman was burned with Ponder doesn’t mean the Vikings won’t risk another high draft choice on a quarterback.

It’s possible the Vikings could trade up in the draft to find their quarterback, or fill a linebacker spot with highly regarded Khalil Mack from Buffalo. To do that the Vikings might trade with the Rams who have the No. 2 pick. The Vikings could offer extra lower round draft choices to the Rams, plus their No. 8 first round spot.

Probably more likely, though, is a move by the Vikings to boost their total number of picks from eight to 10 or more for what is considered a draft deep in talent. The Vikings need help at so many positions, particularly on defense, that increasing the number of draft choices makes sense. Then, too, Zimmer is expected to work effectively with players who are regarded as projects and could be lower round selections.

The 49ers, a team in need of a personnel adjustment or two to perhaps return to the Super Bowl, might be a trade partner for Minnesota. The 49ers have the No. 30 pick in the first round but they have 11 total draft choices. Burke predicts the 49ers will take Ohio State cornerback Bradley Roby at No. 30 but wrote the 49ers have the “ammo for a leap up the board.”

The 49ers have six picks in the top 100 while the Vikings own four. Those are attractive numbers for both franchises. The stuff of trades but until draft day comes nobody knows for certain what’s next including those who are paid to make the moves.

Worth Noting

Burke’s mock draft for Sports Illustrated has defensive end Jadevon Clowney from South Carolina going No. 1 overall to the Texans. He predicts Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel will be the first quarterback drafted at No. 4 by the Browns.

Here’s what Burke forecasts for Vikings NFC North rivals in the first round: Lions at No. 10 choose UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr; Bears, No. 14, pick Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald; Packers, No. 21, take Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier.

Burke’s second round includes the Vikings choosing BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy at No. 40.

Gerry DiNardo said on the Big Ten TV Network Monday night Iowa and Nebraska are the teams most likely to win the Big Ten Conference’s new West Division next fall. His choices in the East are Michigan State and Ohio State.

DiNardo said the Gophers, a member of the West, need to improve their offense. In eight Big Ten games last season Minnesota was 8^th in rushing, 12^th in passing and 10^th in scoring.

The Wild, who open a second round Stanley Cup playoff series tonight in Chicago against the Blackhawks, will have tickets for Minnesota’s home games going on sale tomorrow beginning at 10 a.m. at Xcel Energy Center and Ticketmaster. Single game tickets range in price from $49 to $146.

It will be interesting to follow the local TV ratings in the series. Wednesday night’s game seven first round finale between the Wild and Avalanche was the highest-rated telecast ever in Fox Sports North history. The telecast had a 16.4 household rating in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, according to Nielsen Media Research. The previous record, a 15.3 rating, was in August of 2010 for a Twins-White Sox game.

In the Minneapolis–St. Paul market, 17,280 households represent one rating point. That means over 283,390 households tuned in Wednesday night. The telecast received a 32 share, signifying 32 percent of the viewing audience in the Twins Cities area watched the game. During overtime the telecast reached its peak viewing audience with a 18.3 rating and 49 share, indicating nearly half of Twin Cities households were tuned in.

Coach Richard Pitino’s 2014 six-man recruiting class includes one Minnesota native, shooting guard Zach Lofton who attended Columbia Heights High School and is transferring to the Gophers from Illinois State. Lofton will sit out next season as a transfer and junior forward Joey King from Eagan will be the only scholarship Minnesotan on the roster.

Pitino’s 2015 recruiting class could be led by two Minnesotans, DeLaSalle point guard Jarvis Johnson and Grand Rapids forward Alex Illikainen. Both have been ranked as top 100 recruits by Rivals.com but neither has made a college commitment.

New Gophers women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings is working on completing her staff.

The Twins lost a doubleheader with the Dodgers yesterday as part of a three game interleague series. The Dodgers won all three games in the series including the extra innings finale last night, the longest in Target Field history at 5 hours, 11 minutes.

Aaron Hicks, who has seen his playing time reduced recently, started in center field in both games. He was hitless and his average for the season dropped to .178. Last year as a rookie he batted .192. Hicks left the second game after suffering concussion-like symptoms. If healthy, and not on the injured list, it seems probable that when Twins outfielders Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia return from injuries Hicks will be demoted to Triple-A Rochester.

The National League Dodgers have a history here. The Dodgers not only played the Twins in the 1965 World Series but during the 1950s had their American Association farm team in St. Paul. The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958 but before that tried to convince the New York borough to build major league baseball’s first domed stadium. The New York Giants, who operated the Minneapolis Millers farm team here, joined the Dodgers in California in 1958 by moving to San Francisco. Before deciding on California the Giants seriously considered moving to Minneapolis.

KARE TV’s Randy Shaver will speak at the Thursday, May 8 CORES luncheon at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington. Shaver, who is well known for his work in raising money for cancer research and patient aid, was a sportscaster at the station for almost 30 years before becoming a weeknight news anchor. Reservations for the lunch and program should be made by next Monday or sooner. Contact Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

The Gustavus Adolphus men’s tennis team won the MIAC regular season championship for the 26th consecutive season. This year’s title is the 47th for the program since 1940 and the fifth for head coach Tommy Valentini since taking over the program in the 2009-10 season. Within their run of 26 straight league titles, the Gusties won 242 consecutive MIAC matches.

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