Gophers Football – Page 117 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Hit Bulls-Eye with “Greek Rifle”

Posted on March 30, 2020March 30, 2020 by David Shama

Ryan Burns has 10 years of experience as a journalist covering University of Minnesota football recruiting. In that time he has never been more impressed with a high school quarterback verbally committed to the Gophers than Athan Kaliakmanis.

Kaliakmanis, an Illinois native who has one more season of eligibility for Antioch Community High School, is referred to by Minnesota coaches as the “Greek Rifle.”

Burns, the publisher of the popular GopherIllustrated.com, can see why. “I know from watching Athan live last summer (at camp) what he was able to do at 15 years old,” Burns said. “He’s a legitimate 6-3, 6-4. He runs well and he’s got an absolute cannon for an arm. All the physical attributes in what you would look for in a Big Ten quarterback are there.”

Kaliakmanis is so far the only four-star recruit in Minnesota’s five-player class for 2021. Burns said Shakopee defensive end Devin Eastern, now rated a three-star recruit, is on the edge of moving up.

“He is the epitome of what a Big Ten defensive end should look like,” Burns said. “He is a legitimate 6-5. He is legitimately 265 pounds and he has been on a tear in the weight room over the last four months. He has been working out with former Viking long snapper Mike Morris, who is his trainer.”

Also part of the 2021 class is Dino Kaliakmanis, the brother who is 14 months older than Athan. Dino is expected to play wide receiver or linebacker for the Gophers, per Burns. Other 2021 verbal commits are Annandale offensive tackle Logan Purcell and New Lenox, Illinois (Providence Catholic) tight end Jameson Geers. The three players are three-star recruits.

The 2021 class is rated No. 19 nationally by 247Sports. Burns expects the class to eventually have about 20 players, and he mentioned a few who the Gophers are pursuing including a coveted four-star running back in Mar’Keise Irving from Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills, Illinois. He told Burns Minnesota “is in a very good position” in his recruitment.

Burns said the Gophers are in a “pretty heated battle” with Iowa for Totino-Grace offensive tackle Joe Alt. The three-star recruit’s dad is former Columbia Heights star John Alt who played for Iowa when Hawkeyes current head coach Kirk Ferentz was the offensive line coach.

Other players the Gophers are chasing include a pair of four-stars in Chicago Simeon offensive lineman Cameron James and cornerback Steven Ortiz from Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Arizona.

Worth Noting

An anonymous Gopher basketball season ticket holder—weary of the present era—emailed the following about the departure of All-Big Ten center Daniel Oturu for the NBA Draft: “Not a big surprise. Fortunately our roster is loaded with talent.”

Nbadraftnet.net projects Oturu being the No. 8 first round selection of the Charlotte Hornets. The last Gopher to be selected in the first round was Kris Humphries in 2002, drafted No. 14 by the Utah Jazz.

The same website had Duke point guard Tre Jones going in the first round earlier in the season but now has the former Apple Valley star being selected No. 54 in the second round by the Sacramento Kings.

Rumors have 2019 Minnesota Mr. Basketball Matthew Hurt transferring from Duke where he started 22 of 31 games, with five teammates playing more minutes. The Rochester John Marshall alum and prep All-American was fourth on the team in scoring at 9.7 points per game. Hurt is back home with his family in Rochester.

With no Minnesota natives among his top assistants, fans may wonder if head coach Richard Pitino will hire someone with state ties now that assistant Rob Jeter has accepted the head coaching job at Western Illinois.

In these uncertain times, it’s a good guess the Wilf ownership group will not extend the one-year contracts of general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer.

Among inductees at the Mancini’s St. Paul Sports Hall of Fame Banquet on May 11 will be Cretin-Derham Hall’s Chris Weinke and Central’s Dave Winfield, according to Dick Jonckowski who emcees the annual gathering with Charley Walters.

Jonckowski (October 22) and NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry (March 28) call each other on their birthdays. Jonckowski said the coronavirus pandemic has led to a long list of cancelled appearances for him as an emcee, speaker and public address announcer.

Hopkins girls basketball coach Brian Cosgriff, who has won seven state titles, remains undecided about retiring and not returning to lead the Royals’ program. His daughter Brooke, a reserve on this year’s team, will attend UW-Eau Claire, but won’t play basketball. “She is genetically cursed,” Cosgriff said with humor. “Her mom is a 4-foot-10 Asian, and I am a slow 6-foot white guy.”

Former Gopher running back Barry Mayer emailing after he read Wednesday’s column detailing my back spasms: “The last one I had was so bad at first I was afraid I was literally going to die…and then I was afraid I wouldn’t!”

