NCAA – Page 91 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Would Holmgren Mean U NCAA Title?

Posted on September 2, 2020September 2, 2020 by David Shama

Chet Holmgren, a popular choice by prep basketball gurus as the nation’s No. 1 player in the class of 2021, enters his senior year at Minnehaha Academy this week being a long way from choosing a college destination.

Whoever wins out will have an extraordinary player in the 7-foot multi-positional, multi-dimensional Minneapolis superstar. Holmgren is choosing from seven college possibilities: Georgetown, Gonzaga, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio State. He has visited most of the schools but the pandemic has prevented him from seeing the Memphis and Michigan campuses, and he hasn’t been to North Carolina since eighth grade.

Do one or two schools lead the list right now? “No, everybody is kind of equal platform right now,” Chet’s father David Holmgren told Sports Headliners Monday. “Still just kind of feeling everything out, watching (developments). Things are changing daily at these schools. The closer we get to actually graduating from high school is going to be a closer time to make that decision, I think.”

Will a program having NCAA championship potential in place prior to Chet’s arrival be a factor in his college choice? “We haven’t really discussed that,” David said. “I think anywhere he goes that (winning the national championship) could be viable. I am not trying to brag but he brings that kind of quality to a team.”

David said Chet’s college destination will be impacted by at least one factor involving complementary players. “They gotta have some bigs so that Chet doesn’t get thrown into the middle. The middle is not his game. I don’t want him anywhere where one guy gets hurt, now he’s gotta be the big. It won’t make sense.”

Chet is several pounds under 200 even after a summer of strengthening his body. Dad wants his son to play with big, physical teammates who can absorb much of the pounding near the basket. David, a thin 7-footer himself when he played for the Gophers in the 1980s, predicted it could be four years before Chet weighs about 220 pounds.

Chet long ago became a YouTube favorite after video showed him dribbling past and dunking over Steph Curry at the NBA superstar’s 2019 summer camp. Despite Holmgren’s height, he has extraordinary versatility including ball handling. Both his shooting efficiency and range, along with his shot blocking, contribute to speculation he will play just one season of college basketball.

Cretin-Derham Hall coach Jerry Kline referred to him as unique. “He’s just a phenomenal player and he’s only going to get better,” Kline told Sports Headliners earlier this summer.

Minnehaha will be among the elite teams nationally. David said the school is finalizing a schedule to bring great teams from out of state to Minneapolis. Opponents will likely include California power Sierra Canyon, a team Minnehaha upset last January. “I think they want revenge,” David said. “At least an attempt at it.”

Worth Noting

The Vikings will open their season September 13 against the Packers without fans in attendance at U.S. Bank Stadium. State of Minnesota COVID-19 policy allows up to 250 guests at an event like a Vikings game. “The Vikings (though) 100 percent want fans,” a sports industry source told Sports Headliners.

He believes there is pressure from Vikings sponsors, including the most prominent supporters, to attend games. State policy will allow 250 guests, plus players, coaches and workers, or a total of perhaps 500 people in the stadium.

The same source said it’s likely former Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren, now commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, has talked to club ownership or management about using U.S. Bank Stadium for a potential late fall and winter Big Ten football schedule. U.S. Bank stadium is one of three regional domed sites (also Detroit’s Ford Field and Indy’s Lucas Oil Stadium) that could be indoor hubs for Big Ten games during the pandemic.

There is speculation about starting Big Ten football near Thanksgiving, November 26. That time frame could cause a pushback from the Vikings regarding stadium use including necessitated changes to the playing field while accommodating a schedule of Big Ten games. Complicating things is the Vikings having a busy close to the season in Minneapolis with home games scheduled November 22, 29, December 6 and 20, plus potential playoff dates.

Ties between the Big Ten and U.S. Bank Stadium are already happening with the facility management preparing a bid to host a future league championship game(s). Lucas Oil Stadium has been the game’s exclusive home since 2011 and will host the championship through next year, but Warren is interested in other sites.

While other cities and playing sites have also expressed interest, including Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, Minneapolis and U.S. Bank Stadium could be viewed most favorably. The facility is a consensus choice as being among the best football stadiums in the country and the city has a track record of success in hosting major events like the Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four.

Bengals running back Joe Mixon—comparable to RB Dalvin Cook who is in a contract squabble with the Vikings—reportedly received a new four-year $48 million deal yesterday. Cook’s present contract is believed to be worth about $40 million less.

Minneapolis businessman and New York Times best selling author Harvey Mackay devotes his nationally syndicated newspaper column this week to women in sports while quoting leaders such as former Gophers basketball coach Pam Borton and Twins executive Laura Day. Headlined “Sports Prepare Women for Life, Business,” Mackay was inspired to write the column after viewing a Twin Cities Dunkers meeting this summer.

