Skip to content
David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners
Menu
  • Gophers
  • Vikings
  • Twins
  • Timberwolves
  • Wild
  • United
  • Lynx
  • UST
  • MIAC
  • Preps
Menu
Meadows at Mystic Lake

B's Chocolates

Blaze Credit Union

Dinkytown Athletes

Murray's Restaurant

Gold Country

Culver's | Iron Horse | KLN Family Brands | Meyer Njus Tanick

Category: Golden Gophers

Coach Jerry Kill Fundraising in Arizona

Posted on March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 by David Shama

 

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill is in Arizona fundraising for the Athletic Department and the master facilities plan to raise $150 million.  Kill is in the Phoenix area with his wife Rebecca, athletic director Norwood Teague and other department leaders.  The athletics facilities fundraising effort is being assisted by longtime Gophers booster and Minnesota native Dick Ames, who has a ranch in the Phoenix area.

Jerry Kill
Jerry Kill

Kill is popular with Gophers donors and has become the face of the department since taking over as coach for the 2011 season.  He is adamant about having a new football complex that will include much improved practice facilities—a key piece to the master plan that will include other buildings and resources benefitting various sports at the University of Minnesota.

The department hopes to break ground on facilities this year but won’t do so in piecemeal fashion.  That means the football facility won’t begin as a single endeavor.  Fundraising for the master facilities plan has reached $70 million but $120 million is needed to break ground—meaning 80 percent of the $150 million is in place.  That $150 million figure will eventually be replaced with an additional $40 million, raising the total to be privately fundraised to $190 million. The $150 million will fund an initial phase of assessed needs such as new football and basketball practice facilities, and an academic and nutrition “Excellence Center” benefitting all Gophers athletes.

Kill’s impact on fundraising can’t be understated.  He had a close relationship with the late Dave Larson, the former Cargill executive and member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.  Larson’s widow Janis told Sports Headliners awhile ago she is making a $15 million donation toward the new football complex.  She said the facility will be named the David and Janis Larson Football Performance Center.

The Gophers’ practice facilities, including for football where there is an “arms race” among schools to have state-of-the-art buildings and amenities, are among the most outdated in the Big Ten Conference.  Gophers associate head football coach Tracy Claeys acknowledged that high school recruits select colleges based on multiple factors including winning reputations and relationships, but modern facilities make a difference, too.

“It has a huge impact of being able to get more selective in recruiting at this level,” Claeys said.  “We don’t look at it as an expense; we look at it as an investment.  Right now the popularity of the sport of football is (that) it’s making a lot of money.”

Worth Noting 

Tracy Claeys
Tracy Claeys

Claeys said true freshman linebacker Julian Huff from Bolingbrook, Illinois has impressed him during spring practices.  Huff enrolled in school earlier this year. “That kid loves football,” Claeys said.  “He’ll get after it.  I’ve been really pleased with him.  He’s got a lot to learn, but the one thing is you don’t have to tell him is to go sic’em.”

The Gophers had one of the best defensive secondaries in the Big Ten last season and despite losing seniors Cedric Thompson and Derrick Wells, junior defensive back Antonio Johnson thinks he will be part of another outstanding unit because Minnesota has “some of the best guys in the country.”  Among the talented defensive backs is junior Eric Murray, a physical and tight coverage cornerback.  Johnson and Murray were freshmen roommates.  Johnson was amused while recalling Murray’s TV viewing preferences.  “He likes…Japanese cartoons like Pokémon and stuff like that.  I just think that’s kind of weird.  You wouldn’t expect that from him.”

Jim Dutcher, who coached the Gophers in the 1980s and remains a passionate student of college basketball, is (like everyone else) predicting 34-0 Kentucky to win the NCAA title.  “You have to shoot the lights out to beat Kentucky,” he told Sports Headliners.  “I am not going to bet against them going 40-0.”

Dutcher’s other Final Four teams are Iowa State, Michigan State and Wisconsin.  MSU is only the No. 7 seed in the East Region and Dutcher admitted his Big Ten bias shows through in favoring the Spartans.  But he likes how the Spartans are playing at season’s end and isn’t that impressed with the region’s higher seeds.