Minneapolis sportscaster and entrepreneur Lea B. Olsen will be the 2021 “head coach” of the Twin Cities Dunkers organization that dates back to 1948. In that volunteer role, Olsen will arrange program speakers.

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Words of Wisdom at B-Day Time

Posted on March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 by David Shama

I had a birthday this week. If there is a piece of wisdom I can share from the last 12 months, it is this: Who in the name of our Founding Fathers knows what’s next?

I was chilling last Saturday (at home of course) when I walked out the front door to retrieve the mail. I was in a comfortable mood, having cleaned out a messy bedroom closet that a slovenly teenager would envy. As I opened the mailbox, at the top of the stack, was an envelope marked “Important Tax Document.”

My blood pressure rose. Colorful language was uttered as I walked back to the house. I opened the envelope and on the form were two dreaded words I didn’t expect to see this tax season: “Corrected 1099.”

Some of you may be tax procrastinators. I am not. I begin tax preparations in early January and we target filing state and federal income tax returns in the first days of March. I hate the tax process and system. Abolish the Internal Revenue Service and show me where to sign up for a national sales tax!

When we signed our electronic approval form early last week and mailed it to our tax preparer, my wife and I thought another tax year had mercifully been put behind us. The “Corrected 1099” had other ideas, and to expedite the new process I drove to my tax preparer’s office last Saturday afternoon to deliver the surprise paperwork so she could refigure the federal and state income tax returns.

A brother-in-law emailed this message on my birthday: “Hey, this doesn’t seem to be a good time for birthdays, but I guess you can’t decide that.”

Spot on, Mark. Who could have predicted the scourge of the coronavirus threatening the health of Americans and causing millions to retreat to inside their homes. I have spent hours on mundane chores like cleaning a closet or bookcase, and purging old files. I haven’t been inside a store since last Thursday.

Sports fans have been reduced to watching baseball, basketball and football games from the past. Presumably the most hard core fans have learned there is more to home life than guzzling beer on the couch while watching the latest big game. Some may have discovered there are children in the house, although oblivion doesn’t include the ever faithful dog that retrieves beer from the cooler.

It’s just a strange year so far. Maybe my first clue should have been when my wife and I were in Palm Springs. She was waiting in a long car rental line when her cell phone kept ringing from an unknown number. Finally, she answered the call and it was a stranger who had mistakenly taken a piece of her luggage at the airport. My wife and stranger not only had identical bags, but both had the same style of luggage tags.

My wife loves to travel and her departure for Europe last July coincided with my developing severe back spasms the night before I was to drive her to the airport. Welcome to Uber, honey.

Excruciating pain doesn’t do justice to the experience of having back spasms. During my wife’s three week absence I struggled to avoid contractions but many times without success. Reaching into the refrigerator or into the oven was a sure invitation for attack. One Saturday while she was gone I called one of my sons to drive me to an urgent care facility.

Last summer and into the fall the spasms persisted. I had multiple cortisone shots, and lined my drawer with Celebrex, Prednisone and Tizanidine. I also discovered Tylenol 8 hour Arthritis Pain tablets were useful. My schedule and activities were reduced for months. It was almost like my back was preparing me for stay-at-home times when the virus hit this winter.

I had experienced previous bouts with back spasms, but nothing like the duration of 2019. The spasms stopped November 1 and haven’t returned since then. I credit exercises learned in physical therapy for most of my recovery. A couple glasses of wine helps, too.

I couldn’t have prognosticated the back saga anymore than I could have foreseen a couple of startling developments on the local sports scene. In spring training a year ago the baseball gods were proclaiming the Minnesota Twins might win 85 games and finish second to the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central Division.

Ha!

Instead they set a MLB record with 307 home runs as the Bomba Squad led the charge in winning 101 games and the division championship.

The Gophers football season was at least as impressive. Coach P.J. Fleck’s team was a popular choice to finish next to last in the Big Ten’s West Division. Instead, Minnesota was 7-2 in Big Ten games and tied Wisconsin for the best record in the division. The Gophers finished up as a national top 10 team after their startling bowl win over SEC power Auburn.

Remember what also happened in January?

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins won a playoff game!

My birthday celebration was to include a party with my sons and their families. We called it off about a week in advance. Instead of decisions about how to decorate the party room, we pondered whether to gather via FaceTime or Zoom!

I had a nice birthday, though. Lots to be grateful for even in these strange and stressful times. Birthday morning I inexplicably slept until 9 a.m. No idea when I last slept that late—perhaps decades ago. Maybe I am becoming another Benjamin Button.

I never contemplated becoming like the movie character who grows younger as time passes. Guess you never know what’s next.

