Preps – Page 10 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

‘Ant’ & Wolves Make a Statement in Game 1 Win

Posted on April 20, 2024April 20, 2024 by David Shama

Whether it was physical, or verbal, Anthony “Ant” Edwards and the Timberwolves made a statement with their 120-95 win over the Suns today at Target Center.

Edwards, who had averaged 14 points in three regular season losses to the Suns, scored 33 including 18 in the decisive third quarter as the Wolves took Game 1 of their opening Western Conference playoff series. Minnesota extended a 10-point halftime lead to an in-command 92-72 advantage after the third quarter. Edwards, the Wolves’ fourth year wunderkind was a full-time scorer and part-time cheerleader, dazzling with his shooting including four three-pointers while sometimes imploring the crowd to match his uber excitement.

Edwards even took to jawing in the second half with Suns superstar and Hall of Fame bound forward Kevin Durant who led his team in scoring with 31 points.

Late in the fourth quarter, Edwards stripped Durant of the basketball and took off down court for an uncontested dunk. The play was a microcosm of a game where the youthful Edwards and the Wolves played with more energy and physicality than Phoenix.

The Wolves had several days to prepare for their playoff opener and the results were to their liking. There was significant time spent by coaches and players watching past film of the Suns and also instructive practices to get ready for what could be a seven-game series.

In a 125-106 regular season ending loss at Target Center last Sunday the Wolves didn’t look engaged or tough. After today’s game coach Chris Finch said at his press conference heard on KFAN Radio that his team “made all the effort plays tonight.” He praised his team for running the floor, rebounding and playing “with some physicality on defense.”

The Wolves played a complete game, excelling at both ends of the court. They had 19 turnovers in the first half of last Sunday’s loss but totaled 24 today in four quarters. Minnesota was dominant in rebounding with a 52-28 edge (13-3 on offensive rebounds).

Suns’ sharp shooters and three-point specialists Grayson Allen and Bradley Beal who combined for 56 points (nine of nine on three-pointers) last Sunday scored 19 today and were one for six on three-pointers. When they and the other Phoenix starters went out of the game, the Suns bench didn’t match that of the Wolves who were led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid who scored a combined 30 points for Minnesota. Respectively the two had the best plus-minus totals on the team, plus-28 and plus-22 .

After the game, Edwards was interviewed on the court by Bally Sports North, with the fans at the game and at home able to listen. “The crowd definitely played a big role in tonight’s game. Keep coming out and supporting us,” Edwards said.

He also noted that today was just one game in the series that earlier in the week had oddsmakers favoring the Suns. Words of wisdom from the 22-year-old.

Worth Noting

Here are the remaining dates, locations, times and networks for the Wolves-Sun series through Game 4: April 23, Minneapolis, 6:30 p.m. TNT; April 26, Phoenix, 9:30 p.m. ESPN; April 28, Phoenix, 8:30 p.m. TNT. Games can also be seen on Bally Sports North.

How ironic if the Wolves were to win the NBA championship 70 years after the Minneapolis Lakers did so. The 1954 Lakers were part of a Minneapolis dynasty that also won league titles in 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1953.

Three in a row for Gophers football regarding the No. 1 recruit from the state of Minnesota. Esko safety Koi Perich, the class of 2024 No. 1, signed with the Gophers last December. This month class of 2023 No. 1 Jaxon Howard, the edge rusher from Robbinsdale Cooper transferring from LSU, committed to a scholarship, and Minnesota received a verbal commitment from class of 2025 No. 1 Emmanuel Karmo, the linebacker also from Cooper.

With the transfer portal closing at month’s end, former Gophers center Pharrel Payne has yet to find a new program. One door seemingly closed when Indiana secured Oumar Ballo, a transfer from Arizona regarded as the top center in the portal.

Payne, who reportedly visited Indiana, is likely seeking an NIL deal paying well into six figures. Unlike Indiana, where there is a track record of six-figure NIL deals, the Gophers’ NIL pot might not exceed $600,000 to $700,000. That’s been enough, though, to retain Dawson Garcia, Elijah Hawkins, Parker Fox and Mike Mitchell Jr., and receive a commitment from Canisius transfer Frank Mitchell who will replace Payne.

Gophers athletic department leaders Mark Coyle and Jeremiah Carter, along with men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson and Katie Harms representing the NIL Dinkytown Athletes collective, will discuss NIL’s impact on college sports at Wednesday’s Capital Club breakfast at Mendakota Country Club. More information about the Capital Club is available from Patrick Klinger, patrick@agilemarketingco.com.

