NCAA – Page 129 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Jerry Kill Back in State Recruiting

Posted on January 30, 2017January 30, 2017 by David Shama

Former Gophers coach Jerry Kill, now the offensive coordinator at Rutgers, has been recruiting in Minnesota for the Scarlet Knights but so far doesn’t have a commitment as National Signing Day approaches on Wednesday. College football recruiting authority Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners that Kill “called on” Crosby-Ironton tight end Noah Gindorff, and crossed paths with new Gophers coach P.J. Fleck last week at Hopkins High School.

Fleck and Kill are recruiting Hopkins defensive end Boye Mafe. Burns, who is a publisher of the popular Gopherillustrated.com website, said “he’s heard some interesting things about how that went down” when the two coaches were at Hopkins. Burns, who wasn’t at Hopkins when the coaches were there, didn’t provide more details.

It’s no secret Kill is upset about things that have been said and done at the University of Minnesota including the dismissal of Tracy Claeys as Gophers coach a few weeks ago, after leading Minnesota to a 9-4 record including an upset win over Washington State at the Holiday Bowl. Media reports have Kill saying he won’t be coming back to the Gopher campus where he helped resurrect the football program until his health forced him to resign in 2015. Claeys, Kill’s close friend and former defensive coordinator, was made Kill’s successor but lasted only one full season before being fired by new Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle. “He is a very emotional guy,” Burns said about Kill.

Burns believes Kill is “trying to get his foot in the door” on players the Gophers want, probing to see how successful he can be with Minnesota high school players. Few Power Five football programs aggressively recruit the state and Kill may see opportunity here because of that, and also his popularity with the public and relationships with high school coaches.

“He probably will be a little bit effective but…he’s got to land some of these kids that Minnesota (also) wants, for him to justify being out here,” Burns said. “As of today he hasn’t been able to do that.”

Both Kill and Fleck are just getting started in their new roles. Kill was hired by New Jersey-based Rutgers several days before Christmas. Fleck left Western Michigan where he was head coach to take over the Minnesota program in early January.

Known as an elite recruiter, Fleck has reshuffled the 2017 Gopher class that will be announced on Wednesday. While some players who had originally given verbal commitments to Claeys remain, most of the recruits now are student-athletes who Fleck and staff have convinced to become Gophers. Recruiting authorities like Burns have been impressed and they place Minnesota’s 2017 class much higher in national rankings than when Claeys and his staff were in charge.

Burns was asked about 2017 recruits and who he would “bet his life” will be the biggest impact player as a Gopher. “The easy answer is Blaise but I don’t want to take that one. There are a lot of kids that I like in this class. I would say Ken Handy-Holly.”

Blaise Andries, the offensive tackle from Marshall, Minnesota, is one of the prize recruits in Minnesota’s 2017 class but Burns has a high regard for Handy-Holly too, the four-star safety from Alabama. “My hope for him is that he can be a player like (former Gopher) Damarius Travis. A guy that is the leader of a defense, can get everyone lined up.”

Burns thinks Holly could play as a freshman, like Antoine Winfield, Jr. did last year. Winfield played early in the season on special teams, then became an impressive starter at safety for the Gophers.

Worth Noting

The Signing Day Social for Gophers football fans at TCF Bank Stadium Wednesday night is sold out. Over 800 attendees are expected at the Goal Line Club sponsored event where Fleck will talk about his first recruiting class at Minnesota. The social begins at 5 p.m. and KFAN’s Dan Barreiro will broadcast his show from the stadium.

A former Big Ten assistant coach who has followed Minnesota high school basketball for decades didn’t want his name in print but told Sports Headliners Jericho Sims is the best prep player from the state he’s ever seen including Kevin McHale and Tyus Jones. The 6-8 Sims is a senior at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis and the son of former Gopher Charles Sims. Sims has signed to play next fall for Texas and head coach Shaka Smart. The ex-Big Ten coach said Sims will be an immediate force in the Big 12, predicting he will play power forward in college while praising his varied offensive skills and his physique. “He’s built like a marble statue,” the source said.

I was in Williams Arena on October 15, 1971 when first-year Gophers coach Bill Musselman led his first official team practice. The Gophers were at least 15 minutes late taking the floor for practice, and I later learned that Musselman was giving the team a hyper-passionate pep talk about the season ahead including challenging Big Ten title favorite Ohio State. It was 45 years ago last week the famous Minnesota-Ohio State brawl took place at Williams Arena. Few people know Musselman was targeting the Buckeyes months before the game.

