NCAA – Page 126 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Guard Help Priority for U, Pitino

Posted on April 1, 2018April 1, 2018 by David Shama

A Sunday notes column.

A Gopher athletic department source said he didn’t expect to see Richard Pitino at the Final Four in San Antonio this weekend because the Gopher coach is focused on recruiting. College basketball coaches typically attend the games but Deputy AD John Cunningham said Pitino is working on filling two scholarship openings.

Pitino is all but certain to target at least one, and perhaps two backcourt players. Multiple reports have Minnesota pursuing Pitt transfer and point guard Marcus Carr who averaged 10 points and four assists last season as a freshman.

Carr, though, wouldn’t be eligible to play until a year from this fall. The Gophers need help now with their backcourt which loses senior point guard Nate Mason and lacks depth. Ryan James, the basketball recruiting authority for GopherIllustrated.com, told Sports Headliners Carr is a talented player and Minnesota could be willing to take him even though he has to sit out a year.

James predicted Pitino’s priority is finding a “ball handler” for next season, while using the second scholarship on the best player the Gophers can land regardless of position. The ball handler, he said, could be a point guard, or combo guard.

Many transfers are available and the market size may work in Minnesota’s favor in finding players who can help next season. James believes it could be the end of April or beyond before the Gophers announce the names of one or two commits. “There is no need to rush,” he said.

This year’s Final Four is in San Antonio but next year comes to Minneapolis for the fourth time and first ever at U.S. Bank Stadium. Economic impact on the local economy for the April 6-8, 2019 event could be between $100 million and $300 million. The 2017 impact on host city Phoenix was over $320 million, according to multiple online reports including Azcentral.com.

Stadium preparations in advance of the Final Four here will eliminate any amateur baseball games at the facility next winter, including more than 10 nonconference Gophers games, according to coach John Anderson. He said he will be able to find eight away games against warmer weather schools but won’t be able to replace all the games originally scheduled at U.S. Bank Stadium before being told the facility isn’t available for baseball. The Gophers won’t play their targeted 2019 total of 56 nonconference and Big Ten games.

Minnesota is scheduled to play its first home outdoor series this season at Siebert Field April 6-8 against Penn State. Last week snow was being removed from the bullpen and artificial surface in the outfield. In Lincoln, Nebraska last Sunday the Gophers defeated the Cornhuskers in temps below freezing. Anderson compared gripping a baseball in cold weather to the feel of a “cue stick” but freshmen pitchers Patrick Fredrickson and Max Meyer combined to throw a 2-0 shutout.

A Big Ten rule is that games are to be played in temperatures of 29 degrees or higher. There is urgency to battle through the elements because the conference doesn’t allow for makeup games that are lost because of weather. With forecasted temps nearing freezing next weekend, the Gophers will try to play the games. “We don’t have any other options,” Anderson said.

It’s been a painful start to the MLB season for former Twins pitchers Pat Neshek and Anthony Swarzak. Neshek, perhaps the Phillies best relief pitcher, recently went on the 10-day disabled list with a shoulder injury. Swarzak, now with the Mets, suffered an oblique injury yesterday.

The Twins Spring Ballpark Pass costing $49 for 13 games in April doesn’t include the sold out home opener Thursday. The forecasted high that day is for mid-30’s.

The Atlanta Braves are another MLB team offering discounts with some tickets available for $5 this weekend at SunTrust Park.

It might be a near consensus view among fans and insiders that Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle made the best of possible hires, with Bob Motzko as his new head hockey coach. “I think he’ll be a great coach,” said former captain Casey Hankinson. “…I think he’s got a lot of energy. I like the way he coaches.”

Motzko, who turned 57 last month, probably wouldn’t have been pursued by Coyle if he were a few years older. Not likely either that Coyle would have targeted Motzko if he were the head coach at a Big Ten school. Almost never does a Big Ten program go after the head coach at another conference school in the high profile sports of basketball, football and hockey.

Motzko built St. Cloud State into a hockey power and in 13 seasons had the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament eight times. As a student of hockey he acknowledges using the ideas of others. “That’s what a good coach is, he’s a thief,” Motzko said.

