Gophers Basketball – Page 86 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Basketball Ticket Sales Jump

Posted on April 22, 2018April 22, 2018 by David Shama

A Sunday notes column including Gopher news and Timberwolves analysis.

The University of Minnesota Athletic Department reported via email to Sports Headliners that as of last Wednesday morning 400 new public season tickets for women’s basketball have been sold since Lindsay Whalen was named head coach on April 12.

As part of a request for information from the University about season ticket sales, it was learned just 13 new tickets had been sold prior to the announcement about Whalen, the former Gopher player and legendary figure in the state. Her presence as the new leader of the program has generated more interest than in a long time.

For the 2017-18 season, 1,338 public season tickets were sold. The Athletic Department is in a renewal period now with existing season ticket holders. With combined renewals and new sales, it seems certain that with the enthusiasm for Whalen the 2018-19 public season ticket totals will exceed the 1,338 total.

Last season, according to figures provided by the Big Ten Conference as of March 27, the Gophers ranked 35th in attendance nationally with a per game average of 3,130 fans at Williams Arena (capacity 14,625.) Purdue, averaging 6,036, led the Big Ten and ranked eighth in the country.

Interest in Whalen and support for the Gophers could fade quickly next season if the team isn’t winning. Flip that scenario and Minnesota may have one of its best seasons ever at the box office.

Another opportunity for the Athletic Department to ride the Whalen momentum during the immediate months ahead is with donors. None of the women’s sports at Minnesota, including basketball, are profitable. The department also has a large debt remaining on the new $166 million Athletes Village.

John Anderson, coach of the No. 25 nationally ranked Gophers baseball team, speaks to the CORES lunch group May 10 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Reservations need to be made by May 7. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

The Timberwolves earned their first playoff win against the Rockets last night because of several factors including being better at three-point shooting than the NBA’s most famous team for that skill. The Wolves made 15 of 27 attempts, 55.6 percent in their 121-105 victory. The Rockets were 15 of 41, 36.6 percent.

The Timberwolves, not known as a fast break team, outscored the Rockets 13 to 2 in that category to narrow Houston’s 2-1 lead in the best of-seven-game series.

Derrick Rose was a super sub last night, scoring 17 points in 21 minutes off the bench—more than any reserve on the Rockets. The Wolves were plus-17 when he was on the floor, best on the team after Jimmy Butler’s plus-19. Butler led Minnesota in scoring with 28 points.

Popular former Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio, who management here decided to move on from, had a triple double performance in Salt Lake City last night with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as his Jazz went up 2-1 in its opening playoff series against the Thunder. Fans roared “Rubio!” during perhaps the greatest game of his career.

The 1976 Division III Saint John’s national champions will be honored with the Murray Warmath Legendary Team Award at the 11th annual Minnesota Football Honors Awards Event April 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Among the many other award winners will be St. Thomas alum and former Gopher athletic director Mark Dienhart who will receive the Bud Grant Distinguished Minnesotan Award. Minnesota Vikings award winners haven’t been announced.

Generation gap: Grant, who turns 91 next month, joined Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman, 98, for lunch last week with new Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, 29.

Grant will hold another annual garage sale at his Bloomington home May 16-18.

New Gopher men’s basketball assistant coach Rob Jeter’s dad, the late Bob Jeter, was a great halfback at Iowa and was MVP in the 1959 Rose Bowl. Jeter played defensive back for the Green Bay Packers and coach Vince Lombardi in the 1960s.

The Vikings will select Texas offensive tackle Connor Williams with the 30th pick in the first round of Thursday night’s NFL Draft, according to the April 23 issue of Sports Illustrated. In its mock draft the magazine predicts the Browns, with the No. 1 overall choice, will choose Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.

Wonder what Wild owner Craig Leipold is thinking after his team’s dismal first round playoff elimination in five games to the Jets? Injuries in 2017-18, including in the playoffs, were a problem, but before the season Leipold said anything short of winning the Stanley Cup would be a disappointment.

The Wild struggled offensively for much of the series and were shut out in the last two games. Wing Zach Parise led the club in goals with three even though he missed the last two games with a fractured sternum.

