Category: Preps

There’s no truth to speculation Apple Valley point guard Tyus Jones is not “seriously” considering the Gophers as his college choice, according to his mother.

Debbie Jones told Sports Headliners she didn’t “know where people are getting their information” when discussing her son, a high school sophomore who national observers consider the best at his position in the country.  “Oh, yeah, he is definitely considering Minnesota,” she said.

Programs that Jones is seriously looking at include Ohio State, Michigan State, Duke and Arizona, as well as Minnesota.  Except for Duke all have offered scholarships.

About a month ago family members including Tyus and his mother were at Ohio State for a first out of town unofficial visit.  Debbie said they met Buckeyes coach Thad Matta and attended an exhibition game.

She also said multiple factors will weigh on her son’s ultimate college choice and that staying home to attend school has appeal.  While the Gophers haven’t been winning for years like Ohio State and others on his list, that won’t necessarily tip a decision to choose a school other than Minnesota, according to Debbie.

Her sister and brother-in-law, Darcy and Greg Cascaes, made the trip to Columbus.  Debbie said family will influence the consideration of a college choice but ultimately the decision will be “what Tyus wants to do, no doubt.”

Apple Valley opens its season tomorrow night against Eden Prairie at home.  Apple Valley hopes to be among the state’s best teams this season and in a prep jamboree last month beat defending Class 4A champion Hopkins.   “Our kids played fabulous,” Debbie said.

The average NBA player reportedly earned $5.15 million last season, but players and team owners can’t reach agreement on a new labor deal. When hall of famer Elgin Baylor played for the Minneapolis Lakers in the late 1950’s he was one of the top players in the league but earned $7,500, according to Minnesota native Ed Cohen who represented Baylor.

Michigan senior guard Courtney Boylan, who played for Chaska High School, is the women’s Big Ten player of the week after scoring a career high 21 points in a road win at Florida. The 5-7 Boylan tied a career single game high of seven rebounds.

Jay Pivec, the former head coach at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, takes his 2-0 Dakota Community and Technical College team to Rochester on Friday night. This is the initial season for DCTC basketball and the Blue Knights will play Rochester Community and Technical College, a team ranked No.2 in the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Division III poll.

The Twins are renting Target Field to country music stars Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw for a concert on Sunday, July 8. It will be the first concert in the two-year-old stadium’s history but certainly not the last. A source told Sports Headliners that smaller concerts using a portion of the stadium are possible next year and beyond. Look for full stadium concerts like the Chesney and McGraw show in possibly 2013 or further out.

The Minnesota State High School League pays a total of $50,000 for rental of the Metrodome for semifinals and finals games in soccer and football this month, according to Bill Lester, executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. The league also pays 10 percent admissions tax and event costs such as ushering.

Wild forwards Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu and defenseman Marek Zidlicky have been named to the 2012 NHL All-Star ballot. Players appearing on the ballot were selected by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department.

Author Jim Hoey has written a new book that will challenge anyone who likes Minnesota boys’ hockey tournament trivia. The book is titled Puck Heaven, and Hoey also authored Minnesota Twins Trivia.