Preps – Page 117 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Tyus Jones Open to Early College Exit

Posted on October 23, 2013October 23, 2013 by David Shama

Debbie Jones, mother of Apple Valley senior point guard Tyus Jones, told Sports Headliners her son is open to playing only one year of college basketball. “If the opportunity presents itself, then absolutely,” Debbie said.

Leaving for the NBA after one season has been discussed with coaches recruiting Jones. The possibility of playing only as a freshman hasn’t deterred the biggest names in college coaching from pursuing Jones who is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 5 player in the nation for the prep class of 2014.

The final schools Jones is considering signing a Letter of Intent with are Baylor, Duke, Kansas and Minnesota. NCAA rules allow high school seniors to sign from November 13-20. There is a second signing period next spring from April 16-May 21.

Jones plans to sign with a school in November. An announcement regarding his college choice will come during the first or second week next month, according to his mom.

How the announcement will be done hasn’t been determined but Debbie said, “We’ll probably do something at the school (Apple Valley).” She indicated her son’s announcement is likely to happen at the same time as Jahlil Okafor’s. A well publicized pact between Jones and Okafor to attend college together is likely to remain in place. Okafor is a center from Chicago’s Whitney High School and is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 1 player nationally in the 2014 class.

Debbie said it’s “doubtful” her son and Okafor will choose separate schools, and acknowledged the Chicago superstar doesn’t have the Gophers on his final list of possible colleges. “If they go together to school that unfortunately would eliminate the Gophers,” Debbie said.

Okafor’s list of schools is reportedly Baylor, Duke and Kansas. He and Tyus visited Kansas together last weekend and over Labor Day weekend were at Baylor. Okafor is expected to join his friend at Duke this weekend.

Jones and his mom leave tomorrow for Duke, the last official visit the two will make in narrowing down the list of schools. On Saturday they will watch the Blue Devils in an exhibition game against Bowie State.

Tyus has been one of the most coveted athletes in Minnesota prep history. Debbie said the family is appreciative of all the attention but it will be a relief to end the selection process.

She also said there haven’t been any offers from schools that are in violation of NCAA rules. “I think people kind of know who we are. They know they’re dealing with people who don’t operate that way.”

Worth Noting

Debbie Jones’ youngest son, eighth grader Tre Jones, starts tryouts with the Apple Valley High School varsity on November 11. She said Tre will know after the first week of practice whether he made the team — as older brother Tyus did as an eighth grader.

The Timberwolves play the Sixers tonight who have a preseason roster that includes former Gophers Royce White and Rodney Williams. White leads the Sixers in personal fouls per game, 4.25. In five games he is averaging five points. Williams has played in one game for 19 minutes and didn’t score but had one block, rebound and assist.

Look for the Vikings to honor Cris Carter at their home game on November 7 against the Redskins. The former wide receiver was enshrined earlier this year in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Despite the combined dismal 1-10 record of the Vikings and Giants, their Monday night game was the most watched NFL telecast on ESPN in three weeks, according to a story yesterday on Sportsmediawatch.com.

Fans are welcome at the Gopher Gridiron Luncheon program starting at 11:30 a.m. on Friday at Jax Café in northeast Minneapolis. The program includes a Gophers coach and two players with Mike Grimm as emcee. More information is available at GoalLineClub.com. Membership in the Goal Line Club is not required to attend the luncheon which previews Minnesota’s game at home on Saturday against Nebraska.

A hockey source requesting anonymity told Sports Headliners that Wild owner Craig Leipold’s “patience” with coach Mike Yeo may not last more than a few more weeks. “They should be (playing) better than they are,” the source said earlier this week before the Wild defeated Nashville 2-0 last night.

The Wild is 4-3-3 in the first few weeks of the season. Not only is the win total disappointing but the team isn’t reaching its potential in creating “scoring chances,” the source said. The Wild had one goal last night until scoring on an empty net with 24 seconds remaining.

This is Yeo’s first NHL employment as a head coach and third season with the Wild. The team made the playoffs last season after a five year absence but the source suggested the Wild isn’t playing at last year’s level when the final record was a mediocre 26-19-2.

