NCAA – Page 98 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Draft Decision Ahead for Daniel Oturu

Posted on January 7, 2020January 7, 2020 by David Shama

An authoritative NBA draft website has moved Daniel Oturu, Minnesota’s sophomore center, up to No. 10 in its first round 2020 mock draft. That leads to speculation this will be his last season playing for the Gophers.

Nbadraft.net listed Oturu in the 20s awhile ago but the play of the former Cretin-Derham Hall star continues to raise his draft stock. Much improved over this freshman season, Oturu seems to even be trending upward in recent games (in the last three he is averaging 23 points and 18 rebounds).

Former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher sent great centers into the NBA while at Minnesota and he was asked Monday about Oturu’s No. 10 ranking. “I am not surprised,” Dutcher told Sports Headliners. “They (NBA scouts) look for guys like him because they want their big guys not only to be able to board and block shots, but to step out to the three-point line, and he can do that.”

The 6-foot-10, 210-pound Oturu is averaging 19.1 points per game and 12.4 rebounds in 14 games this season. He’s made .633 percent of his field goals. He is seven of 22 on three point attempts, playing on a team that relies on others to do most of the long range shooting. For a young player of his size, Oturu has a smooth shooting form and shows the potential for major improvement with the three-point shot that he will need at the next level.

In today’s NBA, centers have become both inside and outside scorers. They also need the athleticism to run the floor, transitioning from offense to defense and sometimes guarding smaller players. Oturu is averaging three blocked shots per game, another indication of his versatility and contribution to the Gophers.

Dutcher refers to Oturu as the best center in the Big Ten, and he does check a lot of boxes on an NBA scout’s list. “He’s good. I am impressed with him,” said Dutcher, who coached Minnesota to the 1982 Big Ten title.

Dutcher admires the skills of Oturu and Minnesota point guard Marcus Carr who is averaging 15.9 points per game. “Remove those two, and then there’s not an awful lot of talent there. So they struggle,” Dutcher said.

Minnesota’s Big Ten record is 2-2 and overall the Gophers are 8-6 after playing one of the more difficult nonconference schedules in the nation. The next game is Thursday night at nationally ranked Michigan State. The Spartans are the only undefeated team in the conference at 4-0 (12-3 overall).

The Big Ten is unusually competitive and balanced. “Everybody beats everybody,” Dutcher said.

The Minnesota’s chances of earning its way into the NCAA Tournament? “I Think they’re pretty good because they’re going to take a minimum seven teams (from the Big Ten),” Dutcher answered. “So you don’t have to have a great year. If you can finish .500 in the conference, you’re probably going to the NCAA.”

The Big Ten has 12 teams (no other conference has more than six) in the top 50 of the NCAA NET Rankings with Minnesota at No. 40

Worth Noting

The Nbadraft.net first round mock draft yesterday projected former Hopkins star Zeke Nnaji, a freshman at Arizona, being selected at No. 17 in the first round. The 6-11, 240-pound power forward-center impresses in multiple ways including the energy with which he plays. “He’s really good,” Dutcher said.

Tre Jones, the Duke sophomore point guard from Apple Valley, made the website’s first round mock draft last season but he now is projected in the second round. Dutcher thinks that is a mistake, and he compared Tre favorably with older brother Tyus who is in the NBA and also played at Duke. “I think he’s a better pro prospect than Tyus was because he’s a better shooter,” Dutcher said.

Brian Dutcher, Jim’s son and a University of Minnesota alum, is head coach at San Diego State where the Aztecs are 15-0 and ranked No. 7 nationally in the latest Associated Press poll. They are one of two undefeated major college teams along with 13-0 Auburn. Brian, 60, is in early conversations for national coach of the year.

Former Gopher Amir Coffey, who has been playing mostly in the G League, made his NBA regular season debut with the Clippers last week. He has played briefly in two games.

Looks like the Vikings made good on their “chip on the shoulder” mantra the organization identified with during the offseason. After an 8-7-1 season in 2018 and not making the playoffs, general manager Rick Spielman used the phrase in the offseason.

Back in June, reserve quarterback Sean Mannion acknowledged the team’s “chip on the shoulder” mindset to Sports Headliners. “I think that would be an accurate way to describe it, for sure,” Mannion said. “The big thing is just channeling that and focusing on your craft. Using that as motivation but not letting it become destructive. Letting it be something that motivates you to work on your skills, work on your abilities, and just continuing to grow as a player.”

