Tyus Jones has now made multiple unofficial visits to the University of Minnesota and the Gophers remain a solid possibility for his college choice, according to his mother, Debbie Jones.
Jones and his mom met with Gophers coach Rick Pitino and staff last week. “It went really good,” Debbie told Sports Headliners yesterday. “We had good conversations with the coach and coaching staff.
“He (Tyus) is still considering it (Minnesota). After the official visits (to other schools) we will sit down and talk about them. He is not leaning toward one (school now).”
An official visit is paid for by the school while an unofficial is at the family’s expense. Per NCAA rules, recruits are allowed only five official visits.
Jones, the Apple Valley High School senior point guard rated by Rivals.com as the second best player nationally in the class of 2014, is planning official visits to Baylor later this month, Kentucky in September and both Kansas and Duke in October.
Debbie said four visits, and not five, allow the flexibility of scheduling one more official visit and that could be to Minnesota. “You can get a little more in-depth with things (on official visits),” she said.
It’s interesting that Michigan State’s Tom Izzo pursued Jones early and often but the Spartans aren’t on Jones’ list of schools for official visits. “He just made a decision he wasn’t going to take an official visit there,” Debbie said. “They are still in contact.”
Worth Noting
A hockey source told Sports Headliners an announcement will be made this week that the Gophers men’s team will host Ohio State in the first outdoor hockey game at TCF Bank Stadium on January 18, 2014. The defending national champion Gophers women’s team will also play that day against Minnesota State in a doubleheader being promoted as the Hockey City Classic. The games will be part of Hockey Day in Minnesota and likely televised on the Big Ten Network.
Chicago-based Intersport, a sports and entertainment marketing agency, is playing a major organizing role with the event, according to a source who requested anonymity. Intersport, in partnership with Soldier Field, was involved with last winter’s Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field that included the Gophers and Badgers men’s teams.
While the Gophers’ stadium has been mentioned as a site for a future NHL Winter Classic Game, the game will likely be scheduled at Target Field, possibly on January 1, 2015.
Big Ten hockey’s initial season will be in 2013-2014 with six schools participating: Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The Big Ten has scheduled a media day on September 19 in St. Paul with all six head coaches in attendance.
Gophers coach Jerry Kill will have his 52nd birthday on Saturday.
Kill is one of three coaches on the ballot for the Southern Illinois All-Century team that will be introduced on September 14 at Saluki Stadium. Kill coached at Southern Illinois from 2001 through 2007, taking the Salukis from an initial 1-10 record to 12-2 in his last season.
The Goal Line Club is hosting the first of five Gopher Gridiron Luncheons on August 28 at Jax Café. The public is welcome and each luncheon will include a member of the Gophers coaching staff who will talk about the program. More at goallineclub.com.
The Gophers open the season at home against UNLV on August 29 and the Rebels’ roster includes wide receiver Jerry Rice, Jr. The son of the NFL Hall of Famer, Rice is a transfer from UCLA where his stats as a junior included seven catches for 52 yards.
UNLV’s athletic director is Tina Kunzer-Murphy whose husband Greg Murphy earned a letter playing quarterback for the Gophers in 1983.
The August 19 issue of Sports Illustrated has only one Big Ten team in its top 10 rankings of college football teams. That’s not a surprise after recent years of sub-par performance by league teams. Ohio State is No. 4, with Michigan State No. 15, Michigan No. 18 and Northwestern No. 22. Northern Illinois, the school where Kill coached before joining the Gophers, is No. 24 in the magazine’s top 25.
If the Twins continue to play sub-.500 baseball in 2014 it will be interesting to see how many season ticket holders renew tickets for 2015. Speculation is some season patrons are renewing for 2014 to have priority buying tickets to next summer’s MLB All-Star Game in Minneapolis. Those who choose to resell their All-Star tickets could use the money to cover a portion of season tickets expenses.
The risk patrons take in dumping their tickets is losing their prime seat locations when superstar prospects Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano arrive at Target Field within a couple of years. The issue of Sports Illustrated referenced above has a six-page feature on Buxton and Sano, rated the No. 1 and 3 players in Baseball America’s prospect rankings of minor league talent. “Imagine having the next Bryce Harper or Mike Trout in your system—then imagine having them both,” S.I. wrote in an article titled “Glimmer Twins.”
It seems possible but no certainty that after three losing consecutive seasons the Twins will part ways with Ron Gardenhire this fall, the team’s manager since 2002. Even the most ardent Gardenhire supporters wouldn’t argue the Twins could create a new look and gain a fresh start with a new field boss. “Sometimes you make a change for change sake,” a passionate fan said.
The contrary argument is the Twins’ top decision makers recognize the lack of talent Gardenhire has been given. He is popular with team management and has earned a reputation for being cooperative.
The reorganized Timberwolves roster has 14 players who are 6-6 or taller. Seven of the 17 players on the roster are 6-9 or taller. Flip Saunders, the team’s president of basketball operations, expects the Wolves to be better defensively than last season because “We’re going to have great length.”
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