With a ho-hum start, the Wild has been behind the Vikings, Gophers football and even the Timberwolves (season hasn’t started) in generating local sports interest.

Sam Warning, the Gophers 21-year-old junior wing, is tied for the nation’s scoring lead in points with Kevin Roy from Northeastern. Warning has nine points in four games after scoring 23 last season in 29 games. He is the first Missouri native to ever play for the Gophers.

The Gophers men’s and women’s hockey teams are ranked No. 1 in the country in the USCHO.com polls.

Daydreaming about the Twins? What if the front office used some Target Field revenues to acquire Tigers stopper Max Scherzer who is expected to sign with another MLB team during the offseason. Scherzer in a Twins uniform gives the club a No. 1 starting pitcher and signing with Minnesota weakens Central Division rival Detroit. Thoughts of a starting staff in a few years of Scherzer as the No. 1 guy, Alex Meyer No. 2 and Kyle Gibson No. 3 is intriguing.

Yesterday’s announcement that Paul Molitor will join the coaching staff with responsibilities that include in-game strategy leaves Twins followers wondering just how “hot” Ron Gardenhire’s manager seat is.

Local business leaders Dave Mona and Susan Adams Loyd are volunteer co-chairs for the National Senior Games to be held at various Twin Cities venues during July of 2015. The National Senior Games is the largest multi-sport event in the world for adults 50 and over, and 12,000 athletes and 30,000 guests are expected to attend the 2015 gathering. Loyd competes in track and field events for seniors, while Mona’s sports interests include co-hosting WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle.”

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Claeys Won’t Go Rah-Rah on Saturday

Posted on October 15, 2013October 15, 2013 by David Shama

Interim Gophers football coach Tracy Claeys said this afternoon there is nothing new on a date for the return to work of head coach Jerry Kill. It appears Kill will miss his second consecutive game on Saturday when the Gophers play at Northwestern.

“I don’t anticipate him being at that game,” Claeys said.

Kill is not at his Gophers office and few details have been made available during his absence that began with missing the Michigan game on October 5. Kill likely won’t return to work until he and his medical advisors have a very high level of confidence he can avoid the repetitive seizures that have sidelined him in the past and made national headlines.

Kill talks with Claeys by telephone. How much input does Kill have? “As much as he wants,” Claeys said.

Claeys will coach from the sidelines on Saturday, a change from the press box locations he normally uses as defensive coordinator. But Claeys will continue to handle the defense, plus the responsibilities of a head coach.

Will he offer a pep talk prior to the Northwestern game? “Those rah-rah speeches, you give those and they work for one or two plays,” he said. “As soon as someone belts you a good one, the rah-rah speech is gone. Winning football games still comes down to playing hard and executing. Doing your job. We’ll remind the kids of the things they need to do well and I have no doubt we’ll play hard.”

Claeys will start Mitch Leidner at quarterback but Philip Nelson could play for a series as early as the first half. “There will be no set rotation or anything like that,” Claeys said.

He also said Leidner’s past performance merits the start against Northwestern. Nelson lost his starting job during the nonconference season because of a hamstring injury but the coaching staff doesn’t want to forget about him. “There’s not that big a difference in skill between Philip and Mitch,” Claeys said. “We don’t have to go change our offense that much.”

Worth Noting

The Vikings could be shopping for a quarterback in the first round of next year’s NFL Draft. The top five prospects are Marcus Mariota, Oregon; Zach Mettenberger, LSU; Brett Hundley, UCLA; Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M; and Tajh Boyd, Clemson, according to a scout’s list in the October 14 issue of Sports Illustrated.

During the second half of Sunday’s Vikings-Panthers game a fan was hiding his face with a paper mask — an idea that could become more popular with the Purple off to a 1-4 start including the embarrassing 35-10 loss to the Panthers.

Fans sometimes pay a lot of money before they arrive in their seats for a game at Mall of America Field. First Covenant Church was charging $40 to park a vehicle on Sunday and inside the stadium Adrian Peterson jerseys were selling for $115 each.