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Top Prospect Follows Lindsay Whalen

Posted on April 19, 2018April 19, 2018 by David Shama

Paige Bueckers, the sophomore point guard from Hopkins High School who is among the most coveted prep basketball players nationally in the class of 2020, has a Lindsay Whalen jersey and autographed Whalen shoes in her bedroom.

Whalen, the Lynx WNBA champion point guard and former Gold Medal Olympics winner, was named University of Minnesota women’s basketball coach last week. “She (Paige) is excited for Lindsay. She has been a big fan growing up,” Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff told Sports Headliners.

At this time of year, per NCAA policy, coaches like Whalen can’t contact high school sophomores. That doesn’t mean, though, Paige won’t be following the 35-year-old Whalen who not only will be in the news as Gophers coach but also while continuing her career this spring and summer for the Lynx as the team attempts to repeat as WNBA champs. “She is interested to see where Lindsay is taking the program,” Cosgriff said.

Bueckers frequently attends Gophers games so she is already familiar with the team and Williams Arena. But Cosgriff said don’t mark her down as a future Gopher yet because his all-state player is sorting through college options for now.

Those options include an offer from Connecticut’s storied program and legendary coach Geno Auriemma. He has been to Minnesota multiple times to watch Bueckers. “He’s a huge fan (of Bueckers),” Cosgriff said.

Count Notre Dame, Stanford and much of the Big Ten as schools wanting Bueckers who has been on the Hopkins varsity since eighth grade and starting at point guard for the last two seasons.

The 5-11, 150-pound Bueckers averaged 23.5 points per game for the Royals last season who finished second in the Class 4A state tournament despite her 37 points. Last season she made 54 percent of her field goals, 52 percent of her threes and 90 percent of her free throws.

Some games she scored more than 20 points by halftime. But Cosgriff said his wunderkind (she had a six to one assist to turnovers ratio) would “rather pass than shoot,” and when sitting on the bench is the Royals’ biggest cheerleader for teammates.

Fundamentally advanced for her age, and so versatile Cosgriff will even play her at center, Bueckers prompts raves when people talk about her. That starts with her coach who has been at Hopkins for almost 20 seasons, winning titles and building the Royals into a power. “She is the best I’ve had, and I’ve had some good ones,” Cosgriff said.

The roll call of great players in state history includes Nia Coffey who was terrific at Hopkins and now plays in the WNBA. Mention any legendary names to former Gopher guard and assistant coach Al Nuness and that won’t deter him from offering the highest praise to Bueckers.

“I think she will be the best women’s basketball player ever to come out of the state of Minnesota,” said Nuness who works at Hopkins as a paraprofessional.

Nuness has watched Bueckers practice and refers to her as “phenomenal”—yet he sees a player who will continue to improve. “I don’t think she is even close to reaching her potential,” he said.

Nuness predicted there will be a domino effect if Bueckers chooses Minnesota. “This is almost a must for us at Minnesota (to get her),” the former Gopher men’s captain said. “This girl is going to bring other (talented) girls.”

Worth Noting

Bueckers will have a busy offseason from high school basketball including the Boo Williams Girls Nike Invitational in Virginia this weekend where she will play for the North Tartan AAU team.

There is already speculation about how long Whalen continues her dual role of playing for the Lynx and coaching the Gophers. Will she retire from playing after this summer? There are a lot of priorities to balance between the two jobs.

The Gophers Athletic Department announced this week a goodwill tour stopping in nine communities in the state during May to visit with fans. The list of coaches from the department participating in the tour totals 14, but doesn’t include Whalen who will have preseason and regular season games with the Lynx during the month.

DeLaSalle class of 2019 point guard Tyrell Terry tweeted this week he received a scholarship offer from the Gophers. Iowa State and Stanford are among schools showing interest, too.

Birthday department: Twins first baseman Joe Mauer is 35 today and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor turns 77 tomorrow.

The Wild, down 3-1 to the Jets, will see a raucous crowd tomorrow night in Winnipeg’s Bell MTS Place. “It will be as loud as any building you’ve heard,” Fox Sports North commentator Kevin Gorg told Sports Headliners.

