Golden Gophers – Page 370 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

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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Borton & U Need to Build on 2013

Posted on March 8, 2013March 8, 2013 by David Shama

Coach Pam Borton, finishing up her 11^th season at Minnesota, saw more than a 58-47 opening round Big Ten Tournament loss to Ohio State last night. The defeat almost for certain left Minnesota, with an overall 18-13 record, out of the women’s NCAA Tournament field to be announced later this month.

The Gophers haven’t been to the tournament since 2009. Borton’s Big Ten regular season records the last four seasons are 6-12, 4-12, 6-10 and 7-9 in 2013. Those results are in contrast to her early years at Minnesota when the Gophers had winning conference records, made two Sweet 16 appearances and one Final Four.

Along with a fall off in wins has also come a decline in home attendance. A program that once drew over 9,000 fans in Williams Arena for some games regularly announces crowds now of 2,500 to 5,000 and averaged 3,405 this season.

That means lost revenue for the athletic department, and among women’s sports Gophers basketball rates high among potential revenue generators. And there’s plenty of potential to make Gophers basketball — the state’s only Division I women’s program — much more significant financially.

New administrators in the athletic department have basketball expertise. They should be interested in improvement on the court and at the box office. Athletic director Norwood Teague built part of his reputation as AD at VCU on the hiring of men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart who made the Rams a national brand. Senior associate athletic director Mike Ellis is a former basketball coach and founder of the Villa 7 consortium that brings outstanding women’s and men’s assistant basketball coaches together with athletic directors for networking and career development.

Teague’s most recent hire is Beth Goetz who previously worked at Butler where men’s coach Brad Stevens praised her work in the school’s athletic department. Stevens and Smart are considered two of the best young coaches in the country. As a senior associate athletic director at Minnesota, Goetz’s responsibilities include overseeing women’s basketball.

Borton’s 2013 starters all have remaining eligibility. The group includes sophomore guard Rachel Banham, an All-Big Ten player who averaged 21 points per game and has been described as “the next Lindsay Whalen.” Another returnee is junior forward Micaella Riche who averaged 7.7 rebounds per game. And Borton has 6-5 Swedish center Amanda Zuhi ready to play for the first time next fall.

Next fall those players will create expectations for better results than either they or Borton have known in recent seasons.

Worth Noting

The Gophers’ hockey team probably played its worst game of the season in a 2-0 home loss to Denver last Friday night. The team’s radio play-by-play voice, Wally Shaver, told Sports Headliners the performance was criticized by the coaching staff, and then Minnesota had an impressive win over Denver on Saturday night and now looks to be in “playoff mode.”

The Gophers, all year ranked among the best teams in college hockey, finish their WCHA regular season schedule at Bemidji State tonight and tomorrow night. The second place Gophers could win the league title this weekend, although they are two points behind St. Cloud State in the standings. Shaver said he wouldn’t be surprised if Minnesota (14-7-5 WCHA record) wins both games against the Beavers (5-14-7).

Some might consider a second place finish a disappointment for the talented Gophers but not Shaver who said Minnesota is reaching for success in the NCAA Tournament and playing for a national title.

Defenseman Jonas Brodin is the youngest player on the Wild and although he’s only played in 19 games, he’s turning heads with his skills including skating. The 19-year-old Swede and other Wild newcomers including forwards Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker were praised in a February 21 blog by David Staples writing for the Edmonton Journal. “This is a talented, aggressive, and skilled group of players and there’s enough of them to one day transform the Wild franchise.”

The list of college possibilities for Tyus Jones is at seven, according to his dad Rob Jones. The schools are: Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Minnesota and Ohio State. The Apple Valley junior point guard is among the most highly recruited players in the country but his dad said no date for announcing a college choice has been determined.

Apple Valley is on everyone’s short list of favorites to win the Class 4A state title later this month. “I think any kid who plays high school basketball wants to reach the pinnacle,” Rob said. “God willing this wil be the year.”

The St. Thomas men’s basketball team is 15-0 at home this season and 40-3 since Schoenecker Arena opened three seasons ago. St. Thomas is 27-1 after defeating Aurora (Illinois) 91-62 in an opening Division III NCAA Tournament game last week. The Tommies play 21-6 Wheaton (Illinois) at home beginning at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.

Tommies coach John Tauer said Wheaton is a perennial Division III top 20 program and is a physical team that likely will start players “bigger than us at four positions.”

Junior forward Zach Riedeman was among the Tommies standouts in a game last Saturday where all 15 players got on the floor. Reidner led UST with 16 points and six assists. The former Forest Lake Area High School career scoring leader has 13 assists in his last two games.

“Zach has been playing great for us,” Tauer said. “He’s become far more than a scorer.”

Despite winning by 29 points last week, Tauer let his players know they were far from perfect. He said UST’s 16 turnovers were “horrendous for us.” While he was pleased with a field goal percentage of 56 percent, he wasn’t so happy with the Tommies making 54 percent of their free throws.

Former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi leaves for China next week where he will talk about varsity sports at two Chinese universities. Jim Turman, University of Minnesota recreational sports director, will also be speaking at the Chinese universities.

