Timberwolves – Page 85 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

A Different Spring for Tyus Jones

Posted on March 9, 2016March 9, 2016 by David Shama

If Tyus Jones ever writes an autobiography the first chapter might be titled “March.” The third month of the year has been special for Jones—at least for the last few years including when his interest picked up about playing for the Gophers.

Three years ago Jones was a junior point guard leading Apple Valley High School to the 2013 Class 4A championship. During that same March the late Flip Saunders, who had become friends with Jones, talked with Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague about becoming the Gophers’ coach. The two men met in Indianapolis but couldn’t agree on a deal.

Jones told Sports Headliners a Saunders hire would have placed the Gophers among his final choices for college. “It would have,” he said.

Saunders was out of coaching in 2013 but wanted to get back in at either Minnesota, his alma mater, or returning to the NBA where his stops included the Timberwolves. When Jones was a sophomore in high school he first met the dynamic coach. “I got to know him pretty well throughout my high school days,” Jones said. “Just built a relationship with him, and he was a very humble, down to earth guy.

“What I remember him most for is how he wanted the best for me—and always looked out for me…giving me advice and being there for me.”

Two years ago this month Jones was a senior at Apple Valley when his team couldn’t defend its 2013 state title, losing the championship game in double overtime to Cretin-Derham Hall. During the month he received numerous national and local honors including prep All-American and invitations to the best postseason high school all-star games, while Duke fans anticipated the fall arrival of the school’s next great point guard.

Jones, part of a stellar freshman class at Duke, had the Blue Devils advancing through the NCAA Tournament last March. In early April, just about a month out from Jones’ 19th birthday, the Dukies celebrated an unexpected NCAA championship. The kid from suburban Minneapolis, who had flirted with the thought of playing for Saunders and the hometown Gophers, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

Jones decided last spring to leave Duke and enter the NBA Draft. It seemed most improbable that he could end up playing in Minneapolis for the Timberwolves. But Saunders had joined the Timberwolves during the spring of 2013 and he wanted his young friend on the roster. A draft night trade by Saunders, the franchise’s president and coach, brought Jones home.

Jones’ first NBA season has been a trial, with minimal playing time off the bench and even a demotion to the Development League, but he doesn’t regret leaving Duke to become a pro and fulfill a lifelong dream. “That’s my job now and to be able to say this is a blessing,” he said. “The cherry on the top is I am playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.”

Jones, of course, wishes Saunders, who died unexpectedly last fall from cancer, was around to see him living his dream and to offer mentoring. Instead, other coaches and players like point guards Ricky Rubio and Andre Miller helped the rookie adjust to the pros where he has played in only 20 games while averaging 4.4 points and 2.6 assists.

Jones said he is a superior player to what he was at the beginning of the season, able to manage the game better and is more knowledgeable about his personnel. “At the beginning of the year I wasn’t quite as aware as I am now,” he said.

When Jones thinks back about the last couple of years and reviews how much has happened, he is grateful. “It seems like it was a blur and everything. I feel like it has just gone my way and so many doors have been opened up for me, and I am extremely blessed and fortunate.”

This March, instead of competing for championships, Jones is playing for a Timberwolves team with a 20-45 record. What has he learned about losing?

“That I don’t like it,” he answered. “But you can always learn from it and let it make you a better player and person. There’s a lot of lessons that can be brought and taught to you through this game of basketball.”

Worth Noting

Jones’ brother Tre Jones is a sophomore point guard at Apple Valley High School whose college scholarship offers reportedly include Duke, but Tyus said there is no favorite yet. “He’s pretty wide open. His recruiting process is just getting started.”

The Gopher baseball team’s first ever game in the new U.S. Bank Stadium will be Tuesday February 28, 2017, against North Dakota. Minnesota will play North Dakota in the evening, and then again the next night at the covered stadium which can be converted from a football configuration to a baseball setup.

When the Gophers played the first ever baseball game at Target Field in March of 2010, attendance was 36,065. That was a Saturday afternoon, so the Gophers’ week night games against North Dakota are expected to draw smaller crowds.

The next Twins telecast from spring training will be Sunday starting at 12:05 p.m. on Fox Sports North. The Twins will play the Orioles from Fort Myers.

Speculation is three former Gophers from the 2015 team will be chosen in this spring’s NFL Draft. Defensive back Eric Murray might be selected in the third or fourth rounds. Defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell seem likely for later rounds.

