MIAC – Page 20 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Fans Guessing on WR Recruit

Posted on February 2, 2016February 2, 2016 by David Shama

Former Gophers assistant head coach Matt Limegrover, now offensive line coach at Penn State, is trying to persuade four-star wide receiver Dredrick Snelson to sign his National Letter of Intent with the Nittany Lions tomorrow.

Ryan Burns, publisher of Scout’s GopherDigest.com, told Sports Headliners Limegrover has visited Snelson’s Florida home and last weekend he was on the Penn State campus. But recruiting authority Matt Jessen-Howard tweeted a quote on Sunday where Snelson said Gophers fans should not worry about his loyalty.

Snelson gave a verbal commitment to the Gophers last summer but there has been ongoing speculation he has or will change his mind. Burns, who has been covering recruiting for five years, has seldom seen such intrigue involving a recruit.

Burns said Snelson has sent mixed messages. “Penn State is confident they’re going to get him,” Burns said. “Central Florida, where he has been twice this month (January), is confident they’re going to get him. The Gophers are thinking they’re going to land him.

“Two out of the three parties are going to be wrong. We won’t find out until Wednesday morning. How does it end? I think it ends he signs with Minnesota but I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again. …”

Burns described Snelson, from Pembroke Pines, Florida, as “media savvy” and someone who enjoys the recruiting publicity. On the telephone he found Snelson to be respectful and a “nice kid.”

Snelson, about 5-11, 200-pounds, has impressive but not dominating physical skills. He is projected as a slot receiver with the Gophers and Burns believes Snelson could be ready as a freshman to succeed 2015 starter K.J. Maye who used up his eligibility.

Snelson, along with Eden Prairie High School linebacker Carter Coughlin, is one of only two consensus four-star recruits who have verbally pledged to the Gophers. Not many Florida four-star recruits commit to Minnesota but Burns believes Snelson likes how the Gophers use the slot receiver and that he sees an opportunity to play early in his career. New Gophers offensive coordinator Jay Johnson, who replaced Limegrover, has been involved with recruiting Snelson since last month.

In recent years the Gophers’ receiving roster has lacked impact players and no doubt Snelson is aware of that. Burns said in-state receivers Drew Hmielewski from Marshall and Phillip Howard from Robbinsdale Cooper may have even better potential as college players than Snelson.

Recruiting Websites list 19 players as part of the Gophers’ 2016 class. Burns believes the verbal commitments of all are solid except for Snelson and Coney Durr who visited Virginia Tech last weekend. Durr, a three-star recruit from Geismar, Louisiana, is a defensive back.

Worth Noting

The Gophers’ commitment list has only one running back, Butler (Kansas) Community College transfer Kobe McCrary. Gophers head coach Tracy Claeys said on WCCO “Radio’s Sports Huddle” on Sunday recruiting running backs has been a challenge because freshmen Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith were so successful last fall.

McCrary, about 6-1 and 230-pounds, gives the Gophers a backup to Brooks and Smith. He has more size than either of them and helps replace power running Rodrick Williams who was a senior last year.

The Big Ten Network will have Big Ten coverage of Signing Day tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Central Time. As of yesterday Scout.com listed three Big Ten programs in the top 10 nationally: Ohio State, No. 2; Michigan, No. 5; and Michigan State No. 7. Minnesota is No 43.

Part of the network’s coverage tomorrow will be Michigan’s “Signing with the Stars” event featuring celebrities from sports, music and entertainment. Celebrities expected to attend are Tom Brady, John Harbaugh, Derek Jeter, Jim Leyland, Denard Robinson, NASCAR’s Brad Keslowski, wrestling’s Ric Flair and others. They will introduce head coach Jim Harbaugh’s 2016 football class.

Jaylon Boston is a name for Gophers fans to follow in the next 12 months. “He is a hell of a player,” said McKinley Boston, Jaylon’s grandfather and the former Gophers athletic director.

Jaylon lives with his grandfather in New Mexico and attends Centennial High School in Las Cruces. As a sophomore, the 5-10, 185-pound running back was second team all-state, but because of what his grandfather described as a “medical” situation he didn’t play as a junior. Boston said New Mexico State, where his grandfather was athletic director until about a year ago, is looking at Jaylon but the Gophers aren’t.

Despite speculation to the contrary, don’t give up on the University of Minnesota and former football coach Jerry Kill being able to develop a new position for him at the school. There has been contact between the two parties.

Gophers senior guard Rachel Banham could end the season as the Big Ten’s scoring leader. In 21 games she is averaging 24.3 points per game and ranks second behind Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell, 25.3 points. Banham has scored 20 or more points in nine consecutive games and has done that 19 times this season. Former Hopkins High School standout Nia Coffey, a junior forward at Northwestern, is fifth in scoring at 20 points per game and first in rebounding at 10.4.

