Golden Gophers – Page 65 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Gophers Could Land Historic Football Recruiting Class

Posted on June 20, 2023June 20, 2023 by David Shama

The 2024 University of Minnesota football recruiting class already includes verbal commitments from seven of the top nine players in the state, per 247Sports. That’s Minnesota’s best total since the 2012 class that ultimately signed up seven to letters of intent, according to the 247 archives.

The Gophers have a commitment from the 247 No. 2 player in Minnesota, safety Koi Perich from Esko. Coach P.J. Fleck and staff are awaiting decisions from No.1 Wyatt Gilmore and No. 3 Emerson Mandell.

“If you’re able to land just one of those guys, Fleck would be doing something that historically has been very tough to do no matter who the Gopher coach has been,” Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners while referencing Minnesota’s recruiting in the Internet era. (Note: the Gophers apparently aren’t recruiting the state’s No. 10 ranked player, Coon Rapids High School athlete Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman).

Burns is the experienced recruiting authority from GopherIllustrated and 247Sports. In the next “three, four weeks” he expects decisions from Gilmore and Mandell regarding their college choices.

Gilmore, listed by 247 at 6-4, 240-pounds, is a four-star edge rusher from Rogers. Mandell, 6-5, 295-pounds, is a three-star offensive line prospect from St. Paul and Irondale High School. Who is more likely to become a Gopher?

“I think I am more optimistic about Mandell coming to Minnesota,” Burns said last Friday. “I think it will be either them or Iowa State right now. We’ll see how the Iowa State visit goes…(last) weekend.”

Mandell has made many visits to the Minnesota campus, a solid indication of his interest. Burns believes that because Minnesota and Iowa State appear to be his favorites, that shows a preference to stay close to home.

Burns believes the Gophers “still have a shot” at Gilmore who visited Oklahoma last weekend. Best guess by Burns is Gilmore will commit to a “helmet school” like Miami, Oklahoma, or Oregon.

Rogers head coach Marc Franz told Sports Headliners Gilmore has enjoyed the recruiting process but it’s demanding. “It is weighing on him. It’s a lot of time and energy going into the decision,” said Franz about his star player who plans to enroll in college in January.

Mandell and Gilmore have received encouragement to stay home from in-state players who are committed to the Gophers, including Perich. “It’s part of the reason Koi committed is he wanted to be someone who can help get players,” Burns said.

“He knows he’s a four-star. He knows he’s really good. He knows he’s turned down Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin among others. And I can confirm he’s got Wyatt Gilmore’s number; he’s got Emerson Mandell’s number. He’s been texting them for a long time. He’s spent time with both of them. …”

Recruiting is a competitive business in college football, partially because there are schools using the enticement of Name, Image and Likeness money as an inducement. That’s an illegal practice and something Minnesota wants no part of.

“Minnesota will not extend NIL to recruits…so if that’s what it comes down to is guaranteed promises in recruiting, Minnesota is never going to win that battle,” Burns said. He added “God speed” in getting the NCAA, the Division I enforcement agency, to police NIL infractions.

Burns wants to see the Gophers successful in recruiting and on the field but he’s not going to fault either Gilmore or Mandell if they decide on schools other than Minnesota. “They’re both good kids. I think they both have got good support systems around them, and they’ll make the best decisions they feel for them.”

Still, it’s tantalizing to think about signing both Gilmore and Mandell, or at least one. Burns believes the talent in the state’s 2024 recruiting class is above average and having nine of the top 10 rated players committed to the Gophers would be unprecedented this millennium. “…If Fleck really wants to put a stamp on it, he’s got to land at least one of these guys,” Burns said about Gilmore and Mandell.

The Gophers have been impressive, too, in building their 2024 recruiting class with out-of-state players. The class totals 23 verbal commits, per 247Sports, with the highest ranked player offensive lineman Nathan Roy from Mukwonago, Wisconsin. He’s the No. 1 ranked player in his state and the first time in memory the Gophers have a commitment from the best recruit in Badger land.

