Preps – Page 43 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Why Gophers & Chet Holmgren Can Fit

Posted on February 15, 2021 by David Shama

There was speculation on social media and elsewhere last week that Minnehaha Academy 7-footer Chet Holmgren, the nation’s most coveted prep player in the class of 2021, will announce his college choice within days. However, a source close to Holmgren texted this message yesterday, “No announcement.”

Holmgren’s list of seven schools he is considering hasn’t publicly changed for months but Gonzaga is thought to be the favorite as the college destination for the versatile superstar. The Zags are the nation’s No. 1 team and a pedigree program with star power including point guard Jalen Suggs, a former teammate of Holmgren’s at the Academy. Suggs, though, won’t be in Spokane next season after becoming one of the early selections in the NBA Draft.

The schools on Holmgren’s list of seven announced last year are Georgetown, Gonzaga, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio State.

The Gophers? Their chances are probably similar to a Minnesota snowman not melting in April. Decades of mediocrity, troubled coaching tenures, inability to attract the state’s best prep players and fan apathy are “warts” on the maroon and gold sales pitch.

But that’s not to say it makes no sense for Holmgren not to play for the hometown team. Signing on with the Gophers could push several of the right buttons for the program and the player.

Watching Holmgren on the court makes an observer think twice about what he is seeing. Holmgren is so graceful and fluid he moves like a player six inches shorter. He dribbles with the skill of a guard, able to smoothly slash toward the basket and dunk the ball. He makes three-point shots but can also score inside using efficient footwork and moves. An unselfish talent, he is quick to find teammates with his passes, including outlet passes to start the fast break. His height, long arms and athleticism make him a frequent and intimidating shot blocker.

NBA mock drafts for 2022 project Holmgren as the first player to be chosen in a class of talented prospects. Partially for the similarity in mobility and versatility, Holmgren is compared with Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis. He was the NBA’s first overall draft choice out of Kentucky in 2012.

Attributes the teenage Holmgren doesn’t have yet are bulk and exceptional strength. At maybe 200 pounds, his frame is thin. Time and a college weight room will make a difference. Next season he could benefit from playing with Minnesota center Liam Robbins.

Robbins, a 7-foot, 235-pound transfer from Drake, is established now as one of the Big Ten’s better bigs. Holmgren, probably playing at power forward, needs a physical sidekick like Robbins who already has three seasons of college experience. Robbins can lessen some of the stress and pounding on Holmgren from opponents by using his size and strength, while helping with rebounding, shot blocking and scoring. A versatile scorer, Robbins can move outside the lane on occasion and allow Holmgren to post up.

Holmgren wants a college program that will enhance his readiness for the NBA. With the Gophers, the offense figures to run through him. Even if junior point guard Marcus Carr doesn’t pursue the pros, Holmgren’s presence, skills and versatility dictate him dominating the ball to run the offense. Holmgren will have constant opportunities in all kinds of situations to advance his game.

No collegiate league is more physical than the Big Ten and Holmgren needs that experience as he preps for the pros. That’s certainly a selling point for the Gophers when compared with Gonzaga. The Zags play in the ho-hum West Coast Conference that can’t come close to matching the Big Ten in physicality and quality teams.

There’s been talk of Holmgren playing after high school in the NBA’s developmental league. The G League, with older and more physical players, might be more of a jump than is prudent for him. While considering the pay-for-play G League, word is Holmgren is leaning toward college for next season.

A decision to become a Gopher changes both the reality and perception of basketball at the University of Minnesota. Coach Richard Pitino’s job status becomes more secure, the team is labeled at least a dark horse favorite to win the Big Ten next winter, and (pandemic allowing) Williams Arena is jumping with frenzied fans and sellout crowds.

Holmgren could play on the same floor as his dad, former Gopher David Holmgren who was a reserve in the 1980s. Dad and other family and friends could easily drive to Chet’s games, not having to constantly arrange out of state travel like they would if he chooses Gonzaga or other programs on his list.

If Holmgren takes up residency near Dinkytown, he will in one season establish himself as one of the program’s more revered players ever. Playing the loyalty card and choosing the hometown team will be remembered in a better way by Minnesotans than if he joins the parade of local prep stars that have opted for other places. Relationships count for a lot and if Holmgren unfortunately saw his pro earnings cut short by injury or illness, he might one day be more than grateful he played for the Gophers.