Murray pointed out after the Gophers Pro Day Monday that prospects can’t demonstrate tackling abilities in tryouts because it’s not allowed. Murray, who had no college offers other than the Gophers, said the NFL was a goal coming out of high school in Milwaukee. “It was definitely a dream. You gotta set a goal somehow. Once you set that, it’s something to reach.”

The Gophers had four players drafted last year, the most since 2006. The four were tight end Maxx Williams, Ravens (second round); linebacker Damien Wilson, Cowboys (fourth round); running back David Cobb, Titans (fifth round); and safety Cedric Thompson, Dolphins (fifth round). The 1950 NFL Draft was the last time Minnesota had four players selected in the first five rounds.

It’s been a rewarding week for former Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith now in his third season at Texas Tech. Smith was named Big 12 Coach of the Week Sunday and yesterday he was announced as Sporting News National Coach of the Year. It was the eighth time he has won a national coach of the year award. He coached the Red Raiders to a surprising 9-9 record in the Big 12 this season (19-11 overall).

Quoting a Sports Headliners reader who will remain anonymous but marveled at this column’s high praise for former Gophers coach Jerry Kill: “I want you to write my obituary.”

Retired Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron will be in town in late April to help Canterbury Park promote the May 7 Kentucky Derby and the return of live racing to the Shakopee racetrack May 20. McCarron, who twice won the Derby, will host a fund raiser for the Leg Up Fund at Canterbury April 26. The fund assists recuperating jockeys injured at Canterbury. The Derby attracts the largest amount of wagering at Canterbury each year.

Bill Davis, the former Gopher baseball and basketball star, played on the Richfield High School team that lost the classic 1960 overtime game to Edgerton in the boys state basketball tournament. Davis will speak to the “Breakfast with Leroy” group Saturday at the Bloomington Knights of Columbus, 1114 American Blvd West. Part of Davis’ presentation will include audio from WCCO Radio describing the final minutes of the game, plus postgame interviews. More information about the presentation including how to attend is available by contacting Pat Rickert at 612-861-3981. Attendees are mostly athletes from the Minneapolis public schools in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, many of whom went on to college and professional careers.

Former Midwest Sports Channel and Twins executive Kevin Cattoor is Chief Operating Officer for Foodsby, the nation’s largest food logistics delivery service. The Minneapolis-based company partners with office buildings and restaurants to efficiently provide lunchtime meals delivered by the restaurants.

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No Escaping Franchises’ Wanderlust

Posted on February 22, 2016February 22, 2016 by David Shama

A trip to southern California reminded me about the nomadic ways of sports franchises. Chargers board chair Dean Spanos has put on hold plans to vacate San Diego and play in Los Angeles—contemplating at least one final attempt for a private-publicly funded stadium in his NFL city.

Thank the Lord it only cost a billion dollars to keep the Vikings in Minneapolis.

When I started thinking about the franchise history of Minnesota’s professional sports teams, I got a bad case of the yips. Vikings, Twins, North Stars, Lakers—yikes! No wonder my right hand shakes while I try to hold a cup of coffee.

American sports teams can move around like doughnut franchises. The NBA’s Kings, for example, started as the Rochester Royals. They became the Cincinnati Royals, and later the Kansas City Kings, before emerging as the Sacramento Kings.

Baseball’s Braves had a long stay in Boston before a sometimes glorious run in Milwaukee during the 1950s and ‘60s. They broke many hearts in Dairyland by relocating to Georgia where those ambitious Braves are counting down the days before moving into their third stadium in greater Atlanta.

Long ago the football Cardinals played second string to the Bears in Chicago and flirted with a move to Minnesota before landing in St. Louis. Then the Cardinals decided Arizona was a better place to roost. St. Louis got its revenge by taking the Rams from L.A. That lasted until last month when the NFL approved a Rams return to southern California where they will play in a new palace said to be the next big thing among football stadiums.

Most Vikings fans could care less about the Rams, who every couple of decades jilt either L.A. or St. Louis. But Purple Nation is still rejoicing that Los Angeles, without any football for about 20 years, didn’t lure the Vikings to southern California where now either the Oakland Raiders (previously the L.A. Raiders) or the Chargers (long ago the L.A. Chargers) might join the Rams in that new palace in suburban Inglewood.

While you may not hate L.A., I do! I remember Los Angeles took the Lakers away from Minneapolis in 1960. To me, it was like the baseball Dodgers moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. The Lakers won five pro championships in Minneapolis, and became a dynasty again in the 1960s and beyond playing in southern California. This town lost some phenomenal basketball when it missed out on watching Lakers superstars Elgin Baylor and Jerry West in the 1960s.

