NCAA – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Jerry Kill Praises New Golden Gophers Running Back

Posted on May 14, 2025May 14, 2025 by David Shama

Former Gophers head coach Jerry Kill has praise for running back Johann Cardenas who announced recently he is transferring to Minnesota from Vanderbilt. Kill is a top assistant coach at Vandy and he talked Monday to Sports Headliners about Cardenas.

“If he stays healthy, he’ll be a really good player,” Kill said.

Cardenas battled injuries last fall and this spring. He redshirted in 2024, not playing in any games. Kill said this spring the Kay, Texas native played with the “third or fourth string.”

Cardenas, listed at 6-foot and 223-pounds, has “lots of ability,” per Kill. “He’s a Big Ten (quality) back.”

Cardenas, whose style Kill described as that of a “downhill runner,” came out of high school ranked among the top 50 prep running backs nationally by Rivals (29th), On3 (33rd), ESPN (42nd) and 247Sports (49th). He accepted Vandy’s offer over those from Kentucky, Texas Tech, Colorado, Missouri, Oregon and others.

With four seasons of eligibility ahead at Minnesota, Cardenas joins a talented running back roster that includes 2025 transfers Cam Davis from Washington and A.J. Turner of Marshall. They will back up one of the Big Ten’s best running backs in junior Darius Taylor who the last two seasons was a conference honorable mention selection.

Cardenas was recruited to Vandy by Jayden Everett, now the Minnesota running backs coach. Kill and Everett were together briefly in Nashville. He described Everett as a “good person” and passionate coach.

Kill, whose coaching stops have been plagued by epilepsy, is healthier now than when he had to step down at Minnesota in 2025. He’s happy coaching for head coach Clark Lea, likes Nashville and is only about two hours away by car from southern Illinois where his two daughters live.

In Kill’s first season with the Commodores last fall, they were one of the surprises of college football when they pulled off an historic 40-35 upset of Alabama. The Commodores had a 7-6 record while playing competitively in the vaunted SEC against teams like Texas and Missouri.

Back for a final season is quarterback Diego Pavia who as a transfer in 2024 established himself as one of the best at his position in America. He finished the season 177-for-298 passing for 2,293 yards with 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He ran for 801 yards and scored eight times.

Pavia played two seasons for Kill at New Mexico State (historically a college football graveyard) including a 10-win 2023 season highlighted by a road upset of SEC bully Auburn. Pavia, an Albuquerque native, was a way under the radar player coming out of high school and New Mexico Military Institute. He chose Kill and the Aggies over offers from Jackson State and Saint Francis.

This fall Kill’s discovery and protege will be a Heisman Trophy candidate in his last season of college football. Asked if years ago he saw that coming, Kill quickly said, “No.”

Worth Noting

The Timberwolves, who figure to close out the Warriors tonight and then move on to the Western Conference Finals, are +600 to win the NBA title, per FanDuel SportsBook. The website lists only the Thunder at -140, and the Knicks, +490, as bigger favorites.

The drama between a potential matchup against the Knicks will be off the charts locally and nationally because of the preseason trade that sent Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns to New York in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. Talk about bragging rights on the line for the players, franchises and fanbases!

And then there would be the “reunion” with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. He was fired by the Wolves in January of 2019 and was widely criticized by Minnesota fans for the lengthy minutes he demanded of his top players during his time with the team.

The NFL wasn’t going to take a home game away from the Vikings and their fans when they scheduled the team twice in 2025 international games. The Vikings played a home game in London last year and so they only had eight games in Minneapolis. That’s the same total for U.S. Bank Stadium in 2025, with the Vikings playing in Dublin (Steelers home game) on September 28 and London (Browns home game) on October 5. The NFL 17-game schedule dictates alternate years in which teams have nine or eight home games.

The Vikings, who this writer expected to extend GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s contract before the April 24-26 NFL Draft, still seem certain to come to terms with their GM soon. He was hired in January of 2022 with a four-year deal and has been instrumental in the team’s progress including free agent acquisitions.

Another expected offseason contract announcement is likely a new deal for versatile defensive standout Josh Metellus. The 27-year-old defensive back has also been an outstanding team leader.

As of Monday, the Vikings offseason roster, BTW, was at 91 players including “international player pathway/practice squad exemption” punter Oscar Chapman, an Australian who played at Auburn.

Luke Ryerse, the baseball-football star from East Ridge High School who enrolled at Minnesota in January, has struggled this spring pitching for the Gophers. He is 0-4 with a 11:22 ERA but he has struck out 23 batters in 21.2 innings.

The true freshman was rated as a five-star football prospect in high school by Chris Sailer Kicking, which ranked him as the No. 4 punter in the nation and as the No. 26 kicker.

The LaunchPad Golf The Meadows entertainment venue in Prior Lake will open this fall. The year-round facility will be nestled near Mystic Lake Casino and The Meadows at Mystic Lake.

LaunchPad Golf is a Canadian Company that announced last year the Prior Lake venue would be its first in the United States.