Although the Gophers lost at Michigan on Sunday, they have won four of their last five games. Minnesota, 14-7 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten, won those games by seven points or less, and the Gophers have shown the ability to close out opponents in the fourth quarter. The Gophers play Rutgers, 13-9 and 4-6, at home on Thursday night.

Former Timberwolves assistant Eric Musselman is drawing attention in his first season as head coach at the University of Nevada. Nevada’s pregame ball handling warm-up is a hit and the team is playing competitively in the Mountain West.

Musselman, who was a head coach in the NBA with the Kings and Warriors, might be on a list of candidates if the Timberwolves make a coaching change. Interim Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell is trying out for the permanent job. Other potential candidates perhaps could include Tom Thibodeau, the former Timberwolves assistant and ex-Bulls head coach who is well-known for his defensive teachings.

Connor Nord, the former St. Thomas basketball center whose final season was 2014-2015, has been playing professionally in Germany, and plans to continue his career in Europe. Marcus Alipate, a combo guard who played four seasons with Nord at St. Thomas, will be playing pro ball in New Zealand.

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Twins Season Ticket Sales on Rise

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by David Shama

The Twins are ahead of a year ago on new season ticket sales and renewals, which could end at 95 percent. “We’re expecting to see growth in our overall season ticket base for the first time…since we moved into the new ballpark,” Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners. “That’s exciting.”

Season tickets in 2015 were roughly half of the 24,000 the club sold in 2010, the franchise’s first year in Target Field. After a comeback year on the field in 2014, St. Peter is talking about a season ticket total of more than 14,000 in 2016.

New at Target Field this spring will be an extension of protective netting to shield fans in lower level seats from wayward baseballs and bats. St. Peter said the dugouts at Target Field are closer to home plate than any ballpark in major league baseball. Netting will extend from the existing home plate area to behind the dugouts.

“The netting decision impacts a relatively small number of fans,” St. Peter said. “I wouldn’t say that’s a widespread concern (of patrons). It’s a very serious concern for some fans but I would not classify that as a big concern for the overall fanbase. I think it will be viewed ultimately as a positive for the overall fanbase.”

Major League Baseball recommended in December that teams lengthen safety netting in their stadiums to protect fans seated near the field from balls and bats. The initiative will be welcomed by some customers but will annoy those who want a clear view of the field without looking through netting. St. Peter said the change at Target Field will impact “several hundred season ticket accounts.” The netting will be a height of about six to seven feet above dugout level and in place for the club’s home opener on April 11.

St. Peter said netting has been part of the ballpark layout for a long time and has been in place for some of the Twins’ most sought-after seating. “Fans have adapted to it,” he added.

The Twins have a reinvigorated fan base that is optimistic about the club’s winning season in 2015, the first in five years. Part of that enthusiasm will be on display at TwinsFest January 29-31 at Target Field. Tickets are still available for the annual event that allows fans to meet present and past Twins players.

Fans will be introduced to South Korean newcomer Byung Ho Park, the 29-year-old DH the club signed in the offseason. Park is working out with his former South Korean team in Arizona where that club has annually held spring training.

Miguel Sano (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins)

After Twinsfest, Park will go to the Twins’ training complex in Fort Myers where he will be joined by 2015 rookie slugger sensation Miguel Sano who is transitioning from third base to right field. Twins manager Paul Molitor prefers to try Sano in right field rather than left field because that is a more expansive area to defend at Target Field.

Twins legend Rod Carew, still recovering from a near fatal heart attack last year, may attend TwinsFest. “(He is) getting stronger at home,” St. Peter said. “Still hopes to potentially get to TwinsFest. In addition, Rod is very focused on getting to Fort Myers for spring training.”

Torii Hunter, who retired after last season, will attend the team’s fan festival. The Twins hope he will accept a future role with the club. “I am optimistic Torii will be involved with the Twins over the long-term,” St. Peter said.

Michael Cuddyer, recently retired from the Mets, reportedly remains under contract with that club. St. Peter said his organization may one day want to talk with Cuddyer, a former Twin, about a non-playing role. “Longer-term, by all means, we have interest in Michael Cuddyer ultimately being part of our organization.”

Worth Noting

Bret Bielema, who angered Gophers fans when he was head coach at Wisconsin, will be a headline speaker on Friday, April 1 for the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Clinic at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. Bielema, now at Arkansas, irked Minnesota coach Tim Brewster and Gopher nation by opting for a late game two-point conversion in the Badgers’ lopsided 41-23 win in 2010.

