David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U, Not Iowa, Right Choice for Nuness

Posted on June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 by David Shama

When Al Nuness gave the commencement address this spring at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa he recalled how his decision to attend the University of Minnesota changed his life.

Nuness was pursued by Illinois and Purdue while playing high school basketball in suburban Chicago but his grades kept him from being admitted to either one of those Big Ten universities. Nuness enrolled at Fort Dodge Junior College (now Iowa Central) in 1965. By the time he departed in 1967, he was a junior college All-American who averaged 28.3 points per game.

Nuness planned to attend the University of Iowa. “I had my choice of schools and I chose Iowa,” Nuness told the commencement audience at Iowa Central last month. “That choice started a learning curve that would forever change my life.”

The announcement to be a Hawkeye was to come at a Monday night dinner in Iowa. But Nuness went home the weekend before, and it was then he met Minneapolis businessman and Minnesota alum Harvey Mackay who happened to be in Chicago.

Mackay, who has become a best selling business author, talked with Nuness and his parents. Mackay had a strategy for his conversation with Nuness who is African-American.

“He asked me why I chose the University of Iowa,” Nuness said at the commencement. “I told him it was based on basketball.

“He replied, ‘So, if you don’t play pro basketball, what do you plan on doing?’

“Before I could answer that question he said, ‘Will you be able to live and raise your family in Iowa City?’

“Hey, folks, this was 1967. I don’t think Iowa City was ready for the Nuness family.

“He pulled out a copy of Life Magazine. It listed all the Fortune 500 companies in Minneapolis. He also showed me where Minneapolis was number one in the country for job opportunities for African-Americans. It was also number two in the country for quality of life for African-Americans. That got my parents’ attention.”

Mackay also talked about summer employment in Minneapolis, and said if Nuness became a student-athlete at Minnesota he would become his mentor. He now had the attention of Nuness and his parents.

“Then he wanted to know what time the ‘I’ Club dinner was on Monday night,” Nuness recalled in his commencement talk. “My mom said, ‘Al’s not going to the dinner.’

“And the rest is history!”

Nuness, an outstanding shooter, played two seasons for Minnesota, 1967-68 and 1968-69. His senior year he captained the Gophers, averaging 16.4 points per game and he made second team All-Big Ten guard.

But if the story ended there Nuness would only be in the Iowa Central athletics hall of fame. He is also a member of Iowa Central’s distinguished alumni hall of fame.

His decision to attend school in Minneapolis created opportunities after college. First he became head basketball coach at Minneapolis Central High School and then a Gophers assistant coach. The name he made at Minnesota helped him gain a position at Pillsbury and later as an executive with the Timberwolves. But in the business community his name is most closely associated with Jostens.

Nuness, now retired from full-time work, spent 18 years with the Minnesota-based school products company. He was a vice president for 15 years with assignments that included heading up Jostens’ championship rings sales for the Super Bowl, World Series and Bowl Championship Series.

Nuness’ father had been a poor farmer and his son certainly couldn’t have been sure of his future when deciding on a college. Mackay showed Nuness how important college decisions are, and started him on a pathway to a productive career and life that has also included volunteer work in the Minneapolis area.

“I am living proof that the American dream is indeed alive,” Nuness told his audience at Iowa Central. “Hard work, preparation, and perseverance all help to make it possible for even the son of a share cropper to pursue his dreams.”

Worth Noting

Vinny Del Negro, who reportedly has interviewed with the Timberwolves regarding the team’s coaching vacancy, was featured in Mackay’s 2010 book Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You. The two are friends and although Del Negro had no NBA, college or high school coaching experience he became head coach of the Bulls in 2010. He later became head coach of the Clippers before being let go after the 2012-2013 season despite having a 56-26 and winning the Pacific Division championship.

Henry Ellenson, the power forward from Rice Lake, Wisconsin who will be a senior next winter, is now rated the No. 5 player in the national class of 2015 by Espn.com. Ellenson’s brother Wally left the Gophers program during the past season.

Grand Rapids power forward Alex Illikainen is ranked No. 90. A good guess is Illikainen will become a Gopher while Ellenson will be a Badger.

Kevin Love turns 26 in September and the next few years of his NBA career are potentially his best. The Timberwolves have a massive sales challenge trying to convince Love to remain with a franchise that has missed the playoffs each of his six seasons in Minneapolis. Don’t look, though, for Love to be dazzled by the Lakers and Hollywood or the Knicks and Broadway. His next move is likely to be a lot more about winning games than geography.

New WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson is relocating the league offices from Denver and Madison to Minnesota. He is temporarily working in Bloomington but soon plans to have permanent offices in Saint Paul or the Minneapolis suburbs. Robertson said WCHA representatives will have business meetings in Saint Paul next week for future planning.

It seems likely Adam Weber has suggested to Mitch Leidner that the Gophers sophomore quarterback try for an invite to the prestigious Manning Passing Academy held each summer in Louisiana. Weber, who has been working out with Leidner, twice attended the academy as a counselor when he played for the Gophers. The academy is for campers entering grades 8-12 in the fall.