The St. Thomas and Bethel men’s basketball teams are tied for first place in the MIAC standings with 10-3 records. They play each other tonight at the Tommies’ Schoenecker Arena. Coach John Tauer’s Tommies are defending MIAC champions.

The Twins, expected to be down in their season tickets total this year, are able to offer more prime seating locations because of the decline. A source with the club told Sports Headliners the total season tickets in 2017 is projected at 11,000 to 12,000 after being about 13,000 last year.

Speedy Byron Buxton, the long-hyped Twins prospect and the big league club’s fastest player, stole only 10 bases last season in 92 games and 298 at bats. The center fielder hit .225, struck out 118 times and walked just 23 times. Buxton, though, has stolen 125 bases in 301 minor league games.

Twins super fan Kirk Detlefsen holds his annual Ticket Draft at Target Field on Wednesday. The event is an opportunity for people Detlefsen knows to share in the season tickets he buys each year. The gathering isn’t open to the public but in advance Detlefsen welcomes inquiries (612-701-7244). Twins authorities Derek Falvey, Dave St. Peter and Dan Gladden will speak to attendees, plus Town Hall Ball Parks of Minnesota author Todd Mueller will personalize complimentary copies of his book.

A sports awards industry source said Theo Epstein’s relationship with Jostens years ago was likely a major factor in the Minneapolis-based company being named the designer for the Cubs 2016 World Series rings. Epstein, the Cubs general manager, was the Red Sox’s baseball boss when Boston won the World Series in 2004 and Jostens produced that team’s rings. Look for Jostens to also make a Cubs World Series fan ring.

Dave Stead, executive director of the Minnesota State High School League, told Sports Headliners his organization projects distributing about $1 million to MSHL schools that participated in state tournaments during the 2016-2017 school year. The distribution amounts are determined by a formula to reimburse schools for expenses. Stead said 12 of the 36 state tournaments sponsored by the MSHL, including the Prep Bowl, are profitable.

Minnesota North Stars caps for $39.99 each are on sale at the Minnesota Wild’s hockey-themed restaurant in Terminal 2 of the MSP airport.

Ross Bernstein, the locally-based author of sports books who is also a motivational speaker for businesses, was in Scotland last month where he found time to visit but not play the famed St. Andrew’s Golf Course.

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Izzo, Dutcher Positive on U in Big Ten

Posted on December 30, 2016December 30, 2016 by David Shama

Michigan State coaching legend Tom Izzo and former Minnesota Big Ten championship coach Jim Dutcher are impressed with the Gophers.

Izzo, an eight-time national coach of the year, talked to Sports Headliners about the Gophers after his Spartans defeated Minnesota 75-74 in overtime on Tuesday night in Williams Arena. “They’re a good team,” Izzo said. “They’ve got (big) bodies and they’ve got good guard play. (They) don’t always shoot it great, (but teams have) gotta have some weakness—we got about five.

“We just happened to find a way to win. They were the better team most of tonight. I think Rich (Pitino) has done a hell of a job with them now. I think he’s got them headed in the right direction. They’ve won a lot of games. They didn’t play all (nonconference) cupcakes either. This was a tough physical game and I am sure they will learn from it, just like we will.”

The Gophers are 12-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten under fourth-year coach Richard Pitino who was 2-16 in league games last season. The Gophers added new players during the offseason and key returnees have also helped improve a team that lost its first 13 conference games during 2015-2016. “I just think they’ve got a good blend of talent,” said Dutcher, who coached the Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten title.

Dutcher likes the quality of Minnesota’s eight-man rotation and sees not only a more talented team than last season but one with better size. There’s something else of importance he mentioned, too. “I think they’re a better defensive team than they were,” he said.

Dutcher predicts the Gophers will have a 9-9 conference record and could make the NCAA Tournament. In Minnesota’s favor in being able to earn a tournament invite for the first time since 2013 is that the Big Ten doesn’t look all that imposing. “Top to bottom it’s not a great league,” Dutcher said about the Big Ten, a conference without a top 10 ranked team.

The Gophers will finish seventh in the Big Ten after Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State, Dutcher predicted. Behind the Gophers will be Michigan, Maryland, Northwestern, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers and Penn State.

Minnesota missed a big opportunity by not winning Tuesday after the Gophers couldn’t hold a 39-26 halftime lead. The Spartans came into the game without their best player in freshman guard-forward Miles Bridges. Michigan State, which has won one national title and made seven Final Four appearances in 21 previous seasons under Izzo, arrived in Minneapolis with an uncharacteristic 8-5 record, although the schedule included nonconference games with national toughies Duke, Kentucky, Arizona.