Duke is the No. 1 seed in the South Region but Dutcher likes Iowa State, a No. 3 seed coached by former Timbewolves player and executive Fred Hoiberg.  He likes Iowa State’s depth, three-point shooting and comeback style.  “Duke can have those (scoring) droughts,” Dutcher said.

The WCHA Final Five this Friday and Saturday could have an economic impact on downtown St. Paul of $1.4 million, according to Visit Saint Paul—the city’s convention and visitors bureau.  Matchups at Xcel Energy Center on Friday are (first game) No. 2 seed Michigan Tech against No. 3 Bowling Green, followed by No. 1 seed Minnesota State playing No. 4 Ferris State.  The championship game is Saturday night.  The WCHA has two of the four top ranked teams in college hockey with No. 2 ranked Minnesota State and No. 4 Michigan Tech.

Bill Robertson
Bill Robertson

New WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson is using his sports marketing background to promote the tournament and increase league revenues from sponsorships and ticket sales.  There will be a Mall of America celebration event in the Rotunda from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday that will include school bands, interactive hockey games and the Broadmoor (championship) Trophy.  The games will be televised on Fox Sports North with play-by-play announcer Doug McLeod and analyst Kevin Gorg.  A ticket package for the Final Five offers all three games and costs $69.  Single session tickets are $35 each.

The WCHA plans to meet with Arizona State representatives in April regarding the Sun Devils possibly joining the league.  ASU is also talking to the Big Ten and NCHC.  ASU is playing several WCHA schools next season in non-conference play.

“They would be an excellent addition to our conference and we would love to have them join the WCHA,” Robertson said.  “They could help us in many areas, with the thought of other southwest and west coast schools (eventually) joining our league.  It would be wonderful, but we’re just starting down the road with Arizona State University.”

The Twins have optioned left-handed pitchers Logan Darnell and Jeff Wheeler, and right-handed pitcher Lester Oliveros, to Triple-A Rochester, and outfielder Max Kepler, and infielders Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano, to Double-A Chattanooga.  They have reassigned 10 players to minor league camp: left-handed pitchers Ryan O’Rourke and Taylor Rogers; right-handed pitchers Jose Berrios, Tyler Duffey and Adrian Salcedo; catchers Mitch Garver and Stuart Turner; infielders Argenis Diaz and Heiker Meneses, and outfielder Byron Buxton.  As of this morning the Twins had 45 players in spring training camp: 21 pitchers, six catchers, 10 infielders and eight outfielders.

The 2015 Mr. Basketball Award winner will be announced tonight on WCCO Radio at 5:30 p.m.  Candidates are: Sacar Anim, DeLaSalle; Bjorn Broman, Lakeview Christian Academy; J.T. Gibson, Champlin Park; Jarvis Johnson, DeLaSalle; Marshawn Wilson, Hill-Murray.  The award goes annually to a high school senior.

Comments Welcome

No Bonuses for Gophers Coach Pitino

Posted on March 13, 2015March 13, 2015 by David Shama

 

This season Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino won’t earn any incentive bonuses tied to his team’s on-court performances.  The coach’s contract with the University of Minnesota includes many potential bonuses including $25,000 for winning the Big Ten Conference Tournament, but the Gophers were eliminated from the tourney in Chicago last night.  Minnesota defeated Rutgers on Wednesday but lost to Ohio State last evening.

The Gophers had a disappointing season after winning last year’s NIT championship and returning four starters.  Expectations in 2015 were for an NCAA Tournament invitation and winning record in the Big Ten.  Instead the Gophers finished 6-12 in regular season league games and won’t be considered for an NCAA invite with their 18-15 overall record.  Pitino’s contract guarantees him a $50,000 bonus for a winning record in the Big Ten and the same amount if the Gophers are regular season conference champs.

Richard Pitino
Richard Pitino

There are no bonuses for postseason tournaments other than the NCAA tourney.  Pitino can earn $50,000 for getting his team into the NCAA tourney, $50,000 for making the Sweet 16, $50,000 for the Final Four, and $100,000 for winning the national championship.

Contract incentives also include $25,000 for being honored as Big Ten Coach of the Year and $50,000 for National Coach of the Year.

Pitino didn’t earn any of the above mentioned bonuses this year or last.  Pitino’s 2013-2014 team, his first at Minnesota, finished with an 8-10 record in the Big Ten.  That group was considered an overachieving team that won seven of its last eight games including five straight to win the NIT title.

