Golden Gophers – Page 360 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Tyus Jones Likley to Sign in November

Posted on July 22, 2013July 24, 2013 by David Shama

Tyus Jones‘ mom told Sports Headliners yesterday she expects her son to make his official college commitment in November. Debbie Jones also said during the telephone interview her son Tre Jones, an eighth grader next school year, hopes to play on the Apple Valley High School varsity team with Tyus.

Tyus, a nationally recruited point guard who is among the most sought after Minnesota preps ever, could verbally commit to a college now but that won’t happen. The family plans official visits to colleges including possibly Minnesota in August, September and October before a decision is made. Debbie said reports Tyus was ready to commit verbally to the Gophers early last spring weren’t accurate. “He wasn’t going to commit anywhere until he made his official visits and got on campuses,” Debbie said.

High school seniors can sign National Letters of Intent with colleges in November, or they can wait until the following spring for a second period of signing dates. Asked if Tyus will sign in November, his mom said: “I think so.”

Tyus and his friend Jahlil Okafor, a center from Whitney High in Chicago, are rated the No. 2 and No. 1 players in the national prep class of 2014 by Rivals.com. Debbie confirmed it’s likely the two will attend college together. Not only have Tyus and Okafor had discussions, but Debbie has talked with Okafor’s father, Chuck Okafor, too.

Tre is a gifted athlete and basketball player like Tyus. Tre is 5-9 and has grown at least five inches since last summer. Debbie is looking into the possibility of Tre joining the Apple Valley varsity and having a memorable experience of playing with Tyus for one season. “I know it would be great,” she said.

Among the biggest fans of Tyus and Tre is Debbie’s dad, Dennis Deutsch. For some time he’s had multiple health issues and most recently was diagnosed with cancer and then had a heart attack. “He’s a battler,” said Debbie about her father who has been out of the hospital for awhile.

Worth Noting

The Big Ten Network will offer extensive coverage of the conference’s football media days in Chicago including five hours on Wednesday featuring remarks by the league’s 12 head coaches. Programming starts at 10 a.m. Minneapolis time. Press conferences will re-air beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Each coach brings players from his team. Representing the Gophers will be defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman, running back Donnell Kirkwood and safety Brock Vereen. Hageman is on the watch lists of candidates for the Outland Trophy and Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

The Gophers athletic department is pitching several different season ticket packages involving football, men’s basketball and men’s hockey to University of Minnesota students. Three of the packages have sold out, totaling 1,155 tickets. Student football season tickets sold as of July 18 totaled 1,281 compared with 776 on the same date last year.

University of Minnesota regent Dave Larson and others interested in Gophers athletics will meet with athletic director Norwood Teague a week from today to learn more about the Facilities Needs Assessment and Plan. Phase One comes with an estimated cost of $190 million, all of it to be privately funded.

Isaiah Whitehead from Brooklyn and Ja’Quan Newton from Philadelphia, who are Rivals.com top 50 players in the class of 2014, are interested in attending college together and the Gophers are one of only four schools to have offered scholarships to the two guards, according to a July 16 story on Collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com.

S.I.com is previewing the NFL’s divisions this month and in a July 10 analysis about the NFC North predicted the Vikings could be a playoff team for a second consecutive season. “They are capable of another run this season, but the margin for error is slim,” wrote Chris Burke.

His opinion is that for the Vikings to become Super Bowl contenders, Adrian Peterson will need plenty of help including from quarterback Christian Ponder who has the resources to succeed in his third season. The team became better in the offseason at wide receiver with the additions of veteran Greg Jennings and rookie Cordarrelle Patterson, but worse at cornerback with veteran Antoine Winfield joining the Seahawks. Jennings’ departure from Green Bay is viewed as a weakness for the Packers. Vikings’ second year safety Harrison Smith is likely to be the team’s breakout player.

In 2015 the Vikings can celebrate 50 years of training camps in Mankato. The team opens its 48^thconsecutive Mankato camp on Thursday at Mankato State University. Among NFL teams, only the Packers have more training camp longevity at the same location. The Packers are working on 56 years at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin.

The latest issue of Sports Illustrated offers a MLB mid-season “re-forecast,” and predictions include a 69-93 final record for the Twins, finishing ahead of only the White Sox (65-97) in the AL Central. If correct, that will follow Twins records of 63-99 in 2011 and 66-96 in 2012. The magazine predicts the Cardinals over the Rangers in six games in the World Series.

Scott Diamond, the Twins’ starter and losing pitcher in yesterday’s game against the Indians, gave up six runs (five earned) in four and two-thirds innings. It was the fifth time this season he has allowed six runs or more. Yesterday was the third consecutive start Diamond, 5-9 record with a 5.53 ERA this season, has lasted less than five innings.