Drake Maye, who the Vikings could end up drafting in the first round Thursday night, a year ago was projected by some authorities to be the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft but an inconsistent 2023 season with North Carolina dropped his stock. Maye’s inconsistency could be partially attributable to playing for a new offense coordinator, but the potential, including arm strength, is there to make him an intriguing draft target whose flaws might be easily fixed by the Vikings coaching staff.

“It’s all there. He just needs to end up in the right system,” said Daniel House who offers his football insights on Mnvikingscorner.com and Gophersguru.com.

Ten former Gophers are on NHL rosters of Stanley Cup playoff teams: Brady Skjei, Carolina Hurricanes; Casey Mittelstadt, Colorado Avalanche; Kyle Okposo, Florida Panthers; Tommy Novak, Nashville Predators; Hudson Fasching, New York Islanders; Mike Reilly, New York Islanders; Ryan Lindgren, New York Rangers; Blake Wheeler, New York Rangers (on Injured Reserve); Matthew Knies, Toronto Maple Leafs; Nate Schmidt, Winnipeg Jets.

Stillwater-based Creative Charters is hosting its annual Kentucky Derby trip, with the April 28-May 5 travel a dream experience for horse racing fans with its insights about the sport and Kentucky racing culture. The fun, of course, includes the “Run for the Roses” on May 4.

BTW, Creative has sold out its gold, maroon and white trips—and is now selling the pink and green trips—for the Gophers October 12 game against UCLA at the historic Rose Bowl. Minnesota last played in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1962, defeating UCLA 21-3.

News of O.J. Simpson’s death earlier this month prompted memories of September 1968 when the Gophers, coming off their 1967 Big Ten championship season, hosted nationally-ranked Southern California and the most hyped player in college football—Orenthal James Simpson. Minnesota coach Murray Warmath let the Memorial Stadium grass grow long hoping to slow O.J., but the All-American tailback and the Trojans had their way winning 29-20.

Twins’ broadcaster Cory Provus, who is about eight inches shorter than 6-foot-4 TV partner Justin Morneau, stands on a wooden box in the TV booth to minimize the difference in size between the two.

The economic impact of Minneapolis hosting WrestleMania 41 next year could be over $225 million but the WWE has yet to make a final announcement about the 2025 location. Online reports have Las Vegas as a Minneapolis rival to host the multi-days extravaganza that draws young and old from across the country and elsewhere.

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Randy Shaver’s Prep Football Bond Likely to Continue

Posted on April 9, 2024 by David Shama

Ron Stolski was on the verge of tears Friday night when talking about Randy Shaver’s Prep Sports Extra. Stolski, executive director of the Minnesota Football Coaches Association, was speaking at the organization’s annual clinic in St. Louis Park and referencing 40 years of the KARE11 Friday night show that is imbedded in the state’s football culture.

“Thank you for four decades of the discipline, the dedication and commitment and effort to make our Friday nights special,” Stolski told Shaver and the audience of state high school football coaches.

Prep Sports Extra followed the 10 a.m. news in the fall and for a long time was the most viewed program in its time slot in the metro area. When the lights went out at prep football games in the state, players, coaches and fans could relive and forever remember many of the evening’s most enduring moments. “You and Prep Sports Extra have always been our fifth quarter,” Stolski told Shaver before presenting him with an award.

Stolski, the retired Brainerd High School football coach and one of the state’s winningest coaches ever, talked about the fraternity among coaches and others involved with high school football. He saluted Shaver for his legacy and what his show has meant to prep football in the state, telling his friend that he will forever be “in the huddle of the keepers of the game.”

Shaver came to WTCN (now KARE11) at 24 years old in January of 1983. A former high school football player in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he worked his way up from sports reporter and weekend sports anchor to sports director, and since 2012 has been co-anchor on the evening news at the station. He announced this winter that he will be retiring from the station after his 6 p.m. June 28 newscast and ending 43 years total in the TV industry.

The departure includes an end to the Prep Sports Extra which last year celebrated its 40^th anniversary. Shaver opened up to the clinic audience Friday evening and said ending the iconic show that he started, produced and anchored was a decision he “had to make for the sake of the show.”

Then he added: “This last year, our resources, as in every walk of life right now, got cut back. And I have to be honest, I only know one speed for the show. I only know one way of doing it.

“So to ask me to find other ways to fill the show or do the show (won’t work). I did it last year because I wanted to get it to 40 but I also realized that it’s time for either someone else to do it and do it differently…I don’t know. But for me to try…and to piece it all together just didn’t work.