The Twins swept the Brewers in four games last year but that won’t happen this season. The two teams split two games in Milwaukee earlier this week. Tonight they start a two-game series at Target Field. Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez is tied for seventh with 11 home runs among National League players and is eighth in batting average at .310. If the Twins hadn’t traded him away to the Brewers in 2009 they could feel almost cocky about the deal they made to originally bring him to the organization. Gomez was one of four prospects the Twins acquired from the Mets in the 2008 trade sending former Cy Young award winner Johan Santana to New York. But Gomez didn’t produce at a high level here and the Twins haven’t realized much value from the trade.

The Tapemark Charity Pro-Am the men’s tournament at Southview Country Club in West St. Paul is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The women’s event is Thursday and Sunday, also at Southview. Spectators are welcome and will see some of the area’s best golfers.

The Tapemark, now in its 43rd year, benefits people with developmental disabilities. More at Tapemarkgolf.org.

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June 14 Wedding Set for Vikings Center

Posted on June 2, 2014June 2, 2014 by David Shama

It is no ordinary June for Vikings starting center John Sullivan who this week is at Winter Park practicing with teammates. He will be married on June 14 in Long Island, New York. He dclined to give his fiancée’s name but did say the couple will enjoy an Alaskan honeymoon cruise in late June.

Sullivan was drafted by the Vikings out of Notre Dame in 2008. Since 2009, when Sullivan became the starting center, he has missed only three of 77 games. A calf injury, knee surgery and concussion have been challenges. After the Vikings went through one of their recent Organized Team Activities he was asked about his health.

“I don’t know if you’re ever 100 percent as a professional football player but I am as close as I’ve been in a long time,” he told Sports Headliners.

Any lingering injuries? “Nothing. We always call it total body soreness. That just means you got a lot of games under your belt.”

Sullivan, who turns 29 on August 8, was named All-Pro by Pro Football Weekly in 2012. With his age and experience, he could be positioned to have his best season in 2014.

“That’s always the goal,” Sullivan said. “Every year your goal is to play the best you can as an individual, because that’s how you help the team win, and that’s what it comes down to.”

The Vikings’ record was 5-10-1 last season. A prediction late last month by the Las Vegas Hilton wagering authorities said the team will win only six games this season, but that doesn’t mean anything to Sullivan.

“I hadn’t heard that,” Sullivan said. “Frankly, we don’t care what Vegas says. We don’t care what anybody says. The people that have control over that situation are the ones that are here now, on this practice field and this building going to work everyday. We’re going to put the work into it to win as many games as we possibly can.”

The number of wins, of course, will have much to do with quarterback production. In practices Sullivan is impressed with veterans Matt Cassel and Christian Ponder, and rookie Teddy Bridgewater.

“Teddy looks great so far,” Sullivan said. “He’s a confident young guy. He’s made some incredible throws, and obviously we know who Matt and Christian are. They’re both guys that have led teams to playoffs in the past. We feel like we have three guys who can go out and get the job done.”

Sullivan is pleased new head coach Mike Zimmer retained offensive line coach Jeff Davidson who was with the Vikings for three prior seasons. Davidson’s reputation as an instructor and technician is well established at Winter Park.

Sullivan is impressed, too, with his new head coach after watching Zimmer lead the team in spring activities. “There’s no nonsense out here. No BS. Coach Zimmer is concerned with holding everybody accountable and winning football games. That’s all it comes down to.”

Sullivan is a leader who over the years has been involved with community activities including the drive to build the new stadium opening in 2016. Then in 2018 the stadium will host the Super Bowl. Wouldn’t it be special if the Vikings were playing in that Minneapolis game?

“It would be amazing just to be in a Super Bowl,” Sullivan said. “We don’t care where it is. You could play in a parking lot in Missouri. We don’t care.

“Yeah, would it be nice to play in a Super Bowl, here? Of course.”

Worth Noting

The Vikings continue their Organized Team Activity sessions this week at Winter Park. Players and coaches, as part of the franchise’s community work, will help build a playground on Wednesday at Lucy Craft Laney School in Minneapolis.

Pedro Florimon, who hit .108 in 65 at bats with the Twins this spring, is batting .237 in 59 plate appearances since being demoted to Triple-A Rochester. Former Twins starter Scott Diamond, also with Rochester, is 2-6 with a 7.51 ERA. Teammate and hot starting pitching prospect Alex Meyer is 3-1 with a 3.31 ERA and impressive 62 strikeouts in 51.2 innings.

Joe Schmit’s book, Sudden Impact, is now in its second printing. The KSTP TV sportscaster said the first press run was 5,000 and now another 5,000 have been printed.

Schmit’s hometown is Seymour, Wisconsin. That’s also the hometown of prep shooting guard Sandy Cohen who reportedly was recruited by the Gophers but will attend Marquette.

