Recruiting – Page 73 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

50% of Coach Kill’s Time Spent Recruiting

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

Gophers football notes.

The Gophers coaches finished spring practice last Saturday and won’t be engaged in formal practices on the field with players until August, but this is a busy time with various tasks including recruiting. The NCAA allows college football assistants to be on the road recruiting now and head coaches like the Gophers Jerry Kill can recruit via telephone during this period of the spring.

Kill told Sports Headliners recruiting is a 365 days activity, and he and his staff spend 50 percent of their collective time each year in that process including evaluation and contact with potential Gophers. He said the football office receives approximately 5,500 e-mails annually regarding recommended prospects.

From all their research the staff has to figure out who they want as players and who will accept Gophers scholarships. Multiple players each year also agree to walk-on without a scholarship. Kill has eventually rewarded some walk-ons with scholarships.

The Gophers have several verbal commitments for the class of 2016 but much more work remains before high school players can sign National Letters of Intent next winter. “Right now in recruiting, it’s a critical time,” Kill said.

Kill’s staff will be visiting areas of the country where high school players have spring practices. That aids the evaluation process but spring practices don’t go on in Minnesota so Kill’s summer camps are vital to the evaluation process, and possible scholarship offers.

The Gophers coaches evaluated existing personnel on their roster yesterday morning. Sometimes after several weeks of spring practices players are moved to different positions, but not now. “We’re not moving anybody,” Kill said.

Kill’s health has gained attention during his time at Minnesota but the news is all good now. “I have been seizure free for 18 months,” he said.

The coach praises epilepsy special Dr. Brien Smith from Grand Rapids, Michigan for helping him. In addition to medication, Kill tries to walk every day and is diligent about eating at regular intervals.

Kill’s youngest daughter, Tasha, 24, will be married in Marion, Illinois on May 23 to Jason Hines.

The Gophers aren’t boasting but a visitor at spring practices developed the impression players and coaches might be thinking Minnesota will have one of the Big Ten’s best defenses next season. “I think there’s a very good chance,” Hank Ekpe told Sports Headliners. “We’ve been working hard all spring. We’ve been committed to what coach Kill is saying and what coach Tracy Claeys has been telling us. I think we’ll have a very good defense.”

Ekpe, a junior defensive end next season, was a force in the spring game last Saturday. His older brother Scott Ekpe, a senior in the fall, could replace the graduating Cameron Botticelli at starting defensive tackle. The Ekpes were starters together at Lewisville High School in Lewisville, Texas and could be regulars next fall, too.

Rodrick Williams, who will be a senior next season and likely the Gophers No. 1 running back going into August practices, is determined to maintain his weight at about 227 pounds after dropping 20 pounds since last season. He wants to avoid many carbohydrates. “…Like Little Debbie Snack Cakes,” Williams said, offering an example. “Too much bread, stuff like that.”

The 5-foot-11 Williams, who backed up David Cobb last year, said he’s faster than when he broke off late season touchdown runs against Nebraska and Missouri. “I still got my power. Little quicker, and I can move a little better, and I don’t get tired as quickly.”

The Big Ten Network announced this week there will be six Saturday night primetime football games including Minnesota at Iowa on November 14.

Worth Noting

Congratulations on another “great catch” by former Gophers and Vikings tight end Doug Kingsriter who is engaged to Kim Deason. Both are living in the Dallas area.

The Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame hosts its 8th Annual Minnesota Football Honors event May 3 at the Hilton Minneapolis. The event is open to the public and sponsored by the Vikings. The NFL club will announce its team awards for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Man of the Year, and Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.

The following individuals will be presented awards by the Minnesota chapter: Tom Obarski, Concordia-St. Paul, Bob Stein Scholar-Athlete; David Cobb, Gophers, Bobby Bell College Impact Player of the Year; David and Janis Larson, Bud Grant Distinguished Minnesotan; retired coach Dick Hanson, Burnsville High School, John Gagliardi Legacy; Mike Max, WCCO radio & TV, Sid Hartman Media; Josh Benson, Hinckley-Finlayson, Courage; Garrett Gardner, St. Paul Central High School, Stacy Robinson Leadership; Nicole Dailey, University of Minnesota, Cheerleader.

Scholar-athlete award winners will be Trey Anderson, White Bear Lake Area High School; Tom Auger, St. Cloud Cathedral High School; Ben Ellefson, Hawley High School; Gunnar Grimsrud, Rochester Mayo High School; Ismael Kamara, Harding High School; Taylor Ottersetter, Mayer Lutheran High School; Ben Shoults, Maple Grove High School; John Solberg, Cambridge-Isanti High School; Mitchell Stangel, Crosby-Ironton High School.

The event includes a social hour starting at 5 p.m. followed by dinner and the awards program. More at Minnesotafootballhonors.com.

The St. Thomas football team will take a 13-day trip to Italy this summer with stops in several cities including Rome and Naples. An NCAA foreign travel policy allows the trip and coach Glenn Caruso’s Tommies will have a special cultural experience and also play a game against Giaguaire Torino.

The Big Ten placed two teams in this year’s Final Four and the conference could be impressive next season too. Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis issued his “Way-Too-Early College Basketball Top 25” April 8 and included six Big Ten teams: Maryland, No. 5; Michigan State, No. 8; Indiana, No. 9; Michigan, No. 16, Wisconsin, No. 17; Purdue, No. 19. Virginia was No. 1, and Iowa State, coached by former Timberwolves guard Fred Hoiberg, ranked No. 6.