National Signing Day is April 14 and Holmgren can make his college choice official then if he wants. Just about that time in April three years ago Minneapolis received over a foot of snow—and snowmen were “alive and well!”

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Tom Brady Instincts Impress Bud Grant

Posted on February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 by David Shama

Tom Brady, 43, has been the quarterback on seven Super Bowl winning teams including last night when he helped lead the Tampa Bay Bucs to a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. After the game he was given the Super Bowl MVP Award for the fifth time. “In our lifetime we’re not going to see anybody even close to him record wise,” Bud Grant told Sports Headliners during an interview this morning.

While setting NFL player records Sunday night for most Super Bowls won and Super Bowl MVP awards won, Brady completed 21 of 29 attempts (72.4 percent) for 201 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, a 125.8 passer rating. He also built on his Super Bowl records for the most career completions (277), passing yards (3,039) and passing touchdowns (21).

Grant, the former Minnesota Vikings coach who took four teams to Super Bowls in the 1970s, used to ask scouts about the instincts of players they were evaluating. The scouts spoke about the measurables of players like size and speed but Grant wanted to know more.

“I said, ‘No, instinct is not measured. It is observed.’ All the great players have good instincts. His instincts (Brady’s) are as good as anybody. He doesn’t make many mistakes. Even those jump balls that he throws, they’re pretty darn close to being right on the money. …His instincts tell him who to throw to, where to throw, when to throw.”

Bud Grant (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings.)

When Grant coached he spoke of durability. One player might sprain an ankle and be sidelined for weeks, while another could be ready for next Sunday. Grant looks at Brady and sees a great quarterback who has been able to avoid injuries.

“One of the main things (about Brady’s success) is he’s durable,” Grant said. “He takes a few hits, not a lot. He gets rid of the ball quick. He’s like (Aaron) Rodgers. Those guys, as soon as the ball is snapped they know where they are going with the ball and they don’t get caught with the ball.”

While Brady generated a lot of attention last night, Grant said it was the Bucs’ defense that won the game. That unit contained Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who Grant compares with Vikings Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton. Mahomes, now, and Tarkenton in the 1970s when he quarterbacked for Grant, are two of the most entertaining escape artists in NFL history. The Bucs sometimes made Mahomes scramble for 20 yards and not have much to show for it. “The best team won, there’s no question about that,” Grant said.

Going into the game he didn’t realize how outstanding a team the Bucs, who came on strong late in the season and during the playoffs, really are. “I don’t watch that much football. I can’t sit there for three hours, or six hours on Sunday, and watch all those games. I’ve got other things to do. But I watch enough football and I enjoy it. …”

The beloved Hall of Fame coach, now 93 and healthy, has a large family of children and grand kids living within about 30 minutes of his Twin Cities residence. The pandemic has sidelined his legendary passion for hunting and fishing. Sometimes his outdoors companion is son Mike Grant, the Eden Prairie football coach. “We haven’t planned anything, only because COVID limits your options,” Mike said.

Worth Noting

Grant sizing up the entertainment value of last night’s big game: “It wasn’t a very good game to watch from a spectator standpoint. There weren’t a lot of big plays. …It’s probably going to be forgotten pretty quick, that game yesterday.”

Bob Hagan, the Vikings vice president of football and media communications, didn’t work the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years. He has been part of NFL PR staffers from around the league servicing the media in the past, but the pandemic dramatically reduced credentialed media covering the 2021 Super Bowl.

Chiefs linebacker Damien Wilson, and wide receiver Tyler Johnson and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. from the Bucs, were Jerry Kill and Tracy Claeys Gophers recruits. Wilson wasn’t even ranked by 247Sports coming out of high school and came to Minnesota from junior college. Johnson and Winfield were 247Sports three-star players as preps.

Dan O’Brien said son Casey O’Brien starts work this week in a support position for RBC Wealth Management in downtown Minneapolis. The inspirational Casey, a former holder on the Gopher football team, earned his degree in finance at Minnesota in December. He completed his course work in 3.5 years while also playing football and fighting cancer (his Twitter page identifies him as a five-time cancer survivor). “He’s nine months cancer free right now,” Dan said.