Gorg said defenseman Nick Seeler, called up from Iowa this winter, has been a surprise and played “phenomenal.” The 24-year-old has brought aggressive play to a defensemen roster thinned by injuries.

Gotta be a big fan to buy airfare at the last minute from Minneapolis to Winnipeg for Friday night’s game. Expedia quoted a cost of $976 yesterday for round trip leaving today and returning Saturday.

With his affection for NFL Draft maneuvers, it will be fun to see what Vikings general manager Rick Spielman comes up with later this month. As of now the Vikings will watch 29 other selections be made in the first round before their turn in the first day of the NFL Draft on April 26.

Athlonsports.com predicted in a mock draft the Vikings will select Notre Dame offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey. Spielman has shown a liking for Fighting Irish players in the past.

“McGlinchey may eventually take over at left tackle but he’s a starter right away on the right side and would fit in well to the Vikings’ scheme,” Athlon said.

The Vikings have single picks in the first, second, third, fifth and seventh rounds, and three selections in the sixth round.

A pro football source told Sports Headliners he expects the Vikings to prioritize offensive linemen and defensive backs in the draft, and probably select a running back.

Spielman was all but destined to have a career in football. His father was a high school coach in Ohio and the family lived within a few blocks of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

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Gopher AD Makes Impact on Staff

Posted on April 15, 2018April 15, 2018 by David Shama

It will be two years ago next month that University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler hired Mark Coyle away from Syracuse to be the Golden Gophers Athletic Director. During his time at Minnesota Coyle has hired several new coaches including in the high profile sports of football, men’s hockey and women’s basketball.

The latest appointment is that of Lindsay Whalen to head the women’s basketball program, even though she has no previous coaching experience. Earlier this spring Coyle hired Bob Motzko as men’s hockey coach and in January of 2017 selected P.J. Fleck to lead the football team.

Mark Coyle (photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications)

It’s evident that when Coyle considers staff hires he places an emphasis on coaches with high potential to recruit skilled student-athletes. Coyle does so with good reason because there’s no doubt football and men’s hockey are significant businesses at the U, and women’s basketball could some day become the first women’s program in the Athletic Department to be profitable.

Coyle knows without talented recruits the Gophers can’t dream of and chase championships in the high profile and revenue producing sports that also includes his men’s basketball program. “No mule ever won the Kentucky Derby,” former Gopher national championship football coach Murray Warmath used to say about the importance of talent.

Whalen, 35, is young enough to relate to high school players and has the platform of still playing for the WNBA champion Lynx. As a recruiter, the competitive Whalen should be able to get into living rooms and make recruiting pitches to outstanding prospects that her U coaching predecessors could only fantasize about.

“Want to some day play women’s pro basketball?” Whalen can ask. “Well, I can show you how to get there.”

The Whalen resume sparkles with accomplishments including leading the Gophers as a player to the 2004 women’s Final Four and becoming one of the WNBA’s best point guards and consistent winners. It’s this kind of background that has Minnesotans enthralled and intrigued by what awaits the Gopher women’s program.

Among those watching is Jerry Noyce, the former Big Ten championship Gopher tennis coach and Minneapolis area business leader, and a man whose name was pushed at least twice to become Minnesota’s athletic director including as successor to the infamous Norwood Teague who resigned in 2015.

“I would not be surprised if Minnesota women’s basketball is able to compete on a very high level—with UConn, Notre Dame, Stanford and all of those teams,” Noyce said. “I would think that she (Whalen) will be able to up the recruiting even more (than it has been). Get more really top players…and I just think she’s going to build a culture of accomplishment that’s going to play well against anybody in the nation.”

Recruiting successfully starts in the state of Minnesota where Marlene Stollings, Whalen’s predecessor, drew criticism. “The next coach needs to make home state relationships and recruiting the first priority!,” a Minneapolis area educator wrote via
email to Sports Headliners after Stollings left for Texas Tech. In his view Stollings didn’t follow that advice and he believes any Gopher women’s basketball coach who effectively recruits even just the metro area will “build a real nice team.”

With the 37-year-old Fleck—the second youngest head coach in college football—Coyle has a skilled recruiter at using social media and TV to build awareness of himself and his program. Fleck understands the culture and speaks the language of teenagers. Coyle knew that when he hired the energetic coach away from Western Michigan where his success prompted reviews from the New York Times and Sports Illustrated.

