Preps – Page 70 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Twins Likely to Avoid Final 4 Conflict

Posted on April 3, 2018April 4, 2018 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column leading off with Twins news.

The Twins have requested they not be scheduled for home games at Target Field during the April 6-8, 2019 Final Four in Minneapolis. Club president Dave St. Peter said after consulting with Final Four organizers and considering potential issues with hotel rooms, traffic and other concerns the Twins have requested that Major League Baseball schedule the team on the road during that early period in April.

The club has yet to receive the 2019 MLB schedule but it sounds like their request will be honored. “It will be very likely that we will be on the road during the Final Four next year,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners yesterday.

Because of the request to avoid the early April dates, the Twins’ 2019 regular season opening could begin at home outdoors in March. St. Peter said MLB teams may open the schedule on March 28. Since the opening of Target Field on 2010, the Twins have been scheduled at home to start the season just once.

St. Peter also said suspended starting shortstop Jorge Polanco is at the Twins’ complex in Fort Myers where he is playing in what’s called “extended spring training games.” Polanco and others in the Twins system who have yet to be assigned to a specific team in the minor leagues play against similar competition from other organizations.

St. Peter said Polanco, who is suspended for using a performance-enhancing substance, will play for one or more Twins minor league teams starting 20 days out from the end of his 80 game suspension.

Gophers 1968-1969 basketball captain Al Nuness arranged a trip in 2010 with cousins Tyus and Tre Jones to the Final Four in Indianapolis. At that time Tyus was in eighth grade and Tre was a grade schooler. Back then no one could have predicted the basketball success the Jones brothers have achieved eight years later.

Tre, a senior now at Apple Valley, was named the state’s Mr. Basketball last week and played in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American Game featuring the best prep players in the nation. Those are two honors Tyus earned in 2014. The Mr. Basketball Award dates back to the 1970s, and Tre and Tyus are the only brothers to win the award.

Tyus and Tre led Apple Valley to Class 4A state championships playing for the Eagles. Tyus was named the 2015 Final Four most outstanding player when Duke won the national championship and a few months later found himself on the roster of his hometown NBA Timberwolves. Next fall Tre joins a loaded with talent Duke team that could be consensus preseason favorites to win the 2019 Final Four in Minneapolis.

So it looks like Nuness, who took his young cousins to Indy eight years ago to inspire them, might be able to witness another headline moment in 2019. He saw in Indy how the two youngsters studied the Final Four players in 2010 and the trip certainly made an impression. “We went to practices and they wouldn’t leave,” Nuness has said.

Tyus, who turns 22 next month, is one of only six players who were on the Wolves’ roster in April of last year. The club has nine new players including injured forward Jimmy Butler who the Wolves hope will return soon from his knee surgery and at least be available for the playoffs if Minnesota can qualify.

The Wolves have sold out 15 games at Target Center this season, the most since 2003-2004 when they last qualified for the postseason.

The Pirates’ Jameson Taillon, who overcame testicular cancer last year, earned his first win this season after starting against the Twins yesterday. Taillon, 8-7 with a 4.44 ERA last season, was the second MLB overall draft choice in 2010 and debuted with the Pirates in 2016.

The Twins haven’t had success bringing over high profile players from Japan but it looks like a different story for the Angels and rookie pitcher-DH Shohei Ohtani. He won his MLB pitching debut Sunday against the Angels, showing off a 100-miles per hour fast ball, according to NBC Sports California who reported 240 Japanese media were at the game in Oakland against the A’s.

It’s a good guess former Gopher coach Tubby Smith’s salary at his new position with High Point University in North Carolina is paying him less than $200,000 annually. A financial report on athletics from the University for school year June 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014 listed head basketball coach Scott Cherry’s compensation at $89,601. The same report listed basketball revenues during that period at about $1.9 million and operating expenses of approximately $1.6 million.

Smith, who played at High Point, is at his third school since being fired by the Gophers in March of 2013. Smith earned seven-figure compensation while coaching at Minnesota, Texas Tech and Memphis where he was dismissed last month and reportedly received a settlement of over $9 million.

The Gophers are offering discounted season tickets for football and men’s basketball and hockey to U alums who have graduated within the last five years. Pricing per ticket is $199 for football, $249 for basketball and $399 for hockey.

Fans can scout Minnesota Wild unsigned draft picks Nicholas Boka (Michigan), Avery Peterson (UMD) and Nick Swaney (UMD) in the NCAA Frozen Four April 5-7 at Xcel Energy Center. UMD plays Ohio State in the first semifinal the evening of April 5, while Michigan meets Notre Dame in the other semifinal. Both games will be televised on ESPN2. The championship game the night of April 7 will be seen on ESPN.

The Wild, who qualified for the playoffs last night, are one of only two NHL teams (Pittsburgh is the other) that has made the postseason six consecutive years.

Gopher baseball coach John Anderson, who labels Indiana as the favorite for the Big Ten title but sees his team as a contender, speaks to the CORES lunch group May 10 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

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Wolves Owner Fine with Wiggins

Posted on March 18, 2018March 18, 2018 by David Shama

After reading news media reports this month about Andrew Wiggins, Timberwolves fans might be wondering about both the past and future of the team’s high-potential 23-year-old guard-forward.

