Timberwolves – Page 5 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Gophers Don’t Need Game Now Against Crosstown Tommies

Posted on March 29, 2025March 29, 2025 by David Shama

New University of Minnesota basketball coach Niko Medved should ignore suggestions he schedule a game with St. Thomas. There is no upside for his program in scheduling the St. Paul school that is only a few miles from Dinkytown.

Asked about the Tommies at his presser earlier this week, Medved was gracious about the suggestion and said it’s a possibility without giving a time commitment. Good response but behind closed doors Niko and his boss Mark Coyle should develop amnesia about St. Thomas.

The Tommies, only four seasons into Division I competition, play in the mid-major Summit League. Members are certainly not marquee names in college hoops with the likes of schools from the Dakotas and those pesky Kangaroos from Kansas City.

The Tommies, though, are already a Summit League power and a terrific mid-level program under coaching guru Johnny Tauer. They would walk through a snowstorm to play the role of “David” at Williams Arena against the Gophers.

Fuhgeddaboudit.

Medved photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

The Gopher basketball brand is so tarnished right now it would be foolish to play “Goliath” by giving the Tommies the opportunity to take down a team from the mighty Big Ten on its home floor. In that match up, Medved and company are in a no-win drama for them.

A blow-out Minnesota win? The public response is, “What do you expect from a Big Ten team playing at home?”

A close Gopher victory? The chorus says, “See the Tommies could have won. They’re just as good as Minnesota.”

A Tommies triumph? Critics crow: “The Gophers can’t even defeat a good mid-major program.”

The Tommies played road games last season at Oklahoma State and Arizona State, two teams from the Big 12 Conference. The scrappy Tommies lost both games by a combined 24 points.

Ask the marketers at those Power Four schools if the games against the Tommies did anything to boost their brand and credibility with fans, donors and potential recruits.

Avoiding the Tommies shouldn’t prompt a “game of chicken” mentality from fans who follow either program. It’s just savvy business for the Gophers to take awhile to build up their product and continue their tradition of cushy non-conference scheduling against the likes of “Hopscotch State” and “Gulf of America University.”

There is speculation that the prestigious Big East, drawn to the TV size of the Twin Cities market, may one day ask the Tommies to join that powerhouse league. That would surely be the time to schedule the Minneapolis versus St. Paul matchup—our version of Marquette against Wisconsin.

In the meantime, the Gophers need to be aware the Tommies are their competition even if the two teams don’t play on the court against one another. As the two Division I programs in the state, there is a budding rivalry for high school recruits, media attention and fans.

BTW both programs have lots of potential to build fan followings and home attendances. The Tommies, 24-10 overall last season, attracted only 20,117 total fans for 14 home games at Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies averaged 1,437 fans per game, playing to 65 percent of capacity, per stats.ncaa.org. St. Thomas will play in the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena next fall with a basketball capacity of about 5,500.

The Gophers, whose public season ticket sales have dipped under 5,000, continued their trend of poor attendance in 2025. Minnesota averaged 8,923 fans, playing to 61 percent capacity in 14,625 seat Williams Arena.

Worth Noting

Is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t agree the No. 1 thing that will determine the Twins fate for 2025 is collective health. The Twins announced the following Injured List on Thursday, opening day.

Position players Brooks Lee (10-days, retroactive to March 24; lumbar strain) and Royce Lewis (10-days, retroactive to March 24; left hamstring strain), and right-handed pitchers Brock Stewart (15-days, retroactive to March 24; left hamstring strain) and Michael Tonkin (15-days, retroactive to March 24; right shoulder strain).

How much has the Twins Opening Day roster changed in four years? There are four players on the 2025 roster who were Twins in 2021: pitchers Jorge Alcala and Randy Dobnak, catcher Ryan Jeffers and outfielder Byron Buxton.

The Pohlad family is believed to be seeking at least $1.7 billion to sell the Twins who in Forbes annual evaluation of MLB franchises posted a few days ago values the club at $1.5 billion, a three percent increase over last year. Carl Pohlad purchased the team for a reported $44 million in 1984.