“That and the fact that it was time for me to walk away from the news side of what I am doing in my life right now. So, I really do appreciate this (the honor at MFCA).”

Shaver’s passion for high school football is off the charts and has been for decades. No high school sports show in this market has endured like Prep Sports Extra. “You know it’s just been a labor of love,” Shaver told Sports Headliners. “I never made a dime more for doing it—for all the extra time I put in to make it as great as it could be.

“I just loved Friday night. …I loved more being there until 3 in the morning logging all the video that we would shoot. That to me was the most enjoyable part. To be able to log all that video and to watch all of it. Stuff that we didn’t use on the air. I’ll miss that part.”

But the football community likely hasn’t seen the last of Shaver. He told the clinic audience he’s working “behind the scenes” to stay connected to them and prep football. Perhaps a podcast is next.

“I don’t want this connection to end because it’s so special for me. So just know you might hear something in July that I am popping up someplace and hopefully that’s just the beginning of something I can continue. “

Shaver has been approached about coaching football. “I don’t think that’s in the cards,” he said. “I think it’s going to be something more media related. I am working on trying to figure out what that looks like and feels like, and hopefully by July I’ll have it all figured out.”

During Shaver’s adult life he has twice been a cancer survivor. In 2003, he started the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund. That charity has benefited from the MFCA’s Tackle Cancer initiative.

About half the state’s high schools, most of the MIAC and Northern Sun member schools, and the Gophers and Vikings have raised money via Tackle Cancer. After 12 years almost $3.5 million has been raised. “It’s been amazing,” Shaver said.

Stolski credits another prep coaching icon, Dave Nelson, with extraordinary efforts in making Tackle Cancer so successful. “My nickname for Dave Nelson is ‘Bulldog’,” Stolski told the clinic audience. “You get Dave Nelson on a project, on a challenge, on an issue, and I’ll tell you he’ll get it done.”

About a year ago the two men gave a presentation on Tackle Cancer at a national football coaching gathering. Attendees were impressed, with some saying they couldn’t duplicate the initiative back home. Stolski said Nelson and Minnesota’s prep coaches made it happen and that there is a difference between “can’t and won’t.”

Nelson told the audience 92 percent of Tackle Cancer fundraising goes for research and patient assistance. “Cancer touches us all and as Randy (has) said doing nothing is not an option,” said Nelson who was a longtime metro area high school football coach and is now an assistant coach at Holy Family.

A symbolic check in the amount of $566,626 was presented to Shaver on Friday night, the latest contribution from the Tackle Cancer initiative.

Nelson implored coaches who aren’t involved to form a committee and get started. Both he and Shaver emphasized Tackle Cancer isn’t just a Minneapolis-St. Paul initiative. “It’s never been a metro thing,” Shaver said. “Cancer doesn’t know what that is and it doesn’t care.”

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J.J. McCarthy Might Give Vikes Second Best QB in Draft

Posted on April 7, 2024April 7, 2024 by David Shama

Daniel House studies more film of prospective NFL quarterbacks than any media person I know. He analyzes game films of college quarterbacks not just from 2023 but dating back in some cases to before the pandemic.

And guess what? In this 2024 quarterback rich NFL Draft he agrees USC’s Caleb Williams has the most upside, but his No. 2 may surprise you. Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye often receive more praise as prospects, but based on what House refers to as “projection” he thinks J.J. McCarthy is No. 2.

“Soley based on the fact that his ceiling is the highest of these quarterbacks. …He really wasn’t able to showcase everything that he could do because of Michigan’s style of play and how they completely dominated teams up front,” said House who offers his football insights on Mnvikingscorner.com and Gophersguru.com.

“When he was asked to do things within the system, to showcase his strengths, he executed those things. And when he gets in an NFL system that builds around what he does best—you put him in a good situation—I think he’s really going to forge and take off based on his talent.

“I don’t think people give him enough credit for his athleticism. This guy is very, very athletic. He’s slippery. He can extend plays but he’s not one of those guys that is going to hold onto the ball too long and back himself into some poor decisions.”

McCarthy has been linked to the Vikings since last fall, with the notion GM Kwesi-Adofo Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell were focusing on the former five-star recruit who helped Michigan to the 2023 national championship. Back then and for a while this winter speculation was McCarthy could be available in the middle of the first round or later.

That seems to have changed, with talk now McCarthy might be selected among the first six picks in the April 25-27 NFL Draft. Four quarterbacks going in the first five or six selections? It’s possible and that scenario would mean the Vikings trading up to be positioned for McCarthy or another high QB prospect.