Dan’s last day as athletic director at St. Thomas Academy will be April 2. He has accepted a position with Hays Financial Group in Minneapolis but will continue coaching football at St. Thomas. The former Gophers coach is grateful for the opportunity to continue in that role. “This fit right into their (Hays) philosophy of giving back to the community,” he said.

Garrison Solliday, the Mr. Football finalist from St. Thomas Academy, has preferred walk-on offers from Duke and Wisconsin, and is likely to play inside or outside linebacker in college. Danny McFadden, the Academy running back, has accepted a preferred walk-on invite to Stanford.

Word is Chet Holmgren, the Minnehaha Academy superstar who could be the No. 1 selection in the 2022 NBA Draft, will consider joining the pay-for-play G League team for elite prospects, but is leaning toward college next fall. Holmgren’s list of potential college programs still includes the Gophers. The programs in contention for the nation’s No. 1 prep prospect are: Georgetown, Gonzaga, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio State.

In yesterday’s 247Sports composite team rankings for 2021 recruiting, Wisconsin at No. 15 in the country led all Big Ten West football programs. The Badgers’ group of 21 recruits features one five-star offensive lineman and two four-star O-line prospects including Riley Mahlman from Lakeville South. Nebraska at No. 20 and Iowa, No. 23, are closest behind the Badgers, with Minnesota next at No. 37.

Karl-Anthony Towns, who because of COVID-19 protocol hasn’t played in a game since January 13, might return tonight in the Timberwolves’ home game with the Dallas Mavericks.

Fan criticism of Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino is intensifying after three consecutive losses and a 0-6 road record. Pitino, now in his eighth season at Minnesota, has coached one team with a winning regular season Big Ten record.

A pessimistic reader asked if Minnesota can earn its way into the NCAA Tournament with a 14-12 regular season record. Highly unlikely. The Gophers, 11-7 right now, would probably need to win two games in the Big Ten Tournament to qualify for “March Madness.”

MLB.com didn’t include Twins minor leaguer Jhoan Duran in its top 100 MLB prospects listing but sees him as the organization’s player most likely to break through. A summary last Thursday said the right hander’s fast ball approaches 100 miles per hour and that Duran throws a “nasty splitter/sinker hybrid” that can get big leaguers out.

The Twins are hoping to play in front of fans this spring for more than the franchise’s direct benefit. Customers at Target Field could help revitalize downtown businesses.

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Glen Taylor: No Interest in KAT Trade

Posted on February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 by David Shama

Speculation persists the Minnesota Timberwolves might be trade partners in a deal involving their most valued player, 25-year-old former all-NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT).

Even last off-season there were rumors the Wolves could part with Towns. Asked about the truth of those rumors, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said, “No, absolutely not. I don’t know where they (the rumors) would come from.”

Towns averaged 18.3 points per game and was NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2015-2016 season. He has averaged over 20 points per game each season since and in 2018 signed a five-year contract with Minnesota. “We’re building the team around him,” Taylor told Sports Headliners this morning.

Part of why Towns is targeted for trade speculation is the Wolves haven’t found much success on the floor, making the playoffs just once since he joined the team. Does Taylor know of Towns having a desire to play elsewhere?

“If anything he has indicated the opposite,” Taylor said. “He likes the coach (Ryan Saunders). He likes playing here and he’s just sorry he’s not out there playing.”

Because of COVID, Towns hasn’t played since January 13 but he will return soon. “I would think it would be this week, yes,” Taylor said. (Towns will not play in tonight’s game in Cleveland against the Cavs).

With COVID protocol and a wrist injury earlier, Towns has only played in four games for the 5-14 Wolves who are in last place in the Western Conference. The team has won two of eight games without Towns, including a 109-104 victory over the Cavs in Minneapolis last night.

The team record is a clear disappointment to Taylor who made it known before the season he expected the club to make the playoffs. “I just expected them to do better than they have,” Taylor said.

But despite the slow start, Taylor is still anticipating his team in the playoffs later this year. “I recognize that it’s going to be difficult, but on the other hand, there’s other teams that aren’t performing up to their expectations, too, and I guess we just gotta catch them.”