When the Vikings play their home schedule at TCF Bank Stadium next year there may not be any single game tickets available. Steve LaCroix, the club’s vice president of sales and marketing, said the Vikings have total season tickets now in the “mid-50’s” range and will add about 2,000 seats to the present capacity of TCF Bank Stadium, 50,805. Announced attendance at Sunday’s game at Mall of America Field was 63,963.

Vikings wide receiver Jerome Simpson is averaging a career best 16.2 yards per reception. The 27-year-old missed games with the Vikings last year because of violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy but he told Sports Headliners 2013 is a new start.

“I am playing the best football of my career right now because I am just so relaxed and I am just tuned in,” he said last week. “I have no worries. I just go out there and just play football and have fun and entertain the people.”

Simpson, whose teammates nickname him “Juice” because of his energy, is focused too on his off-field behavior. “I am taking care of my business, and being the best person I can,” he said.

Vikings second-year placekicker Blair Walsh is tied with the Bears’ Robbie Gould for the NFL record for consecutive field goals of more than 50 yards with 12 and made All-Pro as a rookie last season. He also set the franchise record for most points in a single season. Asked if he thought about being remembered among the best kickers in NFL history, Walsh said, “It’s way too early for that.”

The PBS telecast last week about concussions and NFL players is a sobering look at pro football. “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis” focuses on how the NFL has addressed information about football causing long-term brain injuries. The program can be viewed on PBS.org.

Gophers fans thinking about buying tickets on Saturday morning at Ryan Field will find plenty of inventory. Although the Wildcats have become a strong program, fan support is underwhelming. Attendance has been less than 39,000 for three of four home games this season. The Ohio State game drew a capacity crowd of 47,130 but thousands of seats were filled with Buckeyes fans.

Here are Sports Headliners’ Big Ten football power rankings: Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan, Northwestern, Indiana, Penn State, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue.

The Gophers wear a variety of uniform combinations including the drab maroon jerseys and pants they have dressed in for three of four home games in 2013. Seniors vote to determine the uniform selections from game to game.

Former Gophers coach Tim Brewster, now tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida State, turned 53 on Sunday.

Brainerd’s Ron Stolski, the winningest prep football coach in Minnesota history, won his 350^th game last week. His career record is 350-155-5. State prep football coaches closing in on 100 career wins are Jim Galvin, Mounds View, 99-41; Dave Ziebarth, St. Thomas Academy, 98-26; John Austinson, Byron, 98-66; Bob Staska, McGregor, 97-59; and Jeff Weiland, Orono, 97-75.

MIAC attention this week will be on Saturday’s football game at Bethel when the first place Royals, 3-0, play St. Thomas, 2-1. Royal Stadium has a capacity of 3,500 but two years ago attendance was 5,842 when the Tommies came to Bethel. Bethel hasn’t defeated St. Thomas since 2007, 19-18.

Gophers coach Richard Pitino will have his team scrimmage in game format on Friday night at Williams Arena. The scrimmage is open to the public and begins at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. and admission is free.

Pitino’s father, Rick Pitino, is promoting a new book but got the brush off from Boston radio talk show host Fred Toucher who ripped Pitino for ruining the Celtics and then hung up on him after about 10 seconds, according to various media reports. Rick Pitino, coach of the defending national champion Louisville Cardinals, has a self-help book called The One-Day Contract. He is often criticized for his work as Celtics coach and president in the late 1990s.

Former Timberwolves guard and front office executive Fred Hoiberg is starting his fourth season as Iowa State’s head coach. Hoiberg has impressed with his coaching and it might be the Wolves will consider him if present head coach Rick Adelman retires in a year or two. Adelman, 67, has been concerned about his wife’s health and his coaching career seems year-to-year now. Hoiberg celebrates his 40^th today.

Dan Terhaar, former Minnesota Wild broadcaster, is the radio voice of St. Cloud State hockey on KNSI in St. Cloud.

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Sooners Interested in U RB Target Jones

Posted on October 2, 2013October 2, 2013 by David Shama

Oklahoma is the latest school to show interest in Washburn High School running back Jeff Jones. Washburn coach Giovan Jenkins told Sports Headliners the Sooners contacted him last week about Jones, the Rivals.com four-star running back who remains verbally committed to the Gophers.