The 2024 247Sports team recruiting rankings have Minnesota No. 10 in the country. As of today, the Gophers have more total pledges than any Division I school, but eventually others will catch up and Minnesota’s lofty ranking won’t last. But commitments from Gilmore and Mandell will help ensure an impressive spot in the final national rankings for 2024 recruiting.

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Ben Johnson Losing Supporter in Departing U President

Posted on June 10, 2023June 10, 2023 by David Shama

Joan Gabel is in the final days this month of her presidency at the University of Minnesota before becoming Chancellor at Pittsburgh. Gabel’s departure is a reminder she played a decisive role in the hiring of men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson.

The Gophers parted ways with head coach Richard Pitino in mid-March of 2021, creating an opening to lead the program. Less than a week later came the surprise announcement that instead of hiring a proven Division I head coach the Gophers were turning to Johnson, a former U player and experienced assistant whose stops had included 2013-2018 at Minnesota and more recently three seasons at Xavier.

Athletic director Mark Coyle vetted Johnson, a Minneapolis native, and presented his credentials to Gabel. Without Gabel’s endorsement Johnson never would have been hired. “To have someone like Ben Johnson leading this program – an ambassador for our University who grew up here, went to school here and knows what the University is all about – is tremendous, for our basketball program and our institution,” Gabel said in a statement announcing the hire. “Like so many Minnesotans, I’m excited to welcome Ben home and look forward to our team’s success under his leadership.”

Success hasn’t been easy to come by in Johnson’s first two seasons. There have been occasional high-five moments, but the Gophers have made program history with first-ever consecutive last place finishes in the Big Ten.

Alex Hickey from Saturday Tradition is probably among the first to predict Minnesota is headed for a third straight bottom of the league finish. Forecasting the Big Ten race for next year he wrote the following this week: “Minnesota is married to the Big Ten cellar until further notice.”

Jeff Ettinger, the former Hormel executive, will serve as interim president for up to a year until the U finds a permanent hire. Whoever takes over won’t have a history with Johnson and be influenced by having hired him. It’s been clear for a while Johnson must make the next two seasons much improved over the previous two.

Worth Noting

Timberwolves starting point guard Mike Conley turns 36 in October, but Chris Finch has no reason to believe his playmaker won’t return for another season. The Wolves head coach said Conley is dedicated to his conditioning and training. Conley joined the Wolves during the season after a three-time trade and he was able to play 24 games for Minnesota averaging 14 points, five assists and providing much needed leadership on and off the court.

“He just does so many things that you can’t measure,” Finch said. “His leadership and presence is invaluable to what we’re trying to do here. His teammates and the organization in general respect him immensely, and that’s not something that we would want to just move away from easily.”

Gophers football legend Darrell Thompson left the Minneapolis area Friday for Atlanta where the 2023 Hot Rod Power Tour starts Monday. Thompson has a 1970 Camaro, a five-speed with 350 horsepower. Billed as the largest travelling car show around, the tour goes into multiple states before ending next Friday in Tennessee.

Wife Stephanie will pass on the adventure. “She will do a drive with me but to lock up in that car for 10 hours does not do anything for her,” said Thompson who is president of the Minneapolis-based Bolder Options nonprofit.

Thompson said son Race, who played basketball in the Big Ten for Indiana, will try out next week with the Timberwolves. Earlier workouts have been with the Nets and Wizards. Projecting as a combo forward, Race hopes to attract interest by an NBA team this summer and play his way onto a roster.

Jim Kaat, who pitched for the Twins from 1961-1973 and last year was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers next Friday. Kaat has been a superb baseball analyst on TV for years, including Twins broadcasts.

Jonathan Mekonnen, the Eastview class of 2024 basketball wing, is among the most sought-after preps in the state and has offers from St. Thomas, Colorado State, Drake, Illinois State and Northern Iowa, per head coach Danny Olsen. A visit next week to Loyola Chicago is likely to earn another offer, Olsen said.

Mekonnen is a skilled shooter, including three-pointers, but can also post up and could play small or big forward in college. He has rebounding and shot blocking abilities, too. “He’s very athletic above the rim,” said Olsen who recently became head coach at Eastview.

