Gophers Football – Page 280 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Two ‘Hot Seats’ at U-Bruins Game Tonight

Posted on March 22, 2013March 22, 2013 by David Shama

“One and done” is a cliché that has characterized the NCAA Tournament for decades. The single elimination tournament sends losing teams home to wonder what might have been. That will include the loser of tonight’s South Region game in Austin, Texas between the Gophers and UCLA.

But there’s speculation that “one and done” also applies to Minnesota coach Tubby Smith and Bruins coach Ben Howland. Will the loser in tonight’s game be out of a job?

At storied UCLA, expectations are about competing in Final Fours and winning national titles. Howland hasn’t had the Bruins in the finals since 2008. UCLA is also criticized for not being exciting, and attendance at home games is an issue.

Among the candidates rumored as a potential successor to Howland is VCU coach Shaka Smart whose name is frequently linked to the Minnesota job. Howland may need a Final Four appearance this spring to continue working at UCLA.

Smith may need an Elite Eight finish to hang on at Minnesota. The sixth-year Gophers’ coach has many critics after never winning an NCAA Tournament game at Minnesota and compiling an overall Big Ten regular season record of 46-62 (best conference finish is sixth place).

The coach set high expectations for this year’s team, telling Sports Headliners before the season he had three potential first round NBA draft choices (Andre Hollins, Trevor Mbakwe, Rodney Williams). In January, Minnesota was a top 10 ranked team with a 15-1 record. Since then the Gophers, 20-12 overall this season, have won only five games.

Sources close to the University of Minnesota and Gophers basketball have told Sports Headliners they believe a change in coaches is likely. But as expected, athletic director Norwood Teague and University president Eric Kaler are not saying much so far.

Teague said on WCCO Radio Wednesday morning that all the athletic department coaches are evaluated at the end of their seasons. Kaler told Sports Headliners the same in late February. But if asked, I wonder if Teague would say exactly the same about Don Lucia — the Gophers hockey coach whose team tied for the WCHA title and is a prominent contender for a national championship.

A source said the cost of the reported $2.5 million buyout for Smith won’t deter a change in coaches if that is what administrators want. The department could receive a loan from the University to finance the buyout. Also, television dollars paid to Big Ten teams are increasing, including a jump this year, according to the source.

Another factor regarding a decision is the financial impact of retaining Smith. After multiple disappointing seasons including the free fall of 2013, basketball revenues will decline next fall and winter — and maybe dramatically. Potential areas of impact include season tickets, single game tickets, parking, concessions, arena advertising, corporate sponsorships, merchandising and donations.

And then there is the image of the University. Administrators talk about high profile sports such as basketball being the “front porch” to their colleges. What do Minnesota school officials want the eye test to say about their heavily criticized basketball program?

Worth Noting

The Gophers-Bruins game, with a 9 p.m. tipoff CDT tonight, caused a radio scheduling problem on 1500 ESPN which broadcasts Gophers basketball and hockey. Minnesota’s WCHA Final Five game will be on 1500 ESPN while the basketball game will air on FM 107.1.

Despite the Gophers’ slump, NBAdraft.net projects Rodney Williams and Trevor Mbakwe as second round picks in June. The website has Williams at No. 40 going to the 76ers with Mbakwe chosen by the Bucks at No. 45. In the 2014 draft Gophers point guard Andre Hollins is projected as the 21^st pick by the Warriors while shooting guard Austin Hollins is the No. 37 choice of the Cavs.

The Gophers’ hockey team is 23-1-1 this season when sophomore forward Kyle Rau scores a point. He has seven game winning goals this season — best in the nation.

Tonight in the WCHA Final Five the Gophers play Colorado College coached by Scott Owens who is a former assistant under Minnesota coach Don Lucia. Two other head coaches in the tournament, Bob Motzko from St. Cloud State and Mike Hastings from Minnesota State, are former Lucia assistants.

Minnesota, 26-7-5 overall, has won five consecutive games and is among the favorites to play in the Frozen Four next month. The Gophers haven’t lost consecutive games all season. The 2003 national championship team was the last Gophers team to accomplish that.

All-session ticket packages go on sale Monday for the 2014 first ever Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament to be held March 20-22 at Xcel Energy Center. Ticket sources include Ticketmaster and Xcel.

The Wild, who have won four consecutive games and are in first place in the Northwest Division, have a chance for payback on Monday night in Dallas against the Stars. Minnesota hasn’t won there since 2003 – 16 consecutive losses.