Longtime amateur baseball player Dan Hennen has a podcast preview of the Sweet 16 teams in this week’s Class C State Amateur Baseball Tournament. https://youtu.be/dYFKolCs1MY

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Glen Taylor: Nothing Certain on Sale

Posted on August 17, 2020August 17, 2020 by David Shama

In an exclusive interview with Sports Headliners, Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor said it’s not definite he will sell the franchises. Reports earlier this summer had the 79-year-old Mankato billionaire pursuing a sale of his longtime franchises for $1.2 billon.

When asked whether he anticipated a sale soon or not happening for an extended period, he said: “I don’t really know the answer to that right now. We have opened it up to see if people would be interested. At this point we’re trying to see what value would they put on it, and we haven’t finished that. We’re just getting that information together. …We have some people that said they are interested.”

Although not likely, Taylor said it’s possible a sale of the NBA Timberwolves would not include the WNBA Lynx. Presently, one company runs the two franchises, with some employees working for both the Wolves and Lynx.

“So that’s the most logical way (of selling),” Taylor said. “If we find a buyer I guess we’ll just have to sit down with that buyer and see what their interest is. I am open to almost anything.”

Taylor deserves credit for making the Wolves and Lynx fixtures in the state’s sports and entertainment scene. In the mid-1990’s original Wolves owners Harvey Ratner and Marv Wolfenson nearly completed a deal to relocate the franchise to New Orleans. Taylor stepped in and saved the franchise for Minnesota, purchasing the team for a reported $90 million.

In 1999 the upstart WNBA was bleeding money as it pioneered opportunities for women on the court and in other basketball positions. Taylor, a socially conscious entrepreneur, became owner of the Lynx expansion franchise and the team joined the Wolves in playing at Target Center.

“It isn’t like I thought about it (a lot),” Taylor said. “It just seemed like the right thing to do (women’s pro basketball).

“I am more concerned why more (NBA owners)…why they don’t do it. There is nothing wrong with taking some of the money you’ve made on the NBA…putting some of it back into the WNBA. It isn’t going to make anybody broke, or anything like that.”

Taylor said he doesn’t know what the dollar value of the Lynx is, and there are few estimates available about such figures for WNBA franchises. A $15 to $30 million per team value is a guess but whatever the number it’s a long way from the billions that NBA franchises command.

Taylor acknowledged there were years when his franchise lost a “couple million dollars.” But the Lynx has been one of the WNBA bluebloods, winning four league titles with the most recent in 2017, and the owner said championship years had the franchise making about $1 million.

It’s been satisfying to Taylor watching the success of the Lynx on the court but it’s also been rewarding knowing how the WNBA has created opportunities that didn’t previously exist for women. The league is a model for girls and young women to consider sports careers not only playing but in other areas such as coaching, administration and training.

NBA teams are now hiring women for key positions including assistant coaching. Taylor said that’s a role his Lynx head coach, Cheryl Reeve, could fill. She has coached the Lynx to all its championship success and also excelled in identifying personnel.

Worth Noting

In its August 15 football issue Sports Illustrated predicts the Minnesota Vikings will finish the 2020 season with an 8-8 record, just behind the 9-7 Green Bay Packers in the NFC North Division. In a best case scenario the magazine says Mike Zimmer turns in his best coaching job revamping the secondary, while quarterback Kirk Cousins silences doubters.

Worst case? The heavy load of personnel changes entering the season proves too much to overcome and Cousins doesn’t measure up on an inconsistent team that must label 2020 as a rebuild.

In the same issue S.I. identifies North Dakota State redshirt sophomore quarterback Trey Lance as a potential top 10 NFL draft choice in 2021. The former Marshall, Minnesota prep player set a Bison passing record for efficiency last season while leading the team in rushing.

Gary Trent Jr., the former Apple Valley star, is a breakout contributor this summer for his surprise Portland Trail Blazers who have qualified for the NBA playoffs that opened this week. The 21-year-old second season shooting guard has made a big jump in playing time because of his shooting and defense.

The second annual Taste Fore The Tour raised $131,000 to support Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People, the Twin Cities’ largest food pantry. VEAP has experienced a 10-fold increase in demand due to COVID-19 but the promotion raised enough funds to provide 400,000 meals for local families. Donations are welcome through August 31, at TasteForeTheTour.com.

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Money Unlikely to Give Twins Pause

Posted on August 13, 2020August 13, 2020 by David Shama

The MLB trade deadline is August 31 and Minnesota Twins fans can be assured front office leaders Derek Falvey and Thad Levine will do all they can to improve the roster. Ownership, too, is likely to be all-in on moves that could help the club make a postseason run.