Sports Headliners reader Dan Hennen made a trip to Cedar Rapids to see the Twins’ Class A affiliate Kernels team. He compared the stadium atmosphere to a Saint Paul Saints entertainment experience including postgame fireworks. Tip for foodies: the stadium’s pork tenderloin sandwich is a winner. Hennen and family included a stop in Dyersville, Iowa to visit the Field of Dreams attraction. Picture taking in the “knee-high corn,” per Hennen’s e-mail.

1 comment

Pitino Versus Pitino in Vikings Stadium?

Posted on July 12, 2013July 19, 2013 by David Shama

New Gophers coach Richard Pitino told Sports Headliners he will talk with his father, Rick Pitino, about scheduling Minnesota and Louisville nonconference games.

“I think it would be great for fan bases and great universities, great athletic departments,” Richard said this week. “We would definitely talk about that at some point down the road.”

How about playing in the Vikings stadium that opens in 2016? “That would be a great idea,” the Gophers coach said. “That would bring some good exposure.”

Such a game could attract 25,000 fans or more to the downtown dome stadium. With Louisville’s reputation as an elite basketball school and the intrigue of a father against son matchup, it doesn’t take much imagination to see the game being nationally televised and providing valuable publicity for Pitino as he builds his Minnesota program and brand.

It’s likely any agreement between the two schools would include games scheduled in both Louisville and Minneapolis. The Pitinos met on the court as head coaches for the first time last December when Rick’s team beat Richard’s Florida International group, 79-55 in Louisville.

Richard worked for his dad at Louisville until he took the head coaching job at Florida International last season. The two are close and talk frequently. Rick, who coached the Cardinals to the national championship in April, is known for his work ethic.

“I think he really taught me just do (things) with unbelievable effort, unbelievable hard work,” Richard said. “He’s one of the most motivated guys I know. I just learned a lot by example from working with him for three years and being around him my whole life.”

Richard on other subjects including Drake transfer and former Eastview High School player Joey King who is waiting for an NCAA ruling on whether he will be eligible this coming season or have to wait a year:

“I love him. Tough kid. Huge chip on his shoulder. Really believes he is the best player on the court. Has that great confidence. Fearless. Can play multiple positions on the court.”

The 6-9 Eagan native has an ill family member who wants to watch King play at Minnesota, Pitino said. The NCAA is known to grant immediate eligibility in such situations.

Pitino wasn’t surprised his best player, junior guard Andre Hollins, didn’t make the USA junior team at tryouts last month. Hollins, as part of his academic experience, was in Italy before the tryouts and didn’t have access to a basketball facility.

“I told him, ‘Listen, you gotta expect you’re not going to make it. It has nothing to do with your ability. It has nothing to do with how good of a basketball player you are. You’re just very rusty.’ He wasn’t too down about it. He understood that.”

Pitino said right now there are no players who have a lock on starting next season, not even Hollins who led the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game or senior guard Austin Hollins who was second at 10.7. “I would assume that they are going to be in the starting five and they are going to play major, major minutes,” Pitino said. “But they’ve got to show me that.”

The Gophers finished with an 8-10 record in the Big Ten last season. Minnesota has only two Big Ten season records above .500 since 2000 but Pitino expects “to build this program on a high level.”

What does high level mean? “I think the biggest thing that you’ve gotta do is try to compete for conference championships,” Pitino said. “Try to get to the top half of that league and win a conference title. If you win a conference title in a conference like us, you’re gonna get a great seed in the (NCAA) Tournament. Then you never know what might happen.”

The Gophers have only two returning starters in Andre and Austin Hollins. Just two other returning players averaged double figure minutes per game, senior guard Maverick Ahanmisi and junior center Elliott Eliason. Pitino said it’s too early for him to talk about what his first Minnesota team accomplishes in wins and losses. “It’s going to take time, that’s what it does whenever you build a program.”

The Big Ten has a reputation for teams playing slow, conservative basketball. Pitino wants to coach at a fast pace on offense and defense. “I don’t think it has as much to do with the conference as it does with the players that I have on my team,” Pitino said. “I will be able to run. I will be able to press. I will be able to play fast if I have athletes and fast players on my team. I won’t be able to do it if I don’t.

“It comes down to the personnel more than the conference. Certainly game by game will be a little different but we just need to have the right type of players to play that style.”

Pitino has a new blog at Gophersports.com and this week he discusses each of his players.

Comments Welcome

Holtz Saw ‘Gold Mine’ at Minnesota

Posted on July 10, 2013July 10, 2013 by David Shama

George Stewart has been on vacation from his job as the Vikings’ wide receivers coach but it wouldn’t be a surprise if his thoughts have wandered back to 1983.

It was 30 years ago last spring that Stewart began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for Lou Holtz at Arkansas. In December of 1983 Holtz was hired by the Gophers as head coach and he made Stewart his offensive line coach.

“I’ve been very fortunate. Lou Holtz is the person who got me into coaching,” Stewart told Sports Headliners.

Without Holtz, Stewart wouldn’t have experienced a national championship at Notre Dame in 1988. That success in South Bend helped send Stewart into the NFL in 1989 coaching special teams for the Steelers and beginning a 25 year pro coaching career.