The Vikings earned a 10-6 regular season record and made their way into the playoffs where they won their opening game last Sunday against the Saints in New Orleans, although they were about a touchdown underdog. Saturday the Vikings play the NFC No. 1 seed 49ers in Santa Clara and they will need to continue their aggressive attitude.

After Sunday’s 26-20 overtime win in the noisy and partisan Superdome, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was asked about his team’s identity. “I think we’re tough,” he told listeners on KFAN Radio. “We’re good competitors. Everybody doubted us coming in here. Not one person gave us a chance to win this football game, and we’ll hear the same thing next week.”

Former Gophers football coach Lou Holtz had his 83rd birthday Monday. The legendary Holtz, whose coaching stops included Notre Dame where he won a national title, believes Alabama was the best college football team in 2019, per multiple online reports. That should be of interest to Minnesota fans because Auburn defeated Alabama and then lost to the Gophers in the Outback Bowl.

It’s believed Gophers fans outnumbered Auburn fans at the Tampa bowl game, with estimates of 20,000 or more cheering for Minnesota in its upset win over the Tigers. Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” Sunday the University sold approximately 8,000 tickets, but many more fans rooting for coach P.J. Fleck’s team found other sources for tickets.

WWE personality Brock Lesnar will be an honorary Gophers coach for the wrestling team’s Big Ten opener against Wisconsin at Maturi Pavilion Friday when the program celebrates the 20th anniversary of his NCAA Championship. Youngsters up through eighth-grade will have the opportunity to be in a group photo with the legendary Lesnar.

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Stakes High for Gopher Bowl Game

Posted on December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 by David Shama

Seldom has a University of Minnesota football team been booked into such a meaningful postseason game as Wednesday’s Outback Bowl in Tampa against Auburn.

The Golden Gophers have participated in 20 previous bowls but only three have been in January when the more prestigious and historic games are usually staged. Minnesota split consecutive Rose Bowls in 1961 and 1962, and hasn’t been back to the “Granddaddy of them all” since. It took the Gophers until 2015 to earn their way back to a January bowl game, losing 33-17 to Missouri from the mighty Southeastern Conference in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

On Wednesday the Gophers face a storied SEC program and strong team in the Auburn Tigers, winners of nine games including a 48-45 victory over preseason national championship contender Alabama (believed to be God’s favorite program). The Tigers, 9-3, are about a touchdown favorite to win the Outback Bowl against the 10-2 Gophers. Auburn is No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings, Minnesota No. 18.

Truth is thousands of Minnesotans will sign up right now for a seven point loss to the Tigers who a year ago dismantled the Big Ten’s Purdue Boilermakers in the Music City Bowl, 63-14. Whether Minnesota fans are sunbathing today on the beaches of Southwest Florida, or shivering in ice houses in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Gopher Nation prays its team won’t be embarrassed by the Tigers Wednesday.

If Minnesota can win the game, or at least keep it close, that will have a mega effect on the public’s perception of this year’s team and successor. Here’s why:

After the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl victory in Detroit, Minnesota had earned a 7-6 overall record. In Big Ten games Minnesota was 3-6. Coach P.J. Fleck’s team won three of its last games, including the bowl win over Georgia Tech. Fair-minded fans thought his third season in 2019 held promise, but no one saw 10-2 coming, 7-2 in the Big Ten and a national ranking as high as No. 8.

A program and fan-base mired in skepticism and negativity for decades all of a sudden had reason to celebrate. Minnesota football became a local, regional and national success story. The long-suffering program flirted with achieving enough success to have fans daydreaming about a first Big Ten title since 1967 and a return to Pasadena for the first time in more than 55 years.

Yet a chorus of doubters, even critics, nagged at this team all fall and is ready to rise up in unison if things turn ugly Wednesday. Their argument is the Gophers had a fluky season with a team that experienced more than its share of good fortune. Yes, Minnesota won two nonconference games against mediocre opponents by a total of six points. The Gophers also won two conference games by five points each.

The schedule was favorable, with Minnesota able to avoid some of the Big Ten’s better teams, starting with conference champion Ohio State. In a mediocre West Division, the Gophers lost games against the two best teams, Iowa and Wisconsin. But the pride of Dinkytown defeated then No. 5 ranked Penn State at home in a game that still prompts adrenaline highs in the fan-base, and Minnesota had commanding wins against five of its Big Ten opponents.

