Preps – Page 25 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Basketball Ticket Sales Hold Steady

Posted on November 1, 2022November 1, 2022 by David Shama

As of last Wednesday, public season ticket sales for University of Minnesota men’s basketball were approaching last year’s total of 5,666. An information request to the U by Sports Headliners generated various ticket sales numbers including that the sale for 2022-2023 public season tickets was at 5,517.

The number of public season tickets accounts for 2021-2022 was 1,908, compared to last week’s total of 1,857 for the coming season. There is no change from last year in pricing of public season tickets.

As of last week, University student season tickets totaled 2,138 and had surpassed last year’s 2,096.

There is positivity among fans about second-year head coach Ben Johnson and optimism regarding his recruiting and transfers. The Gophers’ 2023 recruiting class has two hyped players who have verbally committed, center Dennis Evans from Riverside, California and guard Cameron Christie of Rolling Hills, Illinois. Recruiting authority 247Sports rates Evans the fourth best center prospect in the 2023 national recruiting class and Christie the 23^rd best shooting guard. This season’s team features North Carolina transfer forward Dawson Garcia who was a McDonald’s All-American playing at Prior Lake High School.

Minnesota has an exhibition game at Williams Arena Wednesday night against St. Olaf (tickets $6 to $16) and then opens its regular season schedule with a nonconference game against Western Michigan November 7. Asked about possible sellouts this season at 14,625 seat Williams Arena, the U ticket report document speculated the February 12 Iowa game and March 5 Wisconsin game might do so.

The Gophers’ overall record last season was 13-17. In Big Ten games Minnesota finished with a 4-16 record and tied for last place with Nebraska in the 14-team conference.

The outlook for the upcoming season is the Gophers will be an improved team but forecasters still have them finishing among the bottom group in the Big Ten. Minnesota’s Big Ten and NCAA Tournament records the last several years has impacted fan support. Dating back to the season 2017-2018 season the Gophers’ conference record is 31-67. Minnesota qualified for one NCAA Tournament during that time, splitting two games in 2019.

Home attendance has been declining for years. About 15 years ago public season tickets totaled over 9,000.

The pandemic prevented fans from attending games for the 2020-2021 season, but the three prior years the public season ticket totals were as follows: 5,944 (2019-2020), 6,155 (2018-2019) and 6,524 (2017-2018).

The average attendance of 10,267 last season was the second lowest since 1970-1971 (8,395). The 2019-2020 average was 10,232.

Gophers Notes

The Gophers play in the SoCal Challenge November 21 and 23 in San Juan Capistrano. Creative Charters is offering five-and-seven-day packages to enjoy not only the games but to experience the weather and attractions on the California Coast. The Stillwater-based company of Steve and Dorothy Erban has been offering Gopher and other fan travel since 1993.

Through a request for information to the University of Minnesota, Sports Headliners has learned the Gophers will pay legendary football power Alabama $300,000 to play at Huntington Bank Stadium September 18, 2032. Alabama will guarantee the same amount to Minnesota for the September 17, 2033 game in Tuscaloosa.

Minnesota and Alabama athletic departments will both generate large revenues, with the assumption here each will keep all home game revenues including ticket receipts. Guarantees for nonconference games are often much larger than $300,000, further creating big paydays for both schools.

Minnesota is 1-0 all-time against Alabama. The Gophers beat the Crimson Tide 20-16 in the 2004 Music City Bowl in Nashville. Minnesota is 9-8-1 against current teams in the SEC.

With balmy weather and an attractive 1:30 p.m. start, the Gophers announced a surprisingly large attendance of 49,368 for their game against Rutgers last Saturday. The Gophers haven’t sold out a game this season in their 50,805-seat stadium but could November 19 against Iowa. Big Ten teams keep all home revenues.

Despite ups and downs over the decades, interest in Gopher football in the state is considerable. That interest can translate into ticket sales and TV eyeballs. The Minnesota at Penn State game October 22 was televised on ABC nationwide and in the Minneapolis-St. Paul marketplace had 250,000 viewers, per Darren Wolfson on a recent SKOR North podcast.

