Preps – Page 98 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Coach Jerry Kill Fundraising in Arizona

Posted on March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 by David Shama

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill is in Arizona fundraising for the Athletic Department and the master facilities plan to raise $150 million. Kill is in the Phoenix area with his wife Rebecca, athletic director Norwood Teague and other department leaders. The athletics facilities fundraising effort is being assisted by longtime Gophers booster and Minnesota native Dick Ames, who has a ranch in the Phoenix area.

Kill is popular with Gophers donors and has become the face of the department since taking over as coach for the 2011 season. He is adamant about having a new football complex that will include much improved practice facilities—a key piece to the master plan that will include other buildings and resources benefitting various sports at the University of Minnesota.

The department hopes to break ground on facilities this year but won’t do so in piecemeal fashion. That means the football facility won’t begin as a single endeavor. Fundraising for the master facilities plan has reached $70 million but $120 million is needed to break ground—meaning 80 percent of the $150 million is in place. That $150 million figure will eventually be replaced with an additional $40 million, raising the total to be privately fundraised to $190 million. The $150 million will fund an initial phase of assessed needs such as new football and basketball practice facilities, and an academic and nutrition “Excellence Center” benefitting all Gophers athletes.

Kill’s impact on fundraising can’t be understated. He had a close relationship with the late Dave Larson, the former Cargill executive and member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. Larson’s widow Janis told Sports Headliners awhile ago she is making a $15 million donation toward the new football complex. She said the facility will be named the David and Janis Larson Football Performance Center.

The Gophers’ practice facilities, including for football where there is an “arms race” among schools to have state-of-the-art buildings and amenities, are among the most outdated in the Big Ten Conference. Gophers associate head football coach Tracy Claeys acknowledged that high school recruits select colleges based on multiple factors including winning reputations and relationships, but modern facilities make a difference, too.

“It has a huge impact of being able to get more selective in recruiting at this level,” Claeys said. “We don’t look at it as an expense; we look at it as an investment. Right now the popularity of the sport of football is (that) it’s making a lot of money.”

Worth Noting

Claeys said true freshman linebacker Julian Huff from Bolingbrook, Illinois has impressed him during spring practices. Huff enrolled in school earlier this year. “That kid loves football,” Claeys said. “He’ll get after it. I’ve been really pleased with him. He’s got a lot to learn, but the one thing is you don’t have to tell him is to go sic’em.”

The Gophers had one of the best defensive secondaries in the Big Ten last season and despite losing seniors Cedric Thompson and Derrick Wells, junior defensive back Antonio Johnson thinks he will be part of another outstanding unit because Minnesota has “some of the best guys in the country.” Among the talented defensive backs is junior Eric Murray, a physical and tight coverage cornerback. Johnson and Murray were freshmen roommates. Johnson was amused while recalling Murray’s TV viewing preferences. “He likes…Japanese cartoons like Pokémon and stuff like that. I just think that’s kind of weird. You wouldn’t expect that from him.”

Jim Dutcher, who coached the Gophers in the 1980s and remains a passionate student of college basketball, is (like everyone else) predicting 34-0 Kentucky to win the NCAA title. “You have to shoot the lights out to beat Kentucky,” he told Sports Headliners. “I am not going to bet against them going 40-0.”

Dutcher’s other Final Four teams are Iowa State, Michigan State and Wisconsin. MSU is only the No. 7 seed in the East Region and Dutcher admitted his Big Ten bias shows through in favoring the Spartans. But he likes how the Spartans are playing at season’s end and isn’t that impressed with the region’s higher seeds.

Duke is the No. 1 seed in the South Region but Dutcher likes Iowa State, a No. 3 seed coached by former Timbewolves player and executive Fred Hoiberg. He likes Iowa State’s depth, three-point shooting and comeback style. “Duke can have those (scoring) droughts,” Dutcher said.

