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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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NFL Scouting Combine Not the Gospel

Posted on February 27, 2015February 27, 2015 by David Shama

The NFL Scouting Combine that ended earlier this week in Indianapolis drew plenty of attention (as usual) from pro football fans but all the measureables recorded of participating players certainly don’t guarantee future results.

Representatives of the NFL’s 32 teams judged more than 300 college prospects, evaluating speed, strength and what’s in their collective noggins (Wonderlic intelligence test). Over the years the combine has proven this: low test scores won’t deter players from fooling the personnel gurus and becoming All-Pros.

Former Vikings All-Pro defensive end Jared Allen wasn’t drafted until the fourth round in 2004 by the Chiefs. Michael Salfino, writing in the February 19 Wall Street Journal, offered insight on Allen in his article about the combine. “Jared Allen became a fearsome pass rusher despite being third-weakest since 1999 in the bench press.”

Combine results from 2015 aren’t yet posted on NFLcombineresults.com but details of prior years are. Ever heard of Tom Brady? He is the guy who won four Super Bowls as the Patriots quarterback despite being a sixth round draft choice. Salfino points out that since 1999 Brady ranks 283rd among the 288 quarterbacks tested in the vertical leap at the combine. “Coming out of Michigan in 2000, Brady barely managed to get himself two feet off the ground in the vertical-leap drill,” Salfino wrote.

A source close to the Vikings told Sports Headliners that going into last year’s NFL Draft the Vikings weren’t interested in selecting quarterback Johnny Manziel. “Johnny Football” was drafted by the Browns’ with the No. 22 choice in the first round last year while the Vikings took Teddy Bridgewater at No. 32, the final pick of the round. Maybe Manziel’s 32 score on the Wonderlic (Bridgewater had a 20) was part of the Browns’ decision-making process.

Manziel was no wonder last fall as a rookie having zero touchdown passes, two interceptions and a passer rating of 42 in five games (two starts). Bridgewater was selected as the quarterback on the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team. His percentage completion of 64.4 percent was the third highest in NFL history for a rookie.

While college prospects at the combine parade around in track outfits, it might be best to remember how these guys played on the field during their college careers. NFL teams have countless hours of game films to use in evaluating prospects and scouts are seeing players live week after week in the fall.

ESPN talk show host Colin Cowherd wisecracked last week on his show that if he were running an NFL team he would instruct the personnel guys to stay home. Instead he suggested dispatching a private detective and psychologist to Indy.

Worth Noting

NFL scouts also look at college prospects during pro days at various schools. Expected to participate at the Gophers Pro Day on Monday are former U players Michael Amaefula, Cameron Botticelli, David Cobb, Derrick Engel, Zac Epping, Isaac Fruechte, Logan Hutton, Marcus Jones, Donnell Kirkwood, Harold Legania, Ben Perry, Cedric Thompson, Derrick Wells, Maxx Williams, Damien Wilson and Devon Wright. The event isn’t open to the public.

The Vikings will use their No. 11 first round draft choice to select Stanford junior offensive tackle Andrus Peat, according to this week’s NFL mock draft by Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks. He predicts on Si.com the Browns, drafting one spot after the Vikings, will take DeVante Parker, a wide receiver from Louisville and former college teammate of Bridgewater’s.

Parker, 6-3 and 210, is one of the best wide receiver prospects in the 2015 draft. Although Parker doesn’t have elite speed, he has quickness and is able to get open and make yards after receptions. Bridgewater’s familiarity with Parker causes speculation the Vikings, who need help at wide receiver, will give plenty of thought to drafting him.

The Gophers basketball team upset Michigan State last night for the program’s first win in East Lansing since 1990. It was one of Minnesota’s best performances of the season but the Gophers are a disappointing 6-10 in Big Ten games. Many college basketball authorities thought before the season the Gophers would finish between third and sixth in the standings but with two regular season games remaining Minnesota is in seventh place.

The Gophers have lost seven conference games by a total of 27 points. Jim Dutcher believes if Minnesota had former Apple Valley star and Duke freshman Tyus Jones the Gophers would be around .500 in the Big Ten. Jones, among the nation’s elite point guards, has been a clutch performer for the Blue Devils. “He’s a big game player who knows when certain things need to be done,” said Dutcher, the former Gophers coach.