Stewart was reminded about his time with the Gophers under Holtz who quickly rebuilt the program in two seasons, 1984 and 1985. Even back then Holtz was one of America’s premier coaches and his ambitions for the program could have made an optimist blush.

Stewart believes the Gophers might have even earned glory beyond Big Ten titles and Rose Bowl victories under Holtz, who was fired for unknown reasons at Arkansas despite a 60-21-2 record. “We had a chance to build something very special (at Minnesota),” Stewart said.

How special? Well, how about the Gophers’ seventh national championship?

Scoff if you wish but first listen to Stewart. “When coach Holtz left in ‘85 that (first) recruiting class we had in South Bend, (the) majority of those guys were coming here,” he said. “They all switched (Minnesota commitments) and came to South Bend with coach Holtz (in 1986). You’re talking about a lot of great players. …We were able to have a national championship with those guys.”

Holtz—a devout Catholic who as a kid walked to school singing or humming the Notre Dame Fight Song—used an escape clause in his contract to leave the Gophers after just two seasons. Stewart believes South Bend might well have been the only place that could have made him depart Minneapolis.

“I knew in his heart Notre Dame was where he wanted to be,” Stewart said. “Strong Catholic. …If Gerry Faust had done a great job, Lou Holtz probably would have finished his coaching at the University of Minnesota.”

Faust had jumped from Moeller High School in Cincinnati to head coach at Notre Dame. It was one of the strangest coaching hires in college football history and despite Faust’s bubbling optimism and passion for Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish often got kicked around during his era, compiling a 30-26-1 record in five seasons before he was fired. His postseason highlight was a one point win over Boston College in the 1983 Liberty Bowl.

Holtz was only 46 when hired by the Gophers in 1983. He took over a program in free fall, 1-10 during the 1983 season. The talent on the 1984 roster was probably worthy of duplicating the previous year’s record.

But in 1984 the Gophers were much improved, mostly because they played better fundamentally and had talented freshman quarterback Ricky Foggie. That team was 4-7 including 3-6 in the Big Ten after being winless in conference games the year before. In 1985 the Gophers improved to 7-5 overall, 4-4 in the Big Ten. Minnesota scared No. 3 ranked Oklahoma, losing 13-7 in the Metrodome. The Gophers gave No. 9 Ohio State the jitters in the dome before losing 23-19. At season’s end the Gophers, without Holtz coaching them while on his way to South Bend, beat Clemson 20-13 in the Independence Bowl game.

Stewart said Holtz thought the Gophers’ head coaching job was a “gold mine,” having the resources to turn the program into a national power. That was an opinion Holtz shared with Stewart back at Arkansas, even before the two arrived in Minneapolis. Stewart didn’t doubt the wisdom of the decision to come to Minnesota because he knew Holtz could out-coach and out-recruit most coaches.

Before Stewart coached for Holtz, he played for him at Arkansas as an All-Southwest Conference guard. From 1977-1980 Stewart saw the Holtz magic. “We always knew we had a chance to win because he was our coach,” Stewart said. “We knew our coach was better than the coach on the other sideline.”

For much of Holtz’s coaching career there was a perception he operated loosely with NCAA recruiting rules. Stewart said his experience was Holtz adhered to guidelines.

The two of them met when Stewart was a highly sought high school player in Little Rock. “People have a misperception of coach Holtz,” Stewart said. “I was the No. 1 prospect…in the south when I came out of high school. I had a choice go to any school in America. I was offered by a lot of other schools. …He (Holtz) promised me two things. He promised me an opportunity to get me my degree, and No. 2, I was going to work as hard as any player in the country.”

Stewart said other schools offered cars, money and easy grades, but not Holtz. Later as an assistant coach, Stewart saw Holtz operate within the rules. “He’s had a bad reputation for being a guy…that has had a lot of trickeries. But nothing was devious with Lou Holtz.”

Holtz may have mastered more roles than any college head football coach in history. He excelled in not just recruiting, but coaching practices and games, and hiring talented assistants. He could charm fans and boosters, raising funds and awareness for his program while throwing quips around the room and maybe performing a magic trick or two. He was a genius at understanding how to market Lou Holtz and his team.

Holtz, who during his coaching career entertained on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, had Minnesotans so enthralled about the program that in 1986 the Gophers’ season tickets total was 56,000, certainly among the largest totals in school history.

All those skills had everything to do with why Stewart chose to play and coach for Holtz. “He was like a father,” Stewart said. “He’s very demanding. I am glad I had an opportunity to learn how to coach from him. I was able to learn all aspects of football from him.”

When Holtz first approached Stewart about becoming a graduate assistant, Stewart was selling cars in Little Rock. Holtz convinced him to try coaching for three months. Three decades later Stewart has experienced a career that has included six years with the Vikings and many memories—even some might-have-beens in Dinkytown.

Comments Welcome