Wild – Page 38 – 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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Twins Kept the Faith in Signing Cruz

Posted on February 3, 2021February 3, 2021 by David Shama

The Minnesota Twins and free agent Nelson Cruz have agreed to a one-year contract keeping him with the team in 2021. The agreement culminates an off-season of speculation whether the 40-year-old DH would return to an organization he’s made a major impact on during two previous years.

“There has been an ongoing dialogue throughout the offseason,” Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners today while talking about negotiations. “We’ve always been optimistic that he was going to be a Twin.”

After last season both Cruz and the Twins expressed interest in renewing the relationship in 2021. “We take him at his word,” St. Peter said. “He’s told us… repeatedly, both last season and certainly through the off-season, that Minnesota was a very special place for him, and a place he would love to come back to.”

Twins management, though, had to consider the possibility a deal wouldn’t work out. Other personnel for DH were considered but Cruz was the target. “This was Plan A all along for us,” St. Peter said. “There’s certainly other players that potentially could have been acquired via trade, or what have you, but Nelson Cruz brings so much on the field. Maybe even more off the field in terms of the impact he has in our clubhouse, in our dugout, in our player development system and in our community. So he’s a huge asset for the Twins and we’re thrilled to have him as part of our organization.”

Dave St. Peter (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins)

The mutual respect between the organization and Cruz was pivotal in continuing the relationship. “He’s deserved of that respect,” St. Peter said. “I think Nelson has really appreciated being part of the Twins organization. …I think it’s somewhere he feels very comfortable, he feels very welcome. I think he feels very much a part of the fabric of the Twins organization and to some extent the fabric of the Twin Cities. He’s loved spending his last couple of years in Minnesota.”

Cruz is credited with making a major contribution to that environment in many ways including being a model for other players in taking care of his body. His disciplined 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,” St. Peter said.

With experience has come wisdom including knowledge about pitchers and general expertise of his profession. “His baseball related intellect is elite,” St. Peter said. “He understands the game inside and out.”

Cruz was a major contributor at bat last season when the Twins won the AL Central Division. He won the 2020 American League DH Silver Slugger Award in a vote by AL coaches and managers. In 53 games he hit .303 with six doubles, 16 home runs, 33 RBI, 33 runs scored, 25 walks, a .397 on-base percentage, a .595 slugging percentage and a .992 OPS. 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.

Last year Cruz was honored with the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award at the ESPY Awards. He also received MLB’s 2020 Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, an honor voted on by his peers for a player they “most respect based on his leadership on the field and in the community.”

Jim Dutcher Talks Gopher Road Woes

The Gophers basketball team is in a road funk, with a 0-5 Big Ten record. All losses have been by double-digit defeats and full of embarrassing performances. Next up is a game Thursday night at Rutgers, winners of three consecutive conference games and with a 6-6 league record, 10-6 overall.

It will be interesting to see what the energy and collective confidence is of the Minnesota players. Are things at the point where the Gophers have taken a hit to their confidence? “Oh, I think it has to,” former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

Minnesota built a double-digit lead in the first half of last Saturday’s game at Purdue. Early in the second half the Boilermakers took the lead and won 81-62. “Once they got caught by Purdue, the game was over,” Dutcher said.

Dutcher, who coached the Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten title and remains a close observer of college basketball, stresses defense is the key in winning road games. “They’ve just had too many defensive breakdowns on the road, where teams end up having big second halves,” he said.

In addition to improved defense, ask Dutcher how the Gophers can build confidence on the road and he suggests playing inferior road opponents. He isn’t joking and points out that unfortunately for the Gophers their January 20 game scheduled in Lincoln against Nebraska (0-5 in the Big Ten) couldn’t be played because the Cornhuskers were dealing with COVID-19.

Minnesota’s remaining road games are at Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana and Penn State. Maryland is 3-7 in league games but used physical play to dominant Minnesota at Williams Arena last month (63-49 win). Indiana is 4-6 in Big Ten games and defeated Maryland at home and top-10 ranked Iowa on the road. Penn State, 3-7 in conference games, is 5-2 at home.

The Gophers, 4-6 in league games and 11-6 overall, are part of a talented and deep Big Ten. Minnesota has impressive home wins, including over Big Ten title contenders Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State to boost its resume for an NCAA Tournament invitation. More success is a must. “They’re going to need some wins along the way, either now or in the conference tournament, because they’re not a lock to go to the (NCAA) tournament right now,” Dutcher said.

Even Minnesota’s best player and leading scorer, point guard Marcus Carr, is struggling on the road, with one of his most difficult games coming against Purdue. A candidate for All-Big Ten, Carr scored six points, making 2 of 13 field goals and going 0-5 on three-point attempts.

“He certainly looked like he wasn’t a very confident player at Purdue,” Dutcher said. “Got off to a bad start. To his credit he was trying to get everybody else involved, but everybody else wasn’t scoring. …He’s a quality player. He just, like the rest of the team, has not been a confident player on the road.”

Worth Noting

Todd Downing, the former Eden Prairie High School and Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, is the new offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. Downing also played for the Eagles and longtime coach Mike Grant, who texted congratulations. “I just said give it to the big boys,” Grant told Sports Headliners.

Grant anticipates Downing is excited about his promotion from tight ends coach to OC. “I’d be excited, too. It probably pays $1 million a year,” Grant said.

Anonymous hockey authority talking about physical foes and 5-9, 200-pound Minnesota Wild rookie Kirill Kaprizov: “Put him on a milkshake and double cheeseburger diet.”

Capital Club organizer Patrick Klinger is excited about upcoming speakers via Zoom on February 26 and March 11, with Kim Davis and Jason Wright respectively. Davis is Executive Vice president, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs for the NHL. In 2012 she was profiled with First Lady Michelle Obama in Essence magazine’s “28 most influential Black women in America.”

Wright is the NFL’s first Black team president, serving in that role for the Washington Football Team. At age 38 he is the youngest team president in the league and only the fourth former player (four different teams) ever to serve in that position.

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