This season’s team, led by five seniors, has lost six of the last eight games.  Among gloomy experiences were road and away losses to Penn State, and a home loss to Northwestern—two of the Big Ten’s historically worst programs.

The Gophers lost eight conference games by six points or less.  Pitino has said the team hasn’t been lucky at times and he is correct, but the Gophers’ defensive failures have been a cause of misfortune.  Minnesota hasn’t been able to correct its season long weakness in defending three point shooting, has been in ineffective at making key defensive stops, and sometimes been overmatched in defensive rebounding.

With the seniors leaving the program, the Gophers’ starting lineup, and certainly the roster, is somewhat of a mystery for next season.  Pitino has scholarships to work with this spring and one source close to the program predicted at least two new players will be added, perhaps a small and power forward.

Pitino, 32, was hired by athletic director Norwood Teague in the spring of 2013.   The contract he and University representatives signed in May of that year stated a base salary of $500,000 per year and supplemental compensation (for media, fundraising, community involvement and more) of $700,000.  Annual salary increases are subject to evaluation by the University.

Worth Noting 

Andre Hollins
Andre Hollins

Gophers leading scorer Andre Hollins made five of nine field goal attempts in the first half of last Sunday’s final regular season game against Penn State, then went 0-5 for in the second half.  In Wednesday night’s opening Big Ten Tournament win over Rutgers he was 0-5 from the floor, and then last evening made four of 14 field goal attempts.  That’s a four of 24 shooting slump for the senior guard who has been one of Minnesota’s best players for four years.

Despite a career low batting average of .277 last season, Joe Mauer still compares favorably with other hitters past and present.  Among active players, Mauer’s .319 lifetime average is second only to Albert Pujols at .320.  For career batting averages since 1950 among major leaguers, Mauer ranks seventh.  His on-base percentage of .402 is third among today’s players, trailing Joey Votto at .427 and Miguel Cabrera, .411.

Ervin Santana, the right-handed veteran pitcher who the Twins signed as a free agent last December, could be the staff ace and is capable of being dominant.  Twelve times during his 10 season MLB career he has produced double-digit strikeouts in a game.  In seven starts for the Braves last season from July 18-August 18 he had a six-game win streak, going 6-0 with a 2.98 ERA.

Don Lucia
Don Lucia

Coach Don Lucia’s Gophers hockey team plays its last two regular season games tonight and Saturday evening at Mariucci Arena with second place Minnesota one point behind first place Michigan State in the Big Ten standings.  The Gophers are defending conference champions, and in 2012 and 2013 Minnesota won WCHA regular season titles.

This weekend’s series will be the final two games at Mariucci Arena for six seniors.  Seth Ambroz, Travis Boyd, Christian Isackson, Ben Marshall, Kyle Rau and Sam Warning comprise one of the most successful classes in program history with three straight regular season conference titles (a Gophers men’s record) and two trips to the NCAA Frozen Four.  A second consecutive Big Ten title would make the senior class the only group at Minnesota to win regular season titles in each of four years together.  Their record is 101-42-15 (.687), including 60-13-7 (.812) at Mariucci Arena.

Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Lake Superior State, Minnesota State, Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan are teams participating in this weekend’s opening round of the WCHA men’s hockey playoffs.  Rosters include many Minnesotans such as Bemidji State freshman Michael Bitzer (Moorhead High School) who leads WCHA goalies in save percentage (.932) and is tied for second in goals against average (1.76).  Bitzer was honored yesterday as the WCHA Rookie of the Year.  Bowling Green junior goalie Tommy Burke (Academy of Holy Angels) is seventh in both save percentage (.919) and goals against average (2.19).

Minnesota State forward C.J. Franklin (Forest Lake) is second among freshmen scorers with 24 points.  Senior teammate Zach Palmquist (South St. Paul) is second in scoring among WCHA defensemen with 26 points.

Former Gophers basketball assistant coach Dan Kosmoski has his St. Olaf men’s team (23-5) in the Division III Sweet 16 with a game tonight against Marietta in Rock Island, Illinois.  The Oles have won a school record number of games for one season and can play Saturday against either Augustana or Mount Union if they win tonight.  A Saturday win sends the Oles to the Division III Final Four.

