Preps – Page 82 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Jerry Kill Back in State Recruiting

Posted on January 30, 2017January 30, 2017 by David Shama

Former Gophers coach Jerry Kill, now the offensive coordinator at Rutgers, has been recruiting in Minnesota for the Scarlet Knights but so far doesn’t have a commitment as National Signing Day approaches on Wednesday. College football recruiting authority Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners that Kill “called on” Crosby-Ironton tight end Noah Gindorff, and crossed paths with new Gophers coach P.J. Fleck last week at Hopkins High School.

Fleck and Kill are recruiting Hopkins defensive end Boye Mafe. Burns, who is a publisher of the popular Gopherillustrated.com website, said “he’s heard some interesting things about how that went down” when the two coaches were at Hopkins. Burns, who wasn’t at Hopkins when the coaches were there, didn’t provide more details.

It’s no secret Kill is upset about things that have been said and done at the University of Minnesota including the dismissal of Tracy Claeys as Gophers coach a few weeks ago, after leading Minnesota to a 9-4 record including an upset win over Washington State at the Holiday Bowl. Media reports have Kill saying he won’t be coming back to the Gopher campus where he helped resurrect the football program until his health forced him to resign in 2015. Claeys, Kill’s close friend and former defensive coordinator, was made Kill’s successor but lasted only one full season before being fired by new Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle. “He is a very emotional guy,” Burns said about Kill.

Burns believes Kill is “trying to get his foot in the door” on players the Gophers want, probing to see how successful he can be with Minnesota high school players. Few Power Five football programs aggressively recruit the state and Kill may see opportunity here because of that, and also his popularity with the public and relationships with high school coaches.

“He probably will be a little bit effective but…he’s got to land some of these kids that Minnesota (also) wants, for him to justify being out here,” Burns said. “As of today he hasn’t been able to do that.”

Both Kill and Fleck are just getting started in their new roles. Kill was hired by New Jersey-based Rutgers several days before Christmas. Fleck left Western Michigan where he was head coach to take over the Minnesota program in early January.

Known as an elite recruiter, Fleck has reshuffled the 2017 Gopher class that will be announced on Wednesday. While some players who had originally given verbal commitments to Claeys remain, most of the recruits now are student-athletes who Fleck and staff have convinced to become Gophers. Recruiting authorities like Burns have been impressed and they place Minnesota’s 2017 class much higher in national rankings than when Claeys and his staff were in charge.

Burns was asked about 2017 recruits and who he would “bet his life” will be the biggest impact player as a Gopher. “The easy answer is Blaise but I don’t want to take that one. There are a lot of kids that I like in this class. I would say Ken Handy-Holly.”

Blaise Andries, the offensive tackle from Marshall, Minnesota, is one of the prize recruits in Minnesota’s 2017 class but Burns has a high regard for Handy-Holly too, the four-star safety from Alabama. “My hope for him is that he can be a player like (former Gopher) Damarius Travis. A guy that is the leader of a defense, can get everyone lined up.”

Burns thinks Holly could play as a freshman, like Antoine Winfield, Jr. did last year. Winfield played early in the season on special teams, then became an impressive starter at safety for the Gophers.

Worth Noting

The Signing Day Social for Gophers football fans at TCF Bank Stadium Wednesday night is sold out. Over 800 attendees are expected at the Goal Line Club sponsored event where Fleck will talk about his first recruiting class at Minnesota. The social begins at 5 p.m. and KFAN’s Dan Barreiro will broadcast his show from the stadium.

A former Big Ten assistant coach who has followed Minnesota high school basketball for decades didn’t want his name in print but told Sports Headliners Jericho Sims is the best prep player from the state he’s ever seen including Kevin McHale and Tyus Jones. The 6-8 Sims is a senior at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis and the son of former Gopher Charles Sims. Sims has signed to play next fall for Texas and head coach Shaka Smart. The ex-Big Ten coach said Sims will be an immediate force in the Big 12, predicting he will play power forward in college while praising his varied offensive skills and his physique. “He’s built like a marble statue,” the source said.

I was in Williams Arena on October 15, 1971 when first-year Gophers coach Bill Musselman led his first official team practice. The Gophers were at least 15 minutes late taking the floor for practice, and I later learned that Musselman was giving the team a hyper-passionate pep talk about the season ahead including challenging Big Ten title favorite Ohio State. It was 45 years ago last week the famous Minnesota-Ohio State brawl took place at Williams Arena. Few people know Musselman was targeting the Buckeyes months before the game.

The St. Thomas and Bethel men’s basketball teams are tied for first place in the MIAC standings with 10-3 records. They play each other tonight at the Tommies’ Schoenecker Arena. Coach John Tauer’s Tommies are defending MIAC champions.