Now the Gophers must play four of their next five league games on the road, starting with Sunday at nationally-ranked Purdue, 12-2 and 1-0. The Gophers certainly can’t start the conference schedule 0-6 and still have solid NCAA Tournament ambitions. Dutcher doesn’t think they will, with early opportunities for wins probably coming at Northwestern January 5 and at Penn State January 14. Minnesota’s next home game, January 8 with Ohio State, is already a circle it date too. “My view is there are a lot of wins to be had in this league,” Dutcher said.

The Gophers were out worked and gave up too many scores near the basket in the second half of the MSU game but Dutcher said it wasn’t like Pitino’s team “laid an egg” in the game. Dutcher isn’t discouraged by the loss. “It’s not so much about what Minnesota did wrong, as what Michigan State did right,” he said.

Last season the Gophers had issues on and off the court. Pitino said after the nonconference schedule ended that his team had made progress but acknowledged more progress awaits. “Our guys have worked really, really hard to climb out of the gutter off the court, on the court, all those things to get everybody’s respect back. …We trusted that we’d be better. We’re better but we still got a long way to go.”

Izzo Storytelling on Flip Saunders

Flip Saunders (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves)

Izzo confirmed what other friends of the late Flip Saunders have said about Saunders coming close to accepting the Gophers job in the spring of 2013. The former Gophers guard in the 1970s was between coaching opportunities in the NBA back then and Saunders ultimately decided he didn’t want to work for athletics director Norwood Teague, according to a top source.

“Flip loved the Gophers,” Izzo told Sports Headliners. “His passion for Minnesota in general was off the charts, and the University was just even more off the charts.”

Izzo and Saunders forged a friendship over the years including when Saunders coached the NBA Pistons in Detroit. At Saunders’ funeral in 2015 Izzo read from the Bible during the service for his friend who died at age 60 from cancer.

“I miss him,” Izzo said about the former Timberwolves executive and coach. “I miss the late night calls. He always had some good plays for me.

“I can honestly say I loved the guy. I still feel for Debbie (Saunders’ wife) and I stay in touch with Ryan (his son and Timberwolves assistant). I am proud of what he is doing.

“But to have had Flip in the league (the Big Ten) would have been an honor. It really would have been.”

Izzo recalled working to recruit Apple Valley High School point guard Tyus Jones for a couple of years. Izzo laughed about how Saunders evolved from helping the Spartans, to becoming more interested in the prep All-American choosing Minnesota as Saunders started to seriously consider the Gophers job. “Are you helping me, or are you helping yourself?” he asked his buddy.

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75 Years Later Smith Unique to U

Posted on December 9, 2016December 12, 2016 by David Shama

Sometimes we have heroes who earned their glory before we were born. Growing up, one of my idols was 1941 Gophers Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith from Faribault, Minnesota.

How could it be any other way? My dad was a passionate Gophers football fan and law school graduate of the University of Minnesota. He saw Smith play many times and recounted stories about the great halfback who remains to this day the only Gopher ever to win college football’s most coveted individual prize.

Hollywood even made a movie about Smith. I can remember being so amazed when by chance I watched “Smith of Minnesota” on a Minneapolis TV station in the late 1950s. Wow, a Heisman winner from Minnesota and the subject of a movie? My admiration for Smith and his legacy was set in stone, never to be forgotten.

All Minnesota fans should remember Smith who 75 years ago today was in New York City to accept his Heisman award, symbolic of being college football’s best player in 1941. He was a home state hero who helped make the Golden Gophers brand synonymous with excellence. He was a key contributor to Minnesota’s national championships in 1940 and 1941, his junior and senior seasons. Those titles were the fourth and fifth produced by Bernie Bierman, the “Grey Eagle” from Litchfield, Minnesota who deserves a place among the Big Ten’s all-time coaching giants.

Smith beat out Notre Dame running back Angelo Bertelli to win the Heisman. Other Gophers have come close to winning the award. Smith’s teammate George Franck was second in voting in 1940. Paul Giel was third in 1952 and second in 1953. Tom Brown finished second in 1960—the Gophers’ last national championship season—and Sandy Stephens placed fourth in 1961.