In late December Fleck announced his 2018 recruiting class, the first group he and his staff had almost a full year to target. The Gophers publicists called the 2018 class the highest ranked ever for Minnesota in the Internet era.

At 57, Motzko is old enough to be Fleck’s, or Whalen’s dad. That doesn’t mean he isn’t expected to recruit with passion and bring blue chip players to Dinkytown. Motzko spent 13 seasons building St. Cloud State into a nationally prominent program and along the way developed recruiting savvy and relationships including with state of Minnesota prep coaches.

Gopher hockey is tradition-rich and the state is loaded with talented high schoolers, but Minnesota hasn’t won a national title since 2003. This year the Gophers didn’t even qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Coyle and everyone else knows Minnesota can do much better.

“This should be a top four program nationally,” said a college hockey authority who asked that his name not be used. “It’s the best job in the country to recruit to.”

If Coyle is spot-on in his coaching hires of Motzko, Whalen and Fleck, the Gophers are on their way to better days on the ice, court and field because of upgrades in their athletes.

Worth Noting

Just speculation but it might be the only way five-star basketball recruit Matthew Hurt from Rochester John Marshall will end up as a Gopher in 2019 is if Minnesota coach Richard Pitino could convince Hurt’s father, Richard, to join his staff as an assistant coach. Richard has been active in high school and AAU coaching for years, and also groomed his son Michael, a Gopher junior next season. Pitino has a staff opening with the departure of another Minnesota native, Ben Johnson to Xavier.

Look for the Timberwolves to alternate Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins and perhaps others in guarding James Harden tonight. The Wolves, in the postseason for the first time since 2004, open the playoffs in Houston against a Rockets team with the NBA’s best regular season record, and led by Harden who averages over 30 points per game and is a favorite for the MVP Award.

The Wolves’ final regular season game last week on Fox Sports North Plus was the highest-rated ever for the NBA team on the regional sports network, generating a 7.5 household rating in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. In this market, 17,300 households represent one rating point. The peak rating during Wednesday night’s game at Target Center was 13.1—meaning over 226,000 households watched the dramatic finish of the Wolves’ win that earned the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference. (The previous record rating was 6.5 on April 14, 2004.)

For the season, the Wolves had a 2.6 average household rating on Fox Sports, a 78 percent increase in viewership over 2016-2017, and the highest since 2011-12.

Glen Mason on the Big Ten Network replay of the Gopher spring football game talking about Tyler Johnson who had two touchdown catches: “He’s as good as any wide receiver in the Big Ten.”

Quoting an email from former Gopher football player Jim Brunzell about his impressions of the game: “This team, barring injuries, should be much improved from last year’s squad!”

The Gophers, 5-7 last year, open their season August 30 at home against New Mexico State. The U won’t have the Vikings playing their final preseason game a couple of miles away at U.S. Bank Stadium, as happened in 2017 for the Gophers’ first game. The Vikings will be at Tennessee on August 30 as they close their exhibition season.

Maybe a planner in the Twins’ promotional department was clairvoyant about this spring’s wintry start. Yesterday’s snowstorm cancelled Minnesota’s home game with the White Sox where the first 10,000 fans in attendance were to receive a free Plaid Flap Cap.

The Gopher Big Ten champion baseball teams of 1968-69-70 will have a reunion on May 11-12 with social gatherings planned. Players from those teams will be introduced before the May 12 home game against Michigan State at Siebert Field. Gregg Wong, who was the public address announcer and official scorer for the teams, and Stew Thornley, the bat boy years ago, have also been invited to participate in the celebration.

Minnesota hockey legend Neal Broten will sign memorabilia including hockey cards and sticks (for various fees) on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. as part of the Triple Crown Sports Collectibles show at Southtown Center in Bloomington. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets are available for the August 2 Camden’s Concert at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Jimmy Fortune, the former tenor of the Statler Brothers, is the guest artist for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation benefit named after Dave and Linda Mona’s grandson. The previous eight concerts raised almost $500,000, according to the Facebook page for Camden’s Concert.

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