Trade capital could mean the Vikings offering their No. 11 and No. 23 first round picks, and more, to be in a prime draft spot. McCarthy could be the target because of his skills and how those physical and mental attributes fit the Viking offense that favors play-action and passes over the middle of the field.

Daniel House

“I think he fits Kevin O’Connell’s offense the best (compared to Daniels and Maye) and he’s got the highest ceiling overall when he gets into an offense that fits his strengths—the play fake, the ability to suck defenders up, doesn’t get frustrated when things aren’t available. He’s a great improv, off-schedule quarterback when he needs to be,” House said about the 21-year-old who is the youngest among the four quarterbacks ballyhooed in the draft.

“The thing I notice is how he loves to give receivers hand signals, and then just redirects them and knows where to put the ball to give them a chance or draw a flag. Flashes the ability to move defenders with his eyes, and pump fakes, and really shines throwing over the middle of the field which I think is something Kevin O’Connell really is looking for in his next quarterback. …”

If the Vikings stay at No. 11 in the first round, McCarthy is unlikely to be available, but Bo Nix from Oregon and Michael Penix Jr. of Washington could be. In a league where successful quarterbacks have been found not only in the first round but even as free agents, the Vikings might find their man at No. 11 or later.

House refers to Nix as “a great athlete,” praises him for his throwing accuracy and pump fake that fools defenders, and for having a high football IQ. He said Nix’s pro success will depend on the system he plays in. “If he ends up with someone like Kevin O’Connell, I think he could do quite well.”

House praises Penix’s improvement during his college career and likes the quarterback’s ability to find openings in the secondary. “He’s more of a gunslinging type of quarterback where he’ll drive it into the tight window because he’s got such a strong arm and the ball really jumps out of his hands differently.”

House said Penix can make all the throws, his processing is better than he is given credit for and he thinks “someone is going to really fall in love with him as their quarterback.”

Of course, every prospect has elements like processing that evaluators are uncertain about. For a detailed look at the top quarterbacks in this month’s draft google their name and the NFL.com/prospects.

Worth Noting

Good guy Dalton Risner, the Vikings left guard who signed a one-year deal with the club last year but now is a free agent, switched agents recently in what seems to be a slow-moving contract process. Could Blake Brandel, who the Vikings re-signed last month, change from a utility backup role to a starter at left guard?

A controversial call in the closing seconds of Friday night’s Women’s Final Four cost UConn an opportunity to tie or win their semifinal game against Iowa but afterward former Hopkins superstar Paige Bueckers said one play doesn’t determine the outcome and she could have played better. Her former high school coach, Brian Cosgriff, texted this last night:

”No excuses. Even after one of the toughest losses ever. It’s what makes Paige special off the court, too!”

Quote on X last week from Robbinsdale Cooper LB Emmanuel Karmo —the top-rated class of 2025 state of Minnesota prep football prospect by 247Sports —after visiting Ohio State: “Had a great time in Columbus yesterday (April 1). Love the facility and the people and can’t wait to get back down on campus.”

A timely program on NIL’s impact on college sports featuring Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle will be the topic for the Capital Club’s April 24 breakfast at Mendakota Country Club. More information about the club is available from Patrick Klinger, patrick@agilemarketingco.com

With the Timberwolves facing salary cap challenges in the next offseason, forward-center Karl-Anthony Towns could be traded. If so, his absence may create a bigger role for center Luka Garza who recently saw his two-way contract converted into a standard NBA contract. Now in his third NBA season, Garza scored a season-high 16 points last week against the Raptors in just under 10 minutes. A skilled offensive player, Garza averaged 36.7 points in three G League games this season with the Iowa Wolves.

Anthony Edwards has at least one steal in 17 consecutive road games and can continue the streak in Los Angeles tonight against the Lakers. The club record is 24 set by Terrell Brandon in 2000.

That was Nebraska head basketball coach Fred Hoiberg, presumably in town for recruiting last week, seen at the Original Pancake House in Eden Prairie.

7 Vines Vineyard and Winery in Dellwood will be the site on Monday, June 10 for a tribute by friends and former teammates of the late Jim Carter who passed away in California last November. The celebration of life for the former Gopher football captain (1969) is being organized by former teammate Jim Brunzell.

The Wild, looking at missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019, seem likely to use minimal time in deciding whether to bring back 39-year-old goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Twin Cities chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association is nominating Wild center Marco Rossi for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy presented annually to the player best exemplifying perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

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