The Twins, expected to be down in their season tickets total this year, are able to offer more prime seating locations because of the decline. A source with the club told Sports Headliners the total season tickets in 2017 is projected at 11,000 to 12,000 after being about 13,000 last year.

Speedy Byron Buxton, the long-hyped Twins prospect and the big league club’s fastest player, stole only 10 bases last season in 92 games and 298 at bats. The center fielder hit .225, struck out 118 times and walked just 23 times. Buxton, though, has stolen 125 bases in 301 minor league games.

Twins super fan Kirk Detlefsen holds his annual Ticket Draft at Target Field on Wednesday. The event is an opportunity for people Detlefsen knows to share in the season tickets he buys each year. The gathering isn’t open to the public but in advance Detlefsen welcomes inquiries (612-701-7244). Twins authorities Derek Falvey, Dave St. Peter and Dan Gladden will speak to attendees, plus Town Hall Ball Parks of Minnesota author Todd Mueller will personalize complimentary copies of his book.

A sports awards industry source said Theo Epstein’s relationship with Jostens years ago was likely a major factor in the Minneapolis-based company being named the designer for the Cubs 2016 World Series rings. Epstein, the Cubs general manager, was the Red Sox’s baseball boss when Boston won the World Series in 2004 and Jostens produced that team’s rings. Look for Jostens to also make a Cubs World Series fan ring.

Dave Stead, executive director of the Minnesota State High School League, told Sports Headliners his organization projects distributing about $1 million to MSHL schools that participated in state tournaments during the 2016-2017 school year. The distribution amounts are determined by a formula to reimburse schools for expenses. Stead said 12 of the 36 state tournaments sponsored by the MSHL, including the Prep Bowl, are profitable.

Minnesota North Stars caps for $39.99 each are on sale at the Minnesota Wild’s hockey-themed restaurant in Terminal 2 of the MSP airport.

Ross Bernstein, the locally-based author of sports books who is also a motivational speaker for businesses, was in Scotland last month where he found time to visit but not play the famed St. Andrew’s Golf Course.

Comments Welcome

Physical Teams Take It to Gophers

Posted on January 12, 2017January 12, 2017 by David Shama

The Gophers have surprised their critics this season with 15 wins in their first 18 games but there is a message in the three losses. Minnesota, winners of only two Big Ten games last season and now much improved, has lost those three games to more physical and aggressive top 20 ranked teams.

Michigan State, after last night’s drubbing of the Gophers in East Lansing, has now defeated Minnesota twice. The Gophers other loss was to Florida State, a team with big guards and four front court players 6-9 or taller including 7-1, 304-pound center Michael Ojo and 7-4 (not a typo) center Christ Koumadje.

Few teams, if any, can match the size of Florida State but Michigan State has bruising freshmen Nick Ward (6-8, 250) and Miles Bridges (6-7, 230). And what the Spartans may lack in inches and heft is made up for in aggression.

Last night the Spartans flummoxed the Gophers, shutting down driving lanes and contesting shots. When the Gophers did have decent looks at the basket they couldn’t make enough shots. The Spartans also beat up Minnesota on the boards and made more hustle plays.

“We just could not find a way to get an easy basket,” Gophers coach Richard Pitino said during his postgame interview on 1500 ESPN. “I thought we had a couple decent looks, but you know overall we’re not the toughest team, even from an offensive standpoint of screening, being strong with the ball. …”

It doesn’t help when Minnesota’s most physical player, 6-10, 260-pound junior center Reggie Lynch, is consistently in foul trouble and on the bench. Last night in the 65-47 loss Lynch fouled out for the fourth time in the last five games. He has fouled out of both games against the Spartans.

The Gophers were behind 39-17 at halftime and looked frustrated. Maybe there was a hangover feeling from the overtime loss to the Spartans in Minneapolis on December 27. Minnesota led 39-26 at intermission and was clearly the superior team in execution, if not effort. The Spartans, though, were by far the more assertive players in the second half. Among the telling final stats was MSU scored 12 more points in the lane than the Gophers.

The Gophers, now 3-2 in Big Ten games, face a momentum test Saturday at Penn State. Minnesota needs to stop its losing streak at one against a Nittany Lions team that has been at home all week preparing for Saturday’s game. With an 11 a.m. Minneapolis start time, the Gophers won’t have to wait long to see how things go against a 2-2 PSU group team that defeated MSU last week, 72-63.

Worth Noting

Tom Izzo has been Michigan State’s head coach since the 1995-1996 season. Early on he competed against Minnesota coach Clem Haskins, and he got to know legendary Minneapolis newspaper columnist and radio personality Sid Hartman. When Izzo was in town a couple of weeks ago he was asked about the 96-year-old Hartman, who is recovering from a broken hip.