Prep Hoops ranks Mekonnen as the No. 5 prospect in the state of Minnesota for the class of 2024. Daniel Freitag, formerly of Bloomington Jefferson and now Southern California Academy, is No. 1 and followed by Isaac Asuma, Cherry; Jack Robison, Lakeville North; and Jackson McAndrew, Wayzata.

The Iron Sheik, the famous professional wrestler whose death at 81 years old was national news this week, was trained by Minneapolis wrestling icon Verne Gagne. It was Gagne’s wrestling camp that for many years developed a long list of performers who had successful careers in this market and elsewhere.

Former Gopher football player and pro wrestler Jim Brunzell recalled in an email being at Gagne’s camp with the Iron Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri from Iran) and others. “The 1972 camp included Ric (Fliehr) Flair, Bob Bruggers, NFL linebacker and Gopher great from Danube, Minnesota, Ken Patera, Olympic weightlifter (first to clean and jerk over 500 pounds), Khosrow Ali Vaziri, national Iranian Greco-Roman wrestling champion, Greg Gagne, Wyoming QB and Verne’s son, and yours truly, Jimmy Brunzell from White Bear Lake and former Gopher wide receiver and high jumper.

“Bruggers’ career was cut short by a near fatal airplane crash. The rest of us had a pretty successful 20 year plus wrestling career, headlining cards around the world!

“It’s hard to believe that camp was 51 years ago. By the way, the camp was in Verne’s barn on Lake Riley (Eden Prairie). It was 4 months long, 6 days a week, 6 hours per day. The British heavyweight champ, Billy Robinson, trained us in submission holds, throws, and stressed wrestling balance for a successful and injury free career. As always, with about 30 minutes to go in our day, Verne would show up and physically manhandle one after another of us until we ran out of gas! Daily I used to ask myself, ‘What did I get myself into?’

“After a 28-year career, nearly 5,000 matches and 12 surgeries…I managed to survive a crazy career that prepares one for nothing. One thing I know for sure, the best tag (team) partner I had was and is my wife of 48 years, Mary.”

Former Vikings GM Rick Spielman on Twitter yesterday: “I wish I could put into words how special the Wilf family is. I lost all my Viking Game Balls during Hurricane Ian. To my surprise, I received a box today replacing all those game balls. I was truly blessed to work for the Wilf family and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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Arraez-Lopez Trade May Haunt Twins

Posted on June 7, 2023June 7, 2023 by David Shama

It’s too soon to reach conclusions about last winter’s trade sending Luis Arraez to the Marlins for Pablo Lopez but right now perceptions and facts are one-sided against the Twins.

Arraez, 26, was hitting a gaudy .399 as of yesterday morning while playing mostly second base this spring for the dramatically improved Marlins. MLB.com points out he could become the first player since 1900 to be the batting champion in the American and National Leagues in consecutive seasons.

The gifted left-handed hitter has an early flirtation with a .400 season, something last accomplished in the majors by Ted Williams in 1941. Since that year only eight players had higher averages than Arraez through the first 61 games of a season, per MLB.com.

Arraez’s numbers on Tuesday included 29 runs batted in, 22 runs scored, an MLB-best OBP of .454 and sixth best OPS of .945. He had struck out only 11 times.

No Twins player is close to Arraez’s numbers. Minnesota had a team batting average of .233 going into last night’s game against the Rays and Twins batters had struck out an MLB-high 613 times.

The Twins’ offense has too often been MIA, frequently scoring three runs or less in games and often not coming through with timely hits. Obviously, the Twins miss Arraez’s bat in the lineup and ability to get on base.

The Marlins, though, with the addition of Arraez and other changes to the team are thriving. Through Monday’s games Miami’s record of 33-28 had the Marlins in second place in the NL East three games behind the Mets. That contrasts with a 22-30 record in 2022 when the Marlins were 13.5 games out of first place.