Multiple websites last week reported Wiggins is unhappy about being a “third option” on the team after forward Jimmy Butler and center Karl-Anthony Towns. Until Butler was injured and sidelined in February, Wiggins was less a part of the offense than in the past when Butler was playing in Chicago for the Bulls. Speculation Wiggins might ask for a trade next summer is part of the “third option” story.

Wolves’ owner Glen Taylor spoke to Sports Headliners Friday about Wiggins. “He said he didn’t say it, and that’s the end of it for me,” Taylor said.

1500 ESPN reported on the “third option” story, and also earlier this month said there was reason to believe Taylor wouldn’t allow Wiggins to be included in the 2017 trade that sent Butler to the Wolves for Minnesota’s first round draft choice and guards Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine. Station talk show hosts were critical of the possibility the owner overruled his basketball authorities in not allowing Wiggins to be included in trade discussions.

Taylor said he didn’t “recall” Wiggins’ name came up in conversations with Chicago. “If they asked for Wiggins, it probably never even got to me,” Taylor said.

Taylor has owned the Wolves since 1995 and watched a lot of basketball. He has his opinions about players. Would he nix a trade, or other potential personnel move the front office is promoting?

“Yeah, and I have in the past,” Taylor said. “…Sometimes coaches and GMs (general managers) fall in love with a guy and we really don’t need that guy.” (As an example, Taylor said there have been instances where he differed in acquiring a player because the skill set didn’t match the roster’s future needs.)

Wiggins is in his fourth season with the Wolves. A former overall No. 1 NBA draft pick, he is often targeted for criticism by media and fans who question the consistency of his effort during games, but not his talent. “I want him to play as hard as he can.” Taylor said. “Do I think that he can play better? I certainly do. He’s got a lot of potential. My expectation is he should do that (play hard) during the whole game.”

Taylor, though, didn’t single out Wiggins when first asked about effort, and he spoke about how coach Tom Thibodeau talks about the need for better work ethic by all his players throughout games. “It appears sometimes that they rest a little bit, they’re tired or something,” Taylor said. “If you’re going to be an elite player, there’s very little time to do that during the game. It’s kind of between games that you’re going to do that (rest).”

There’s opinion throughout the Wolves organization and elsewhere in the NBA that Wiggins’ basketball skills are so exceptional it’s difficult to define his limits. He is an extraordinary athlete and capable of becoming an all-star offensively and defensively.

Wiggins is averaging 17.9 points per game, third best on the team. He is often guarded closely and Taylor believes that creates the possibility of more offensive efficiency, emphasizing that his young star should drive more to the hoop. “I’d rather see him go to the basket and kind of open up that space,” Taylor said.

The Timberwolves made a mega commitment to Wiggins last offseason with a contract extension reported as five-years, $148 million.

Worth Noting

Butler had meniscus surgery on his right knee February 25. He was the team’s best all-around player, and fourth quarter closer, before injured. There are 12 games remaining on the Wolves’ regular season schedule and the team is trying to make the payoffs for the first time since 2004. When will Butler return?

“I don’t think I have anyone on the medical staff who has given me a date,” Taylor said.

Nemanja Bjelica, Butler’s replacement, has at times been impressive including 13 fourth quarter points in last week’s win against the Wizards. Bjelica becomes a restricted free agent in the offseason. Taylor is an admirer of the Serbian, but cautions, “We only have so much money, and we know we have Karl coming up,” he said.

Center Karl-Anthony Towns becomes a restricted free agent during the 2019 offseason. A potential top five player in the NBA, Towns will command a mega contract.

That was former Timberwolves assistant coach Eric Musselman, now head coach of Nevada, on live TV using the f-word in the locker room in celebrating his team’s opening NCAA Tournament win over Texas Friday afternoon.

Isaiah Washington (photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications)

It seems likely Gophers coach Richard Pitino will use his one remaining scholarship on a point guard. Theoretically that person could be a graduate transfer, junior college or high school player. Heading into next season Isaiah Washington is the replacement for Nate Mason at point guard, but Washington was unsteady as a freshman. Even if Washington improves, the Gophers need depth at the position.

It’s timely to follow Courtney Ramey, the Scout.com five-star prep point guard from Missouri who decommitted from Louisville earlier this winter. He had been recruited by Pitino’s father, former Louisville coach Rick Pitino, and could be interested in the Gophers.

Gopher women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings can achieve the biggest win in her four years at Minnesota tonight if the Gophers can upset Oregon in their second round NCAA Tournament game on the Ducks’ home floor. Minnesota is seeded No. 10 in the Spokane Region, Oregon No. 2. The Gophers have never won a second NCAA Tournament game under Stollings.

Stollings once told Sports Headliners she had simple tastes in celebrating a Gopher win: A trip to Taco Bell and a Mountain Dew.

Good news for the Shake Shack location at Mall of America? New Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins reportedly had a postgame win ritual of stopping at a Shake Shack in the Washington D.C. area, according to Vikings.com.