The WCHA Final Five this Friday and Saturday could have an economic impact on downtown St. Paul of $1.4 million, according to Visit Saint Paul—the city’s convention and visitors bureau. Matchups at Xcel Energy Center on Friday are (first game) No. 2 seed Michigan Tech against No. 3 Bowling Green, followed by No. 1 seed Minnesota State playing No. 4 Ferris State. The championship game is Saturday night. The WCHA has two of the four top ranked teams in college hockey with No. 2 ranked Minnesota State and No. 4 Michigan Tech.

New WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson is using his sports marketing background to promote the tournament and increase league revenues from sponsorships and ticket sales. There will be a Mall of America celebration event in the Rotunda from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday that will include school bands, interactive hockey games and the Broadmoor (championship) Trophy. The games will be televised on Fox Sports North with play-by-play announcer Doug McLeod and analyst Kevin Gorg. A ticket package for the Final Five offers all three games and costs $69. Single session tickets are $35 each.

The WCHA plans to meet with Arizona State representatives in April regarding the Sun Devils possibly joining the league. ASU is also talking to the Big Ten and NCHC. ASU is playing several WCHA schools next season in non-conference play.

“They would be an excellent addition to our conference and we would love to have them join the WCHA,” Robertson said. “They could help us in many areas, with the thought of other southwest and west coast schools (eventually) joining our league. It would be wonderful, but we’re just starting down the road with Arizona State University.”

The Twins have optioned left-handed pitchers Logan Darnell and Jeff Wheeler, and right-handed pitcher Lester Oliveros, to Triple-A Rochester, and outfielder Max Kepler, and infielders Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano, to Double-A Chattanooga. They have reassigned 10 players to minor league camp: left-handed pitchers Ryan O’Rourke and Taylor Rogers; right-handed pitchers Jose Berrios, Tyler Duffey and Adrian Salcedo; catchers Mitch Garver and Stuart Turner; infielders Argenis Diaz and Heiker Meneses, and outfielder Byron Buxton. As of this morning the Twins had 45 players in spring training camp: 21 pitchers, six catchers, 10 infielders and eight outfielders.

The 2015 Mr. Basketball Award winner will be announced tonight on WCCO Radio at 5:30 p.m. Candidates are: Sacar Anim, DeLaSalle; Bjorn Broman, Lakeview Christian Academy; J.T. Gibson, Champlin Park; Jarvis Johnson, DeLaSalle; Marshawn Wilson, Hill-Murray. The award goes annually to a high school senior.

Comments Welcome

Gophers’ Postseason Future Not Clear

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015 by David Shama

Gophers seniors Elliott Eliason, Andre Hollins, Kendal Shell and Mo Walker have already played in two National Invitation Tournaments during their college careers. They and their teammates might have to win a couple of Big Ten Tournament games this week to get another invitation—even if that “ticket” isn’t exactly coveted.

The Gophers, the No. 11 conference tourney seed, play No. 14 seed Rutgers tonight in Chicago. Minnesota finished 6-12 in the Big Ten and is 17-14 overall. The Gophers have lost five of their last six games and overall have a lackluster resume.

The cold truth is the NIT Selection Committee might not want the Gophers. Nixing an invite will be made easier if Minnesota loses to Rutgers and finishes its schedule with a 17-15 record. Rutgers, 2-16 during its first season of Big Ten basketball, is 10-21 overall and has lost 14 consecutive games. Last year Indiana had a 17-15 overall record and was left out of the 32-team NIT team field.

The next postseason step down from the NIT is the College Basketball Invitational, a lesser quality 16-team tournament created in 2007. Invites to the CBI aren’t always accepted and the suspicion here is the Gophers would say no—thereby ending a disappointing season that saw them start 0-5 in the Big Ten, lose their last regular season game at the buzzer and disappoint a fan base who thought a team with four starters returning from the 2014 NIT champs could earn its way into the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, the Gophers haven’t been as good as either they or the fans expected. Minnesota was mostly competitive in Big Ten play but lost eight conference games by six points or less. The latest heartbreaker came Sunday when Penn State’s D.J. Newbill hit a three-pointer as time expired to break a 76-76 tie.