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U Football Frustration Merited, But…

Posted on October 18, 2022November 16, 2022 by David Shama

The results of the last two Golden Gophers football games are frustrating enough but now Minnesota goes on the road to play No.16 ranked Penn State with an uncertain quarterback situation. Tanner Morgan, the winningest Gopher quarterback in program history, was injured last Saturday and is being monitored this week by medical advisors.

Redshirt junior reserve Cole Kramer wasn’t available Saturday to relieve Morgan because of injury. Coach P.J. Fleck said Kramer’s status for Penn State is uncertain. That could leave quarterback duties up to redshirt freshman Athan Kaliakmanis who fumbled a snap and threw two interceptions in relief of Morgan.

Consecutive losses to Purdue and Illinois have resulted in a 1-2 Big Ten record, and frustration by the fanbase. It’s a long shot now the Gophers can win a first-ever West Division championship. Fans are rightfully hungry for a division title now that Fleck is in his sixth season leading the program.

Critics are piling on Fleck after 20-10 and 26-14 losses in the last two games (Gophers have a 4-2 overall record). He is unlikely to deliver a division title to Dinkytown until next season at the earliest, but his resume is solid while coaching at one of the most difficult places to win in the Big Ten.

Other than Nebraska, the Gophers have to go farther to recruit much of their roster than any school in the conference. Out of state recruiting is a must because Minnesota high schools don’t produce a lot of Big Ten prospects. And when it comes to recruiting, remember this about the University of Minnesota: the Gophers don’t cheat by paying players like some of their Power Five rivals. That puts programs like Minnesota at a competitive disadvantage.

The Gophers are a developmental program with a roster that has no five-star and few four-star players coming out of high school. Often developing talent works but there are also ongoing times of poor results. An epicenter in the last two games is the receiving corps. Too often receivers aren’t gaining separation to get open. There are instances where effort is lacking, like not contesting a catch or poor route running.

To be successful the Gophers need balance between passing and running. The passing game didn’t show up in the last two losses, with Minnesota scoring a total of 24 points. In the first four games of the season Minnesota had that balance and scored over 30 points in three nonconference wins and a Big Ten road victory at Michigan State. No doubt, though, one of the nation’s easiest schedules helped fuel the Gophers’ success.

In both losses this fall Minnesota trailed at the half, part of a history of not being able to stage second half comebacks. At one point in Jerry Kill’s coaching career at Minnesota his teams were 0-22 when trailing at halftime. Using a run-heavy offense over the years, the Gophers are currently 0-31 in their last 31 games when trailing by 10 points or more, per ESPN. Minnesota fell behind by 10 points early in their Purdue and Illinois losses.

Kill, a talented coach like Fleck, never won a division title while leading the Gophers from 2011 thru part of the 2015 season. Glen Mason, who coached some of the greatest rushing teams in program history, didn’t win a Big Ten title during his run in Minneapolis from 1997-2006.

Minnesota is a difficult place to win consistently and at a high level. The Gophers haven’t won a Big Ten title since 1967 under coach Murray Warmath who was fired after the 1971 season for losing too many games. Since then, Minnesota has plowed through nine coaches including Fleck who has a resume that deserves respect.

Including bowl games, Fleck is 39-25 at Minnesota, with a winning percentage of .609 that ranks third in program history among head coaches who led the Gophers in 45 games or more. His Big Ten record is 22-24 but none of eight predecessors won more league games than they lost and most of them didn’t even come close. Warmath at 66-57-4 was the last Minnesota coach to have a winning record in conference games. Fleck’s 7-2 and 6-3 league records in 2019 and 2021 are among the best at Minnesota in more than 60 years.

Fleck is the only Gopher coach to go undefeated in bowl games. The Gophers have won three consecutive postseason games including the New Year’s Day Outback Bowl against Auburn after which they finished No. 10 nationally in the final AP poll.

Minnesota is 15-5 in its last 20 away games. Maybe the Gophers surprise their critics Saturday night and make it 16-5.

Wolves Owner Expects Fast Start

The Timberwolves play five of their first six games at Target Center including the season opener Wednesday night against the Thunder. The Wolves also have nine of their first 12 games at home—and for the most part the opponents are not a who’s who of NBA heavyweights.