Gophers’ spring football practice starts on Tuesday with 15 total sessions scheduled and all are open to the public. Practices begin at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday of next week, and at 10 a.m. on March 30.

Day time highs are expected to be in the upper 30’s next week with a high of 48 predicted for April 1, according to Myforecast.com. The Twins open their regular season with games against the Tigers on April 1, 3 and 4. Despite what you may have heard, the Twins won’t be heading indoors to the Metrodome.

“We are 100 percent focused on playing at Target Field,” Twins president Dave St. Peter wrote in an email to Sports Headliners.

The Twins are adept at preparing for cold weather games and a heating system allows the ground temperatures to be controlled. With commitments to season ticket holders, suite purchasers and stadium advertisers, moving a game is highly unusual in major league baseball. Several years ago snowed forced the Indians to move their early April home series with the Angels to Milwaukee’s retractable roof stadium.

The Twins announced this morning they have sent outfielder Joe Benson and pitcher Pedro Hernandez to Triple-A Rochester. Pitcher Luis Perdomo has been reassigned to the minor league camp. The Twins now have 38 players in camp including 20 pitchers.

The St. Thomas men’s basketball team needs to win two more games to play for the Division III national championship in Atlanta on April 7. The Tommies play Williams College (Massachusetts) today at 11 a.m. (CDT) in Salem, Virginia. The winner plays the winner of the St. Mary’s (Maryland) and Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) game on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Tommies’ coach John Tauer said UST, 29-1, will face a Williams team, 26-4, that uses a patient offense. “You can play (defense) 33 seconds and one guy slips up and they’re going to hit you with a back-cut,” Tauer said.

But the Tommies have defined themselves as a special team this season, earning a No. 1 national ranking. “They really believe in themselves,” Tauer said. “I think they feel they can beat anybody in the country if they play well. If they play poorly they can get beat.”

There are seven Tommies on the team that were part of the 2011 national championship team. Tauer, who was an assistant coach on that team, now is within three games of winning his first national championship.

He’s more excited than nervous. “I am not a real nervous guy to begin with,” said Tauer, a psychology professor.

Tauer said new school president Julie Sullivan won’t be in Salem this weekend but told the coach she hopes her schedule will allow a trip to Atlanta.

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Tourney Authority Not Ruling U Out

Posted on March 13, 2013March 13, 2013 by David Shama

Sources, including a former member of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, believe the Gophers might need a win in this week’s Big Ten Tournament to be included in the NCAA’s field of 68 teams.

McKinley Boston, the former Gophers athletic director, served on the selection committee for several years. During an interview with Sports Headliners, he labeled the Gophers, 20-11 overall and 8-10 during the Big Ten regular season, a “bubble team.”

The Gophers have stunned their followers after a 15-1 start that included nonconference wins over Memphis, Stanford and Florida State, and Big Ten Conference victories in their first three league games against Michigan State and Northwestern at home and Illinois on the road. Since January 9, Minnesota has won five games, losing 10. The Gophers are 4-6 in their last 10 games, including two consecutive losses. Their league road record is 1-8.

Boston, now athletic director at New Mexico State, was asked about how the selection committee views teams that stumble late in the season. “Well, that was one of the things that the committee looked at. How was your record in the last 10 games? Were you hot? Were you faltering?

“It’s not a good thing that they’re not finishing strong (the Gophers), but at the same time you can’t dismiss the strength of the league this year. That’s going to carry a lot of weight.”

Many authorities who rank college basketball conferences — like Teamrankings.com — have the Big Ten No. 1. The league has four teams in the A.P. top 10 and five in the top 25 this week.

And then as every “March Madness” expert knows, the selection committee uses the Ratings Percentage Index (the famous RPI) as prime criteria in deciding who is invited to the NCAA Tournament and who is rejected. There are five Big Ten teams among the top 25 in the latest RPI listings from CBSsports.com including the Gophers at No. 24. Statistically, Minnesota’s strength of schedule ranks near the top nationally.

Although Minnesota finished in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big Ten, the Gophers are ahead in the RPI rankings of No. 41 Wisconsin even though the Badgers were 12-6 in league games and tied for fourth in the standings. Illinois, a team that tied the Gophers along with Purdue for seventh place in the Big Ten, has a No. 43 ranking.

The Illini, the No. 8 Big Ten Tournament seed, and the Gophers, the No. 9 seed, split two games during the regular season. Minnesota won at Illinois, 84-67, while the Illini were winners in Minneapolis, 57-53.

