Gophers Football – Page 98 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Boosters Detail Saving Gopher Tennis

Posted on March 10, 2021March 10, 2021 by David Shama

There could be a path for the University of Minnesota men’s tennis program to continue indefinitely, according to information submitted this week to members of the school’s Board of Regents.

Tennis, along with men’s gymnastics and indoor track, are scheduled for elimination later this year to save the athletic department $1 million to $2 million annually. The decision to discontinue the sports was made last fall at the recommendation of president Joan Gabel and athletic director Mark Coyle who said Title IX issues also dictated the extreme action.

The regents voted 7-5 to approve the elimination of the three sports and assist the athletic department budget in coming years. The department is mostly self-supported from revenues generated by three sports, football and men’s basketball and hockey. A budget deficit of $40 million or more has been estimated for the department this school year.

The action to cut programs was met with a storm of controversy and emotion including by members of the tennis boosters group. This month representatives of the Baseline Club informed Coyle and the Board of Regents their findings dispute that Title IX is an issue, and funding can be established to continue the program into perpetuity.

The Baseline Club retained the services of a lawyer with Title IX expertise, according to documents given to the Board of Regents. Nationally known attorney Arthur Bryant concluded that Title IX related issues don’t prevent the tennis program from being reinstated. The University’s Office of Legal Counsel is reviewing Bryant’s findings.

Regarding finances, the booster club stated it has over $1.3 million in pledges to help make the reinstatement of tennis possible. Already in place because of past private funding is a $1.2 million endowment used for scholarships. It’s projected that the $2.5 million total can fund the tennis program for four years. With the impetus of that success, the booster club believes further private funding can solidify the program’s existence indefinitely.

The University will have to determine whether it’s in agreement with the Title-IX issue. There will also be careful scrutiny of financial pledges to determine sources and how donations will be secured. Contrary to what some observers believed last fall, the $1.2 million tennis endowment can’t be transferred to another sports program at the University without the approval of the Baseline Club.

The Baseline Club started in 1979 and has played a leading role in promoting and enhancing tennis including through its financial contribution for construction of the on-campus Baseline Tennis Center.

Budget cuts prompted by the pandemic have caused the elimination of college sports across the country, with tennis among those programs most affected. The University is projected to have 22 men’s and women’s sports for the next school year.

Worth Noting

Give credit to Tom Devine and other volunteers from Friends of Gopher Sports for their persistent lobbying to eliminate state sales tax on Gophers seat licensing, which uses the revenue for scholarships. If legislation is enacted the savings to the athletic department will be about $1 million per year, Devine said.

A bill to make the change had a hearing in the House of Representatives last week and the proposed legislation includes elimination of sales tax on seat licensing at other state schools including UMD and St. Thomas. The bill is co-authored by Representative Mohamud Noor and Senator Greg Clausen. Efforts have been made in the past, too, but volunteers are optimistic about legislative change this year. “I am proud of it,” Devine said about ongoing lobbying.

Sooner or later Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle will go before the University Board of Regents and discuss the men’s basketball coaching situation. The regents meet this week and then don’t have another regularly scheduled gathering until May 13-14.

A source familiar with U policy said Coyle doesn’t need regents’ approval to terminate coaches including Richard Pitino.

Sports Illustrated online points out Hopkins legend Paige Bueckers, now playing for the Connecticut Huskies, could be the first basketball freshman to ever be named women’s college player of the year. She has already been honored this winter as both Big East freshman and player of the year. Former Minnesota Lynx star Maya Moore, playing for Connecticut, also earned those honors as a freshman.

NFL Network is providing extensive coverage this month of Pro Days from college campuses including North Dakota State Friday. Bison QB Trey Lance, from Marshall, Minnesota, is showing up among the first 10 selections in 2021 NFL mock drafts.

Condolences to family and friends of Duane Blaska who died at home Monday morning after a lengthy fight with cancer. Duane, 79 and from Anoka, was the heady starting quarterback on the Gophers’ 1962 team that compiled a 6-2-1 record and finished the season ranked No. 10 nationally by both the Associated Press and United Press International. If not for the controversial officiating in a season ending loss to Wisconsin in Madison, Minnesota would have gone to three consecutive Rose Bowls.

“Duane was everybody’s friend—a lovable, admirable soul with a flawless character. Bless his memory,” former teammate Paul Ramseth wrote in an email.

The Minnesota Wild, six wins over .500 with 14 wins and eight losses, is playing impressive enough to deserve a ranking of 11 or 12 among the 31 NHL teams, writes Stan Fischler of the Fischler Report.

Ross Bernstein, the Twin Cities-based sports author and entertaining national speaker, is the latest “Behind the Game” guest with co-hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. The program is available for viewing on the “Behind the Game” YouTube Channel and via cable access throughout the state.

Catcher Mitch Garver, a 2019 Twins Silver Slugger winner, is in competition for playing time with Ryan Jeffers after Garver’s off year in 2020.