At the St. Thomas Pro Day the NFL Vikings and Bears showed interest in Tommies juniors Jacques Perra and Blake Weber, and senior Matt Christenson. Quarterback Perra and linebacker Weber (both former Gophers) will play one more season for the Tommies, while Christenson has used up his eligibility.

Tommies coach Glenn Caruso is bringing back past teams to celebrate his 10 years with the program (110-17 record, six MIAC titles, eight NCAA playoffs). Following the spring scrimmage at Palmer Field May 12, there will be a celebration at the Anderson Student Center.

Caruso texted that last semester 51 of his players made the Dean’s List for their outstanding academic work.

The Minnesota High School Football Coaches Association’s Clinic starts Thursday at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park, and pre-registration savings end April 2. Prior to April 3 the costs per individual and staffs are $95 and $500 respectively; afterwards $105 and $550. Featured speakers during the three-day clinic will include Matt Birk, P.J. Fleck, Glen Mason, Bob Nielson, and Mike Prieffer. More at Mnfootballcoaches.com.

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Question Looms on Don Lucia Return

Posted on March 20, 2018March 20, 2018 by David Shama

Is Don Lucia going to resign, or soon be told to move on as Gophers men’s hockey coach? A University of Minnesota source told Sports Headliners recently he didn’t know if Lucia will be back next season.

Lucia’s future has been the subject of speculation among media and fans all winter. Randy Johnson’s Star Tribune story Sunday said Gopher athletic director Mark Coyle wouldn’t confirm last week whether Lucia will return. A GopherHole.com fan poll earlier this month reported 84 percent favored dismissing the coach, with 16 percent voting to retain him. While talking with several hockey sources in recent weeks, none dismissed the possibility of Lucia’s 19th season being his last.

Minnesota’s record of 19-17-2 (10-12-2 in the Big Ten) wasn’t deserving of an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Two of the last three years the Gophers haven’t qualified for the 16-team tourney that results in four schools qualifying for the Frozen Four in early April and ends with a national champion.

Mark Coyle (photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications)

Coyle and staff members are concerned about fan apathy. Seeing the vast number of empty seats this season at 3M Arena at Mariucci has been startling for a program referred to in the past as “Pride on Ice.” Tickets that either aren’t sold or go unused represent lost revenue to the Athletic Department. Apathy impacts multiple revenue streams including parking, concessions, arena signage and sponsorships.

“There’s concern right now with the lack of interest in Gopher hockey,” former U captain Casey Hankinson told Sports Headliners yesterday. “That’s more troubling to me than whether they make the postseason, or don’t make the postseason. Of course we always want that to be the case, but the old saying ‘Pride on Ice’ doesn’t seem to be there. I think all of us need to figure out how we get that back.”

Lost revenue isn’t something administrators can take casually in the financially challenged Athletic Department. The 25 sports with over 700 male and female student-athletes are highly dependent on just three financially profitable programs—football, men’s basketball and men’s hockey.

The Athletic Department knows the transition of Minnesota from the WCHA to the Big Ten Conference in 2013 was and continues to be unpopular with Gopher fans. Rivalries were impacted and scheduling of games, times, and TV coverage has become less attractive to many fans.

“…Games used to be on TV like clockwork every Friday and Saturday night,” Hankinson said. “Same time, same channel. Easy. Now they (the Gophers) are just too hard to find. There are just too many other things that are on top of people’s minds to go try to find them.”

The Gophers might have the highest priced tickets in college hockey and sometimes aren’t delivering a product justifying the cost. A program accustomed to competing for national championships hasn’t won an NCAA title since 2003. The Gophers’ record this season was two games over .500. A year ago Minnesota finished three games over .500.

It’s a grind being a head college hockey coach and at 59 maybe Lucia will ponder in the days ahead if he has had enough. The Grand Rapids, Minnesota native has been a head coach dating back to his start in 1987 at Alaska-Fairbanks where he stayed for six seasons before moving on to Colorado College in 1993. His first season with the Gophers was 1999-2000. Along the way he’s made a lot of friends and earned a reputation as an outstanding coach and classy person.