If the Gophers win Wednesday, or at least make the Outback Bowl a competitive game, that won’t shut up all the doubters and critics. Some will suggest Auburn came down with a bad case of bowl game indifference, or the Tigers just aren’t that good. Sorry, won’t buy that.

An Outback Bowl win will give the Gophers credibility with the ticket buying public. A convincing win should bump the season ticket base up by several thousand from the low 20,000’s. A loss will damper sales and anticipation for next season, with a so-so home schedule that includes BYU, Iowa and Michigan.

Defeating the Tigers, or having them in retreat late in the game, will add to the confidence Fleck and his assistants have instilled in this team. Make no mistake that these players believed they could have a special season, and they did, showing resolve in close games and overcoming adversity. Beating Auburn, a program from arguably college football’s best conference, will only add to the Gophers’ psyche during the 2020 offseason and into the schedule.

The Minnesota brand adds even more luster with high school recruits if the Gophers show well in the Outback Bowl. Fleck has had three recruiting classes so far at Minnesota but none has cracked the national top 25 year. Beating Auburn would be a bullet point in CAP letters for future Minnesota recruiting by the coaching staff.

Fleck has multiple incentives for the bowl game including coaching smart after the seven-year contraction extension he was given in November. That came as a reward for achievements the program hadn’t experienced in decades and also having the nation’s third longest winning streak. The 39-year-old coach, who has talked about winning Big Ten and national titles at Minnesota since day one, has won 13 of his last 16 games, and has been justifying the confidence of athletic director Mark Coyle who hired him.

The program was stung last week by the news offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca has left the program to become OC at Penn State. A longtime Fleck loyalist, Ciarrocca is one of the nation’s best at what he does. His resume just this year includes developing Tanner Morgan, unwanted by other Big Ten schools while in high school, into one of the conference’s best quarterbacks. Ciarrocca oversaw an offense that finished fourth among league teams in yards per game, 426.8. Minnesota also averaged an impressive 34.3 points per game.

With Ciarrocca’s recent departure, Fleck reportedly will have his hand in the offense more on Wednesday than in the past. He could show that the Gophers won’t slow down without Ciarrocca whose versatile offense helped rebuild Minnesota football and before that contributed to a 13-1 Fleck team at Western Michigan.

The bowl game looks like a possible audition for wide receivers coach Matt Simon, the Farmington, Minnesota native who has long been a Fleck favorite. Simon is expected to play a role, likely a major one, in play calling. While Fleck may eventually replace Ciarrocca with an outside hire, speculation is that Simon and tight ends coach Clay Patterson are internal candidates.

The Outback Bowl will be the last game for a core of seniors who contributed to the program’s revival. The Gophers honored 13 seniors before their last regular season home game against Wisconsin. The loss to the Badgers wasn’t a pleasant departing memory for seniors like Thomas Barber, Shannon Brooks, Carter Coughlin, Tyler Johnson, Sam Renner and Rodney Smith. However, they could bask in a lot of glory in the Florida sunshine on Wednesday, and are yet another reason why the Gophers are playing for so much this week at the Outback Bowl.

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Wild Close on 2021 NHL Winter Classic

Posted on December 5, 2019December 5, 2019 by David Shama

Target Field could be the playing site for the 2021 NHL Winter Classic. The Twins and Wild would host the prestigious annual game that has never been played in Minnesota, and a January 1, 2021 date could help commemorate the 20th anniversary of the local NHL team.

Wild owner Craig Leipold acknowledged to Sports Headliners yesterday that his franchise is competing with one other NHL city for the Winter Classic, but the league has yet to inform him of its decision. An announcement of the 2021 playing site for the outdoor game is likely to come January 1, 2020.

Known as the “State of Hockey,” the NHL Winter Classic seems overdue for a Minnesota date. “It should be us,” Leipold said. “We think that we’ve got exciting players. We think that we have a good team, and a very competitive team, and we have a great market. No one will ever question that. Our fans are fantastic. So I think we check most of the boxes, and…we hope it’s our time.”