The average MLB club is now worth an average of $2.6 billion, per Forbes who ranked the Twins No. 23 among the 30 franchises in value. The Yankees are No. 1 at $8.1 billion valuation, while the Marlins are last at $1.05 billion.

While the Twins are up for sale, Sports Headliners has no reason to believe longtime Timberwolves-Lynx owner Glen Taylor, or Wild owner Craig Leipold, have interest in buying the local baseball franchise.

Word is the Wolves Tim Connelly, president of basketball operations, is not expected to exercise his contract opt out after this season and will stay with the franchise.

Cheryl Reeve, head coach and president of basketball operations for the Lynx, speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers April 8 at Norway House in Minneapolis. Winner of four WNBA titles with the Lynx, Reeve has been a headliner three previous times at Dunkers.

Storyteller extraordinaire Jay Pivec is the latest guest on “Behind the Game” which can be viewed on YouTube and is co-hosted by Patrick Klinger and Dave Boden. A Minneapolis native, Pivec is a basketball lifer whose coaching stops over the decades include in his home state and beyond where he forged relationships and memories that entertain in his new book. The Book of Piv, available through Amazon, is his memoir from 40 years of coaching and is billed: “All stories as true as they need to be.” https://youtu.be/6jzxnB10Src

The Football Film Federation is promoting a two-day coaches technology convention at the Mall of America on April 26 and 27. The event is for those from high schools and colleges interested in film knowledge and excellence. Top vendors and key speakers will be present.

Two schools will receive the Bob Marcus Film Excellence Award which is named after the successful former Gopher and Viking video expert. More including information is available at footballfilmconference@gmail.com.

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Word on Next U Basketball Coach Leads to Niko Medved

Posted on March 15, 2025March 15, 2025 by David Shama

Sources believe Niko Medved will be the next head men’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota. Those sources include a former college basketball coach with Minnesota ties who called Sports Headliners Friday to say Medved, head coach at Colorado State since 2018, will succeed Ben Johnson who was dismissed earlier this week after four losing Big Ten seasons.

That source, speaking on condition of anonymity, believes a deal has been agreed to between Medved and the U.

It’s all but certain Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle had identified preferred candidates prior to firing Johnson, with Medved a target. With the player transfer portal opening March 24, the U and other programs across the nation want to move fast in acquiring players for next season. Hiring the next U coach is both a thoughtful and timely challenge.

Medved, with Gopher state roots and a consistent winning coaching resume, checks boxes for Coyle. “We need somebody that embraces Minnesota,” Coyle told local media yesterday.

Medved, Minneapolis born, is a U graduate. He has his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Minnesota in kinesiology and sports management respectively.

In the 1990s Medved was a student manager for U head coach Clem Haskins. The Roseville High grad was associate head coach at Macalester College from 1997-1999. After that he was an assistant coach at Furman, Minnesota (one season under Dan Monson) and Colorado State before becoming head coach at Furman, Drake and in Fort Collins with the Rams.

It’s been presumed for a while that Medved would welcome the opportunity to come home and coach at his alma mater. His availability would be attractive to Coyle who in his coaching search rhetoric prioritized hiring someone who will win consistently like rival Big Ten programs Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Medved’s resume is that of improving records over time and producing 20-win seasons. Hired for the 2013-2014 season at Furman, he spent four seasons building up a program that went from a 9-game winner to 21. After one season at Drake, he took over the Rams and in five of seven seasons his teams have won 20 games or more.

At one point last season his team earned a No. 12 national ranking and finished with a 25-11 record. Today the Rams, 24-9 overall and winners of nine consecutive games, play Boise State in the Mountain West tournament championship game.

A victory sends the Rams into the NCAA Tournament. A loss could put the team on the bubble for an invitation. Although Medved has never won a regular season conference championship, or tournament title with the Rams, his teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament two of the last three seasons.