Lucia has one season remaining on a contract that officially ends April 30, 2019. That’s not a tenable spot for any coach when he or she deals with recruiting athletes and answering questions about a program’s future. Coyle can dismiss Lucia “without just cause” with 90 days prior written notice, according to the coach’s contract, and the University must pay a $315,000 buyout. It appears no final decision has been made by the University about Lucia who received a contract extension from Coyle in October of 2016.

Lucia is Minnesota’s all-time winningest coach with 457 victories. His 2002 and 2003 teams won consecutive national championships. His teams have won eight regular season conference titles and four postseason championships. He is a four-time conference coach of the year.

This past season ended badly for the Gophers who lost four games on consecutive weekends to Penn State, placing their NCAA Tournament hopes in some jeopardy. Then a couple of days ago the most improbable of developments occurred when six other teams won games that ended Minnesota’s hopes of qualifying for the tournament.

The surprise news about no postseason opportunity added to conversations about the program’s future. Lucia’s future is reportedly discussed even at Northern Michigan where fans are worried about losing Grant Potulny. The former Gopher captain and assistant coach under Lucia led the Wildcats to their most wins since 2006 this winter.

If Coyle decides to make a change it seems likely with the Gophers’ great hockey tradition there will be a push to hire someone with ties to the program like Potulny. Longtime assistant Mike Guentzel, who also is a former Gopher captain, will surely be considered, too, if there is a change. But for now it’s unknown as to who coaches Minnesota hockey next season and beyond.

Whether it is Lucia, or someone else, expectations will rightfully be high. “This should be a top four program nationally,” said a college hockey authority who asked that his name not be used. “It’s the best job in the country to recruit to.”

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Kirk Cousins High Reward or Risk?

Posted on March 13, 2018March 13, 2018 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column:

Reports that quarterback Case Keenum will sign with the Broncos this week add credibility to rumors the Vikings are targeting Kirk Cousins as the NFL moves into its free agency signing period tomorrow. Acquiring Cousins looks like the kind of personnel decision that could either help the Vikings to a Super Bowl, or put general manager Rick Spielman in a bad spot with ownership.

The Vikings recently sent a message to Keenum by not making him a franchise player and providing a lucrative contract. The Broncos need a quarterback and Keenum could certainly be impressed by joining up with John Elway, the former Denver hall of fame quarterback and now a team executive.

Keenum was 11-3 as a sub for the Vikings last season and was popular in the locker room. However, he wasn’t outstanding in the NFC title game loss to the Eagles and it appears the Vikings think Cousins is more talented.

Acquiring Cousins could cost $90 million, with a sizeable portion guaranteed money. That’s a big financial commitment for a player who the Vikings will gamble can fit their system and change his image to that of a winner.

Rich Cimini, writing on ESPN.com February 25, said the 29-year-old quarterback has a 4-19 record against winning teams (based on final season records). Cousins has set franchise passing records for the Redskins during his six seasons with them.

Karl-Anthony Towns told ABC television Sunday he wants to become the greatest basketball player ever. To do so the Timberwolves third-year center has to one day move past an extraordinary and long line of players, but his career goal is nothing to laugh at.

At 22 years old, the 7-foot, 248-pound Towns is already an NBA All-Star but certainly not the best player in the league. His size, skills and versatility do give him a chance at one day replacing a LeBron James or Kevin Durant as the top player on the planet. Forget the all-time stuff, that alone is lofty goal setting. But remember, too, that a preseason poll of NBA general managers named Towns the player they would most want to start a franchise with.

Towns made the general managers look prophetic Sunday during ABC’s nationally televised game when he led his team to a 109-103 win over the defending NBA champion Warriors. He scored 31 points (the Warriors’ Durant had 39) and grabbed more rebounds, 16, than anyone on the court. Towns, as usual, scored inside and out including two of five three point shots. He earned praise “as a very versatile offensive player” from Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

After the game Towns had a league-leading 57 double-doubles (171 career). It was his ninth 30+ point performance of the season, and he has 10+ rebounds in 16 of the last 18 games.