Not that this area can claim purity in chasing franchises from another city. Major league baseball began here in 1961 when the Senators moved from Washington, D.C. That was the lowly Senators franchise from Damn Yankees Broadway fame who by 1960 was still losing lots of games but loading up with promising big leaguers. In 1965 players like Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison and Camilo Pascual helped form the core of a Twins team that lost to the Dodgers in the World Series.

Less than 15 years later Twins owner Calvin Griffith was interested in abandoning Met Stadium, a facility the Vikings also pronounced inadequate. The Met’s sightlines and smaller seating capacity favored baseball but Griffith knew that at least for awhile he could make more money in a new ballpark. As for the Vikings, rumors persisted they might move to Memphis—not only the home of Elvis Presley, but where Purple general manager Mike Lynn worked before coming north.

The Metrodome opened in 1982 and saved both the Twins and Vikings for Minnesota—at least for awhile. By 1997 Twins owner Carl Pohlad let it be known North Carolina could be the franchise’s next stop. Pohlad wanted a baseball only stadium for his team and there was no disputing the Teflon topped dome was a better home for the Vikings than the Twins. Eventually the Twins and Hennepin County came up with $545 million to build Target Field and keep major league baseball here.

By the late 1990s the Vikings were also grumbling about the dome and its limited gameday revenues. As the years went by the franchise’s frustrations increased and so did rumors about moving to Los Angeles. But in 2012 the state of Minnesota, the Vikings, and city of Minneapolis pledged to build the U.S. Bank Stadium that opens this summer.

Memories and wounds from the relocation of the North Stars by villainous owner Norm Green are still vivid. Serenaded by departing choruses from fans of “Norm Green sucks!”, the North Stars’ last season in Minnesota was in 1992-1993—just two years after losing to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals. The state of hockey was left without an NHL team when the Stars skated off to Dallas.

For years the North Stars, like the Minneapolis Lakers before them, complained about their home facility. The North Stars wanted more suites and other revenue enhancements at Met Center. The Lakers were bedeviled by frustrations in finding dates and scheduling games at the Minneapolis Auditorium. The community didn’t do enough to help both franchises with their facilities needs.

Health club gurus Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner built Target Center with private funding to bring the NBA back to Minneapolis in 1989. Later they had negotiations with a group interested in taking the franchise to New Orleans. The city now owns the arena and is working with Wolves owner Glen Taylor to renovate Target Center and enhance revenues while ensuring the team remains in Minneapolis.

The city of St. Paul and state of Minnesota answered mayor Norm Coleman’s pleas to replace the St. Paul Civic Center and return the NHL to Minnesota. The $130 million cost to build the Xcel Energy Center was a lot more than the potential funding needed to renovate Met Center and keep the North Stars in Bloomington. No one will argue, though, the “X” is a premier hockey facility.

All is quiet on the relocation front in Minnesota—at least for awhile. Our “doughnut shops” aren’t available to Los Angeles or any other city right now.

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U Fans Guessing on WR Recruit

Posted on February 2, 2016February 2, 2016 by David Shama

Former Gophers assistant head coach Matt Limegrover, now offensive line coach at Penn State, is trying to persuade four-star wide receiver Dredrick Snelson to sign his National Letter of Intent with the Nittany Lions tomorrow.

Ryan Burns, publisher of Scout’s GopherDigest.com, told Sports Headliners Limegrover has visited Snelson’s Florida home and last weekend he was on the Penn State campus. But recruiting authority Matt Jessen-Howard tweeted a quote on Sunday where Snelson said Gophers fans should not worry about his loyalty.

Snelson gave a verbal commitment to the Gophers last summer but there has been ongoing speculation he has or will change his mind. Burns, who has been covering recruiting for five years, has seldom seen such intrigue involving a recruit.

Burns said Snelson has sent mixed messages. “Penn State is confident they’re going to get him,” Burns said. “Central Florida, where he has been twice this month (January), is confident they’re going to get him. The Gophers are thinking they’re going to land him.

“Two out of the three parties are going to be wrong. We won’t find out until Wednesday morning. How does it end? I think it ends he signs with Minnesota but I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again. …”

Burns described Snelson, from Pembroke Pines, Florida, as “media savvy” and someone who enjoys the recruiting publicity. On the telephone he found Snelson to be respectful and a “nice kid.”