Dutcher thinks it will be a mistake if Jones decides to enter the NBA Draft after this season. He said Jones, 6-1, 190, needs more experience and physical strength to maximize his chances of succeeding in the pros.

Darryl Mitchell, who was an all-conference selection on Dutcher’s 1982 Gophers Big Ten championship team, has been practicing law in Florida but is relocating to Minnesota in March. Mitchell was a first team Parade Magazine high school All-American and chose the Gophers over other schools including 1970s powerhouse UCLA.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association has three teams in the top 11 in the country in two national polls, with No. 2 Minnesota State, Mankato; No. 3 Michigan Tech and No. 11 Bowling Green. Tonight and tomorrow evening Minnesota State hosts Tech.

“I think we’re as competitive as any other league in college hockey,” WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson told Sports Headliners. “We have the hope and intention to get three teams into the NCAA Tournament and we’re on track for that. We could also have more if a surprise team wins the WCHA Final Five which would give them an automatic bid.”

The Final Five will be March 20 and 21 at the Xcel Energy Center. Robertson hopes to approach 8,000 fans in attendance on each of the dates. Ticket information is available via Ticketmaster.com.

St. Thomas men’s basketball coach John Tauer was featured in a February 17 article in the New York Times. Tauer is not only one of the most successful Division III basketball coaches in the country but is also among the few who teach in the classroom, according to the story. Tauer, who has his doctorate in social psychology, is currently teaching a class called Motivation and Emotion.

The Tommies, who won an MIAC record 10th regular season title in 2015, open the playoffs tonight at home against Gustavus. St. Thomas finished 22-3 and 17-3 in the MIAC while the Gusties were 16-10 and 11-9. The Tommies are one of only three Division III programs to have won 1,600 games.

Tommies football coach Glenn Caruso speaks tomorrow at the Chicago Catholic League Coaches Association Clinic at Fenwick Park High School in Oak Park, Illinois. Other speakers include Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. Caruso is 73-13 in seven seasons at UST and the Tommies have participated in the NCAA playoffs five of the last six seasons.

Tickets are on sale for the sixth annual Camden’s Concert at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The event will be held July 13 featuring The Wright Brothers who were popular at last summer’s concert and helped generate funding for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Tickets are available via Hopkinsartscenter.com.

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Book Reminds Why Sports Inspire

Posted on February 25, 2015February 25, 2015 by David Shama

Sometimes I am reminded why sports has played such a prominent role in my life. My latest wakeup call was prompted by reading Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville by the late Stephen Jay Gould. Gould’s 2003 book consists of essays he wrote about his lifelong passion for baseball that appeared in publications like the New York Times. Gould was a paleontologist but his intelligent musings about his baseball love affair introduced him to another audience.

A Harvard intellectual, Gould grew up in New York City in the 1940’s and 1950’s, a golden era for baseball in New York. He watched his beloved Yankees in the World Series almost every year. He saw baseball gods like Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle from the Yankees, and the Giants Willie Mays and the Dodgers Jackie Robinson.

Although Gould died from cancer in 2002 at age 60, his passion for baseball over a period of seven decades lives on, and his essays stirred something in me. As I read his book, I realized how the great and rare moments of sports have impacted my being while both enriching and frustrating my life.

I say frustrated because slogging through the mediocre and miserable performances of many teams and athletes year after year is no fun. It’s an experience that lessens my fervor for spectator sports and creates both apathy and anger that my sports world has frequently fallen on hard times.

The last great ride for me came in the autumn of 2009 watching Brett Favre. The legendary quarterback was 40 but in his first season with the Vikings he threw darts where no balls had any right to go. His statistics included career bests in completions (68.4 percent) and passer rating (107.2).

The Saints won the postseason’s dirty play of the year award with their shameless diving at Favre’s legs. Then the Vikings screwed themselves late in that infamous NFC championship game by killing a chance to win after being penalized for having 12 players on the field.

The Humpty Dumpty end to the season and Super Bowl chase couldn’t spoil my satisfaction in watching the old gunslinger will the Vikings to one of their best seasons ever. No Vikings quarterback since scramblin’ Fran Tarkenton in the 1960’s had brought such entertainment as Favre. Tarkenton—who seemingly could run away from tacklers so long you had time to make a sandwich—brought that rare skill level and excitement that we’ve seen too little of in this town.

