Vikings – Page 75 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Leaves Spot for Power Forward

Posted on April 7, 2021April 7, 2021 by David Shama

New University of Minnesota basketball coach Ben Johnson has commitments from three transfers so far but interestingly none play the power forward position occupied last season by Brandon Johnson. It’s possible that spot could be filled next season by a state native, with Minnesotans Chet Holmgren, Race Thompson, Nate Reuvers and Dawson Garcia attracting speculation.

College basketball is a fluid landscape like never before with players and coaches frequently changing addresses. It’s evident Holmgren and his father David Holmgren didn’t want to make a commitment last fall during the signing period for high school players. They decided to see who is coming and going this spring, but soon the nation’s No. 1 recruit in the class of 2021 will have to choose either a college or an opportunity in the NBA’s development league following Chet’s superlative career at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. (It’s interesting that ongoing internet articles have Chet choosing Gonzaga but offer no definitive sources.)

Ben Johnson is trying to make Chet a Gopher, a task perhaps made easier with his dad being a U alum. Chet is a gifted two-way player who Johnson could offer to build his offense and defense around. At 7-feet, but only about 200 pounds, Holmgren needs physical support from a big center. If center Liam Robbins remains with the Gophers he could be a bargaining chip for Johnson in the recruitment of Holmgren, but Robbins entered the transfer portal as of yesterday.

Coach Johnson could help his team by convincing Robbins to stay, although the Iowa native’s future might be tied to his uncle Ed Conroy, an assistant last season under Richard Pitino but probably moving on to another job. Robbins, a 7-foot, 235-pound transfer last year from Drake, is one of the Big Ten’s better centers after three seasons of college experience. Robbins could lessen the stress and pounding on Holmgren from opponents by using his size and strength, while helping with rebounding, shot blocking and scoring. A versatile scorer, Robbins can move outside the lane on occasion and allow others to post up.

Robbins can be a selling point for any power forward of prominence who might be considering the Gophers. Thompson, who played at Armstrong before becoming an Indiana Hoosier, was one of the Big Ten’s most improved players last winter as a redshirt junior but is now in the transfer portal. He was eighth in the conference in blocked shots at 1.3 per game, and averaged 9.1 points and 6.2 rebounds. It’s believed he is interested in the Gophers.

While Thompson improved, Reuvers regressed during his senior season at Wisconsin (the NCAA is granting an extra year of eligibility to college seniors in 2021-2022 because of the pandemic). The Lakeville North alum led Wisconsin in scoring as a junior and made third team All-Big Ten on the Badgers’ conference title team. His 6-foot-11 size and shot blocking, combined with Robbins, would give the Gophers a dynamo pair on defense. A business major, Reuvers could position his name with Fortune 500 companies in Minneapolis-St. Paul if he is invited to come home.

Garcia, a five-star recruit at Prior Lake, almost chose the Gophers before committing to Marquette in the fall of 2019. While Garcia hasn’t entered the transfer portal, there are rumors he might leave Milwaukee. The 6-foot-11 former McDonald’s All-American made the Big East All-Freshman team last season. He started all 26 games for Marquette, averaging 6.7 rebounds and 13.2 points.

Brandon Johnson, a senior transfer from Western Michigan last season, was Minnesota’s starting power in 2020-2021 and it’s not clear whether he will return. He averaged 8.9 points and 6.3 rebounds. As a reserve next season, his experience and leadership would be a major asset.

Worth Noting

Anticipate an announcement soon that Rochester, Minnesota native and Duke forward Matthew Hurt will be declaring for the NBA Draft and not returning for his junior season with the Blue Devils.

Sources expect former DeLaSalle coach Dave Thorson, now an assistant at Colorado State, to be named one of Johnson’s assistant coaches.

The NCAA champion Baylor roster includes power forward Dain Dainja from Park Center who didn’t play in 2021 while redshirting as a freshman.

Gonzaga freshman point guard Jalen Suggs, from Minnehaha Academy, will be the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, going to the Detroit Pistons, per the mock draft from NBC Sports California. The Minnesota Timberwolves, with the No. 1 selection, will take Oklahoma State freshman guard-forward Cade Cunningham. Word of advice to the Wolves: if available, draft Suggs.

Monday’s column regarding suggestions to make MLB games move faster drew a lot of comment from readers including this from a former baseball executive: “I was in the game for a long time but simply can’t tune in for more than a few innings now because of all the pitching changes and stops in action. Even a well-known former player told me that the game had become too slow for him.”