The Minute Men, the volunteer organization supporting Minnesota sports for more than 50 years, will honor outstanding high school lacrosse players at a noon banquet June 15 at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul-Riverfront Hotel. The finalists for Mr. Lacrosse are Max Elsenheimer (Eagan), Michael Lamb (Benilde-St. Margaret), J.R. Riley (St. Thomas Academy), Sam Turner (Academy of Holy Angels), Charlie Venable (Eden Prairie), Carter Yepson (Rosemount) and Conner Yepson (Rosemount). Finalists for Ms. Lacrosse are Sophie Buelow (Chanhassen), Sheila Hirsch, (Edina), Anna Johnson (Eden Prairie), Katie Larson (Apple Valley), Ali Ridge (Minnetonka), Anne Slusser (Blake) and Lydia Sutton (Blake).

Finalists for Mr. Goalie are Max Fehey (Eden Prairie) and Aaron Wiederhoeft (Prior Lake), while finalists for Ms. Goalie are Oralee Hespenheide (Bloomington Jefferson), and Maddie Kohlbeck (Farmington).

Comments Welcome

If Not U, Jeff Jones Headed to Iowa CC?

Posted on May 30, 2014May 30, 2014 by David Shama

Jeff Jones, the nationally recognized Washburn High School running back who is arguably the prize recruit in the 2014 Gophers football class, could be headed to Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs.

Jones needs a higher score on his ACT test to be accepted by the University of Minnesota. He will take the test for a fourth time on June 14. Washburn coach Giovan Jenkins declined to specify what score Jones needs to become eligible to play for Minnesota this year.

“I honestly think he is going to get it (the improved score),” Jenkins told Sports Headliners. “He’s improved each time. He is confident he’s going to get it. He knows junior college is not where he wants to be.”

Jenkins said if Jones doesn’t qualify for admission to Minnesota he will need to spend two years at a community college and earn a degree to then have immediate eligibility at an NCAA program, presumably the Gophers.

Jenkins has spoken with Iowa Western coach Scott Strohmeier and is enthusiastic about the program that is annually a national power. Jenkins described the Reivers, who won the 2012 National Junior College Athletic Association championship, as a “great program” that has sent more than 20 players to Division I schools the last two years. “It’s definitely a program he (Jeff) wants to be part of,” Jenkins said.

But Jones, of course, would rather be a Gopher, fulfilling the commitment he made in February when he signed his national letter of intent binding him to Minnesota. Jones is the only Rivals.com four-star recruit in the Gophers 2014 recruiting class. He turned heads playing in the prestigious Under Armour All-America Game in Florida last January, gaining 72 yards and being named Team Nitro MVP.

In past years the best Minnesota football preps have chosen schools other than the Gophers so Jones’ commitment to play for his hometown team is viewed as a step forward for UM coach Jerry Kill.

In pursuit of a qualifying ACT score, the 6-foot, 200-pound Jones could take encouragement from former Washburn tight end Ra’Shede Hageman who didn’t become eligible to play for the Gophers until June of his senior year. Hageman became an All-Big Ten defensive lineman and was selected in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft by the Falcons.

Worth Noting

Iowa Western Community College’s Strohmeier has been head coach of the Rievers since 2008. He is from Watkins, Minnesota and played quarterback at Fergus Falls Community College and the University of Minnesota, Crookston.

Jenkins said Hageman has signed his contract with the Falcons and purchased a Porsche.

The Chanhassen house of former Vikings defensive end Jared Allen is for sale at $1.75 million, according to a Wednesday Bizjournals.com story by Jim Hammerand.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer after being asked yesterday if players attending the organized team activities are buying into a new coach and system: “I don’t worry about if they are buying in. My job is to coach them hard and try to get them to be the best players they can be. …”

Zimmer on what he’s seen from All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson: “Yeah, he looks great. He’s made some tremendous cuts, you’d have to ask him, but he seems excited to be here, about some of the things that we are trying to do with him and I think it’s only going to continue to get better.”

With reported trade rumors involving Kevin Love, it’s fair to wonder if the Timberwolves All-Star forward will participate as scheduled in the July 13 celebrity softball game at Target Field. The game is part of the MLB All-Star Game promotional activities and it seems likely Love, sure to be greeted by boos, will become a cancel if traded to another NBA club between now and July 13.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino, who was hired about 14 months ago, will receive a raise and if the increase isn’t agreed to yet it will be soon. Pitino’s initial salary was set at $500,000, plus $700,000 of supplemental compensation.

Randy Wittman, fired as Timberwolves coach in 2008, is close to a contract extension with the Wizards.

The MIAC all-sports standings recognize an overall annual champion for each gender. For the seventh consecutive school year St. Thomas has finished first in both the men’s and women’s all-sports standings. St. Olaf and Saint John’s were second and third in men’s sports while Saint Benedict and Gustavus were runners-up in women’s athletics.

The St. Thomas men have finished first 28 times in 52 years, while the women have done it 23 out of 32 years. The Tommies have finished first in both genders 19 of the past 30 years, an indication of the many winning teams and seasons at the St. Paul school.

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