Where have you gone, Kirby Puckett? The center fielder told teammates they should jump on his back because he would carry the Twins. Perhaps he never carried the load better than when his game six winning home run forced a seventh game in the 1991 World Series against the Braves. “And we’ll see you tomorrow night,” TV’s Jack Buck told the world.

The Twins unexpectedly won both the 1987 and 1991 World Series, the only two MLB titles in franchise history. The nation watched when Twins heroes like Puckett and pitchers Frank Viola and Jack Morris showed they were World Series competitors and heroes for the ages.

For the ages? Coach Herb Brooks and his 1980 Winter Olympics players are at the head of that line. Miracles are not forgotten and the US Hockey team’s 1980 gold medal triumph at Lake Placid still stirs emotions of all sorts including national pride. The best moment, of course, was America’s stunning upset of the Soviet Union. The US team consisted of amateurs while the Red Machine was capable of playing in the National Hockey League.

For years the Soviet Union had tried to bully America politically. Premier Nikita Khrushchev had long ago proclaimed, “We will bury you.” In 1980 America had lost prestige in the world and at home. When the Soviet hockey team humiliated the US in an exhibition game prior to the Olympics, America shrugged its collective shoulders and hung its head lower. But the US Hockey team’s semi-final ground-shattering triumph had Al Michaels asking the TV audience: “Do you believe in miracles?” Americans found new swagger and confidence about their country and themselves. The stunning upset and later gold medal win in February of 1980—35 years ago—helped jumpstart an American comeback at home and on the world stage that saw the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union empire.

Those who had known Brooks for many years may have been surprised by how far the former Gophers coach led the US team but they weren’t completely caught off-guard. The St. Paul native led the Gophers to national championships in 1974, 1976 and 1979. It was the greatest period ever for Gophers hockey.

The 1970’s and the immediate decades before delivered a scrapbook full of great sports memories for Minnesotans. Bud Grant’s four Super Bowl teams set the standard for a franchise that is still trying to climb back to the biggest stage. Tarkenton, Eller, Page, Marshall. Their jerseys are still worn by fans and their images are forever remembered.

Bill Musselman’s Gophers basketball teams created an electric environment in Williams Arena with their pre-game Harlem Globetrotters routine during the 1970’s. The coach got in trouble with NCAA rules but he ignited a passion inside Williams Arena that’s never been duplicated. The highlight of the Musselman era was the 1972 Big Ten championship team that included NBA first round draft choices Ron Behagen and Jim Brewer, and baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.

The Twins Rod Carew flirted with baseball’s immortals when he chased a .400 batting average and graced the cover of Time Magazine in 1977. The sweet swinging Carew was hitting over .400 in early summer of that memorable season before finishing at .388.

The Twins were an American League power in the 1960s led by a wrecking crew of home run sluggers captained by the great Harmon Killebrew. Long ball baseball put an excitement on the field during that era which the Twins have never duplicated. The team high point was reaching the World Series in 1965. Invincible pitcher Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers were too much for the Twins in their first Minnesota World Series appearance.

The Gophers made two trips to the Rose Bowl in the early 1960’s. The second time they got it right with a 21-3 win over UCLA. The glory of that win, though, didn’t match the Gophers winning the 1960 national championship. That was Minnesota’s seventh and perhaps last national title. The Gophers, led by legendary coach Bernie Bierman, won national championships in 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940 and 1941. Coach Henry Williams also led Minnesota to a national title in 1904.

Bierman’s titles came before another glorious run in Minnesota. The Minneapolis Lakers dominated pro basketball from the late 1940’s through 1954, winning five world titles and boasting pro basketball’s first superstar. George Mikan, the giant 6-10 center, was so revered that he was commonly called Mr. Basketball. When the Lakers once played in New York’s famous Madison Square Garden, the marquee said “George Mikan vs. the Knicks.”

Olympic gold, national championships, world titles, men named Bierman, Brooks, Carew, Favre, Grant, Killebrew, Mikan and Puckett. Whew! That’s the kind of high life this town knew.

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