Hopkins girls basketball legend Paige Bueckers won 2021 national Player of the Year Awards from various sources after her freshman season at Connecticut. Old-timers may compare her with “Pistol” Pete Maravich but that’s at least a little off base. Maravich, while a playmaker for the ages, was a gunner who often thought shoot first, pass second. Not sure I have ever seen the unselfish Bueckers take a bad shot.

Next Sunday, April 11, will be the 60th anniversary of the first game ever played by the Minnesota Twins. On that date the Twins, who had moved from Washington D.C. where the club was known as the Washington Senators, defeated the New York Yankees, 6-0, in Yankee Stadium.

The Twins placed outfielder Brent Rooker on the 10-day Injured List today with a cervical strain. Rooker, who was recalled from the alternate training site last Saturday, played in three games, hitting .091 with one RBI. To replace Rooker the Twins have selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Brandon Waddell from the Taxi Squad. He pitched in nine games for the Twins in spring training, going 1-1 with a 4.82 ERA.

Brusdar Graterol, the former Twins pitcher who went to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Kenta Maeda trade, is starting the season on the 10-day Injured List.

Twins 35-year-old third baseman Josh Donaldson, also on the 10-day Injured List, said before the season he expects to have ongoing “conversation” with manager Rocco Baldelli regarding playing time in 2021. Donaldson has a history of injuries including missing most of last season with the Twins.

Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer on the NFL adding a 17th regular season game that will have his team going west to play the Los Angeles Chargers: “It’s just something else they tell us to do and we do it like good soldiers.”

P.J. Fleck said the Gophers have developed a program to address racism and he wants to be “the most empathetic head coach in America.” Fleck has used speakers such as Tony Dungy and Dr. Harry Edwards to talk about race with his team. Edwards, the famous sociologist and race expert, once took Fleck and his San Francisco 49ers teammates to a California prison.

Minnesota Wild rookie Kirill Kaprizov leads NHL first-season players in goals and points. He’s a major contributor to a Minnesota offense that is probably the best since the days of superstar Marian Gaborik.

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‘Old Man’ Cruz Could Make HR History

Posted on March 17, 2021March 17, 2021 by David Shama

No player age 40 or older has ever led the American or National leagues in home runs, according to MLB.com. Minnesota Twins 40-year-old DH Nelson Cruz might change that this season.

Although he didn’t finish first, the amazing Cruz led in American League home runs during part of last year’s shortened season. He finished 2020, after celebrating his 40th birthday in July, with 16 home runs and a .303 average in 185 at bats.

Cruz has hit 311 home runs since 2012, the most in the big leagues, per MLB.com. Four times in his career he has hit 40 or more homers. That includes his 41 home run total in 2019 when he was 39 years old. He led the American League in home runs in 2014 with 40, while playing for the Baltimore Orioles.

Although several much younger players like Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels are surer bets to lead their leagues in home runs in 2021, Cruz does seem to get better with age. Not only does he have 57 home runs in the last two years but over the last five seasons no MLB player tops his 176.

Cruz won the 2020 American League DH Silver Slugger Award in a vote by AL coaches and managers. In 53 games he ranked third in league on-base percentage, fourth in OPS, fifth in slugging percentage, tied for fifth in home runs and was seventh in batting average.

Cruz’s successful approach to training and nutrition are well documented. “He is quite a physical specimen and is obviously in tremendous shape at the age of 40,” Twins president Dave St. Peter said earlier this year.

Being a student of the game is part of Cruz’s success story, too. “His baseball related intellect is elite,” St. Peter said. “He understands the game inside and out.”

Cruz will ease his way into spring training, preparing for the coming season while approaching his 41st birthday July 1. In 20 spring training at bats he is hitting .300 and has a home run, although that one doesn’t count in an unlikely but possible campaign to be the MLB or AL 2021 home run king.

Worth Noting

Maybe Marcus Carr, the Gopher point guard and leading scorer, won’t return to the team next season and will opt for professional basketball, but he’s a long-shot to make an NBA roster. It’s highly unlikely he will be selected in the two rounds of the 2021 NBA Draft and he would have to hope for a free agent invite.

On a list of college basketball’s 50 best players this season, SI.com rates Carr No. 46. Minnesota natives Matthew Hurt, McKinley Wright IV and Jalen Suggs are at 43, 42 and 8.

Rick Pitino has influenced son Richard Pitino’s coaching career for years including now with Richard’s hiring at New Mexico. Lobos AD Eddie Nunez played for a Rick Pitino disciple at Florida, coach Billy Donovan. While in his 20s, Richard was an assistant coach working for dad at Louisville and Donovan in Gainesville.

Rick, who in his first season back in college coaching has Iona in the NCAA Tournament, looks after family. He once said on local radio here that Richard’s boss, Norwood Teague, was one of the best athletic directors in the country.