A sports industry source, who asked not to be identified, told Sports Headliners that when the late Carl Pohlad owned the team his organization deserved its reputation for being tight with money. Pohlad’s sons, the franchise’s ownership successors, are different.

“I’ve never seen Jim Pohlad (executive chair) not willing to spend money,” the source said. “The brothers are a different breed and willing to spend dollars.”

Just this week the Twins acquired infielder Ildemaro Vargas from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations. During the past offseason the Pohlads made a reported four-year $92 million commitment to third baseman Josh Donaldson, one of baseball’s premiere sluggers.

The Twins have publicly stated their 2020 goal of reaching the World Series but are most recently struggling and in need of pitching help. Targets might have included San Francisco Giants starter Jeff Samardzija. He has a somewhat pricey contract for the rebuilding San Francisco Giants but that might not deter Twins as much as the right hander’s status on the 10-day IL with shoulder impingement.

There’s a serious outbreak of injuries among MLB teams as players cope with too brief of a timeline to physically prepare for the shortened season that began just last month. Among the Twins sidelined have been Donaldson, and three starting pitchers in Homer Bailey, Rich Hill and Jake Odorizzi (returned last Saturday).

The Twins are among the favorites of odds-makers to represent the American League in the World Series but they have faltered some following a 10-2 start to the season. Despite playing mediocre competition of late, Minnesota is now 12-7 and lost five of eight games on its road trip that ended last night in Milwaukee.

Worth Noting

The Twins have an off day today (Thursday) and then with the hurry up MLB schedule don’t have an open date again until September 3. With completion of their next game tomorrow evening the Twins will be one-third through their 60-game schedule.

The Big Ten’s cancellation of fall football—the cash cow for athletic departments—prompts even more speculation about reducing the number of sports offered at major universities including Minnesota. In a media call with reporters last May Golden Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle predicted department revenue losses could total $70 million by the end of fall semester in a worst case scenario caused by COVID-19 and the pandemic.

The Gophers offer 25 sports with only football, men’s basketball and men’s hockey profitable. With a past expense budget reportedly well north of $115 million, and revenues drying up during the pandemic, where is future money going to come from and won’t some programs be trimmed?

University regent Michael Hsu told Sports Headliners this week he hasn’t received projected athletic department revenue and expense numbers but he, too, wonders about the future and sustaining so many programs. He points out the athletic department can’t borrow money, although the University can. However—not even including athletics—the U already faces a huge COVID-caused budget crisis.

“We would have to agree that we’re going to get that (athletic department) money somewhere in the future and I am not certain it’s possible,” Hsu said.

Golden Gophers head football coach P.J. Fleck still has the highest of goals for his program. “We want people (players, coaches) who feel Minnesota can win a national championship one day…and we’re striving to be the best developmental program in the country,” Fleck said several days ago.

Fleck talked national title ambitions early on in his career at Minnesota. Some people may still consider that laughable but last season’s team was a surprising and impressive 11-2, just two years after Fleck’s first squad finished 5-7. The coach wants a “blue-blood” program that connects with the great Minnesota teams of the 1960s and earlier.

The Gophers received an endorsement in the August 15 issue of Sports Illustrated, but it soon came with an asterisk. S.I. placed Minnesota No. 12 in its top 20 preseason national rankings but the magazine went to press prior to star wide receiver Rashod Bateman’s announcement he will forfeit his remaining eligibility to turn pro.

Among Big Ten teams, only No. 3 Ohio State and No. 5 Penn State ranked higher than Minnesota. But in a do-over S.I. would likely drop the Gophers lower in its rankings because of the Bateman departure. No one will ever know for sure, but his absence could cost Minnesota one or more wins next spring if that is when the Big Ten decides to play football.

The magazine made clear its liking for Fleck. “There is a lot of sizzle in Fleck, 39, but it’s increasingly clear that there is substance underneath,” Pat Forde wrote.

Words of wisdom (and humor) from an anonymous suburban mom after her first out of town trip for a youth baseball tournament: “Do not bring toddlers; bring a shade tent/not just umbrella; dress for any weather; Best Western Plus isn’t half bad! Bug spray; three beers may not be enough; pack your patience and a hat.”

Dick Jonckowski will do public address work for part of the Class B Minnesota Amateur Baseball State Tournament games in Shakopee. Jonckowski, P.A. voice of Gophers baseball, said Shakopee is hosting the tournament after New Ulm’s city leaders turned the event down because of pandemic concerns. The tourney begins August 21 and ends September 6. The Chanhassen Red Birds are defending champions.

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