If the Rams miss the Big Dance, that could clear the way for an announcement about the Gophers job (if sources are correct about the hire). The urgency of getting started in the player retention and recruitment process can’t be overstated.

When a coach is fired, players can enter the transfer portal earlier than those who aren’t in that situation. It’s expected the Gophers want to retain their key holdovers from this winter’s team, guard Isaac Asuma and center Frank Mitchell. Guard Tyler Cochran has already entered the portal.

In the transactional world of college basketball players, a program’s fortunes can turn around in one or two off seasons. Coyle is reportedly committed to allocating more revenue sharing money to basketball players at the U than many other Big Ten rivals are planning. That would give Medved a competitive advantage in recruiting.

Medved would also be expected to boost Name, Image and Likeness monies considerably beyond what Johnson was able to do. He will be counted on to woo donors with his personality, track record and commitment to Minnesota.

As the Rams coach, Medved has recruited his home state. David Roddy, from Breck, was a Medved protégé who became a great player for the Rams and later a first round NBA draft choice. On this season’s team is Jon Mekonnen from Eastview High School.

A Medved contract buyout from Colorado State would be expected to cost about $4 million. His first-year salary at Minnesota might be around $3 million, plus yearly increases and incentives.

A Medved homecoming would likely reunite him with his friend Dave Thorson. The legendary former DeLaSalle coach joined Medved as an assistant at Drake in 2017 and then moved on with him to Colorado State. In 2021 Thorson returned to Minneapolis to be part of Johnson’s coaching staff. Coyle has asked Thorson to stay on staff to help hold the program together during the head coach process.

There is competition even in the Big Ten to hire a new head coach, with Iowa and Indiana searching. The opinion here is Johnny Tauer of St. Thomas would be the best replacement for Johnson but sources insist he won’t leave the Tommies.

Drake’s Ben McCollum, with a similar coaching resume to Tauer, is also a favorite in this space but the state of Iowa native may end up with the Hawkeyes or possibly Hoosiers. The Gophers may not interest him.

Former Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders, like Medved, has strong Minnesota roots having grown up in the state and he played for the Gophers. Now an assistant with the NBA Nuggets, Saunders likely would jump at the hometown job but he doesn’t have the college background it’s believed Coyle wants.

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Here’s a Guess at Minnesota Twins Opening Day Lineup

Posted on February 28, 2025February 28, 2025 by David Shama

Who starts for the Twins on opening day of the regular season March 27 in St. Louis against the Cardinals? Well, the lineup will likely include several players who were in the starting lineup for Minnesota in the opening spring training game last Saturday in Fort Myers against the Braves.

This was the lineup on February 22: Matt Wallner, right field; Carlos Correa, shortstop; Byron Buxton, center field; Trevor Larnach, DH; Royce Lewis, third base; Willi Castro, second base; Christian Vázquez, catcher; Ty France, first base; Harrison Bader, left field; and Zebby Matthews, pitcher.

Matthews, of course, won’t be the opening day pitcher. He will exceed expectations by making the five-man regular rotation of starters. Staff ace Pablo López likely receives opening day honors, with a relief corps that could be among baseball’s best backing up the 15-game winner in 2024.

Ryan Jeffers, the team’s more valuable catcher last season, probably gets penciled in for Vázquez.

Manager Rocco Baldelli might prefer to use Edouardo Julien at second, rather the multi-positional Castro who is one of baseball’s better subs. Neither player is a whiz there defensively, and Julien’s offense is in question after a .199 batting average last season.

Slugger Jose Miranda figures to see plenty of opportunities during the season as a DH, or first or third baseman. He could be an opening day starter after hitting a career best .284 last season.

Miranda and Julien are in a group of several “shadow hitters” whose projected offensive production looks like a mystery in 2025. Add to the list Jeffers and all the starters in the spring training opener except for Buxton, Correa and Lewis. It’s a collection of bats that in past MLB seasons have produced inconsistency.