“The Gophers will always be No. 1 until someone else shows something different that he can’t get at home,” Jenkins said. “He is a hometown kid who loves the thought of being a superstar in his home state. He loves the idea of being the next guy having the whole state on his side.”

The senior running back, who Rivals.com reports is the only four-star player to commit so far to the Gophers for the class of 2014, scored seven touchdowns last week to increase his season total to 24. “He’s having a phenomenal senior year,” Jenkins said. “He‘s on track for over 40 touchdowns.”

Jenkins believes Jones’ statistics, that include a career best 28 touchdowns as a sophomore, may have been what first prompted interest by national power Oklahoma, a program whose former great running backs include Adrian Peterson. “He probably reminds them of No. 28,” Jenkins said.

Jones spoke with Oklahoma assistant coach Cale Gundy on Monday night. Jenkins said the Sooners want to review Jones’ academic records before making an offer. Jenkins said his star running back is “on track to graduate.”

Worth Noting

The other Minnesota prep named Jones who is being highly recruited is Apple Valley point guard Tyus Jones. It’s speculated Jones will make Duke his college choice but maybe not. Jones is likely to keep his pact to attend the same school with Jahlil Okafor, the Chicago Whitney High School center. But does Okafor want to accept a scholarship to Duke where forward and former Chicago prep rival Jabari Parker is already a freshman?

Speculation is Okafor likes the Kansas coaches and perhaps leans toward a November commitment to the Jayhawks. But does Jones want to play in the Big 12 Conference where the Jayhawks’ rivals will include Baylor? The Bears’ coaching staff includes Jared Nuness who is a friend and relative of Jones.

Okafor and Jones might have their reasons for cancelling out Duke and Kansas. Could Baylor be the compromise choice?

Rivals.com rates Okafor the No. 1 national recruit in the class of 2014. Jones is No. 5.

Last Sunday games involving the Twins (Fox Sports North) and Vikings (WCCO TV) were televised in the local marketplace with dramatic differences in viewership. The Twins, ending a 66-96 season, had a 0.8 rating while the Vikings number was 33.

Byron Buxton, named this week by the Twins as the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year, backs up the hype about his extraordinary speed. He led all of minor league baseball in triples this year with 18 and was 12^th in stolen bases at 55. Buxton, who played in 125 total games with Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers, was also selected by Baseball America as its Minor League Player of the Year.

Sports Headliners’ Big Ten football power rankings: Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Northwestern, Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Penn State, Minnesota, Indiana and Purdue.

NHL authority Lou Nanne told Sports Headliners he’s taking a wait-and-see approach with the Wild who open the regular season tomorrow night at Xcel Energy Center against the Kings. Whether the Wild improve over last season’s 26-19-3 record depends on how young players “produce,” Nanne said. He mentioned 21-year-old forwards Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter, and defenseman Jonas Brodin, 20, referring to Coyle and Brodin as potential stars.

Nanne, a University of Minnesota alum, is involved with the new fundraising campaign to raise $190 million for Gophers facilities. He said a campaign announcement could come in three weeks.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino said yesterday he has 13 players practicing and is looking to add one or two walk-ons. He also said the NCAA hasn’t informed the Gophers yet whether Drake transfer Joey King will be eligible this season or have to sit out a year.

Pitino on former Gophers coach Tubby Smith: “He is one of the better teachers of fundamentals in the game.”

Local high school basketball authority Chris Monter describes Seattle prep Josh Martin as a “physical player” who can score inside. “He’s not a great athlete but a good athlete,” Monter said about the power forward who verbally committed to the Gophers this week.

ESPN.com dropped Martin, who makes only about half his free throws, from a four-star to two-star player. “His AAU team did not have a good summer,” Monter said.

News conference overload: The Gophers men’s hockey team will have a news conference this afternoon to preview the coming season. That will be the last of six local news conferences that started late Monday morning with the Timberwolves and included the Twins, Vikings, and Gophers football and basketball.

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