It’s possible — perhaps even likely — that regardless of who wins tomorrow’s game, both Illinois and Minnesota will make the tournament. Eamonn Brennan, writing yesterday for ESPN.com, believes both schools probably will be invited when the tourney selections are announced on Sunday. “Odds are the Gophers will back their way into this thing. But it’s not like they’ve been convincing in doing so,” he wrote.

Worth Noting

Gophers coach Tubby Smith wasn’t happy with his defense in 53-51 and 89-73 road losses to Nebraska and Purdue last week. “This is probably the worst defensive team we’ve had, to be honest with you,” Smith said on Saturday during his postgame show on 1500 ESPN. “That’s disappointing — to have five seniors and still have the worst defensive team we’ve had.”

Smith has coached the Gophers for six seasons and his regular season Big Ten record is 46-62. This season’s seventh place finish in the league standings follows 10^th and 9^th place finishes the two previous years. None of his teams have placed higher than sixth in the Big Ten or won more than nine games in a league season.

Sid Hartman, the Star Tribune and WCCO Radio personality, has defended Smith and said the coach won’t be let go after this season. But Hartman said on WUCW’s “Sports Show” on Sunday night that Smith needs to have a winning team next season.

The name often speculated upon as Smith’s successor is VCU’s Shaka Smart but he may prefer to wait for an opening at one of the nation’s premier programs. His name is rumored with the job at UCLA, arguably still college basketball’s most storied program.

This is the 75^th year of the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. Sports Illustrated, in its March 6 issue, picked the 10 players the magazine believes were the “best performers” in tourney history: Lew Alcindor was No. 1 followed by Bill Walton, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Bradley, Magic Johnson, Christian Laettner and Jerry West.

Former Gophers athletic director McKinley Boston, now AD at New Mexico State, expects the 2013 Aggies football team to be better than the group that defeated Minnesota, 28-21, at TCF Bank Stadium in 2011. Boston said the Aggies have “more overall team speed” than the team that upset Minnesota two years ago.

The Aggies will open their season on August 31 at Texas before hosting the Gophers on September 7. Boston didn’t have the exact figure but believes his school will receive about $900,000 for playing the Longhorns.

Kickoff time for the Gophers game in Las Cruces will be 6 p.m. (daylight Mountain time). Boston predicted temperatures in the ”mid-90s” and possible rain.

The Aggies are a college football independent now and have a home game next season against Boston College. Former Gopher player DeWayne Walker left his job in January as New Mexico State’s head coach to become an assistant with the NFL Jaguars. Ex-Kent State head coach Doug Martin, who was offensive coordinator in the Aggies’ win in Minneapolis, is now head coach at New Mexico State.

A story yesterday on the International Business Times website listed the Seahawks — following the Percy Harvin trade with the Vikings — as 8-1 favorites to win the 2014 Super Bowl. The Patriots are 6-1, 49ers 7-1 and Broncos 8-1 favorites while the Vikings are 50-1.

Rookie Aaron Hicks, who already has Twins fans excited to see him during the regular season as the team’s new center fielder, leads the club in spring training home runs with four although he never hit more than 13 in five minor league seasons. Hicks, who is hitting .371 this spring and also leads in RBI with 13, led all Twins minor leaguers last season in stolen bases with 32 playing for New Britain.

Tom Windle, the former Osseo all-stater who last Saturday threw the first nine inning no-hitter for the Gophers since 1933, was an academic All-Big Ten choice last season as a sophomore. During his freshman season he made the Big Ten All-Tournament team after pitching eight scoreless innings and striking out six.

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Kill: No Starters Locked in Now

Posted on March 4, 2013March 4, 2013 by David Shama

Gophers football notes following a recent conversation with coach Jerry Kill.

Spring practice begins March 26 and no player, regardless of experience or ability, is a certain starter. The emphasis will be on competition and opportunity at all positions, with nothing guaranteed. “You’re going to put your best players out there (eventually),” Kill said.

The Gophers will have 15 practices including the annual spring game open to the public on April 27. For Kill and his assistants this will be the third spring practice but the coach’s perspective on the program is shaped by recruiting classes. Kill wasn’t hired until December of 2010 so his impact on the 2011 recruiting class was minimal.

“We need about three recruiting classes to get this thing turned around,” he said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

The 2011 Gophers were 3-9 while last fall’s team was 6-7 and played in the program’s first bowl game since 2009. The most improvement was defensively where the Gophers went from allowing 31.7 points per game to 24.7.