The Gophers’ basketball coaching vacancy will probably be filled in three weeks, or sooner. Whoever accepts the job likely has his current team in the NCAA Tournament.

Utah State coach Craig Smith, from Stephen, Minnesota and thought for awhile to be a favorite for the Gophers job, is receiving fan approval out west to fill the University of Utah opening.

The other Big Ten men’s basketball opening is Indiana, and look out for the Hoosiers if they convince Brad Stevens to take the job. Stevens, an Indiana native, was sensational at Butler before going to the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

Randy Wittman, 61, probably won’t draw interest from the administration despite being an Indiana native, former Hoosier star and ex-NBA coach including with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That was Lewis Garrison, the former Gopher football player and now an experienced basketball official, working last Saturday’s Big Ten semifinal game between Iowa and Illinois in Indianapolis.

The University of Minnesota lost a thoughtful and practical leader when Michael Hsu wasn’t re-elected to the Board of Regents. The Minnesota State Legislature voted Monday on regents and among the new members are Kodi Verhalen replacing Hsu in the Sixth District.

The Minnesota men’s hockey team, winners last night of the program’s second Big Ten Tournament, head into the NCAA Tournament with the most wins in the country at 23-6.

The Minnesota Wild is 6-2 since veteran forward Zach Parise was benched for one game March 3. An NHL authority said head coach Dean Evason plays no favorites and expects everyone to play hard, even his highest paid players. No player receives the star treatment including rookie forward Kirill Kaprizov who has captivated the fan-base.

Have to wonder if former Gopher and now Northern Michigan coach Grant Potulny won’t be the next men’s hockey coach at St. Thomas. The Tommies figure to soon announce the coach who will lead them into Division I play in the CCHA.

Six players representing four schools have been named to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s: forwards Jack Connolly of Minnesota Duluth and Marc Michaelis and Matt Leitner of Minnesota State; defensemen Justin Schultz of Wisconsin and Alec Rauhauser of Bowling Green and goaltender Dryden McKay of Minnesota State. All-decade teams this winter are part of the league’s 70-years celebration.

There is a tradition of great football clinics in Minnesota but perhaps none match the lineup of speakers for the MFCA’s virtual clinic coming up April 8-10 with Tom Allen, Mack Brown, Matt Campbell, Paul Chryst, Dave Doeren, Pat Fitzgerald and P.J. Fleck. Learn more by visiting the Minnesota Football Coaches Association website.

Vikings free agent signings of linebacker Nick Vigil and defensive linemen Dalvin Tomlinson and Stephen Weatherly hints at the franchise using its first round selection in the upcoming draft on an offensive player, perhaps a guard.

The popular WCCO Radio “Sports Huddle” program hasn’t been on the air for a year and apparently there is no plan to bring it back. The show stopped its long run because of COVID-19 concerns for 100-year-old Sid Hartman who died last fall. Hartman’s birthdate was March 15, 1920.

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CB Richard Sherman Could Help Vikings

Posted on March 3, 2021 by David Shama

Cornerback Richard Sherman, 32, has been an elite player during his NFL career and he becomes an unrestricted free agent later this month. The former All-Pro has the profile and experience to complement what otherwise is a young Minnesota Vikings cornerback roster.

A former NFL executive (familiar with NFC North teams like the Vikings) told Sports Headliners a veteran cornerback might be on Minnesota’s free agent shopping list. “Maybe they can negotiate a good deal with someone like him (Sherman),” the authority said.

The source mentioned offensive guard, defensive tackle and possibly cornerback as priority positions for the Vikings as they consider 2021 free agents and college draft choices. He would use Minnesota’s first round draft selection at No. 14 on Alabama defensive tackle Christian Barmore. “I think he would be a really good target for them,” he said.

Vikings fans weren’t happy with the defense last season, including the performance of the line. They certainly could welcome Barmore, a redshirt sophomore All-American who might have been the most dominant defensive tackle in college football last season.

The Vikings have 10 draft picks as of now and will pick up a couple more adding compensatory choices for players lost through free agency. With so many selections in the seven round draft, general manager Rick Spielman will be doing a deep think on how he can better the club’s future. “I am sure he’s going to be moving around (trading picks and perhaps veterans). He always does,” said the authority who asked that his name not be used.

Mock drafts have several quarterbacks dominating the first 10 selections of the opening round but the NFL source wouldn’t use the Vikings’ draft collateral to move up to select a replacement for starter Kirk Cousins. “I think he’s good enough to win with,” he said. “Certainly they need someone long term to draft (at QB). I wouldn’t go in the first round (this year) and get one of those (college) guys. Maybe (get a) third round type of quarterback. You can find really good players in the third and fourth rounds (Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott are prime examples).”