Maybe Smith was destined to be special. His father Lucius Smith played tackle and kicked for the Gophers about 30 years before his son became a star at Minnesota. In 1910 the Gophers and Michigan, both undefeated, played a game to decide the national championship. The Wolverines won 6-0 and for some unknown reason Lucius held himself responsible for the painful loss. Legend is that Lucius vowed to have a son who would avenge the defeat.

That day came in 1940 when Bruce and his teammates walked on to a muddy Memorial Stadium field and played Michigan in another game between two unbeaten teams to determine the national champion. The Gophers trailed 6-0 in the game, and no doubt there were Minnesota fans watching who wondered if the Gophers would lose by the same score as years before. The answer was no because Smith ran around and through multiple tacklers in the muck on the way to an 80-yard touchdown. The extra point was successful and the Gophers had a 7-6 triumph.

Smith played for the Gophers from 1939-1941. In the single-wing formation used so famously by Bierman, a left halfback like Smith also passed the ball so he was similar to a modern-day quarterback. But much of Smith’s fame came as a ball carrier including three times during his junior season of 1940 when he scored game winning touchdowns.

Smith came through when the Gophers needed him the most, including when injured. In 1941 another national title was in the balance when Minnesota played Iowa. Smith wasn’t supposed to play because of a knee injury but with the Gophers’ offense struggling, the captain convinced Bierman to let him take the field. He led Minnesota to a 34-13 victory over the Hawkeyes.

Courage was part of what defined Smith and shaped his character. After serving as a Navy fighter pilot during World War II, he played professional football but in 1947 nearly died from a ruptured kidney. Retired at age 29, Smith moved back to Faribault to raise his family without knowing his life would be a short one.

In 1967 Smith was diagnosed with cancer, but instead of withdrawing, he offered compassion to others. Raised as a Catholic, Smith had a spiritual foundation and he used his faith to reach out to children suffering from cancer, praying and providing comfort to youngsters.

June Smith told Sports Headliners that her brother was accompanied by a priest when he visited the children. The priest, William Cantwell, was impressed with the football hero’s modesty and gentle way with others. He found Smith to be inspiring, probably not so much as a Heisman Trophy winner but as a man. “He thought there was something special about Bruce,” June said this week.

Smith died from colon cancer in 1967 at age 47 but Cantwell invoked Smith’s intercession on behalf of young cancer patients after the football legend’s death. Cantwell also nominated Smith for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church.

Years later the priest was diagnosed with cancer. He prayed to Bruce and he recovered from cancer, said June who is 90 years old and lives in Roseville.

June thinks of her brother often and remembers many things about him including how handsome he was. “He was the best looking guy,” she said.

Handsome enough and so famous as a national sports figure that he played himself in his Hollywood movie. The film was part of Hollywood’s World War II effort to make inspiring films about heroes. “Smith of Minnesota” was about a small-town family whose son becomes an All-American halfback.

bruce-smith-003 In 1977 Smith’s number 54 jersey became the first to be retired by the Gophers. Yet it’s debatable whether the athletic department has done enough to recognize the school’s extraordinary Heisman winner and the character he exemplified. In Smith’s hometown of Faribault, his legend is important to many citizens. Led by Bruce Krinke, Richard Carlander, Dave Henry and others from Faribault, a bronze bust of Smith was commissioned a few years ago and is on display at TCF Bank Stadium, with plans to send a second bust to Faribault High School. Bruce Smith Field in Faribault is named after Smith and there is an outdoor mural with his image on a building in downtown Faribault.

“We want to keep the history of Bruce Smith going here in Faribault and (also) with the University,” said Krinke who for years has administered the Bruce Smith Golf Classic that raises money for Faribault schools. “I will tell you we have sent a letter to (Gophers athletic director) Mark Coyle to request that he consider naming the new practice field, Bruce Smith Practice Field, and he has responded saying…he’s considering it.”

Krinke, June Smith and others who revere Smith will remember him today on the 75th anniversary of his Heisman. Those who know his story so well, recall that on December 7, 1941 the Japanese carried out a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The nation was still in shock two days later when the All-American halfback from Minnesota came to the podium to accept his award.

Smith took the opportunity to inspire America when he said:

“In the Far East they may think American boys are soft, but I have had, and even have now, plenty of evidence in black and blue to prove that they are making a big mistake. I think America will owe a great debt to the game of football when we finish this thing off. If six million American youngsters like myself are able to take it and come back for more…and fight hard for the honor of our schools, then likewise the same skills can be depended on when we have to fight to defend…our country.”

None of us should be surprised that at a moment when Smith was being given college football’s greatest honor, he thought of others and spoke words of inspiration.

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