Sports Headliners learned this week that the Gophers football program has earned a 968 Academic Progress Rate (APR) from the NCAA.

The APR is the best during the coaching era of Tim Brewster that began in January of 2007.  It’s also thought to be the highest ever for Gophers football.

The most recent rating is for the school year of 2008-2009 that ended a year ago. The APR is a metric used by the NCAA to measure progress of student-athletes in moving toward academic degrees.

The failure of a program to graduate less than 50 percent of its athletes can result in the loss of scholarships.  A perfect score is 1000 and 925 rating is the cutoff for loss of scholarships by the NCAA.

The Gophers lost three scholarships last year for 2009 recruiting but those scholarships will now accrue back to the program.  Classroom progress by the program has been evident during the Brewster era as he and his staff placed more attention on grades and graduation.

Two years ago the Gophers graduated 100 percent of their senior players and last year over 90 percent.  This spring the percent is expected to be 100.

The most recent APR news will be positively received by University of Minnesota officials who have been emphasizing academics in the athletic department.  Minnesota’s football graduation success and climbing APR’s compare favorably with the more successful academic records of other football programs in the Big Ten Conference.

Brewster’s contract, available on the public record, includes a bonus that pays him $25,000.00 for an APR of 965 or better.

Race track enthusiast Jake Mauer said one of his grandsons, Billy Mauer, won about $17,000.00 wagering on the Preakness Stakes last Saturday at Canterbury Park.

Wally’s Choice, owned by “Wally the Beerman,” earned $350.00 in the 10,000 Lakes race on Saturday. The horse is second to Blair’s Cove in all-time earnings for Minnesota bred horses.  Wally’s Choice is about $40,000.00 behind Blair’s Cove who retired in 1992.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, talking on his KSTP radio show Sunday, admitted he’s “worried” about the performance of relief pitcher Jesse Crain.  So far Crain has a 7.31 ERA.

Rumors on the Web are that Royce White could be headed to Kentucky to play for charismatic coach John Calipari.  That seems logical given White’s basketball reputation and the Wildcats’ habit of winning and attracting top talent.  A local source told Sports Headliners he didn’t know what White’s intentions are including whether a return to the Gophers will happen.  It seems certain that if White doesn’t play for the Gophers, he won’t choose another Big Ten school.  Conference rules don’t allow league transfers to receive a scholarship at the new program.

If ESPN basketball authority Andy Katz is correct, the Big Ten will be impressive next season.  His preseason top 10 includes No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Michigan State and No. 6 Ohio State.  Illinois is ranked No. 15 and among teams on the “cusp” of a top 25 rating are Minnesota, Northwestern and Wisconsin. https://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=5179956

Kevin McHale told Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio that the Celtics might win the NBA title and forward Paul Pierce’s offensive production could be the key.  The Celtics, who won an NBA title two years ago with a big three of Pierce, former Timberwolf Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, now have a big four with the emergence of point guard Rajon Rondo.  Rondo, younger than any of the big three by nine years, might be the team’s best player.  His recent 18 rebound game in the playoffs against Cleveland is historically significant for an NBA guard.

Timberwolves-themed boxes of Lucky Charms didn’t deliver the No. 1 pick in last night’s NBA draft lottery.  The Wolves used creative thinking to stir up media promotion and possible good luck earlier in the week hoping to improve on their 19.9 percent chances of lucking into the No. 1 pick.  (I don’t have a count on how many fans tried to help out by eating Lucky Charms cereal yesterday.)  The Wolves will have a quality pick at No. 4 in the NBA draft on June 24 and the Wolves might select Syracuse small forward Wesley Johnson.

Don’t be surprised if the NFL and representatives of Kevin and Pat Williams settle their dispute with a two-game suspension rather than four.

Jerry Burns, who was both an assistant and head coach with the Vikings, admired Brett Favre’s extraordinary performance last season but told Sports Headliners he won’t describe it as the best season ever by a Vikings quarterback.  Burns was an assistant coach on three teams that Fran Tarkenton quarterbacked to Super Bowls.

Vikings head coach Brad Childress will be the keynote speaker at the Bolder Options annual Training for Life Dinner tomorrow at International Market Square.  The evening will include news about Bolder Options being on public television.  The National Medical Report will be publicizing Bolder Options because of its comprehensive approach to mentoring, addressing not only truancy and juvenile delinquency but also obesity, nutrition, physical activity and overall well-being of youth.  Former Gophers football player Darrell Thompson is executive director of the Minneapolis headquartered organization.

The Vikings, who will be working with most of their players this week at Organized Training Activity at Winter Park, have signed one of their eight draft choices so far.  Seventh round pick Ryan D’Imperio, who was the 237^th overall selection, has signed with the Vikings and will switch from college linebacker at Rutgers to fullback with the Vikings.

Former Gophers All-American Bobby Bell, who played professionally for Kansas City, is taking Chiefs sponsors to Cancun, Mexico.  Joining him are 31 Chiefs cheerleaders who will have a photo shoot there.

This school year Minnesota retained the “Border Battle” Cup with the most lopsided margin in the brief history of its annual all-sports rivalry with Wisconsin. The Gophers earned 550 points to Wisconsin’s 330 points to even the all-time series with their third victory in the six years of competition.  The two schools compete in 22 different sports.

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame announced earlier this month that 30 MIAC football student-athletes have been named to the NFF Hampshire Honor Society.  The honor society is comprised of college football players from all divisions who maintained a 3.2 GPA or better and were a starter or significant substitute in their last year of eligibility.  MIAC honorees are: Augsburg College’s Andrew Bergeson, Adam Ebert, Tyler Judkins, and Andy Roff; Gustavus Adolphus College’s Jordan Becker, Kevin Geurink, Blake Noennig, Tony Palma, David Randall, T.J. Ridley, and Joe Welch; Saint John’s University’s Blaine Anderson, Ben Dimond, Ethan Eid, Dan Franta, Russell Gliadon, Nick Gunderson, Dominic Haik, Drew Percival, Greg Sowden, and Ryan Wimmer; and the University of St. Thomas’ Jake Friederichs, Joe Herrera, Jeffery Hilliard, Kris Kopp, Reed Mainquist, Tony Margarit, Ryan McCarthy, Sam Moen and Joe Sunnarborg.