“I get a kick out of Sid,” Izzo told Sports Headliners. “…He always was good to me. There were wars when Clem was here, when I first started, and Sid always had something to say. He wasn’t afraid to tell you how he felt, but I thought he listened and understood. There are a couple people up here (in Minneapolis) I really appreciate and he’s one of them.

“He’s still an ornery (guy). He still doesn’t belong in heaven yet. That’s why he’s not there, because God is negotiating the terms. But someday he’ll end up there and I just hope it’s not for a few years yet.”

Hartman wrote his first column for 2017 in today’s Star Tribune.

Ryan James, the prep basketball authority from GopherIllustrated.com, has watched both Isaiah Washington and Jamir Harris play. The two high school guards signed National Letters of Intent with the Gophers last fall, and James is impressed with their skills. Washington (from New York City) is among the nation’s elite point guards, while Harris (New Brunswick, New Jersey) is a combo guard.

“Isaiah Washington is a guy you describe as having New York juice,” James told Sports Headliners. “He has so much shake, so much burst with his initial attack. It’s matched by very few. He is one of the best players I saw all summer in transition. He makes the right decision in pushing the ball nine times out of 10, whether it’s a quick pitch, attack and dish, or if he goes at the rim.

“Outstanding pull-up jumper. Streaky shooter at the arc but he can be a good shooter out there. …He’s just an aggressive playmaker, and he has the capability of being a great defender. He just has to do it more consistently.”

James believes Harris could average double figures in points as a Gopher. “The first thing you think of is shooter. …He is really strong, high character guy—like he was looking at Stanford. He was looking at the Ivy League.”

James believes Washington definitely has all-Big Ten potential. He also said Harris could be an all-Big Ten academic selection.

In 13 home games this season the Gophers are averaging 9,091 in 14,625 capacity Williams Arena. In 10 games the Gopher women’s team is averaging 3,065.

Steve Fritz bobblehead (photo courtesy of University of St. Thomas)

St. Thomas will celebrate Steve Fritz Bobblehead Day Saturday during a home basketball doubleheader with Concordia College at Schoenecker Arena. Fritz enrolled as a student at St. Thomas in 1967, and he has worked at the St. Paul school since 1971, including 10 years as an assistant men’s basketball coach, 31 years as head coach and 25 years as athletic director. St. Thomas will sell the bobbleheads for $15 each during the 1 p.m. women’s game and the 3 p.m. men’s game against the Cobbers. Fritz, who is still the AD, will greet fans and sign bobbleheads (also available in the Tommie Shop in the Anderson Student Center as of next Monday).

GopherIllustrated.com publisher Zach Johnson talking about how the ultra optimistic and turbocharged personality of new Gophers coach P.J. Fleck could prompt media cynicism: “…I hope the media doesn’t beat him down—force him to create a shell around the program and around himself, and sort of try to protect himself from that (type of) media. I hope he just continues to be who he is. If he wins, he can make those columnists eat crow.”

Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway, who may announce his retirement this offseason, turns 34 today.

Vikngs defensive tackle Linval Joseph has been named to the Pro Bowl replacing the injured Aaron Donald of the Rams.

Bruce Boudreau, the Wild’s first-year coach who has directed Minnesota to the second best record in the NHL’s Western Conference, earns $2,760,000, according to Otherleague.com, a website listing compensation for league coaches. He is the first head coach in NHL history to lead three different teams (including the Wild) to win streaks of 11-plus games.

The Wild will play eight of their 12 games in February at Xcel Energy Center. After February 7, the team has only one game away from home during the month.

Comments Welcome

Maybe Walsh Late Entry for Turkey Award

Posted on November 23, 2016November 23, 2016 by David Shama

Just an outsider looking in, but I can’t help anticipating Patrick Reusse’s announcement tomorrow of his Turkey of the Year. The Star Tribune columnist has made his TOY coronation a Thanksgiving tradition for decades by selecting and writing about a prominent Minnesota sports figure that experienced a dismal 12 months.

Reusse and his “committee” must be feverishly sorting through finalists on Thanksgiving Eve. Here on the prairie there are never any shortages of candidates from the professional teams and University of Minnesota. Perhaps compounding the selection process this year is the late entry of Blair Walsh, the woe-begone placekicker who made a matinee thriller out of extra points and was released by the Vikings last week.

It will also be hard to ignore the Twins who lost a franchise record 103 games last season. I could see the TOY gang arguing over whether to bestow the honor on former general manager Terry Ryan, or take a more inclusive approach by naming the entire baseball department.

Joe Mauer could be in contention too after earning $23 million and hitting just .261, with 11 home runs and 49 RBI. Another likely contender is Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino who lost a school record 16 Big Ten games in 2015-2016.