Local interest in attracting the nationally televised event has been ongoing for a long time by the Twins and Wild. Twins president Dave St. Peter spoke of his interest in the game as recently as August of this year. The Wild hosted a successful NHL Stadium Series game at TCF Bank Stadium in 2016, but that event is less coveted than the Winter Classic that last January was played at Notre Dame Stadium, and January 1, 2020 lands in the Cotton Bowl.

The Winter Classic was first played in 2008 to evoke the outdoor roots of hockey. The event uses football and baseball stadiums, with one game drawing over 100,000 fans to Michigan Stadium. A Sports Headliners hockey source said the NHL and TV rights holder NBC prefer historic league teams from the United States like the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. Planners also want winning teams that can attract a large TV audience.

The Wild has been a mediocre team for years and that’s been a factor in the NHL not granting the Winter Classic to Minnesota. But the team has been impressive of late and with the franchise’s 20th anniversary looming since its inception for the 2000-2001 season, and the fact so many other cities have already hosted the game, Minnesota’s lobbying efforts could finally pay off.

The Wild’s opponent might be the Blackhawks because of the rivalry between the two teams and the size of the huge Chicago TV market. The Dallas Stars, the team once based in Minnesota as the North Stars, may well be another possibility. Activities surrounding a Minneapolis Winter Classic could include an alumni game between former Wild and Blackhawks or Stars players.

The Wild is undefeated in its last 10 games, going 7-0-3. Leipold said the team is showing skill and depth, referring to the third and fourth lines as playing “fantastic.” With three goalies and a sound defense, he is excited after the Wild had a slow start to the season. “We don’t have any weaknesses,” he said.

New general manager Bill Guerin has had time to evaluate the personnel but Leipold doesn’t think there are any trades in the works right now. “But I think the next month, and month-and-a-half, is going to tell a lot as to where we think this team can go,” Leipold said.

Worth Noting

It will be interesting to see if Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle is rewarded with increased compensation this month, or shortly after the first of the year. Coyle’s work since being hired in 2016 is highly regarded, but his annual compensation of $850,000 remains unchanged from the original contract—although he did receive a three-year extension last October taking his deal through 2024.

There are many major college athletic directors earning well over $1 million including some of Coyle’s colleagues in the Big Ten. An increase of $150,000, taking Coyle to $1 million, could make sense to new University of Minnesota president Joan Gabel after the breakthrough season in football under the direction of coach P.J. Fleck who Coyle hired in 2017.

The University regents meet December 12 and 13 in Minneapolis but the agenda for the meeting is as yet unknown. Possibly blocking a Coyle increase is this week’s announcement of faculty layoffs at UMD. Although Coyle’s compensation comes from the largely self-supporting Gophers athletic department, a University system perception problem could arise because of the fiscal challenges at UMD.

Coyle’s success at Minnesota, including popular hires of hockey coach Bob Motzko and basketball coach Lindsay Whalen, is noticed by other universities. There was speculation earlier this fall USC was interested in Coyle for its AD opening. Coyle, an Iowa native who first worked for the U athletic department about 18 years ago before taking AD jobs at Boise State and Syracuse, has often expressed his liking for working at Minnesota and living in the Twin Cities with his family.

Sid Hartman’s 100th birthday will be March 15 of next year, and that day just happens to be a Sunday. It’s perfect timing to celebrate the milestone on WCCO Radio where Hartman has been heard for decades on the Sunday morning “Sports Huddle” program.

Show co-host Dave Mona told Sports Headliners the station will do a “Sidtennial” celebration. A list of about 50 potential celebrity guests for telephone interviews is being reviewed to reach a smaller total. The Sid salute March 15, Mona said, will continue during a WCCO Radio Twins spring training broadcast in the afternoon and on into the evening with more interviews, stories and tributes to the legendary radio personality and Minneapolis newspaper columnist.

The Twin Cities Dunkers organization that supports Minnesota professional and amateur sports has provided $690,500 in combined gifts to the athletic departments of the Minneapolis and St. Paul high schools over the past eight years. The organization was originally known as the Minneapolis Dunkers and dates back to 1948.

Gophers wide receiver Rashod Bateman was named the Big Ten’s wide receiver of the year Wednesday (Richter-Howard Award). Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck raved about Bateman recently, describing him as “incredibly talented.” But Fleck also praised the sophomore for his work ethic and selflessness. “When you start combining the skill with that, that’s an inferno, that’s a bonfire, instead of the fire in your fireplace with one log,” Fleck said.

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