The offense was often ineffective but in a Meineke Car Care Bowl loss to Texas Tech, Minnesota scored 31 points and had 368 yards total offense. To be better in 2013 than last fall, Kill said the offense needs to play like the bowl game performance.

Going into spring practice later this month Kill not only has most of his players returning, but the entire coaching staff. In the “musical chairs” world of head coaches and assistants changing jobs, that’s an indicator of the stability in the Minnesota program and a plus for the players who don’t have to adjust to new personalities and schemes.

Kill said other programs come after his assistants but he’s been able to keep his staff together at Minnesota. Not long ago another Gopher assistant turned down an opportunity to leave, Kill disclosed.

Today the Gophers are hosting Pro Day. Nine players who were seniors last fall are expected to work out for pro football talent evaluators: Michael Carter, Keanon Cooper, MarQueis Gray, Brandon Green, John Rabe, Mike Rallis, Spencer Reeves, Troy Stoudermire and Jordan Wettstein.

Gray could be the most likely player to be drafted by the NFL but even he might be left out when the league holds its three-day draft next month. The 6-foot-4, 240- pound Gray played quarterback and wide receiver at Minnesota with mixed results despite his athleticism.

While it may surprise fans, Kill said with the new found interest in the read option offense in the NFL some teams could have interest in Gray as a quarterback. NFL teams will consider Gray as a tight end or wide receiver prospect, too, perhaps signing him as a free agent.

Worth Noting

Gophers’ senior center Trevor Mbakwe said he’s been invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament April 10-13 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The tournament provides NBA scouts an opportunity to evaluate college seniors.

Mbakwe was named Big Ten Player of the Week this morning after his performances last week when he made 73.3 percent of his field goals and had two double-doubles in leading the Gophers to wins over No. 1 ranked Indiana and Penn State in his final game at Williams Arena.

Apparently Gophers’ coach Tubby Smith wasn’t planning to celebrate after Saturday’s 73-44 win over Penn State. He reported a sore throat at his news conference and was headed to bed.

A street ticket hawker claimed he sold tickets on Friday for the Penn State-Minnesota game for $125 each. He expected to sell $33 tickets on Saturday for about $65 or $70.

A different ticket peddler thought he could sell $35 tickets for around $60 each prior to Saturday night’s Gophers hockey game against Denver. That was Minnesota’s last ever WCHA regular season game at Mariucci Arena. Zach Budish had four points on two goals and two assists in Minnesota’s 5-1 win over Denver.

At Saturday’s Gophers-Penn State game the athletic department honored Jim Duffy who has been a season ticket holder for 68 years.

If Flip Saunders ends up being the Timberwolves general manager or coach this spring, it won’t be the first time that Gophers boosters will be disappointed he didn’t return to his alma mater as coach. I was told Saunders was approached about coaching the Gophers prior to Dan Monson being hired as Minnesota coach in 1999.

Saunders’ son Ryan, a former Gopher, is an assistant coach for the Wizards who play the Timberwolves at Target Center on Wednesday night.

Former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi remains a fan of the school’s teams. Since last fall he’s attended all home football games, men’s basketball games, and men’s and women’s hockey games, and most women’s basketball games.

Maturi begins a three-year membership starting July 1 on the NCAA Infractions Committee. Also on the committee is former Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr.

When the Twins open their regular season schedule on April 1 at Target Field against the Tigers the starting pitcher might be Vance Worley, the 25-year-old who was acquired during the offseason from the Phillies. The Twins would enjoy seeing the right-hander repeat his April success of last season with the Phillies — 2-1 with a 1.97 ERA in five starts. The rookie pitcher had a 13 inning scoreless streak during the month and career high 11 strikeouts against the Padres.

The Twins and other major league franchises continue to put an emphasis on foreign-born players. In 2012, according to information in the Twins’ 2013 media guide, the organization had 119 foreign-born players including 50 from the Dominican Republic and 31 from Venezuela. In 2011 the total of foreign-born players was 104.

North American Soccer League commissioner Bill Peterson will be in Minneapolis tomorrow joining new Minnesota Stars owner Bill McGuire for a news conference, along with new team president Nick Rogers and coach Manny Lagos. Peterson will talk about the importance of having pro soccer in the state. The Stars will play five of their homes game this season at the Metrodome with the first on April 6 against San Antonio.

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