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Twins Could Delay Alex Kirilloff Debut

Posted on February 24, 2021February 24, 2021 by David Shama

No everyday position in the Minnesota Twins starting lineup will receive more scrutiny during spring training than left field. Eddie Rosario was plugged in there for several Opening Day starts but the Twins cut him from the roster last winter, leaving a void in left field that 23-year-old Alex Kirilloff might fill during most of the 2021 season.

Kirilloff is one of baseball’s top prospects but it could be the Twins will start the regular season in early April using utility man Luis Arraez in left field. Kirilloff, even if he dazzles in spring training, might be assigned to the Triple A St. Paul Saints roster but later called up to the Twins.

Why wouldn’t Kirilloff begin 2021 in the majors? A factor could be MLB’s service time policy that determines when players eventually become eligible for free agency. If a player accumulates 172 days on a big league roster (either in one year or multiple seasons), he earns a year of service time. After six seasons a player is eligible for free agency. By delaying “the clock” on a prospect like Kirilloff, perhaps adding him to the roster in May, the Twins gain a future financial advantage.

In three previous minor league seasons the left-handed hitter had 1,103 at bats with a .317 batting average, 36 home runs and 177 RBI. Minnesota’s first round draft choice in 2016, Kirilloff makes solid contact with the baseball, hitting to all fields with line drives and also demonstrating power.

Kirilloff has the athleticism, including a strong arm, to play left or right field for the Twins. He also has experience at first base, making him a versatile player already. If anything, the excitement about Kirilloff becoming a big contributor to the Twins has been slowed by past injuries but he has the profile of a top 30 MLB prospect.

Kirilloff is already the answer to an intriguing trivia question. Who is the only MLB player to get a base hit while making his big league debut in a playoff game? Kirilloff, starting in right field, singled in four at bats for the Twins in their final playoff game last September.

Worth Noting

The Twins announced this morning all 14 of their home spring training games at Hammond Stadium sold out within 30 minutes.

Fox Sports North will televise the Twins’ first spring training game starting at 12:05 p.m. March 3 (against the Boston Red Sox).

MLB.com offered its first power rankings of spring training Monday. The Twins are No. 7, one spot behind their newly hyped division rival, the Chicago White Sox. The top five teams are the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.

The Detroit Tigers may have three former Twins in their regular lineup, with left fielder Robbie Grossman, catcher Wilson Ramos and second baseman Jonathan Schoop.

Former Twin and free agent starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi remains unsigned. He turns 31 next month and could help a club as a No. 3 or 4 starter, but with the Twins’ starting rotation apparently set it doesn’t look like his future will be in Minnesota.

Happy early birthday wishes to Twins TV announcer Dick Bremer who will be 65 next Monday.

It looks like status quo for head coach P.J. Fleck’s Gophers football staff who had expiring contracts January 31. New one year deals are in place including for Rob Wenger who leads special teams that struggled in 2020.

Because of the pandemic, the Minnesota Football Coaches Association’s outstanding annual clinic will be held via Zoom April 8-10.

The MFCA announced its 2020 Mr. Football Award winner Sunday—Wisconsin Badgers-bound Jake Ratzlaff, a strong safety/tight end from Rosemount High School. “As a high school football player, I have never seen one player impact a game in so many different ways,” Rosemount coach Jeff Erdmann said in a news release. “He could start for us at any position offensively or defensively. He could have been our starting QB, offensive tackle or even nose guard because of his athleticism, aggressiveness, and style of play.”

Fired Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders, 34, could resume his career with a college job. If so, he might be interested in using the famous and entertaining pre-game warm-up routine that rocked Williams Arena when Ryan’s dad Flip played for Gopher coach Bill Musselman. Although Flip was a Gopher before Ryan was born, the warm-up show that filled the arena with delirious fans is something the younger Saunders knows about.

Ex-Gopher center Janel McCarville, 38, is still playing professional basketball in Sweden. McCarville and playmaker Lindsay Whalen are the names best remembered from Minnesota’s 2004 Final Four team that played in New Orleans.

Next year the women’s Final Four returns to Minneapolis for the first time since 1995 and the field will likely include Minnesota prep legend Paige Bueckers leading the Connecticut Huskies. Coach Geno Auriemma won the first of his 11 national titles here that year.

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Timing of Saunders Firing Debatable

Posted on February 22, 2021February 22, 2021 by David Shama

Ryan Saunders was fired as the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach last night, but the timing is debatable. Why replace him now rather than wait until season’s end? When all is considered, would the Wolves benefit more by switching coaches this spring?

The Wolves are hiring Toronto Raptors assistant coach Chris Finch to replace Saunders. Wolves basketball boss Gersson Rosas decided not to ride out the season with Saunders, or replace him with an interim coach. Either move could have provided additional time to identify the best candidate to lead the woeful Wolves. One candidate could have been Minnesota native and former NBA head coach Dave Joerger, now an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers.