Automated telephone calls were made to the public this week urging recipients to contact state legislators regarding a bill to reverse Minnesota State High School League transgender policy.  League officials voted in December for transgender athletes to play on the school teams best aligned with their gender identity.

Comments Welcome

Gophers’ Postseason Future Not Clear

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015 by David Shama

 

Gophers seniors Elliott Eliason, Andre Hollins, Kendal Shell and Mo Walker have already played in two National Invitation Tournaments during their college careers.  They and their teammates might have to win a couple of Big Ten Tournament games this week to get another invitation—even if that “ticket” isn’t exactly coveted.

The Gophers, the No. 11 conference tourney seed, play No. 14 seed Rutgers tonight in Chicago.  Minnesota finished 6-12 in the Big Ten and is 17-14 overall.  The Gophers have lost five of their last six games and overall have a lackluster resume.

The cold truth is the NIT Selection Committee might not want the Gophers.  Nixing an invite will be made easier if Minnesota loses to Rutgers and finishes its schedule with a 17-15 record.  Rutgers, 2-16 during its first season of Big Ten basketball, is 10-21 overall and has lost 14 consecutive games. Last year Indiana had a 17-15 overall record and was left out of the 32-team NIT team field.

The next postseason step down from the NIT is the College Basketball Invitational, a lesser quality 16-team tournament created in 2007.  Invites to the CBI aren’t always accepted and the suspicion here is the Gophers would say no—thereby ending a disappointing season that saw them start 0-5 in the Big Ten, lose their last regular season game at the buzzer and disappoint a fan base who thought a team with four starters returning from the 2014 NIT champs could earn its way into the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, the Gophers haven’t been as good as either they or the fans expected.   Minnesota was mostly competitive in Big Ten play but lost eight conference games by six points or less.  The latest heartbreaker came Sunday when Penn State’s D.J. Newbill hit a three-pointer as time expired to break a 76-76 tie.

Nate Mason
Nate Mason

Nobody blamed Gophers freshman guard Nate Mason for not doing all he could to defend Newbill but often the team hasn’t made defensive stops in close games when it should have. “We have defensive lapses,”  Hollins said.

After the game coach Richard Pitino was frustrated about his team.  “I think they’re playing really, really hard.  I really do.  I feel bad for the seniors that they go out with a loss like that.”

Could the Gophers look forward to playing in the NIT?  “I don’t know,” Pitino answered on Sunday.  “I think they’re looking toward playing in the conference tournament.”

In the locker room Sunday the gloom was in contrast to the sunny weather outside.  Hollins admitted an NIT encore for a third time in four years would be difficult.  “I don’t know.  I am a competitor.  I like playing, so I don’t want my career to end on a bad note.  I am not even thinking about that (the NIT).”

When Eliason was asked about the NIT he said he “wouldn’t be too excited about that.”  Walker, though, put a smiley face on another NIT.  “Yeah, sure.  I just want to play for as long as possible this season.  Whoever it is, I want to play as much basketball as possible.  I am never going to get this opportunity back.”

To earn an invitation to the NCAA Tournament the Gophers have to win five games in five days in the Big Ten Tournament and emerge as tourney champs.  That would be the most improbable of stories but an NIT invite is at least possible—even if it wasn’t what the Gophers had in mind back in January.

“It’s not a real entitled group so I don’t think they’re above anything,” Pitino said.  “Nor should they be, and I guess we’re just focused on the conference tournament right now.”

Worth Noting

Big Ten Conference statistics show the Gophers weren’t effective defensively.  Minnesota ranked 12th in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, and last in three-point field goal percentage defense among 14 teams.

The last part of the season Pitino allocated more playing time to 6-9 Gaston Diedhiou and 6-11 Bakary Konate.  Both are freshmen who have potential but also much to learn.  Pitino played the two together for a few minutes against Wisconsin last week.  Next season they could be on the floor together a lot.  “They’re certainly going to be a major part of it next year,” Pitino said.

The Gophers, who sold out four games last season at Williams Arena, sold out only one in 2014-2015, the Wisconsin game.  Minnesota finished ninth among league teams in average home attendance for Big Ten games.  The Gophers averaged 13,013 for nine home games, finishing ahead of Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue and Rutgers.

