Recruiting – Page 37 – 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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U Football Transfers in School Already

Posted on January 20, 2021January 20, 2021 by David Shama

Golden Gophers football transfers began classes at the University of Minnesota this week, per recruiting authority Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated.com. Head coach P.J. Fleck and staff made news in recent weeks by bringing in more transfers than at any time in his regime dating back to 2017, with the number of newcomers distinguishing Minnesota from its six West Division rivals.

“I think that Minnesota in the West has certainly done the most to improve their short-term (talent) in 2021 using the transfer market,” Burns said. The transfers are linebacker Jack Gibbens, Abilene Christian; defensive tackles Val Martin and Nyles Pinckney from N.C. State and Clemson respectively; kicker Will Mobley, Temple; guardKarter Shaw, Utah State; punter Daniel Sparks, Louisiana-Monroe; and wide receiver Dylan Wright, Texas A&M. All but Mobley are in school now, with the Temple athlete enrolling in May, according to Burns.

The arrival of the newbies, most of whom have considerable college game experience, bolsters the overall Minnesota roster depth, while adding quality talent and potential starters. “I look at every position now and I see competition,” Burns said.

Competition will highlight the team’s offseason as players go through conditioning, weight training, meetings, drills, practices and scrimmages. Intense competition for playing time should make the Gophers more prepared and better on the field for next season starting with an opening game against Big Ten and national power Ohio State, expected to be ranked in the preseason AP top five.

Starting spots on defense are really open, with perhaps cornerback Coney Durr and end Boye Mafe the only locks. Gibbens, a grad transfer with four years experience at Abilene, is expected to provide leadership and quality play at linebacker where the Gophers were both thin and inexperienced last season. Defensive line was also a trouble spot in 2020 and Burns said junior defensive tackle Jamal Teague, who opted out last season, might not return. Another junior tackle, Noah Hickox, has left the program, leaving the defensive line roster even more inexperienced. The arrival of veteran grad transfers Martin and Pinckney clearly fills a need with their immediate eligibility.

Pinckney is a headliner after being a four-star recruit out of high school and playing in 55 games for the powerful Clemson program. The Tigers are heavy on defensive line talent for 2021, with two of their players named this week to an early ESPN preseason All-American team. Pinckney comes to Minnesota looking for a big season and invite to the NFL.

The Minnesota offense contrasts with the defense, having veterans returning at every position, but the arrival of Shaw and Wright, both underclassmen, can mean potentially helping the Gophers this year and beyond. Burns said Shaw has been told he is the center of the future, eventually replacing John Michael-Schmitz. Shaw can play multiple positions and could have helped the Gophers last season as they struggled with depth.

Wright looks like the other headliner among the transfers and Gopher fans need to hope the NCAA soon announces a new policy that underclassmen like he and Shaw can move to new schools and have immediate eligibility. Wright was a four-star recruit out of high school and wooed to A&M by former Gophers assistant Maurice Linguist who worked for Fleck at Minnesota before joining the Aggies, and is now with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. Burns credits Linguist with playing a huge role in Wright choosing to transfer here.

“It’s Linguist who actually tells Wright I can vouch for everything that P.J. is doing up there—look at their wide receiver development. Minnesota is able to land him,” Burns said in telling the Wright recruiting story. “He is a kid that Minnesota doesn’t have anybody in their wide receiver room right now that looks like him. He is a specimen at 6-foot-4. The question is going to be how long is it going to take for (wide receivers coach) Matt Simon to refine his game where he can help Minnesota win football games.”

Minnesota’s extra points and field goal kicking last season was poor. Burns said grad transfer Mobley, who is expected to challenge returnee Brock Walker for kicking duties, holds the Temple record for consecutive extra points made (51). Sparks was among the Sun Belt Conference’s best punters last season as a freshman and if eligible will offer competition to returnee Mark Crawford who has to improve.

Burns said Fleck obviously “wasn’t blind” to special team woes last season that included poor field position on kickoff returns. Burns’ research showed primary returner Cam Wiley, who struggled with decision making, had 11 returns resulting in average starting field position on the 16-yard line. A fair catch places the ball on the 25.

“They lost nine yards of field position every time he decided to return a kick. I cannot stress to you (enough) how horrible that is,” said Burns, who noted the Gophers had the fourth worst starting field position following kickoffs in college football last season.

In yesterday’s interview with Sports Headliners Burns also talked about Minnesota’s 2021 freshman recruiting class that has 17 players signed to national letters of intent, with two highly publicized players pending. The next date for signing is February 3, and the Gophers hope to lock up offensive tackle Saia Mapakaitolo from Arizona and Nebraska cornerback Avante Dickerson.

Mapakaitolo was committed to USC and had his choice of West Coast offers, per Burns who said a California recruiting authority raves about the athleticism of the young tackle. Listed at 6-5, 280 pounds by 247Sports, Burns is intrigued by Mapakaitolo’s size, athleticism and participation in rugby, a grueling sport.

It was a disappointment to Gopher fans that Dickerson, a four-star recruit and the highest ranked of Minnesota’s verbal commitments last year per 247Sports, didn’t sign in December as expected. Burns believes Minnesota and Nebraska are the front runners for the gifted cornerback. With only about two weeks until the February signing date, Burns said Dickerson and his mother may visit Minnesota to help make a final decision.

The issue of location, staying closer to home and playing for the Cornhuskers in Lincoln is apparently a major factor in trying to make a decision. For Burns, there is no question what school Dickerson should choose.

“I don’t think particularly highly about Nebraska, with all the (outgoing) transfers they’ve had in the last year, their win-lost record. … To me it doesn’t make a ton of sense, because especially I believe (head coach) Scott Frost is on the hot seat. So why would you want to be going to a school, other than it’s close to home, that you could potentially be playing for a new coach in the next year or two?”

Worth Noting

The Gophers also have several players from the 2021 freshmen class who have enrolled early and started classes. 247Sports identifies early enrollees as DE Deven Eastern, WR Brady Boyd, WR Lemeke Brockington, “athlete” Dylan McGill, CB Justin Walley and LB Devon Williams.

Word is the Gophers have given up on recruiting Davon Townley, the defensive end from Minneapolis North High School. At one time Minnesota coveted the four-star for its 2021 recruiting class. Where might Townley be headed? “I have no idea,” Burns said. “All I know is I assure you…it ain’t going to be at Minnesota.”

Legendary Herb Brooks, who led the hockey Gophers to national championships in 1974, 1976 and 1979, was named the WCHA’s 1970s Coach of the Decade today as part of the league’s 70-year celebration.

The NFC title game Sunday in Green Bay features the franchise, the Packers, with the most world titles (13) against the quarterback, Tom Brady of the Bucs, with the most post season wins, 32.

Packer wide receiver Davante Adams had 18 touchdown receptions during the regular season. That total ranks behind only former Viking Randy Moss (2007) and ex-49er Jerry Rice (1987), who are tied for most in NFL single season history with 23 each.

Jeff Crilley’s email newsletter, “The Rundown,” included a story yesterday listing the states whose residents are most to least stressed during these turbulent times. Citing a OnePoll survey for stress supplement Natrol Relaxia, Minnesota ranked among the most relaxed citizenry. Iowa is the least stressed, Missouri the most.

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