The win over the Warriors ended a three-game losing streak for the Wolves. With 14 games remaining in the regular season the team is competing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. If the season ended today the Wolves would qualify but with a 3-3 record since team MVP Jimmy Butler was injured, Minnesota is in must-win status in the weeks ahead including tonight on the road against the Wizards.

With his team pursuing a playoff assignment, and Butler’s return uncertain for anytime soon, this is an opportune time for Towns to take another step in building his resume. He told ABC he knows a lot of work will be involved if he wants to fulfill his biggest ambition. The present moment and leading the Wolves to the playoffs is the best place to start.

Sunday’s Timberwolves-Warriors game at Target Center was Minnesota’s second consecutive sellout and 13th of the season—the team’s most since 2003-04 (15 sellouts).

Dick Jonckowski is co-writing a book about his life with local sports author Jim Bruton. “It’s All about Me—Dick Jonckowski a Minnesota Treasure” is due out in May. Jonckowski hopes to sell copies at two venues where he became famous, Williams Arena and Siebert Field. Known to generations of Minnesotans as the Gophers public address announcer for men’s basketball and baseball games, the 74-year-old Jonckowski has enjoyed a career that also includes radio and banquet emcee assignments.

ESPN2 will televise the Gopher-Green Bay first round women’s NCAA Tournament basketball game starting at 4 p.m. CDT Friday from Eugene, Oregon. Minnesota is the No. 10 seed in the Spokane Region while Green Bay is No. 7. The team that advances will play Sunday against the winner of the first-round game between No. 2 seed Oregon and 15th-seeded Seattle. Minnesota earned its second NCAA Tournament spot in four years (first since 2015) and the 10th in program history.

Among teams Minnesotans will follow with interest in the men’s NCAA Tournament are the underdog South Dakota State Jackrabbits who play their opening game Thursday afternoon as a No. 12 seed against No. 5 Ohio State in the West Region. Twelve seeds are famous for upsetting fives.

Jackrabbit forward Ian Theisen started five of 30 games and averaged 4.7 points and is the lone Minnesotan on the South Dakota State roster. He graduated from Osseo High School as the school record holder in points, 1,590, and rebounds, 1083.

Guard Owen King from Caledonia will join the Jackrabbits next season as a scholarship freshman. King is one of five finalists for Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball Award and last December was also a finalist for the state’s Mr. Football.

Award winning comedian and actor Bill Murray, a part owner of baseball’s Saint Paul Saints, is the father of Luke Murray who is an assistant coach for Xavier, the No. 1 seed in the West Region of the men’s NCAA Tournament. The younger Murray, a 2007 graduate of Fairfield, is known as an outstanding East Coast recruiter.

The city of Cincinnati has two teams in the tournament, Xavier and No. 2 South Region seed Cincinnati. Meanwhile, the Big Ten managed to send only four teams to the tournament—Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue.

If you’re keeping score, the U men’s program has produced five tournament teams since 2000.

Xavier senior guard J.P. Macura is no longer projected to be selected in the second round of the 2018 NBA draft, per Nbadraft.net who had the former Lakeville North all-stater at No. 55 back in December.

Duke freshman guard Gary Trent Jr., a former star at Apple Valley, is predicted to be the No. 15 pick in the first round.

Club president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners yesterday about 1,000 tickets remain for the Twins’ home opener April 5 against the Mariners. As of now, none of the franchise’s 2018 home dates are sold out but the opener soon will be.

St. Peter said the season ticket total has surpassed last year, although he declined to provide figures. It’s believed the club’s total in 2017 was about 12,000.

A friend who saw last night’s Twins 2-1 exhibition win over the Yankees in windy Tampa said Minnesota catcher Bobby Wilson impressed not only with a two-run homer but in catching foul balls. Not so good were four plate appearances and four strike outs by center fielder Byron Buxton.

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