Tonight’s opening Stanley Cup playoffs game for the Wild and Blues is historic. The two franchises have never played against each other in the playoffs, although the North Stars and St. Louis competed in nine series. The last of those series was in 1991 when coach Bob Gainey’s Stars defeated the Blues in Game Six behind two goals from Bobby Smith.

Women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings today announced the signing of 6-foot-1 forward Kynadi Johnson and 6-foot-3 center Karley Barnes to National Letters of Intent to play for the Gophers beginning next season. Johnson is a transfer from Butler Community College in Kansas and Barnes is a transfer from Tallahassee Community College in Florida.

The Minnesota State High School League kicks off a 100-year celebration Friday and Saturday at the State Speech Tournament at Lakeville North High School. The Minnesota State High School Athletic Association, the forerunner of the MSHL, began in April of 1916. Today the MSHL annually serves over 400 high schools, and more than 200,000 participants in 42 activities. The 100-year celebration will extend into 2016.

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Carter Coughlin Firm on U Commitment

Posted on March 23, 2015March 23, 2015 by David Shama

Gophers’ football fans with long memories might be a little concerned about whether Carter Coughlin will keep his verbal commitment to play for coach Jerry Kill.

The fans most worried will recall that in 2004 James Laurinaitis changed his mind about Minnesota and accepted a scholarship to play for Ohio State. Laurinaitis was a junior linebacker for Wayzata High School and a Rivals three-star recruit who gave a verbal commitment to the Gophers in early 2004 before he flipped that decision in December. Coughlin is a junior linebacker at Eden Prairie High School and Rivals.com ranks him as a three-star prospect.

Laurinaitis became a rare three-time college All-American and is the most decorated linebacker in Buckeyes history. He played on four Big Ten championship teams, with OSU winning two outright and sharing two others. He was the kind of home state defensive force the Gophers needed from 2005-2008 when they slogged their way through a cumulative conference record of 10 wins and 22 losses.

Laurinaitis was recruited by Ohio State assistant coach Luke Fickell. The Buckeyes co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach also recruited Coughlin and made a very favorable impression on him.

But this looks like payback time for Gophers fans because Coughlin insists his college decision is final even though Ohio State was tempting. “I am set in Maroon and Gold,” Coughlin told Sports Headliners. “There’s no question.”

Ohio State is college football’s defending national champ and will be a heavy favorite to repeat next year. What if the Buckeyes keep calling Coughlin and the Gophers have a bad season? “I am going to help build the program brick by brick,” Coughlin said. “I am completely invested in Minnesota and that’s my final decision.”

Coughlin, who could be the state’s top prep football recruit next fall, admitted it was “50-50” between Minnesota and Ohio State before he decided on the Gophers and announced his decision March 12. His mom, Jennie Coughlin, said her son “really had not let on yet” the big news was coming that Thursday.

That same day Carter had long distance phone work to do. “He was real close to coach Fickell,” Jennie said. “That was a tough phone call for him to make. …It was pretty emotional for him. He said it was probably the hardest thing he’s ever had to do…to tell coach Fick what his situation was.”

Coughlin is personable and admits to being a “people pleaser” so the call to the Buckeyes coach was understandably difficult. But when he went to Minnesota’s campus and told the coaches there of his decision he saw smiles on their faces and it removed the “pain” he was feeling about Fickell.

“I can’t even explain how excited I am about this (Gophers) coaching staff,” Coughlin said. “Looking at what coach Kill has done with every single program that he’s had—every single program just keeps getting better and better. Minnesota has gotten so much better in the past couple years and it’s just going to keep continuing to grow.”

Last fall Kill led the Gophers to a 5-3 record in the Big Ten, the first time Minnesota has been over .500 in conference games since 2003. In Kill’s first two seasons his overall record was 9-16 but in the last two it is 16-10. Minnesotans, including the Coughlin family, are impressed.

“He has tremendous respect for the man,” Jennie said. “It’s exciting to see what’s happening with the Minnesota Gophers and how much they’re growing and building, and he wants to be a part of that. I think it’s been his dream as a young boy to play for the Gophers. Dream come true, really.”

Coughlin, who said his decision to choose Minnesota was his and not the family’s, has deep Gopher roots. His grandfather, Tom Moe, was a starting end for Minnesota in the late 1950s. Although he built a law career in Minneapolis, Moe also served as the Gophers athletic director after an academic fraud scandal hit the basketball program in 1998. Jennie played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Gophers women’s tennis team and her husband, Bob Coughlin, was a starting defensive lineman on the U football team.

Carter acknowledged he values family and it was a major factor in thinking about his college choice. “That’s one of the most important things in my life, and I’d say that was a big thing at the end (of the decision making process) for me.”

Schools can’t talk about high school players until they sign National Letters of Intent as seniors but if the Gophers coaches could discuss Coughlin publicly they no doubt would rave about him. The first attribute out of the mouth of Kill or linebackers coach Mike Sherels would likely be speed. (Sherels also made a big impression on Coughlin during recruiting).

Coughlin has been timed at 4.44 in the 40-yard dash, and that’s moving for a high school linebacker, or even a running back. He is almost 6-foot-4 and plans to increase his weight from 205 to 220 for his senior season at Eden Prairie where the Eagles are defending state 6A champions.

Many prep prospects don’t finalize college choices 11 months before they can sign National Letters of Intent like Coughlin, but he wanted to make the decision and focus on high school including another state championship. “It also allows me to be able to recruit other kids in the state—and out of the state—and try to keep building up the 2016 group,” he said.

Sounds like Coughlin—who will be a business major and describes the Carlson School of Management as “incredible”—is sold on Minnesota.

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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.

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