The annual clinic is attended primarily by Minnesota high school football coaches and last year had a record 1,267 registrations. The Gophers are among the clinic organizers and it was ex-Minnesota coach Jerry Kill (who replaced Brewster in 2010) that helped book Bielema awhile ago as a featured speaker. Kill and Bielema are friends.

Jim Dotseth, one of the clinic administrators, has met Bielema and described him as “amenable” and a regular guy. “I think they (clinic attendees) will be excited about having him speak,” Dotseth said. “He’s a pretty successful coach at the Division I level.”

Bielema defeated the Gophers eight times as Wisconsin’s head coach and led the Badgers to three consecutive Big Ten championships and Rose Bowls. He is rebuilding an Arkansas program that closed last season by winning six of its last seven games including a Liberty Bowl victory. (See the YouTube trailer on “Being Bret Bielema.”)

The MFCA Clinic will be March 31-April 2. Other headline speakers will be head coaches Tracy Claeys from Minnesota, P.J. Fleck of Western Michigan and John Stiegelmeier from South Dakota State. More at mnfootballcoaches.com.

Knowledgeable sources still don’t know of a favorite for the Gophers athletic director opening other than interim boss Beth Goetz.

Minnesotans who love to bash the Iowa Hawkeyes might be looking with jealous eyes toward “Baja Minnesota.” The Hawkeye football team won the Big Ten West, played in the Rose Bowl and finished with a 12-2 record. The men’s basketball team is 5-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since the 1996-1997 season. The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 9 nationally in both the A.P. and coaches polls—the highest ranking for the program since November of 2001 when Iowa was No. 7.

Mike Mularkey, the former Vikings tight end named the Tennessee Titans head coach a few days ago, started his coaching career in 1993 as an assistant at Concordia, St. Paul.

It’s a big week for the nationally-ranked MIAC-leading St. Thomas men’s basketball team. Coach John Tauer’s 13-1 Tommies are on a nine game winning streak and play at Carleton on Saturday afternoon—the only team to defeat UST so far. The Tommies’ conference record is 8-1 while Carleton is 7-2, the same record as the St. Olaf team that plays at St. Thomas tonight.

Tyus Jones, two years ago a high school All-American at Apple Valley, hasn’t played in the last eight Timberwolves games, according to stats from ESPN.com. The 2015 first round draft choice was recalled from the NBA Development League on December 22. After coming back to the Wolves, the 19-year-old point guard played in the team’s next seven games. With the Idaho Stampede, Jones averaged 24.7 points and five assists in six games. He is averaging three points and 1.6 assists with the Wolves this season.

Jones’s brother, sophomore point guard Tre Jones from Apple Valley High School, is being recruited hard by Texas Tech and former Gophers coach Tubby Smith.

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Looking for Clues in U AD Process

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

While sources have no solid information about who will be the next Gophers athletics director, the educated guess still points to Beth Goetz who has worked in the University of Minnesota athletics department since 2013.

The actions of University president Eric Kaler could be interpreted as pointing to a Goetz appointment. Initially he demonstrated confidence in Goetz by promoting her in early August to the position of interim AD. Kaler has been in no rush to start the search process, and perhaps that indicates a willingness to give Goetz, 41, a lengthy tryout for the permanent job.

In a Star Tribune story last Wednesday Kaler told the newspaper he will begin a search to replace former AD Norwood Teague after the first of the year and hopes to have the new person running the department by July 1. He also told the Star Tribune he might not use a search firm. That could indicate a preference to consider a limited field of candidates for the job, with Goetz at the top of the list.

Maybe Kaler wants to wait until spring to let the school year wrap-up around the country. If he wants to court a sitting AD, or top assistant at another university, perhaps that person will be more willing to make a change when not only the school year is ending but the football and basketball seasons—the highest profile sports at Power Five conferences—will be over too.

It’s interesting that Dan O’Brien, who was a senior administrator in the athletic department, has joined the football coaching staff. O’Brien was a person some U boosters advocated as a candidate to become the next AD. Did O’Brien intuit he wouldn’t be a leading candidate because Goetz or someone from the outside will be hired?

There are boosters, too, that warmed immediately to the idea of Jerry Kill becoming the athletic director after his health caused him to resign as football coach. Multiple sources indicate that neither Kaler nor Kill is interested in pursuing that possibility.

The road ahead could be paved for a Goetz hire. Indications are her performance so far is worthy of consideration, and Kaler, the person who apparently holds most of the cards in naming the next AD, may be very pleased by Goetz’s work. The announcement, if it comes, will stir both supportive and critical responses from the public and probably inside the athletic department, too.