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Tommies’ Hoops Future Looks Bright

Posted on March 13, 2020March 13, 2020 by David Shama

Ten years from now on Selection Sunday there might be Minnesotans other than Gophers fans sitting in front of televisions to learn where their men’s basketball team is headed in the famous NCAA Division I Tournament. St. Thomas, as a member of the Big East Conference, might be in line for an invitation to the Big Dance, too.

As of today, the Tommies are a long way from membership in the prestigious Big East, but this scenario could have more credibility than you think. The Division III Tommies are optimistic about an NCAA vote this spring allowing them to jump to Division I status starting in the 2021-2022 school year. Most of the St. Thomas sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, are likely to compete in the mid-major level Summit League whose nine members are Denver, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Omaha, Oral Roberts, Purdue Fort Wayne, South Dakota, South Dakota State and Western Illinois.

The switch to Division I status will be expensive but St. Thomas is a school with deep pockets and generous donors. The Tommies will also count on the men’s basketball program becoming a profit center. As a mid-major, the Tommies will be looked at in their early Division I years as “cannon fodder” for major conference teams, and many of them in leagues like the ACC and Big Ten pay large guarantees to easy opponents. Six-figure paydays from programs like Duke, Michigan State and Kansas will ease the financial burden (including scholarships) of going Division I for St. Thomas.

Home crowds in St. Paul for the Tommies are likely to be small in the initial years of men’s Division I basketball, but eventually school leaders could build an on-campus arena seating about 8,000 to 10,000 fans. Such a facility, combined with an improving and competitive basketball roster, and a home in the Big East Conference, would help fulfill the St. Thomas vision to establish the school in the same image as nationally known Catholic schools like Marquette and Villanova.

St. Thomas president Julie Sullivan wrote about the Division I process in an October, 2019 article on the school’s website last fall. “This decision is about more than athletics – it’s about advancing our vision to be a leading Catholic university recognized at the national level. An important outcome of increasing St. Thomas’ visibility, for example, is an ability to attract a more geographically diverse cross section of students who are accomplished in and out of the classroom.

“This additional representation would add value to classroom discussions, campus life, co-curricular activities and virtually every aspect of St. Thomas while providing St. Thomas with the opportunity to extend the reach of our mission and impact. The presence of Division I sports teams will also build on the strong Tommie fan loyalty and provide the campus and alumni with more engaging fan experiences.”

The caliber of high school basketball in the state of Minnesota has been impressive for years, and still seems to be trending upward. The Gophers have frequently blundered acquiring their share of the talent, consistently seeing top players attend schools far and wide, including the Wisconsin Badgers who tied for the Big Ten championship this year with Minnesotans playing key roles.

With the arrival of St. Thomas in Division I, the Gophers will no longer be the only program in the state with that status. Word is St. Thomas is already showing interest in younger high school players whose college years will match the launch of the Tommies D I debut in the Summit League.

The St. Thomas athletic director is Phil Esten who once was a top administrator in the Minnesota Athletic Department. Esten’s responsibilities with the Gophers included overseeing the building of TCF Bank Stadium. He has also worked in athletic departments at California, Ohio State and Penn State. He is respected in college athletics, and his relationships and experiences are an asset to St. Thomas in gaining Division I status and growing its programs.

One day the Tommies may have progressed to a position of authority in the Summit League and could receive an invitation to join the Big East Conference whose membership is dominated by Catholic schools including Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s and Villanova—all programs with rich basketball legacies.

St. Thomas men’s and women’s teams have been Division III powers for years, including in NCAA tournaments. Most recently, the St. Thomas men won the 2016 Division III national title.

Worth Noting

Because of Coronavirus concerns the Twin Cities Dunkers has postponed its March 18 meeting where Texas A&M head football coach Jimbo Fisher was scheduled to speak at the Minneapolis Club. Gophers coach P.J. Fleck was to introduce Fisher who has a family tie to the University of Minnesota.

Congratulations to former Gophers All-American defensive end Bob Stein after the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame named him a member of the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame Class. A key contributor to Minnesota’s 1967 co-Big Ten championship team, he is the 19th Golden Gopher player to join the College Football Hall of Fame, and first since quarterback Sandy Stephens in 2011.

Sean Engel, a 2016 Chaska High School graduate, will be a senior at Augustana (Sioux Falls) next season and the 6-foot-5 wide receiver has pro football ambitions. He made the NSIC South Division all-conference first team in 2019 after catching 39 passes for 546 yards and helping his team to a 9-3 season and the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2015. Older brother Derrick was a wide receiver for the Gophers.

Harvey Mackay, the University of Minnesota alum, former Gophers golfer and New York Times best selling author, has a new book out, You Haven’t Hit Your Peak Yet, and in late January it was Barnes & Noble’s best selling business book.

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