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Fans to Put Cousins in Hot Seat

Posted on March 15, 2018March 15, 2018 by David Shama

All the elements are in place for Vikings fans to put more pressure on Kirk Cousins than probably any quarterback in franchise history. An announcement is expected today that the Redskins’ free agent quarterback has signed a reported three-year $84 million contract with Minnesota making him the highest paid at his position in the NFL.

That kind of money—reportedly guaranteed—commands attention and expectations. He’ll get plenty of both from Vikings fans who anticipate immediate success from their new quarterback and old team. Cousins, while regarded as the best free agent QB in the NFL class of 2018, has a losing record against winning teams while playing six seasons in Washington. His leadership skills have also been questioned.

Cousins, though, has produced some of the best individual passing stats in the NFL in recent seasons. At 29 and healthy, he could give the Vikings one of the league’s best quarterbacks for years to come, but he will have to earn his way into the hearts of Minnesota fans.

Case Keenum (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

The majority of fans were fond of Cousins’ three predecessors who departed this week to play quarterback for other teams. Many loved Teddy Bridgewater, and they also liked Sam Bradford and Case Keenum. There were a lot of purple hearts that hoped a couple of them would remain on the roster for next season.

If Cousins starts poorly in the first couple of games—and the Vikings are losing— fans at U.S. Bank Stadium and on social media will be hyper critical. One of the loudest stadiums in the NFL will turn into a boo-box. Cousins likely is experienced enough to handle the emotional drama and remain confident. The potential jeering could be similar to the beat down this fan base gave Christian Ponder in his early and formative seasons. The vote of no confidence didn’t contribute anything positive to Ponder’s development and early washout to his career.

Cousins inherits a team that was one win from the Super Bowl. Most of the coaching staff and personnel are back for the 2018 season—another way of stating expectations are skyscraper high. The Vikings haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 1977, although they’ve had close calls including in 1999 and this year.

In this town passion runs deep for the Vikings. Those emotions include frustration and the fan base doesn’t want to go through any more disappointing seasons or rebuilding projects. Not with how long fans have waited for success, and not when gameday customers at U.S. Bank Stadium are paying premium prices for tickets and concessions. Win now, and win big, is the mentality.

Quarterback is the most important position on an NFL team. Welcome to Purple Land, Mr. Cousins.

Worth Noting

P.J. Fleck said on WCCO Radio Sunday morning he’s been impressed with the leadership qualities of redshirt sophomore quarterback Seth Green, but a position switch is a possibility if that’s the best way to get the athletic 6-4, 229-pound player on the field. Potential positions are on both offense and defense including tight end.

Former Gopher football player Jim Brunzell said via email longtime friend and pro wrestling icon Ric Flair, who spent part of his youth in Edina, is feeling much better after almost dying last year. “He’ll never have a drink again,” Brunzell wrote.

Scout.com ranks incoming Gopher freshman Daniel Oturu the third best prep center in the country. In Pitino’s five years at Minnesota he’s never had a player ranked that high in a position category.

Pitino writing in his March 12 blog about scheduling: “Let’s face it. There’s nothing better than a quality opponent in your building on national TV. The Miami environment (Nov. 29 at Williams Arena) was one of the best crowds since I’ve been here. We have to be able to reward our season ticket holders.”

Dave Stead’s last day assisting with the transition role of Executive Director at the Minnesota State High School League is April 2. “I didn’t want to leave on April Fools’ Day,” joked Stead who has been helping replacement Erich Martens learn the job of Executive Director.

Stead was director for 30 years and will be available as an advisor to the MSHL in the future. Stead was principal at New Ulm High School when he first met Martens who was a student there. Martens, who was the principal at Sauk Rapids High School before joining the MSHSL, is the organization’s seventh Executive Director in its history.

Stead said there is a waiting list of about 2,000 for all-sessions tickets to the Boys’ Class 2A Hockey Tournament held annually at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Gopher athletic director Mark Coyle will be pulling for Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament because of his relationship with Wildcat head coach John Calipari. They formed a friendship years ago when Coyle worked in the athletic department at Kentucky and they have stayed in touch.

John Lindahl, who with wife Nancy have been hall of fame benefactors for Gopher athletics, said $2.75 billion has been raised for the $4 billion fundraising campaign by the University of Minnesota scheduled to end in 2021. The Lindahls are co-chairs for “Driven: The University of Minnesota Campaign” raising monies for scholarships, research and other endeavors.

Walt Jocketty, the Minneapolis native who graduated from Marshall-U High School, is executive advisor to Cincinnati Reds CEO Bob Castelleni. Jocketty has been in executive positions since 1980 with the A’s, Cardinals, Reds and Rockies. He was president of the Cardinals from 1994-2007 and held the same title with the Reds from 2008-2016.

Walt’s brother Peter Jocketty, who played hockey for the Gophers and later coached at Washburn, is retired from a career that included working for the Minnesota North Stars.

The Twin Cities Dunkers saluted longtime club administrator Sandy Olson with a luncheon Wednesday at Interlachen Country Club. Almost all the program chairs from Sandy’s 20 years with Dunkers were able to attend the event organized by Dave Mona.

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