With a reconfigured roster led by newly acquired all-NBA center Rudy Gobert and coming off a 46-36 season in 2021-2022, owner Glen Taylor has expectations for a fast start. “Well, I looked at the schedule. I think we’re playing against teams that I would say we have a very good chance of beating on paper. …Then we have the home games so expectations (are) we should come out of these first group of games with a pretty good record.”

Taylor has owned the franchise since 1994 and there have been plenty of difficult seasons. He counts the Kevin Garnett era and one season with Jimmy Butler as times of high expectations, along with right now. “This is the third time where I think we have a really good team, and my expectations are that we should go far into the season and do very well. You know it’s going to be fun for our fans, including myself.”

The way Taylor sees it is his team can make a statement in its first 12 games. “We have a history of not doing well against teams we should win (against). …Teams that are missing their stars, we go ahead and lose the game, and stuff like that. You know my expectations (are) that won’t happen this year.

“Get off to a good start. Now that’s good for the players but it’s also good for our fans too because I think it gets their interest and we’ll have a bigger attendance. …I think they’ll get behind the players (and) just motivate them to a higher level of play.”

Taylor also wants to see his team have playoff success, going beyond the first round of the postseason. That’s something Minnesota hasn’t done since 2004. The sting of last spring’s playoff series loss will last awhile since many observers will argue the Wolves were superior to the Grizzlies.

“That’s my expectation (to get beyond the first round),” Taylor said. “I think with the guys that we have, if other than injuries, they should deliver that. I am really confident in our coaching. I think they’ll get the most out of these guys. That’ll make a difference.”

A factor in how successfully the Wolves start the season will be the performance of Karl-Anthony Towns. The all-NBA big man has been asked to switch from center to power forward, and complicating the transition is an undisclosed illness that hospitalized him at the start of training camp.

Taylor didn’t describe the medical problem Towns faced. “Well, I am not going to go into it. They kept me advised everything that was going on. It was a setback, but we are hopeful given the next couple of weeks that he can get his strength and weight back.”

Taylor also said that as Towns recovers it doesn’t mean he “can’t play well.”

Is the nature of the medical issue something that can re-occur? “I don’t think so,” Taylor answered.

New owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are scheduled soon to make another installment on the payment plan leading to their taking over majority ownership of the Wolves and WNBA Lynx by December of 2023. Taylor believes the process is on schedule. “My expectation (is) that the end of this year they would be obligated to make their second payment.”

For now Taylor is basking in a time of high expectations for his team. A visitor suggested there is a buzz about the Wolves. “You’re correct,” the 81-year-old owner said.

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Bret Bielema Bedevils Golden Gophers

Posted on October 11, 2022October 11, 2022 by David Shama

Bret Bielema has a history with University of Minnesota football and it’s an unhappy one for Golden Gophers fans. Let’s put it this way: Bielema doesn’t receive many greeting cards with Minnesota postmarks on the envelopes.

As a head coach Bielema is 8-0 against the Gophers and he hopes to make it 9-0 Saturday in Champaign where his Big Ten West Division leading Fighting Illini are a 3.5 point underdog. While leading Wisconsin from 2006-2012, the Badgers were 7-0 against Minnesota. Then last season, Bielema’s first as Illinois head coach, he surprised a heavily favored Gopher team with a 14-6 upset in Minneapolis.

Gopher fans who harbor hard feelings can tell you the circumstances and score of the 2010 game in Madison. Deep in the fourth quarter the Badgers scored a touchdown to go ahead 41-16. With a 25-point lead, Bielema opted for an unsuccessful two-point conversion try that raised the eyebrows of the college football world. Gophers head coach Tim Brewster was angered by the strategy not to kick the extra point, and Minnesota fans found another reason to resent the Badgers, piling on the hurt of losing every year to their border rival to the east.

Bielema left the Badgers after the 2012 season to take the head coaching job at Arkansas. For whatever reasons, things didn’t work out in Fayetteville and Bielema was fired with a 29-34 record in five seasons. After a stint in the NFL, Illinois jumped on the opportunity to hire him after firing Lovie Smith who recruited successfully but didn’t see his teams live up to expectations.

