Golden Gophers – Page 425 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Worth Noting

Posted on November 9, 2011December 28, 2011 by David Shama

Today begins the fall signing period for college basketball teams and these are heady times for Big Ten schools. Michigan is expected to sign a top two or three player in Mitch McGary. The Wolverines and Indiana may have 2012 recruiting classes that are close to the best in the nation. Iowa might end up with a top 25 class. Based on 2011 recruiting classes, or projected classes for 2012, the following Big Ten schools either were or could be (again) top 25 ranked: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Ohio State.

As reported here on Monday, it looks like the Gophers will sign forward Charles Buggs from Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia and Wally Ellenson of Rice Lake, Wisconsin.

How about this for freak scheduling? The No. 1 ranked Gophers hockey team is in Madison for games on Friday and Saturday against Wisconsin, while the Badgers football team plays Minnesota at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday, and then Monday night a national TV audience will watch the Vikings try to upset the undefeated Packers in Green Bay.

Jerry Kill, Gophers coach, talking about a Wisconsin team that except for two last minute plays would be undefeated: “We’re going to have to play our guts out.”

Vikings lineman Jared Allen, a top candidate to be the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, and Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the favorite for league MVP, will have a national stage to bolster resumes.

The Vikings, 2-6, don’t command a lot of national respect but they may make Monday night’s game close against the 8-0 Packers. The Vikings have not only found a quarterback in Christian Ponder, but are coming off a bye week that allows players to rest bodies and minds. Because the game is Monday night, the Vikings didn’t practice yesterday and won’t today either.

Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson is being promoted by the school for the Heisman Trophy. He was made available to media, including Minnesota reporters, on Monday via teleconference. That’s uncommon practice for a Big Ten player.

Local author Ross Bernstein has a new book, Raising Lombardi: What It Takes to Claim Football’s Ultimate Prize. He interviewed more than 75 current and former NFL players and coaches who were champions.

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference begins play in 2013 and is expected to announce the name of its commissioner in about 60 days. The league will be based in Colorado Springs and members will be Colorado College, Denver, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, UMD and Western Michigan. The 2013 start coincides with the beginning of the six team Big Ten comprised of Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.

Don’t expect the Twins to sell a reduced number of season tickets for next year despite the team’s awful 2011 record. Target Field remains a valued entertainment destination and the franchise has long maintained a list of potential season ticket buyers.

The volleyball Gophers, including the co-Big Ten Player of the Week Ashley Wittman host Michigan State tonight in a match televised by the Big Ten Network.

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Tubby Smith: No Contract Extension Now

Posted on November 7, 2011December 21, 2011 by David Shama

Tubby Smith told Sports Headliners talks about a contract extension between himself and the University of Minnesota have ended for now. He wants to focus on the season ahead and pursue a new practice facility.

A possible extension has been public knowledge since the end of last season and even last month Smith told Sports Headliners an extension agreement might be signed within 24 hours. However, representatives involved in negotiations didn’t finalize an agreement, and the coach wasn’t definitive as to why.

Smith said he isn’t upset and is very comfortable with his contract status. “I’ve got three years on my contract,” Smith said. “It’s nothing I am concerned about. …I know coming off the year we had last year ─ hell ─ I wasn’t expecting to get any extension anyway. That was something that was talked about. It wasn’t me bringing it up.”

Smith, who with base salary and incentives can potentially earn over $2 million this season, said money wasn’t the issue with the extension. So what was?

What likely is a factor from Smith’s perspective is whether the University is going to build a $20-plus million practice facility to match what other major college basketball programs have. It’s probable, too, that Eric Kaler, the new University president who began work on July 1, needs more time to assess the athletic department, including the basketball program, before making long term commitments.

Smith certainly wants to see the Gophers athletic department and University make a “commitment” to the practice building. The lack of a facility is limiting the “progression and development” of the basketball program, according to Smith.

State-of-the-art practice facilities have become major assets in the recruiting pitch of college coaches. The need for such a facility is probably even greater at Minnesota than at most schools because the Gophers both practice and play at 83-year-old Williams Arena. While it’s an exciting place on game day, the arena is a drab looking facility when empty.

Smith, the former Kentucky national championship coach, came to Minnesota in 2007 and said he’s “pretty comfortable” with his situation here, but it’s imperative that the program have what’s needed to be competitive. “The one thing I saw when I first got here was that we lacked the facilities that other major programs had to be successful,” he said.

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Worth Noting

Posted on November 7, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

The Augustana basketball team from Sioux Falls the Gophers host at Williams Arena tonight includes senior guard Cody Schilling of Ellsworth, Minnesota. He averaged a team best 21.2 points last season. He led the NSIC in scoring at 22.6 points per game. This will be the Vikings first exhibition game of the season. The Vikings had an 18-9 record last season, 15-7 in conference.

Lindy’s Sports College Basketball Magazine includes Apple Valley High’s Tyus Jones among its top 25 high school sophomores in the country. It wouldn’t be surprising if Jones and his prep buddy Jahlil Okafor, the Chicago center also on the Lindy’s list, choose the same college for basketball.

The Wild haven’t sold out a home game other than opener, according to a Sports Headliners source. The team, though, has been able to avoid the slow early season start of last year and could play even better by increasing goal scoring. The problem? Probably too much finesse play ─ over passing the puck.

Among the early season positives is goalie Josh Harding who has won four straight games. His development offers confidence to coach Mike Yeo, that along with Niklas Backstrom, his team can have strong goalie play this season. Backstrom, who is 33 and among the NHL’s top paid goalies, might be involved with Wild trade talks.

Here are Sports Headliners’ weekly rankings of Big Ten Football teams: Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Penn State, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota and Indiana.

Gophers freshman wide receiver Devin Crawford-Tufts, who apparently suffered a high thigh bruise on Saturday against Michigan State, will be “okay,” according to comments made by coach Jerry Kill on WCCO Radio yesterday morning. The Gophers play Wisconsin on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium and game time will be announced today.

Congratulations to Saint Benedict and St. Olaf for respectively winning the women’s and men’s MIAC soccer playoffs last weekend.

The National Lacrosse League’s Minnesota Swarm has been named the 2011 Deubener Award winner in the category of Family-Owned Business. The award is presented annually by the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce in honor of Walter and Lydia Deubener. John Arlotta along with his son, Andy, purchased the Swarm in 2008 and serve as the team’s owners.

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