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Sam Howell Acquisition Likely Ends Vikings QB Room Drama

Posted on April 30, 2025April 30, 2025 by David Shama

The Vikings were headed for controversy if they had added either Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins to their quarterback room this offseason.

The ultra ego Rodgers would have landed here surrounded by paparazzi, with immediate expectations to replace 22-year-old J.J. McCarthy as the 2025 season starter. Cousins would have likely been willing to be McCarthy’s backup but as soon as the inexperienced QB had a difficult stretch, fans would have been in revolt and chanting Kirk’s name.

The Vikings saved millions of dollars in payroll by not pursuing the two veterans. They also negated the potential soap opera of having a former star quarterback either replacing or at least looking over McCarthy’s shoulder. In a worst-case scenario, the tumult could have even disrupted the kumbaya in the locker room.

Instead, the Vikings made a trade last week with the Seahawks for 24-year-old Sam Howell, a rather obscure NFL player who has played in 20 games in three years, including two last season. He could walk through the airport here and no one would recognize him. And in a sense, that’s the point.

Howell is clearly arriving at TCO Performance Center to be a reserve, a guy with limited starting experience to back up McCarthy. Howell was a 2022 fifth round draft choice of the Commanders. He started one game his rookie season, then 17 in 2023 throwing 21 touchdown passes and 21 picks. He led the league in passing attempts, interceptions and sacks (65).

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and QB coach Josh McCown excel in developing quarterbacks. Just ask Sam Darnold, the journeyman who had the best NFL season of his life leading the 2024 Vikings. Now the prime students are McCarthy and Howell who played in one game for the Seahawks last season.

McCarthy’s skills have intrigued the Vikings since before they selected him No. 10 overall in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Injured all of last season, he’s destined to start his first NFL games in September and to do it without a marquee name drawing attention away from him.

Howell’s career is in need of rehab. The former North Carolina QB was traded by the Commanders last year and played in two games, attempting 14 passes. With “Doctor” O’Connell, he will no doubt get a thorough evaluation from arm angle on his throws to his progressions as plays develop.

Worth Noting

The Wild lost a second consecutive overtime game to the Golden Knights last evening in Las Vegas. It looked like Minnesota would win 3-2 with a goal late in the third period only to have a video replay negate the score by Ryan Hartman. Teammate Gustav Nyquist was offside on the play.

Minnesota icon Lou Nanne was prophetic talking to Sports Headliners about the importance of “little things” prior to the game where the Wild was trying to go ahead 3-2 in the best of seven playoff series. “You gotta be sharp all the time. You gotta be thinking every time you’re on the ice. You gotta be aware of what’s going on.”

The Wild had to play the third period and overtime with Marc-Andre Fleury, the backup to Filip Gustavsson who had to leave the game because of illness. Nanne labeled Gustavsson the best goalie in the series and Kirill Kaprizov, with five goals in five games, the “best player on either team.”

Asked to compare the rosters of Vegas and Minnesota, he said the Knights are deeper and then added: “Pretty well balanced. It’s just that they are bigger and they are stronger. But I think it’s a good match for us. We have as much opportunity to win as they do.”

To win the series, the Wild will need to rally with victories Thursday night in the Twin Cities and Saturday in Las Vegas.

The Timberwolves, leading 3-1 in their playoff series against the Lakers, are about five-point underdogs tonight in Los Angeles. Worry if you wish about the Wolves blowing the series, but the NBA began in 1947 and only 13 teams have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a seven-game series.

There are fans who think the Lakers, with their storied championship legacy and huge TV market, will be given preferential calls by the officials tonight because the NBA wants the Lakers to extend the series. This kind of conspiracy has been present for decades but it’s rubbish because the NBA powers would be foolish to issue edicts about who should win games and thereby destroy the league’s credibility.

Minnesota native Ken Mauer, who refereed in the league for 37 years, told Sports Headliners yesterday “it’s make believe” to think the refs will favor the Lakers.

The officials also have a reputation to maintain. And, BTW, the NBA has admitted the officials missed a late game call in Sunday’s Minnesota win that hurt the Lakers.

Sunday’s game on ABC peaked with 10,274,000 viewers, according to Nielsen, and was the most watched NBA game of that day and evening.

Dating back to the regular season, the Wolves are 20-5 in their last 25 games.

Last week’s three-day NFL Draft from Green Bay was viewed by an average audience of 7.5 million people across ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and digital channels. It is the second most-watched NFL draft ever, behind only 2020 and up 27% from last year.

Top Twins prospect outfielder Walker Jenkins hasn’t played in a minor league game for Double -A Wichita since early April because of an ankle injury.

Ex-Twin Tyler Mahle is probably the biggest pitching surprise in MLB this spring. He is 3-0 for the Rangers with a gaudy 1.14 ERA, second best among starters.

The Twins traded for Mahle during the 2022 season and injuries limited his availability during parts of two seasons. In December of 2023 he signed as a free agent with the Rangers and has worked his way back from Tommy John surgery to stardom.