Nobody blamed Gophers freshman guard Nate Mason for not doing all he could to defend Newbill but often the team hasn’t made defensive stops in close games when it should have. “We have defensive lapses,” Hollins said.

After the game coach Richard Pitino was frustrated about his team. “I think they’re playing really, really hard. I really do. I feel bad for the seniors that they go out with a loss like that.”

Could the Gophers look forward to playing in the NIT? “I don’t know,” Pitino answered on Sunday. “I think they’re looking toward playing in the conference tournament.”

In the locker room Sunday the gloom was in contrast to the sunny weather outside. Hollins admitted an NIT encore for a third time in four years would be difficult. “I don’t know. I am a competitor. I like playing, so I don’t want my career to end on a bad note. I am not even thinking about that (the NIT).”

When Eliason was asked about the NIT he said he “wouldn’t be too excited about that.” Walker, though, put a smiley face on another NIT. “Yeah, sure. I just want to play for as long as possible this season. Whoever it is, I want to play as much basketball as possible. I am never going to get this opportunity back.”

To earn an invitation to the NCAA Tournament the Gophers have to win five games in five days in the Big Ten Tournament and emerge as tourney champs. That would be the most improbable of stories but an NIT invite is at least possible—even if it wasn’t what the Gophers had in mind back in January.

“It’s not a real entitled group so I don’t think they’re above anything,” Pitino said. “Nor should they be, and I guess we’re just focused on the conference tournament right now.”

Worth Noting

Big Ten Conference statistics show the Gophers weren’t effective defensively. Minnesota ranked 12th in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, and last in three-point field goal percentage defense among 14 teams.

The last part of the season Pitino allocated more playing time to 6-9 Gaston Diedhiou and 6-11 Bakary Konate. Both are freshmen who have potential but also much to learn. Pitino played the two together for a few minutes against Wisconsin last week. Next season they could be on the floor together a lot. “They’re certainly going to be a major part of it next year,” Pitino said.

The Gophers, who sold out four games last season at Williams Arena, sold out only one in 2014-2015, the Wisconsin game. Minnesota finished ninth among league teams in average home attendance for Big Ten games. The Gophers averaged 13,013 for nine home games, finishing ahead of Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue and Rutgers.

Bryan Green, the father of highly recruited East Ridge High School quarterback Seth Green, has moved the family to the Dallas area because of a job change. Seth, once considered one of the top Minnesota prep football recruits for the class of 2016, will play his senior season for Allen High School in Allen, Texas. Green has verbally committed to Oregon.

The opinion here is Eden Prairie High School junior linebacker Carter Coughlin, who has said he will announce his college choice soon, will choose the Gophers. Coughlin, could be the state’s best senior next fall.

Next Monday Vikings fans who have signed up on a waitlist can start touring the New Stadium Preview Center. Up until Monday, tours at the downtown center are only for existing season ticket holders. The new domed stadium is on target to open in 2016.

Bryant Allen, who played for both the Gophers football and basketball teams during the 2009-2010 school year, is a starting senior guard on the Dakota State basketball team playing this afternoon in a first round Division II NAIA national tournament game against the College of Idaho. Allen, 24, was at Illinois State before transferring to the NAIA school located in Madison, South Dakota.

Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer, South Dakota head coach Joe Glenn and former NFL player and motivational author Joe Ehrmann will be headline speakers at the Minnesota Football Clinic. Priefer speaks March 26 while Glenn and Ehrmann will talk March 27 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. The clinic is March 26-28 and is a partnership between the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and the Gophers.

Torii Hunter empathizes with Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton in a March 2 USA Today story in which the Twins right fielder acknowledges the drug habit of his 64-year-old father Theotis. Hamilton was recently suspended for a drug relapse. Hunter told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale his dad has been hooked on drugs almost as long as he can remember. “It’s like a demon that takes you over,” Hunter said in the story.