Last year the Illini finished 5-7 but now are 5-1 and ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll of top 25 teams. The success doesn’t surprise Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck.

“Obviously, he’s one of the best college coaches—maybe of all time. You can start to see that blueprint starting to take shape over there at Illinois. I’ve got a lot of respect for what they do and who they are, especially him as a person and as a coach.”

Fleck, speaking at his weekly news conference Monday, said the Illini are “incredibly physical” and there is a lot of athleticism on the roster. “They want to just beat you up and they’ve done that to a lot of people this year. They’re a really good football team.”

The Illini hold Big Ten wins over Iowa and Wisconsin, with a three-point loss at Indiana. Bielema’s team has scored 24 points or more in four games. No longer is Bielema just relying on a power-run game that had much to do with his success at Wisconsin including three Big Ten titles. Now his teams may show formations with five wide outs or three tight ends.

Defense is really where the Illini show their prowess. Illinois has given up only three touchdowns and ranks third in the country in yards yielded per game, 227.8. Minnesota is No. 1 giving up 222 yards per game. The Gophers have allowed five touchdowns.

The Gophers, 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten, likely need to win Saturday to have some control in contending for the program’s first-ever West Division championship. Going to No. 10 ranked Penn State with a 1-2 conference record a week from Saturday wouldn’t be a good position for the boys from Dinkytown. Two of those losses would be to division foes, while the Illini’s only conference loss came out of the division against Indiana.

Nebraska and Purdue are tied with Illinois for the division lead with 2-1 records. Purdue holds a win over the Gophers and its only league loss was to Penn State from the East Division. Nebraska’s loss came to West Division rival Northwestern.

Minnesota still has seven conference games to play, but Saturday has a must-win feel to it. Success could well be determined by players who have been injured and whether they will play Saturday. lllinois starting quarterback Tommy DeVito and playmaking wide receiver Isaiah Williams were injured in Saturday’s 9-6 win over Iowa. Key defensive players are dealing with injuries, too.

Who all will play for the Illini probably won’t be known until Saturday morning. The Gophers will have All-American tailback Mo Ibrahim returning from his ankle injury sustained September 24 at Michigan State. He didn’t play in Minnesota’s offensive malaise against Purdue, when the Gophers lost 20-10. “He is the straw that stirs the drink here,” said Ryan Burns, the Gopher authority from GopherIllustrated.

Ibrahim’s replacements against Purdue, Trey Potts and Bryce Williams, were ineffective in a game where the offense was sluggish, the defense unable to make enough big stops and good fortune didn’t seem to favor maroon and gold.

Burns said Potts and Williams didn’t break a tackle in 20 combined carries. “Trey and Bryce don’t play well. Do I expect that to happen again? No, I expect them to be able to break a tackle. It was just a strange, strange week against Purdue.”

Burns has a prediction about Saturday’s game while making the assumption key injured players will play. “Illinois’ defense is tremendous, and their offense is a work in progress, but they have a really talented running back too in Chase Brown who…leads all of college football in rushing. So it’s going to be who can get to 17 points first because whichever one does, I think they’re going to win.”

When Bielema coached at Wisconsin he said on a Big Ten basketball telecast he considered Minneapolis part of the Badgers’ recruiting territory. Over the years it’s been a sore point with Gophers fans to see the parade of Minnesota preps in football and basketball play for the Badgers. When Bielema was at Arkansas he reached into Chanhassen and made center Frank Ragnow a Razorback. Ragnow became an All-American and was a 2018 first round pick of the NFL Lions.

Illini offensive line coach Bart Miller, who held the same title in 2016 under then Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys, is recruiting the Gopher state for Bielema. The Illini have made offers to Minnesotans including Osseo offensive lineman Jerome Williams who has verbally committed to the Gophers.

If the Gophers can keep the Illini shut out in recruiting here and deliver a win Saturday, Minnesota fans may mellow a bit about Bielema who not only was a kingpin at Wisconsin but played and coached at Iowa, that other heated border rival.

Maybe mellow (a bit).

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