Snelson, about 5-11, 200-pounds, has impressive but not dominating physical skills. He is projected as a slot receiver with the Gophers and Burns believes Snelson could be ready as a freshman to succeed 2015 starter K.J. Maye who used up his eligibility.

Snelson, along with Eden Prairie High School linebacker Carter Coughlin, is one of only two consensus four-star recruits who have verbally pledged to the Gophers. Not many Florida four-star recruits commit to Minnesota but Burns believes Snelson likes how the Gophers use the slot receiver and that he sees an opportunity to play early in his career. New Gophers offensive coordinator Jay Johnson, who replaced Limegrover, has been involved with recruiting Snelson since last month.

In recent years the Gophers’ receiving roster has lacked impact players and no doubt Snelson is aware of that. Burns said in-state receivers Drew Hmielewski from Marshall and Phillip Howard from Robbinsdale Cooper may have even better potential as college players than Snelson.

Recruiting Websites list 19 players as part of the Gophers’ 2016 class. Burns believes the verbal commitments of all are solid except for Snelson and Coney Durr who visited Virginia Tech last weekend. Durr, a three-star recruit from Geismar, Louisiana, is a defensive back.

Worth Noting

The Gophers’ commitment list has only one running back, Butler (Kansas) Community College transfer Kobe McCrary. Gophers head coach Tracy Claeys said on WCCO “Radio’s Sports Huddle” on Sunday recruiting running backs has been a challenge because freshmen Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith were so successful last fall.

McCrary, about 6-1 and 230-pounds, gives the Gophers a backup to Brooks and Smith. He has more size than either of them and helps replace power running Rodrick Williams who was a senior last year.

The Big Ten Network will have Big Ten coverage of Signing Day tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Central Time. As of yesterday Scout.com listed three Big Ten programs in the top 10 nationally: Ohio State, No. 2; Michigan, No. 5; and Michigan State No. 7. Minnesota is No 43.

Part of the network’s coverage tomorrow will be Michigan’s “Signing with the Stars” event featuring celebrities from sports, music and entertainment. Celebrities expected to attend are Tom Brady, John Harbaugh, Derek Jeter, Jim Leyland, Denard Robinson, NASCAR’s Brad Keslowski, wrestling’s Ric Flair and others. They will introduce head coach Jim Harbaugh’s 2016 football class.

Jaylon Boston is a name for Gophers fans to follow in the next 12 months. “He is a hell of a player,” said McKinley Boston, Jaylon’s grandfather and the former Gophers athletic director.

Jaylon lives with his grandfather in New Mexico and attends Centennial High School in Las Cruces. As a sophomore, the 5-10, 185-pound running back was second team all-state, but because of what his grandfather described as a “medical” situation he didn’t play as a junior. Boston said New Mexico State, where his grandfather was athletic director until about a year ago, is looking at Jaylon but the Gophers aren’t.

Despite speculation to the contrary, don’t give up on the University of Minnesota and former football coach Jerry Kill being able to develop a new position for him at the school. There has been contact between the two parties.

Gophers senior guard Rachel Banham could end the season as the Big Ten’s scoring leader. In 21 games she is averaging 24.3 points per game and ranks second behind Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell, 25.3 points. Banham has scored 20 or more points in nine consecutive games and has done that 19 times this season. Former Hopkins High School standout Nia Coffey, a junior forward at Northwestern, is fifth in scoring at 20 points per game and first in rebounding at 10.4.

Although the Gophers lost at Michigan on Sunday, they have won four of their last five games. Minnesota, 14-7 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten, won those games by seven points or less, and the Gophers have shown the ability to close out opponents in the fourth quarter. The Gophers play Rutgers, 13-9 and 4-6, at home on Thursday night.

Former Timberwolves assistant Eric Musselman is drawing attention in his first season as head coach at the University of Nevada. Nevada’s pregame ball handling warm-up is a hit and the team is playing competitively in the Mountain West.

Musselman, who was a head coach in the NBA with the Kings and Warriors, might be on a list of candidates if the Timberwolves make a coaching change. Interim Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell is trying out for the permanent job. Other potential candidates perhaps could include Tom Thibodeau, the former Timberwolves assistant and ex-Bulls head coach who is well-known for his defensive teachings.

Connor Nord, the former St. Thomas basketball center whose final season was 2014-2015, has been playing professionally in Germany, and plans to continue his career in Europe. Marcus Alipate, a combo guard who played four seasons with Nord at St. Thomas, will be playing pro ball in New Zealand.

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