A lot of people in baseball and beyond sympathize with the horrors of drug abuse. New Twins manager Paul Molitor can speak from personal experience. Ron Simon, Molitor’s agent as a young major league baseball player, wrote about his client’s problem with cocaine in Simon’s 1993 book The Game, Behind the Game, Negotiating in the Big Leagues.

“The police were called to my house on Christmas Day, 1980,” Simon wrote. “They had to break in to see if Paul Molitor was inside, dead or alive. Molitor was in my house, sleeping off a wild night of cocaine abuse.”

Simon wrote in his book Molitor stopped using cocaine after that memorable night. Since then Molitor has talked to others about what he went through, sharing his experience.

Dick Miller, a tackle on the Gophers’ 1960 national championship football team and former athlete at Rochester Lourdes High School, will be inducted into the Rochester Quarterbacks Club Hall of Fame on April 20. The club president is long time Rochester radio sports commentator Ed Rauen.

Comments Welcome

Nanne Raves about Wild GM Fletcher

Posted on March 9, 2015March 9, 2015 by David Shama

When Chuck Fletcher was an assistant general manager of the Penguins six years ago his resume had the approval of Lou Nanne. Now Nanne believes there isn’t a better GM in the NHL than the Wild’s front office boss.

Nanne played for the NHL’s North Stars, later coached them and also led the franchise as general manager and president. He remains a passionate and knowledgeable observer of the Wild and NHL.

Fletcher, the Wild’s general manager since May of 2009, earned the attention of the Minnesota sports public three years ago when he and owner Craig Leipold brought high profile free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter here by signing them to $98 million contracts. Last spring Fletcher’s roster and Mike Yeo’s coaching had the Wild making an improbable playoff run that ended in the second round against the Blackhawks.

This winter Fletcher has negotiated trades that have included bringing goalie Devan Dubnyk and forward Chris Stewart to Minnesota. Dubnyk has made 24 straight starts, a franchise record, and has won 18 games.

Stewart, 6-2, 230 pounds, was acquired just last week and adds size and toughness to a roster that has been lacking those qualities. He complements the team’s speed and depth. The Wild is unbeaten in three games since his arrival from the Sabres.

Nanne said the addition of Stewart rounds out the roster while the trade for Dubnyk is in a class of its own among trades made this year by NHL clubs. “Far and away,” Nanne told Sports Headliners. “There’s nothing like it.”

Before Dubnyk joined the Wild the team was nine points out of a playoff spot. Now the Wild are No. 1 in the Western Conference Wildcard standings.

Nanne raves about Fletcher’s work as GM. “He’s been terrific. I expected him to do a real good job but he’s done a sensational job. He’s definitely one of the best general managers in the National Hockey League.”

Nanne praised Fletcher’s hockey support staff. “I think the Wild have been very fortunate with the front office staff that they’ve hired. They’ve identified…real quality people. They’ve hired them. They’ve let them do their jobs. I think the Wild operation is sensational.”

Fletcher’s staff is impressive but sometimes decisions have to be made by one person. “…He’s not afraid to make decisions,” Nanne said. “That’s very important for a general manager. You have to make crucial decisions at critical times, and some people are not good at it, and he’s terrific at it.”

Decisions sometimes go against the majority opinion. A franchise’s inner circle, media and fans may see things differently than the GM. “…He’s steadfast,” Nanne said of Fletcher. “He knows what’s going on and he’s got the confidence to go forward when many people are pushing in another direction.”

The Wild are on a 16-3-1 streak, including five wins in their last six games. Despite the club’s recent success, Nanne isn’t changing his prediction from awhile ago about the team’s 2015 postseason chances. “If they’re healthy at the time the playoffs begin, if they’ve got their whole team—like I said at the beginning of the year—the team is capable of winning the (Stanley) Cup or missing the playoffs. That’s how tough it is in that conference.”