The Twins couldn’t sustain offense through the season in 2024 and this year could be the same. After playing some of the best baseball in the majors earlier in the season, Minnesota stumbled to a 12-29 record in the final 39 games. The club went through a stretch when it was two-for-19 with runners in scoring position. Even Lewis, a hitting phenom in two brief previous seasons, faded badly in late summer of 2024.

Tainting expectations for the offense this season is the always present drama of whether the big boppers, Lewis, Buxton and Correa, can avoid being out long periods with injuries. Their availability is crucial for a team that hopes for a rebound after winning the AL Central and a playoff series in 2023. The Twins will need their touted pitching to deliver all year, alongside sharp fielding and an ability to produce runs when the pressure is on, even if it means grinding out offense in the simplest of ways including hit-and-run, and savvy base running.

Optimism about the franchise isn’t lacking. BetMGM earlier this month made Minnesota the wagering favorite to win the Central Division which doesn’t have an elite team. Also, this winter club authority Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners: “We’re better than what the public thinks we are right now.”

Marshall Tanick, the prominent Minneapolis-based attorney and journalist, reported via email on the upbeat outlook of Twins personnel boss Derek Falvey when he spoke to the Minnesota Breakfast group in Naples, Florida last week.

Morneau, Falvey, St. Peter photo by Marshall Tanick

Tanick wrote that Falvey, who March 3 is elevated to the position of president, baseball and business operations, believes the organization is positioned to improve on last year’s disappointing late-season collapse after conducting a “deep post-mortem” while reflecting on the major weakness of “lack of ability to score consistently” to complement solid pitching.

He expects the club to improve on “offense” under new hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, now in his second stint with the organization after previously working with the club’s minor league teams. (Borgschulte was the Orioles’ hitting coach last season and between 2018 and 2021 was a minor league hitting instructor in the Twins organization.)

Former Twins first baseman and 2006 American League Most Valuable Player Justin Morneau, now a Twins TV analyst, agreed with Falvey’s upbeat outlook. He noted the club’s “renewed focus on fundamentals” in getting prepared for the season—which provides “a lot of reasons to be optimistic.”

St. Peter, who becomes a strategic advisor to the franchise on March 3 after about 22 years as president, told the breakfast attendees there is “no really definitive timetable” regarding sale of the franchise but he anticipates a transaction within “the next several months.”

Worth Noting

Going to Fort Myers to watch the Twins in spring training games? Ticket prices vary including almost $70 for a dugout box seat and nearly $50 for a home plate box seat. Parking is $15 at the Lee Health Sports Complex. All transactions, including concessions, are plastic only.

Happy birthday to retired Twins TV play-by-play voice Dick Bremer who turns 69 on Saturday.

Former Gophers public address basketball legend Dick Jonckowski has battled cancer in the past and must have periodic checkups. His latest report was all good, he told Sports Headliners.

Bobby Jackson, the superstar guard on the Gophers’ 1997 Final Four team, will join former teammate and power forward John Thomas as speakers Tuesday at the Twin Cities Dunkers gathering at Interlachen Country Club. Jackson, now an assistant coach with the 76ers, will be in Minneapolis for a game against the Timberwolves Tuesday evening.

Terrence Shannon Jr., the rookie who led the Wolves in scoring in last night’s loss to the Lakers, not only has exceptional physical skills but maturity, too. He turns 25 in July and has scored 17 and 25 points coming off the bench in his last two games.

Cody Lindenberg, the 2024 Gophers linebacker who is recovering from hernia surgery and unable to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine’s on-field activities this week, is represented by Minneapolis-based Institute for Athletes. The agency also handles Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman who played for the Gophers from 2015-2018.

Condolences to family, friends and the many followers of Minnesota tennis legend Bob Larson who passed away at 93 earlier this month. His passion for tennis, including through his publications, made him an icon in the sport here and far beyond.

A number of Minnesota golf courses, including in Minneapolis and Emerald Greens in Hastings, have been open for play in February.

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