Taylor thinks the Wolves can have better results even without Towns in the lineup. “I don’t know why there’s this much difference (without Towns). There were some games we played pretty well. Almost all the games we lose, we go through a streak, maybe a quarter of the game, where we just have difficulty putting up shots, and I don’t know that you can tie that just on one person. There’s gotta be somebody else out there that can take the leadership role and…score during those difficult periods.”

Towns had a friendship with high scoring point guard D’Angelo Russell even before the Wolves acquired him last winter. The two haven’t played much together yet, nor have they seen many minutes with 2020 NBA first round overall draft choice Anthony Edwards, another gifted scorer. “Potentially we have some firepower there,” Taylor said. “We just gotta get them on the floor.”

Worth Noting

Word is the Minnesota Twins remain optimistic about signing free agent DH Nelson Cruz and free agent right-hand pitcher Jake Odorizzi. A source told Sports Headliners a Cruz deal could be for two years, the Odorizzi contract for one.

The Capital Club, via Zoom, will hear from Dave St. Peter of the Twins and Mike Veeck and Derek Scharrer from the St. Paul Saints Thursday morning.

Because of the pandemic it’s uncertain when the Saints will begin their first season as a Twins Triple A affiliate. Twins fans are curious to see who among the team’s top minor league prospects will be on the Saints roster.

If shortstop Royce Lewis is in St. Paul, it’s a lock fans will flock to CHS Field. MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, announced on Friday, ranks Lewis No. 17. The other Minnesota prospects on the list are outfielder-first baseman Alex Kirilloff, No. 26; outfielder Trevor Larnach, No. 80; and right-hand pitcher Jordan Balazovic, No. 97.

Former Gophers right-hand pitcher Max Meyer, now with the Miami Marlins, is No. 27.

Ex-Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario has reportedly signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Indians and he has a successful history at Progressive Field. As a visiting player he has a .353 average and 1.031 OPS, per a Friday MLB.com story. His 11 home runs, 12 doubles and three triples are career bests in any road stadium.

The current bid this morning was $270,000 on the Heritage Auctions website for a mint condition Topps 1954 Hank Aaron rookie card.

Minnesota (center Liam Robbins and guard Marcus Carr) and Illinois (center Kofi Cockburn and guard Ayo Dosunmu) are the only schools that have players who are top 10 candidates on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award and Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

Harvey Mackay, the New York Times best selling author and former Gopher golfer, shared memories with Sports Headliners of his 32-year friendship with the late Larry King who died January 23. The famous talk show host interviewed Mackay many times about his business and motivational books, and the two formed a close relationship.

“Larry loved boxing and Muhammad Ali,” Mackay said via email. “He once wrote in his column in USA Today that meeting Muhammad was ‘the biggest thrill in my life … I couldn’t sleep last night … chills running up and down my spine.’

“One night I was having dinner with Larry in New York, and I brought Muhammad with me as a surprise. Suddenly a woman came up and said, ‘Oh, Mr. Mackay, I’ve read all your books … Can I have your autograph?’

“Larry went nuts and said, ‘Don’t you know who this is? This is Muhammad Ali. Don’t you want his autograph?’

“I looked at Larry and said you bit it hook, line and sinker. I paid her $50 an hour to come up and ask for my autograph. We were still laughing about that years later. But the point is don’t ever be boring. Don’t be predictable. Show some creativity with your friends and have some fun.”

Mackay’s latest book came out last month, “Getting a Job is a Job.”

Sign of the times: various online reports in the last few days have the NHL borrowing $1 billion to help its fiscally troubled franchises. In December the NBA reportedly borrowed $900 million to assist its franchises.

The prep Mr. Football Award winner will be announced February 21 via Zoom. The Vikings and Minnesota Football Coaches Association sponsor the Mr. Football Award and the ten 2020 finalists are: Shea Albrecht, Orono; Joe Alt, Totino-Grace; Cameron Anderson, Blue Earth Area; Trey Feeney, Moorhead; Nick Flaskamp, Minneapolis Southwest; Marcus Hansen, Waseca; Eli Mau, Chanhassen; Jake Ratzlaff, Rosemount, Garrison Solliday, St. Thomas Academy; Adam Tonsfeldt, Barnesville.

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