The Rangers signed him to a two-year $22 million contract that pays him $16.5 million this season, per MLB.com.

The college football transfer portal is closed and for a second consecutive season the Gophers have retained most of their core players. Offensive linemen Phillip Daniels and Martes Lewis could be significant transfer losses.

247Sports ranks the Minnesota transfer class as seventh best in the Big Ten. The website lists 22 incoming and 20 outgoing transfers with the program.

The Big Ten announced men’s basketball opponents yesterday for the 18 league teams for the 2025-2026 season. Each team will play 20 league games, facing 14 opponents only once. Dates and times announced later. Below is the Golden Gophers list of opponents.

Home: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, UCLA, USC.

Away: Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Washington.

Home/Away: Indiana, Northwestern, Wisconsin.

Tempting for this writer: A Kentucky Derby bet Saturday on a horse named Journalism, a bay colt with $600,000 in career earnings who has emerged as a Derby favorite.

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Medved Making a Difference with Golden Gophers NIL

Posted on April 21, 2025April 21, 2025 by David Shama

The Name, Image and Likeness effort to generate money for University of Minnesota men’s basketball is positive under new head coach Niko Medved who was hired in March.

Dinkytown Athletes, the entity that creates and develops NIL opportunities for Gopher athletes with businesses and sponsors, is led by co-founder and president Derek Burns. He told Sports Headliners NIL revenue raised for men’s basketball players is “significantly ahead” of a year ago.

This is the third offseason DA has worked on NIL resources and Burns said money available for the 2025-2026 school year is “by far” ahead of previous totals. Like other collectives around the country, DA doesn’t make public the total NIL revenue it has. Such information can create a competitive disadvantage with rival schools, collective executives maintain.

However, it’s believed former Gopher men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson had a seven-figure amount of NIL money last school year, but the total was under $2 million. It could be (based on background work by Sports Headliners) that in Medved’s first year the total will be between $3 million to $4 million. Athletes are paid at Minnesota and elsewhere to make appearances, endorse products or services and appear in advertising.

Medved, who coached Colorado State to the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years, is a Minnesota native. He was a student manager for the Gophers in the 1990s and has a passion for the program that hit hard times under Johnson, partially because of minimal NIL money.

The personable Medved knows a rebuild is in front of him. He’s been using his determination and salesmanship with donors to build up NIL support. Burns said Medved has “been very effective and well received.”

Part of the fund-raising strategy uses donors of means to engage in matching campaigns. Medved wants, of course, to avoid as much as possible not being priced out for players in recruiting against other programs.

Medved photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

Of developing significance is that Big Ten athletic departments and other major conferences are expected to soon receive court approval to share revenues with athletes. The cap could be $20.5 million per school the first year, with the Gophers expected to allocate for five sports with football receiving more than half the total and men’s basketball being second in the pecking order.

Even with revenue sharing, NIL will remain in play. It figures to make a difference as seen frequently in news reporting about college basketball and football.

Kyan Evans, one of Medved’s best players last season, was wanted in Dinkytown but the junior guard chose North Carolina where he reportedly will have a more than $2 million NIL deal.

Orono High School guard Noah Groves, the state’s player of the year, committed to Texas Tech last week, a program where his agent has relationships. The Red Raiders took Gopher point guard Elijah Hawkins a year ago. Tech is known for its NIL success in football and basketball, and is reportedly paying hoopster JT Toppin around $4 million in NIL money to return to the Red Raiders.

Medved has so far brought in five transfer players. Only state native BJ Omot from Cal is from a Power Four conference, an indication of limitations in NIL funding at Minnesota.

That doesn’t mean those transfers won’t help the Gophers, with some even excelling. On3 uses an algorithm to determine whether a program has improved its roster talent, stayed the same or declined during the transfer window. Minnesota is ranked No. 25 in the nation by On3 after determining an improved roster.

NIL monies have reportedly increased nationally, although Burns cautions he knows figures are frequently exaggerated not only in basketball but in football, too. A point of differentiation for the Gophers is that unlike some schools Minnesota has a reputation of making good on its NIL commitments, not reneging.

Still, it’s bizarre to hear some of the reports about NIL money just for men’s basketball. Former Marquette, Indiana and Georgia head coach Tom Crean, talking to Dan Barreiro on KFAN last week, put the number in the 50s of college programs with $9 million war chests, he believes.

College basketball authority Evan Miyakawa, writing last week on X, guesstimated the top spenders this offseason on basketball transfers is led by Michigan at $8.8 million, Kentucky, $7.6 million, Maryland and Miami at $7.1 million each, and Iowa at $6.6 million.

Absent from Miyakawa’s top 10 list was St. John’s where coach Rick Pitino has a billionaire booster who is willing to pay whatever it takes to have the Red Storm at national prominence.

Believe Miyakawa’s figures at your discretion, but no one can doubt NIL money is big business.

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