Jerry Kill’s busy to-do list as the Gophers’ new football coach includes aggressively monitoring the academics of his players.  It’s no secret some have lagged in classroom performance and Kill said during an interview with Sports Headliners “the truth” comes out at the end of May.

He receives daily updates on what’s going on with his players and no one will be more interested in the academic results when spring semester ends.  “I think we’re working together to do the best we can. …Trying to salvage some things,” he said.

Kill wouldn’t predict how many players might become academically ineligible to play. “Hopefully we can save the majority of them that were in difficult situations,” he said.

The Gophers have an already thin roster as Kill prepares for the season opener at Southern California on September 3.  But regardless of the depth impacted by academics later this spring, Kill knows there’s a lot of future work to be done in recruiting better players and students.

He has seven coaches on the road recruiting, and looks forward to having high school players and potential recruits on campus next month when they participate in camps.  He and his assistants took over the Gophers program too late last fall to put their mark on recruiting.

“This past year (the 2011 recruiting class) we really can’t take a whole lot of credit one way or the other, except for about four, five, six kids” he said. “But going to this year, it’s critical for us to have a good class.

“And we need to do a good job in the state of Minnesota.  We need to recruit to our culture.  We need to recruit the kids that are going to be successful here at the University of Minnesota.”

Kill said it will take a lot more than one class to improve a program that was 3-9 last season and has been floundering for years.  “If you’re going to turn around a program, you can’t build it off mistakes,” he said.  “You gotta do well.”

Other than Minnesota, Kill wouldn’t single out states his recruiting will focus on, but the Midwest is the first target.  He and his assistants will rely a lot on relationships to help them with players regardless of where they are from.

“We want to concentrate in the Midwest as much as we can, and recruit kids that understand the weather conditions, the school etc.,” he said.  “And then what we can’t get here, you go back to relationships, people you trust.”

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Twins trivia question:  Who is the only player ever to wear uniform No. 0?  (See answer at bottom of column).

The Twins, who open a four-game series in Boston tonight, haven’t won at Fenway Park since 2007.  The Red Sox haven’t had a losing record against the Twins since 2006 when Minnesota won five of six games.

Outfielder Aaron Hicks, who after the 2010 season was ranked the No. 1 prospect in the Twins’ farm system by Baseball America, is off to a slow start with the Class A Fort Myers Miracle hitting .202 in 94 at bats.  In three previous minor league seasons Hicks has hit .318, 251 and .279 with a total of 16 home runs and 105 RBI.

Coach John Anderson’s Gophers baseball team, 8-7 in the Big Ten race, is two games behind in the loss column from conference leaders Michigan State and Purdue, both 10-5.  The Gophers, who have won five of their last six league games, are at Michigan today, tomorrow and Sunday for three games.  Minnesota has six regular season games remaining after Sunday.

Hopkins Class 4A state championship coach Ken Novak is the ESPN RISE Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.  The ESPN RISE for High School Athletes website said Novak is the only Minnesota coach to win the award since its inception in 1970.

It was 20 years ago this month the North Stars, with a losing record during the regular season, made their improbable run to the Stanley Cup finals where they lost in six games to the Penguins.  The North Stars, who began in 1967 and participated in only two finals, played two more seasons here before moving to Dallas.

The team had some entertaining characters through the years including a European player who was asked if he had a Minnesota driver’s license.  “Sure,” he said, showing off his foreign license.

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Wild prospect Darcy Kuemper was named Western Hockey League Player of the Year and WHL Goaltender of the Year at the WHL awards ceremony in Calgary on Wednesday.  Past winners of the Player of the Year include NHL stars Cam Ward, Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic.

Kuemper had a 42-12-5 record and led WHL goaltenders in every major statistical category including wins, goals against average (1.86), save percentage (.933) and shutouts (13).  His shutout total tied the WHL single season record.

The May 9 issue of Sporting News Magazine gives the Vikings the lowest grade for the NFL draft among NFC North teams.  The Vikings received a B, while the Lions had an A, and the Bears and Packers were graded A-.  Among the comments about division teams was this on the Vikings’ No. 1 pick, quarterback Christian Ponder: “It would be disastrous to start Ponder behind the current offensive line.”

This week’s issue of Sports Illustrated includes an article by Jim Trotter that said the selection of Ponder at No.12 “caused gasps around the league.”  Trotter wrote that scouts admire Ponder’s football smarts but question his arm strength and durability.

Brett Favre will presumably be throwing a football again in June, but not likely  warming up for an NFL season.  His website reports that a Favre football camp for youngsters will be held at the University of Southern Mississippi.  Camp revenue will be used for endowed scholarships at Southern Miss, Favre’s alma mater.

Talk of a boxing career by Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards isn’t all that surprising.  He’s known for being a free thinker and even reportedly had differences with the Purdue staff as a college player.  The lure of big money in heavyweight boxing stirred talk years ago of a Muhammad Ali versus Wilt Chamberlain fight, and Dallas lineman Ed (“Too Tall”) Jones had a brief fight career.

St. Thomas and Bethel are co-hosts for the MIAC Softball Playoffs beginning today on both campuses. St.Thomas, coached by John Tschida, enters the tournament as the top seed after winning the regular season championship with a 22-0 record and has a 27 game-winning streak. The Tommies have won every MIAC playoff championship since the tournament’s inception in 2004.

 

Chef Terry Goertzen from Canterbury Park appears on KARE 11 tomorrow at about 8:45 a.m. for a cooking segment with a Kentucky Derby theme.  Handicapper Kevin Gorg will be on Mark Rosen’s Ch. 4 Sunday night show to provide a derby recap.  The derby begins at 5:24 p.m. tomorrow and is televised by NBC.

 

Twins trivia answer: Junior Ortiz wore No. 0 during the 1990-91 seasons.

 

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