Ted Mondale, executive director of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, speaks next Thursday at the C.O.R.E.S. luncheon in Bloomington. He will provide an update on the new Vikings stadium. Anyone interested in more information can contact Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. C.O.R.E.S. is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

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Eliason Nebraska Homecoming a Motivator

Posted on March 6, 2013March 7, 2013 by David Shama

Chadron, Nebraska native Elliott Eliason will have his own cheering section when the Gophers play the Cornhuskers in Lincoln tonight. Minnesota’s redshirt sophomore center told Sports Headliners he expects at least 24 friends and family at the game.

Chadron is a small town located in northwest Nebraska, about a six hour drive from Lincoln. Despite the distance, Eliason said students from his old high school may attend the game tonight where his rooting section will include mother Lorna and younger brother Spencer.

Eliason is excited about having the hometown support. “Yeah, it’s very cool. We’re (the Gophers) kind of rolling right now. Added to that, it’s a big motivator to win down there.”

Eliason said Nebraska was the second school to offer him a scholarship but his final college choices were Stanford and Minnesota. He enjoyed his recruiting visit to Minnesota and the Gophers “were the right fit.”

Although he has yet to average 3.0 points per game in two seasons with the Gophers, the 6-foot-11 Eliason has become a valuable contributor. His shot blocking, willingness to take fouls and consistent rebounding have contributed to a sometimes successful Gophers season.

Eliason, who has started 13 games this season, is frequently the first player off the bench. It was as a substitute last week in the upset win against No. 1 Indiana that he may have played his best game as a Gopher, scoring seven points with five rebounds, one block and one steal. In 14 minutes on the floor Eliason made three of four field goals and converted his only free throw. And playing with a cold and only for nine minutes last Saturday in a win over Penn State, Eliason came up with six rebounds.

A visitor suggested to Eliason he looked more comfortable on offense and defense last week. “It just happened in that Indiana game. Everything felt so good. It felt so comfortable. Kind of what I was used to in high school. Still not scoring like I used to back then. …”

As a high school senior Eliason averaged 17.7 points per game and 10.2 rebounds. He was twice chosen the Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year. But at Minnesota his struggles have included foul trouble and inability to create and make shots near the basket.

How Eliason plays tonight can certainly impact a game the Gophers (8-8 in the Big Ten) want to win and use to build momentum with their two-game winning streak. Minnesota defeated Nebraska in January at Williams Arena, 84-65.

The Cornhuskers are 4-12 in league games but Eliason said the Gophers need to be ready for a challenge. “They play a lot tougher down there. They really feed off the crowd. I think they’ll be ready to play. It will be a game you definitely can’t overlook. It will be tough.”

The Gophers, who had impressive wins at home over Indiana and Penn State last week, have only one road win in the Big Ten. Their last two Big Ten regular season games are away including Purdue on Saturday.

Eliason thinks the Gophers have found a “mental focus” he hopes can help sustain them if and when moments become difficult on the road. And at least in Lincoln tonight he knows there will be emotional support.

Worth Noting

Gophers senior reserve guard Julian Welch said the team has confidence. “We’re definitely in our eyes a Final Four caliber team.”

Welch started last Saturday’s game against Penn State because it was the last at Williams Arena for him and the other seniors. He has been both a shooting guard (2-guard) and point guard (1-guard) during his career at Minnesota. His preference?

“I mean it’s just nice to be out there on the court. If I had to pick, probably the 1, just because I like creating for guys.”

Gophers freshman guard Wally Ellenson grew up playing basketball one-on-one against his brothers. “We’d all try to make each other better. We’d play hard but every once in awhile it would end up in a fistfight. Pretty aggressive but it’s good.”

Ellenson, a native of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, has yet to decide on a major but is considering careers as a high school teacher or architect.

Think the Twins are spending more than a month in spring training just developing players and establishing their roster for the regular season schedule that opens on April 1? That’s part of the mission but the Twins are believed to have turned their spring training weeks in Florida into a profit center.

“It’s a very important economic engine,” a baseball source told Sports Headliners.

There are considerable expenses for the Twins and other teams in spring training. Years ago the endeavor wasn’t profitable but the source said the Twins may now even make a “mid six-figure profit” while in Florida.

Ticket prices for Twins games at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers are priced between $13 and $43 (premium games), according to the club’s website. Obviously, prices of $5 per game are long gone. The Twins frequently draw capacity crowds of about 7,500 at Hammond Stadium.

Merchandise sales in Florida contribute to the Twins’ economic success, too, and the source said the spring training games are a “marketing platform” for the club. All the games are broadcast on radio, and a few on TV, plus the Twins are major news back in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The spring training schedule provides a “jump start on ticket sales,” the source said.

The new radio home of the team is K-TWIN 96.3 FM which will broadcast today’s Twins game against the World Baseball Classic Puerto Rico team starting at 12:05 p.m. Minneapolis time. Fox Sports North will televise the Twins-Red Sox game on Friday beginning at 6 p.m. Both the Twins and K-TWIN are owned by the Pohlad family.

Bob Stein, the former Timberwolves president and 1967 Gophers All-American defensive end, is on the 2013 ballot for election into the College Football Hall of Fame. Also among the 77 former players being considered are ex-Viking running backs Ted Brown and Darrin Nelson who played respectively at North Carolina State and Stanford. Among the five coaches being considered is former Gopher assistant Billy Jack Murphy who is the winningest coach in Memphis history. Announcement of the 2013 class will be May 7.

Starting next Monday former Vikings and Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon will be joined by Bruce Murray on the SiriusXM Blitz show on Sirius radio. The program airs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Minneapolis time.

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