Seth Green
Seth Green

Bryan Green, the father of highly recruited East Ridge High School quarterback Seth Green, has moved the family to the Dallas area because of a job change.  Seth, once considered one of the top Minnesota prep football recruits for the class of 2016, will play his senior season for Allen High School in Allen, Texas.  Green has verbally committed to Oregon.

The opinion here is Eden Prairie High School junior linebacker Carter Coughlin, who has said he will announce his college choice soon, will choose the Gophers.  Coughlin, could be the state’s best senior next fall.

Next Monday Vikings fans who have signed up on a waitlist can start touring the New Stadium Preview Center.  Up until Monday, tours at the downtown center are only for existing season ticket holders.  The new domed stadium is on target to open in 2016.

Bryant Allen, who played for both the Gophers football and basketball teams during the 2009-2010 school year, is a starting senior guard on the Dakota State basketball team playing this afternoon in a first round Division II NAIA national tournament game against the College of Idaho.  Allen, 24, was at Illinois State before transferring to the NAIA school located in Madison, South Dakota.

Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer, South Dakota head coach Joe Glenn and former NFL player and motivational author Joe Ehrmann will be headline speakers at the Minnesota Football Clinic.  Priefer speaks March 26 while Glenn and Ehrmann will talk March 27 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park.  The clinic is March 26-28 and is a partnership between the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and the Gophers.

Torii Hunter empathizes with Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton in a March 2 USA Today story in which the Twins right fielder acknowledges the drug habit of his 64-year-old father Theotis.  Hamilton was recently suspended for a drug relapse.  Hunter told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale his dad has been hooked on drugs almost as long as he can remember.  “It’s like a demon that takes you over,” Hunter said in the story.

A lot of people in baseball and beyond sympathize with the horrors of drug abuse.  New Twins manager Paul Molitor can speak from personal experience.  Ron Simon, Molitor’s agent as a young major league baseball player, wrote about his client’s problem with cocaine in Simon’s 1993 book The Game, Behind the Game, Negotiating in the Big Leagues.

“The police were called to my house on Christmas Day, 1980,” Simon wrote.  “They had to break in to see if Paul Molitor was inside, dead or alive.  Molitor was in my house, sleeping off a wild night of cocaine abuse.”

Simon wrote in his book Molitor stopped using cocaine after that memorable night.  Since then Molitor has talked to others about what he went through, sharing his experience.

Dick Miller, a tackle on the Gophers’ 1960 national championship football team and former athlete at Rochester Lourdes High School, will be inducted into the Rochester Quarterbacks Club Hall of Fame on April 20.  The club president is long time Rochester radio sports commentator Ed Rauen.

Comments Welcome

Posts pagination

  • Previous
  • 1
  • …
  • 297
  • 298
  • 299
  • 300
  • 301
  • 302
  • 303
  • …
  • 429
  • Next
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Search Shama

Archives

  Culvers   Iron Horse   KLN Family Brands   Meyer Law

Recent Posts

  • At 24 Anthony Edwards Can Build Off Superstar Status
  • Twins Surprise by Firing Veteran Manager Rocco Baldelli
  • Most Pressure to Win in This Town? It’s not the WNBA Lynx
  • Vikings & Rodgers Meet Sunday After Off-Season Flirtation
  • J.J. McCarthy Start Prompts Recollection of Bud Grant Wisdom
  • Reactionary Vikings Fans Turn on Team at Home Opener
  • Gophers Football Season Ticket Sales Down Slightly from 2024
  • Vikings Grind But Show They’re Who We Thought They Were
  • U Record Setter Morgan Gushes about New QB Drake Lindsey
  • McCarthy’s Missed Season May Pay Dividends for him in 2025

Newsmakers

  • KEVIN O’CONNELL
  • BYRON BUXTON
  • P.J. FLECK
  • KIRILL KAPRIZOV
  • ANTHONY EDWARDS
  • CHERYL REEVE
  • NIKO MEDVED

Archives

Read More…

  • STADIUMS
  • MEDIA
  • NCAA
  • RECRUITING
  • SPORTS DRAFTS

Get in Touch

  • Home
  • Biography
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
Meadows at Mystic Lake

B's Chocolates

Blaze Credit Union

Dinkytown Athletes

Murray's Restaurant

Gold Country

Culver's | Iron Horse | KLN Family Brands | Meyer Njus Tanick
© 2025 David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme