Do the Gophers have another Dion Lewis?

Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners any or all of his three incoming freshmen running backs could be a big time college player.  Lewis was a surprise All-American at Pittsburgh in 2009, a not so well known freshman running back at the beginning of the season.  He set school records, was a major contributor in Pitt’s not anticipated 10-3 season and will be included on Heisman Trophy watch lists in 2010.

Brewster will welcome a five man competition to determine the Gophers’ starting running back in August.  Two junior returnees, Duane Bennett and DeLeon Eskridge, will be in the competition but so will incoming freshmen Lamonte Edwards, Donnell Kirkwood and Devon Wright.

Brewster isn’t “discounting” a returnee earning the No. 1 job but neither Bennett nor Eskridge has so far performed as an elite Big Ten Conference running back.  Bennett ran for 395 yards last season, Eskridge, 309.

The two have been part of an offense that frequently was sluggish last season.  The Gophers need better performance from Bennett and Eskirdge, or immediate impact from the three freshmen.  “It’s really going to be interesting seeing those three young kids,” Brewster said. “They’re really going to get a very quick opportunity to show what they can do in fall camp.”

Brewster said what the freshmen will need to do is more than running.  They must show a complete package of skills including pass protection and route running.

“It’s exciting for me to think about Donnell Kirkwood, Lamonte Edwards and Devon Wright, who are all I think talented young players,” Brewster said.  “It’s going to be interesting to see whether or not one of those three has the maturity, has the ability similar to a Dion Lewis at Pitt because obviously he made a huge impact on Pitt’s program.”

Edwards is 6-2, 215 from Woodbury.  Kirkwood, 5-10, 197, and Wright, 6-0, 190, are both from Florida high schools.  None of the three has been included among the most publicized running back recruits in the nation for 2010 but they aren’t unknowns either.

Brewster said the running skills of Edwards, Kirkwood, and Wright appear to be what the Gophers need.  “I would say all three of them are physical runners, have physicality about the way they run the football, and all three of them have good speed,” Brewster said.  “And that speed, size, physicality is something we’re looking for.”

Edwards might be the most physical and fastest of the three, according to Brewster.  In high school there were projections that Edwards might be a college linebacker but he looks too valuable to a needy Gophers offense to play on defense.

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The Gophers defense loses nine of 11 starters from last season.  Filling positions is among the priorities of spring practice which continues now through the annual spring game on Saturday, April 24 at TCF Bank Stadium.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove told Sports Headliners that while his unit is inexperienced the Gophers “do have a lot of talent.”  Included in the talent category are redshirt freshmen defensive ends Ra’Shede Hageman and Matt Garin whose participation in spring practice has been slowed respectively by hamstring and ankle problems.

Through the years the Gophers’ reputation for rushing the passer has been poor but that may change with players like Hageman, Garin and sophomore defensive end D.L. Wilhite.

“D.L. Wilhite has made a lot of progress,” Cosgrove said.  “I really like what I see in him.  He’s really going to help us in the pass rush. …”

Wilhite has been known as a pass rushing specialist but Cosgrove said the       Kentucky native can play the run effectively, too.

Among the developments of spring practice has been the emergence of sophomore middle linebacker Mike Rallis, a former walk-on who missed much of last season because of injuries when he was a safety.  “He’s made an outstanding transition from safety to the ‘Sam’ linebacker and he’s given us…above and beyond what I expected him to be at this point.  He’s really improved everyday. Really detailed guy.”

 

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Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi told Sports Headliners he doesn’t have starting times yet for the 2010 home football games.  The home schedule rates high in box office appeal with opponents that include USC, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa.

Maturi was sorry to lose Gophers basketball forward Paul Carter who is transferring.  Carter needs to finish his basketball career in the Chicago area and closer to his sister Bria who has cancer.  Carter, who has one year remaining of college eligibility, will earn his degree in communications before leaving Minnesota.

Was the Big East Conference “over-rated” in men’s basketball this year?  The Big East had eight teams selected for the NCAA tournament, three more than the Big Ten Conference.  Five Big East schools were given No. 1, 2 or 3 seeds, while the Big Ten had only one team with a top three seed (Ohio State a No. 2 in the Midwest).  In the tournament’s first round, Big Ten teams were 4-1, while the Big East was 4-4.  Although the Big East had three more teams in the tournament, both conferences had one representative in the Final Four (West Virginia and Michigan State).  In the semi-finals Duke easily won over West Virginia, 78-57, while Michigan State, playing without injured star guard Kalin Lucas, lost to Butler 52-50.

Former Twins Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, now with the Angels and Mets, lead their teams in salaries this season, according to the latest issue of USA Today Sports Weekly.  Hunter will earn $18,500,000 and Santana $20,144,207.  Baseball’s top paid player, Alex Rodriguez, will make $33,000,000.  Justin Morneau leads the Twins at $15,000,000 with Joe Mauer second at $12,500,000.

Ex-Twin Luis Castillo, 34, is still playing second base for the Mets and is in his third season with the New York team.  Former Twin Cristian Guzman, 32, is in his fifth season playing shortstop for the Nationals.

Francisco Liriano, the fifth starter in the Twins rotation, led all major league pitchers with 30 strikeouts during spring training.  Liriano, who some experts thought might contend for the Cy Young award last season before struggling, makes his first start of the regular season tonight in Chicago against the White Sox.

The Wild will pay tribute to center Mike Modano, the all-time scoring leader among American-born players, when he and his Stars teammates play at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday in what could be Modano’s final NHL game.  Modano, 39, may retire after this season following an NHL career that began with the North Stars in 1989.

North Stars management made Modano the overall No. 1 draft pick in the 1988 NHL draft.  His scoring ability attracted attention, although at the time some hockey experts thought center Trevor Linden, a highly regarded player and leader, might be the better choice.

There’s no denying the reputation of Wild tough guy and left wing Derek Boogaard.  The April 5 issue of ESPN The Magazine included an NHL players poll that named Boogaard the league’s best fighter.  In the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, a poll of 272 NHL players selected him as the toughest fighter.

The Minnesota Lynx gave their fans more reason to look forward to the upcoming season yesterday when the local WNBA franchise chose national defensive player of the year Monica Wright from Virginia with the No. 2 pick in the league draft.  The Lynx will offer a roster that includes Wright and local hero Lindsay Whalen at their home opener on Sunday, May 16 at Target Center against the Washington Mystics.

A tennis source believes Martina Navratilova and Lindsay Davenport, in town this weekend to play an exhibition, will receive over $50,000.00 for appearance fees.  https://www.tennisfestivalofthenorth.com/

With winter NCAA championships complete, five MIAC schools rank in the top 70 of the Division III Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings. St. Thomas leads MIAC schools with 466 points and is eighth in the standings. The Tommies’ 271 winter points and 195 fall points are school records. Gustavus is 25^th in the standings with 312 points.  St. Olaf is 40th with 238.50 points, Carleton 47^th at 195.50 points and Concordia 67^th with 150.50 points.

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