Goetz, although never a previous AD, has years of experience in athletic department administration at Minnesota and other schools. She could become the first woman AD at Minnesota to run a combined men’s and women’s department. Both inside and outside the University there is a Goetz constituency who want her to make history not only at Minnesota, but to become one of the few female athletic directors ever in the Big Ten.

Others have a different vision about the person who should lead the athletics department. Some Gophers fans no doubt want Kaler to hire an established major college AD with an impressive track record of hiring coaches, fundraising and administering—probably minimizing the risk of finding a great leader for the department.

The Gophers have a 25-sport, $100 million-plus budget with over 700 student-athletes. Many of the qualities needed to successfully lead a department like Minnesota’s are often possessed by an accomplished business person. It’s been advocated that such a business woman or man could bring new thinking, entrepreneurship, marketing, hiring and leadership skills to the job. That person might also have a dynamic, even charismatic personality to help win over a sometimes apathetic alumni and fan base.

Jim Hackett, the retired CEO of Steelcase, Inc., is the interim athletic director at Michigan. He seems like a business poster boy for what Minnesota could consider. Since taking over at Michigan about 16 months ago he has hired Jim Harbaugh—perhaps the best football coach in the country, negotiated a rich sponsorship contract with Nike, administered a $151 million department budget, and continued a track record of academic achievement among the school’s student-athletes.

Hackett doesn’t want to continue in the AD job and Michigan’s president announced earlier this month the school is starting an immediate search for a successor. Michigan will use a search firm to assist with the process.

Meanwhile, the hiring of the Gophers next athletic director apparently rests with Kaler, who fumbled the last time when he hired the infamous Teague. It will be very interesting to watch Kaler’s process and ultimate choice.

Worth Noting

The St. Thomas football team that plays for the Division III national championship Friday night in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl wasn’t even rated in the national top 10 by d3football.com in its preseason poll. Now the Tommies have become the second school in the poll’s history to reach the national title game.

The Tommies, who were ranked No. 14 in the d3football.com preseason poll, also had no preseason All-Americans, nor any returning players from 2014 who earned that honor. But UST, of course, has talented players including running back Jordan Roberts, who had 32 rushing touchdowns this fall—the most of any college football player. The d3football.com All-American team will be announced on Friday, but earlier this week St. Thomas offensive tackle David Simmet was named to the American Football Coaches of America All-American team.

The Tommies’ perfect 14-0 season has resulted from more than exceptional players and superior coaching. There is a collective sense by players of knowing what to do in games and how to adjust. Coach Glenn Caruso said in most games this season things fell into place for the Tommies but there were four when things didn’t click so well.

“We’re a very intuitive group and we do a really good job of figuring out what we need to do…during the game,” Caruso said. “I’ve never, in 20 years of coaching, been around a team that is as dynamic as this one. …Dynamic means you can find different ways to win games, and this team has it because they’re tremendously adjustable.”

Mount Union, the St. Thomas opponent on Friday, is also 14-0 and a gold standard for Division III football. Mount union (Alliance, Ohio) has won 11 Stagg Bowls since 1993 and played in all but one of those bowls since 2000.

UST and Mount Union are the only teams among 660 in college football averaging over 50 points per game on offense while holding opponents to under 10 points defensively. Kickoff from Salem, Virginia on Friday night is at 7:05 p.m. with ESPNU televising.

Condolences to family and friends of Glen Sonmor who died earlier this week. Sonmor, 86, will be remembered for coaching the Gophers, North Stars and Fighting Saints but those who knew him well cherish his friendly manner and passion for life. I can never remember a time when Sonmor wasn’t helpful and available to talk hockey.

Two of the most prominent sports in women’s college sports are hockey and volleyball. The Gophers won the national title in hockey earlier this year and could add another NCAA women’s championship in volleyball this week in Omaha.

Coach Hugh McCutcheon’s Gophers, the No. 2 seed, meet No. 3 seed Texas starting at 6 p.m. Thursday in a nationally televised match on ESPN2. No. 4 Nebraska plays No. 9 Kansas in the other Final Four match, scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m.

McCutcheon became the Gophers volleyball coach after leading men’s and women’s teams in international competition including coaching the U.S. men to the 2008 Olympic gold medal. His first season at Minnesota was 2012 and it’s turned out to be a superb hire by then athletics director Joel Maturi. McCutcheon’s winning teams have drawn capacity crowds at Williams Arena. Players apparently enjoy playing for him and are exposed to a continual learning experience.

The Gophers (30-4) have 12 Minnesotans on the 16-players roster. Senior Daly Santana is from Puerto Rico and is the team’s MVP, but there are a lot of other contributors too including the Tapp twins, Hannah and Paige from Stewartville, Minnesota.

The national championship match will be on Saturday night and televised by ESPN2.

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