Reusse’s declaration of his 2016 Turkey winner will be part of a day that includes a rare Thanksgiving game by the Vikings. If the club follows past history, fans won’t have to worry about the final score giving them a bad case of heartburn and upset stomach. The Vikings have won five of six times on turkey day since the franchise began in 1961. All have been road games, with Minnesota 3-0 against the Cowboys and 2-1 versus the Lions.

Tomorrow the Vikings play the Lions in Detroit for the first time since 1995. Although both teams are playing on just three days rest since last Sunday, it’s an honor to have a “place at the table” in Detroit. No franchise in professional sports is more identified with a holiday than the Lions who have been playing on Thanksgiving Day since 1934.

After 69 holiday games, the Lions are 33-34-2 against 24 opponents. One of those Detroit wins came in the 1995 game when defense was out and offense was in. Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell threw for 410 yards and four touchdowns in his team’s 44-38 win. Three Lions receivers had over 100 yards in receptions. Vikings quarterback Warren Moon passed for 384 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Jake Reed had 149 yards in receptions including two touchdowns.

Go ahead and wager the best drumstick in town that kind of offensive show won’t happen tomorrow. The Vikings’ defense is too good, ranking among the best in the NFL giving up 306.9 yards per game and 17.6 points (although controlling the run has been a problem of late). The Lions are yielding 358.2 yards and 22.5 points.

You might want to hold off rolling out the turkey and all the fixings until after 3 p.m. Tomorrow’s 11:30 a.m. game is kind of a big deal. The teams are tied for first place in the NFC North with 6-4 records, and the Vikings intend to have a better day than earlier this month when the Lions won, 22-16, in Minneapolis. Quarterback Matthew Stafford rallied the Lions late and they tied the game as time expired. Then Stafford was clutch in overtime and threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate for the winning points.

That game gave indigestion to “Purple People.” Might have even produced a Turkey of the Year candidate, too.

Worth Noting

Vikings defensive end Brian Robison talking about tomorrow’s game with the Lions: “It’s about who wants it more.”

If the Gophers can win Saturday in Madison against the Badgers it will be among the most significant upsets in the rivalry that dates back to 1890. The Badgers are ranked No. 5 in the latest Associated Press poll and are close to earning an invitation next month to the four-team College Football Playoffs.

Wisconsin was 0-2 in Big Ten games in mid-October but has now won five consecutive league games. With an overall 9-2 record and 6-2 in the Big Ten, a win against Minnesota sends the Badgers to the conference title game next month in Indianapolis. A victory by the Badgers also would put the all-time series standings against Minnesota at 59-59-8.

But the Gophers, 8-3 and 5-3, would spoil Wisconsin’s CFP hopes with an upset, and that’s just part of how wild things could end in the West Division by Saturday night. Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin could all finish with 6-3 records. The Badgers, though, would be invited to Indianapolis because they have wins over Iowa and Nebraska, and the Gophers lost to both the Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers.

Even with an 8-4 final record, the Gophers figure to earn an invitation to one of their better bowl destinations in the last 10 years. At last Saturday’s Minnesota-Northwestern game at TCF Bank Stadium, press box seat assignments were made for representatives of the Fiesta, Foster Farms and Holiday bowls.

Ryan Burns, the high school football authority from GopherIllustrated.com, told Sports Headliners he predicts Totino-Grace will win by seven points over Eden Prairie in the Class 6A state championship game Friday. Burns wonders whether EP has enough “firepower” to win against Totino. A state title win by Totino would be a third consecutive victory over Eden Prairie including a 17-14 win earlier this year. “That would be a hell of an accomplishment,” Burns said about Eden Prairie, a program that has won four of the last five big school state titles.

Asked about the 10 finalists for the 2016 Mr. Football Award, Burns suggested the likely winner will either be Grand Meadow running back/linebacker Christopher Bain, Crosby-Ironton quarterback/linebacker/kicker Noah Gindorff, or Lakeville North running back Wade Sullivan. Among the 10 candidates, Marshall tackle Blaise Andries is the only one with offers from FBS schools. He is verbally committed to the Gophers.

Gindorff has committed to FCS North Dakota State. Alexandria quarterback Jaran Roste, another Mr. Football candidate, has a preferred walk-on invite from the Gophers, Burns said.

The 2016 Mr. Football Award, sponsored by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and the Vikings, will be presented on December 4 at the Doubletree by Hilton in St. Louis Park. Candidates for the award, which dates back to 2004, must be high school seniors.

The Rochester Quarterbacks Club that began in 1955 is still meeting on Mondays under the leadership of Ed Rauen, a familiar voice in southern Minnesota for decades on KROC Radio. The club meets at a place called Canadian Honker Catering, features speakers from various sports and has had only two presidents, the late Ben Sternberg and Rauen. “It’s the only club in America that doesn’t have an election,” baseball icon Joe Garagiola once said.

Former Gopher Darrell Thompson, the program’s all-time leading career rusher, turns 49 today.

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