It’s Rosas’ job to plan ahead for various scenarios and you can bet he has been thinking about Finch for awhile. No doubt he believes Finch is the right leader for his team. But Finch has no NBA head coaching experience, and neither did Saunders two years ago when he took over as interim head man, and later was hired permanently by Rosas. Rosas and Finch worked together with the Houston Rockets so the two presumably have the rapport needed between the front office and the bench.

Even if hiring Finch turns out to be a terrific decision, he likely would have been available when the NBA season ends this spring. So why rush the hire when the candidate pool might be even better?

Also, taking over the job now isn’t nearly as ideal as having an offseason and training camp for Finch to formulate decisions including systems to implement and assistants to hire. The impressions he makes on players now might be better in a new beginning rather than during the frantic NBA marathon of games. It is a positive that Finch will get a firsthand look at his Timberwolves personnel now, both players and staff, including their talents and quirks on and off the court.

There is often a honeymoon period for a new coach and the expectation is a fresh voice in the locker room will spark more wins than Saunders was going to produce. That may not be as positive as it first sounds. The Wolves, 7-24, have the worst record in the NBA. At that pace Minnesota has a realistic chance of ending up with a top three selection in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft later this year. In the NBA’s 14-team draft lottery, the worse a club’s record, the better the chance of lucking into a high draft selection. Even more to the point this year is that Golden State owns the Wolves first round selection unless its a top three pick (Minnesota got that protection in a 2020 trade).

A dream scenario for the Wolves in the draft is to find hometown hero Jalen Suggs—the Minnehaha Academy alum now leading 22-0 Gonzaga as a freshman—available to them among the top three picks in the draft. Mock drafts have Suggs going early, perhaps No. 1, and the 6-4 Suggs is just what the Timberwolves need.

Saunders would probably still be coaching if he had a better point guard. Before he was fired last night his team lost by four points to the New York Knicks. Minnesota has a maddening list of close losses, and in February alone the Wolves have lost six of 12 games by five points or less.

Those were games the Wolves couldn’t close out, partially because of poor decision making on the floor from the likes of D’Angelo Russell, or the missing and diminished skills of Ricky Rubio. Suggs, with his size, length, quickness, unselfish approach, scoring, passing and defensive skills, could be an immediate upgrade over Russell and Rubio. With Suggs directing, the Wolves could have a rocking offense with the scoring talents of Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns, Malik Beasley and Anthony Edwards.

The decision to let Saunders go had to be emotional for him and owner Glen Taylor. Saunders, 34, has known the 79-year-old billionaire since he was a boy. The connection between the Saunders family with the Wolves has included a minority ownership share in the franchise and prominent roles coaching and in the front office by the late Flip Saunders, Ryan’s dad.

Ryan is a high character person, well liked by those who know him. After assistant coaching jobs for his dad and Tom Thibodeau, Rosas and Taylor thought he was ready to be a head coach. He wasn’t. His teams were often dreadful defensively and seldom succeeded in big moments.

Worth Noting

Suggs, along with three Gonzaga teammates and head coach Mark Few, is on the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. The No. 1 ranked Zags appear headed to a national championship showdown with No. 1 Baylor, 17-0 and led by a coaching staff that includes assistant and Minnesota native Jared Nuness, son of former Gophers captain Al Nuness.

The 2021 Gophers are a troubled team at 13-10 and have lost three consecutive games and four of their last six. Minnesota’s chances of being invited to the NCAA Tournament have nosedived from all but certain to precarious since defeating No. 3 ranked Michigan last month, the Wolverines only loss of the season.

Coach Richard Pitino’s team is dealing with injuries and wounded pride. Gabe Kalscheur, the team’s best perimeter defender, is out indefinitely after finger surgery. Center Liam Robbins and guard Both Gach are playing but injured, with Robbins perhaps hurting the most with an ankle restricting him.

Robbins has been the Big Ten’s leading shot blocker. “It’s really hurting our defense. He’s really hobbled right now,” Minnesota coach Pitino said on KFNX Radio Saturday after the Illinois game.

Illinois embarrassed the Gophers at Williams Arena, winning 94-63. The Illini assaulted Minnesota with dunks and other easy shots. At times the Gophers played with minimal effort. Senior center Eric Curry acknowledged as much after the game when asked how Minnesota can improve future outcomes. “Have a sense of pride. Can’t let the other guys come in like today, just do what they want to do.”

The Gophers, 6-10 in Big Ten games, have 3-13 Northwestern at home Thursday night. Then Saturday it’s 1-12 Nebraska in Lincoln, with two more remaining regular season games, March 3 at Penn State (4-11 record), and March 6 Rutgers (8-9) at home. The remaining opponents are mediocre at best but the Gophers are in no position to disrespect anyone.

Former Golden Gophers basketball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski will receive his third chemo treatment for cancer Tuesday and he reports feeling good. He has stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Condolences to family and ex-teammates of former Gophers linebacker Tim Wheeler, who passed away earlier this month. Wheeler was an undersized but hard hitting linebacker for Minnesota in the mid-1960s, earning three letters in football. His father, Roger Wheeler, was an All-Big Ten end for Minnesota in 1926.

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