The source considers Cousins a top 15 NFL quarterback, maybe even first 12, and questions the credibility of speculation the Vikings are interested in trading him. That’s partially because he sees Cousins as a potential winning piece directing an offense with playmakers like running back Dalvin Cook and wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Also, the Vikings have salary cap issues and would have unwelcome “dead money” allocated against them if they moved the veteran quarterback.

The NFL has yet to establish the final salary cap number for franchises but it could be $185 million per club—a figure that has Vikings management crunching numbers. Minnesota is unlikely to franchise tag a player like last year when safety Anthony Harris received $11.4 million. With that deal expiring soon, he might be among players released in the coming weeks as the Vikings try to create “wiggle room” with the cap and the ability to chase free agents, perhaps including Sherman. Other Vikings could be headed toward restructured deals, with that looking like the direction for offensive tackle Riley Reiff.

The Vikings were 7-9 last season after playing most or part of the year without the following key defensive personnel: end Danielle Hunter, tackle Michael Pierce and linebackers Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks. “It’s a whole different deal if those guys were all there,” the source said. “I don’t think there’s any question that they would have been a playoff team… .”

Spielman will meet with the media via Zoom today to discuss the offseason.

Worth Noting

There was preliminary discussion between the Gophers and Minnesota Twins prior to the pandemic about establishing a high tech pitching lab on the University of Minnesota campus. Gophers coach John Anderson told Sports Headliners such a facility could help pitchers to not only improve performance but prevent injuries.

The expertise of sports science and kinesiology authorities at the U are part of what makes the idea of a pitching lab intriguing. Anderson said the Gophers and Twins have an ongoing successful relationship and are always interested in projects that will enhance baseball in the state.

Anderson is in his 40th year leading the program and has 1,325 wins. That’s the best in Big Ten history and he can start adding to the total when the Gophers begin their season Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Minnesota has games Friday, Saturday and Sunday against Indiana and Rutgers.

The pandemic cut short the season in 2020 and the Gophers’ overall record was 8-10. Anderson has seven positional starters back from last year’s team whose season ended March 11. He believes the Gophers “have enough talent” to achieve a winning season playing a schedule of Big Ten opponents only and no Big Ten postseason tournament.

Anderson will be without Max Meyer who was drafted last season by the Miami Marlins and could eventually join Glen Perkins as the two best pitchers he has coached. Already one of baseball’s top prospects, Anderson believes Meyer has the “stuff” to have a long MLB career.

Longevity will require continuation of a healthy right arm. “We didn’t over pitch him at Minnesota,” Anderson said. “We protected him and didn’t overuse him.”

At Woodbury High School Meyer weighed only about 165 pounds but at Minnesota he physically matured and benefitted from weight training. Analytics and other tools helped the 6-foot right hander improve, too. At Minnesota he developed a fast ball clocked at three digits to complement a slider he was using since high school. “He touched a couple hundreds in the short season we had in 2020,” Anderson said. “Quite a jump that he made.”

Twins 40-year-old DH Nelson Cruz has hit 311 home runs since 2012, the most in the big leagues.

When Marcus Carr totaled 41 points against Nebraska last week he came within two points of breaking the men’s single game scoring record for Gopher players. Eric Magdanz and Oliver Shannon each scored 42 points in a game. Carr’s 41 moved him into a tie in the record book with Andre Hollins.

Two Minnesota natives and former Gophers are on the WCHA 2000s All-Decade team announced by the Twin Cities-based league Tuesday. The team includes defenseman Jordan Leopold from Golden Valley and forward Johnny Pohl of Red Wing. Others on the team are forwards Peter Sejna and Brett Sterling, both from Colorado College; defenseman Matt Carle of Denver and goaltender Brian Elliott of Wisconsin.

All-decade teams this winter are part of the league’s 70-years celebration.

Maurice “Mo” Forte, believed to be the first ever African American assistant football coach of the modern era with the Gophers, died last Friday in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Mo, a native of Hannibal, Missouri, was an outstanding running back for the Gophers in the late 1960s before becoming an assistant at Minnesota from 1970-1975. His coaching career included the head job at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and assistant positions at major colleges and with two NFL teams. His 74th birthday would have been last Monday. Condolences to his family and many friends across the country.

Dr. Joel Boyd, recognized as one of the top knee surgeons in America and Minnesota Wild team physician since the franchise’s inception, will be the guest speaker for the Twin Cities Dunkers March 10.

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