Worth Noting

The telecast of last Tuesday night’s Wild-Senators game from Xcel Energy Center was the highest-rated regular season Wild game ever on Fox Sports North. The game had a 7.12 household rating in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market area, according to Nielsen Media Research and was the No. 1 program in the area among all male demographics.

The Wild defeated the Senators in a shootout game, 3-2. Also adding interest to the telecast was the addition of Jordan Leopold and Chris Stewart through trades the previous day. The 7.12 rating broke the previous 6.13 record the Wild set on February 24 against the Oilers. February’s 4.63 average was the highest-rated month ever for the Wild on Fox Sports North.

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, 17,280 households represent one rating point, indicating more than 123,000 households tuned in for Tuesday evening’s game.

On Senior Day yesterday the Gophers lost their fifth game in the last six when Penn State won 79-76 on D.J. Newbill’s last second three point shot. Minnesota is 17-14 overall and 6-12 in the Big Ten heading into the conference tournament on Wednesday when the Gophers, the No. 11 seed, play Rutgers, the No. 14 seed, starting at 6 p.m. in Chicago.

Gophers senior center Elliott Eliason, who started 35 games last season, has been given minimal playing time as of late with coach Richard Pitino using more minutes on freshmen. Eliason received his second start of the season yesterday but only played four minutes after not participating at all in the two previous games.

Apple Valley High School sophomore shooting guard Gary Trent, Jr., who is among the state’s most recruited prospects, sat in the second row near the Gophers’ bench for yesterday’s game. Trent has offers from Minnesota, Providence and Texas Tech, according to Rivals.com. Trent’s teammate, junior center Brock Bertram, has an offer from Tech where former Gophers coach Tubby Smith has finished last in the Big 12 Conference with a 3-15 record.

Ken Lien from the Mr. Basketball Committee e-mailed names of the five finalists for the 2015 Mr. Basketball Award: Sacar Anim, DeLaSalle; Bjorn Broman, Lakeview Christian Academy; JT Gibson, Champlin Park; Jarvis Johnson, DeLaSalle; Marshawn Wilson, Hill-Murray. The award goes annually to a high school senior, and this year’s winner will be announced after the boys state tournament games.

Next Sunday ESPN airs the new “30 for 30” documentary on Christian Laettner. The program focuses on his career and polarizing fan reaction that followed him long after his game-winning shot against Kentucky, advancing Duke to the 1992 NCAA Final Four. Laettner, the former Timberwolves No. 1 draft choice, will be headlining two youth clinics at Wayzata East Middle School in Plymouth on March 21 for the Timberwolves Basketball Academy.

The Gophers football team has spring practice sessions Tuesday and Thursday at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex. Both practices begin at 4:15 p.m. and are open to the public. Thursday’s practice is the Gophers’ last until resuming sessions again on March 24.

The Minnesota United leaves for Brazil on Wednesday to hold a preseason camp. The NASL club had an earlier preseason camp in Arizona and opens its regular season on April 11 at Tampa Bay. The home opener at the National Sports Center in Blaine is April 25.

The United has six Brazil natives: forward Pablo Campos, midfielders Ibson, Daniel Mendes and Juliano Vicentini, and defenders Tiago Calvano and Cristiano Dias. The United roster includes forward Miguel Ibarra who is also a member of the U.S. Men’s National team.

The United will play several exhibition games in Brazil and return home on March 24.

Ryan Galindo, who was announced as the new Washburn head football coach last week, is a 1999 graduate of the Minneapolis high school. He played college football at St. Thomas and from 2003-2009 was an assistant coach at Washburn. Later he was an assistant at Gustavus Adolphus under former Washburn head coach Pete Haugen before rejoining the Millers staff. He was offensive coordinator for the Millers last year, working for head coach Giovan Jenkins who last week started as a volunteer coach at Minnesota.

Comments Welcome