With a Wins Above Replacement offensive number of 2.4, Arraez ranked No. 7 among MLB players as of yesterday, according to stats from ESPN.com. Lopez’s number is 0.7 and that didn’t place him in the top 100 WAR numbers for pitchers.

The Twins traded for Lopez, 27, with the intent for him to be among their best starters and possibly the staff ace. His record of 3-3 and ERA of 4.54 is disappointing, although he’s had impressive outings including a May showdown with Angels’ superstar pitcher-hitter Shohei Ohtani that the Twins lost with faulty bullpen work.

Lopez is 2-1 with a 5.66 ERA in his last seven starts. His last start on June 1 against the AL Central defending champion Guardians saw him throw 5.2 innings and yield six earned runs.

The Twins, who reportedly signed Lopez to a four-year, $73.5 million contract extension in April, have six pitchers with as many or more wins than the right-hander whose MLB career record in six seasons in 31-34 with a 4.01 ERA.

A year ago yesterday the Twins’ record was 32-24, compared with 31 wins and 29 losses in 2023. During the remainder of the season Minnesota needs a dominant performance from Lopez to build a better record, secure a Central Division title for the first time since 2020 and make Twins Territory feel better about that guy down in Miami who is on a torrid tear.

In the trade with the Marlins, the Twins also received two highly-regarded prospects, 20-year-old shortstop Jose Salas and 18-year-old outfielder Byron Chourio. Salas is hitting .160 in 150 at bats with High-A Affiliate Cedar Rapids. Chourio’s average is .167 in six at bats with the Florida Complex Twins.

Worth Noting

Greg Eslinger, the former Gophers center and one of the most honored offensive linemen in Big Ten football history, is a step closer to Hall of Fame recognition with this week’s announcement he is on the ballot for the class of 2024. When voting is announced early next year it will be stunning if the 2004-2005 All-American isn’t selected by the National Football Foundation for a place in the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

In 2005 Eslinger received the Outland Trophy (the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman) and the Rimington Trophy (the country’s best center). He was the 2005 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year (only Gopher ever honored) and was awarded with the 2006 Big Ten Medal of Honor (the conference’s oldest and most prestigious award).

Eslinger (No. 61) photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

For four seasons, Eslinger was a contributor for the ages to Minnesota’s offense. Playing for head coach Glen Mason, he was indispensable to an offense that set single-season records for rushing attempts (683), rushing yards (3,759), rushing yards per game (289.2), rushing touchdowns (46), total season yards (6,430), total yards per game (494.8), total season points (503), average points per game (38.7), season touchdowns (66) and first downs (326).

Eslinger, a Bismarck, North Dakota native, is the only player in school history to be named first-team all-conference by the media and coaches for three consecutive seasons. In 2014, he was named to the Athlon Sports Top 50 College Football Players of the BCS era (1998-2013). He ranked 34th behind LaDanian Tomlinson (30th), Robert Griffin III (31st), Reggie Bush (32nd) and Drew Brees (33rd).

John Anderson, the Golden Gophers head baseball coach, told Sports Headliners 35 percent of MLB pitchers have had Tommy John surgery during their baseball lives. The emphasis to throw at high velocity has put more strain on arms than should occur and resulted in needed surgery (sometimes early in careers).

Anderson has been loyal to the University of Minnesota through the years. He has been contacted by other schools about their vacancies and was once a finalist for the Georgia job. Anderson first came to the U in 1974 as a pitcher and seven years later was named head coach.

“I care about this program, and I was given an opportunity at 26, a very young age, to carry on this program, the history and tradition,” Anderson said about the oldest sport at the U. “I wasn’t going to walk out the door just for the next job because this was a special place for me because of my background here.”

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and others with the club are planning for next season and the upcoming NBA Draft later this month. That doesn’t preclude a bit of recreational time, though. “I bought a boat last summer, so I enjoy being out there (Lake Minnetonka),” Finch told Sports Headliners recently. “I go to the Twins games. I go to the Lynx games. Spend some time downtown in the North Loop area where I live. Just kind of relaxing and enjoying the good weather. So, it’s a fun place to be right now.”

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