Gophers football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners the potential for sophomore wide receiver Da’Jon McKnight is “huge.” McKnight made a superb catch for a two point conversion in last Saturday’s game against Illinois.
Brewster said as of last week the Gophers and Iowa were tied for most comebacks this season (five) in major college football.
The Vikings had over 3,000 tickets remaining late last week for this Sunday’s game with Detroit, according to an email from Steve LaCroix, vice president of sales and marketing. Prices start at $48.
Tubby Smith’s Gophers were impressive in their opening exhibition win over the University of Minnesota Duluth, 114-47. The Gophers played harder and more cohesively than the Division II Bulldogs. The Gophers blocked 14 shots and had more than 40 deflections. Centers Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson appear improved from their freshmen seasons. Freshman forward Rodney Williams had a spectacular first half dunk and looks like a candidate for air time on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
In its college basketball preview issue Sporting News Magazine predicts the following order of finish (with the first seven teams making the NCAA tournament): Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Penn State, Indiana and Iowa.
Two of the Wild’s best players, goalie Niklas Backstrom and forward Martin Havlat, are dedicated to stretching to maintain maximum flexibility in their bodies. Havlat has a Twitter account: Twitter.com/martinhavlat.
Wolves coach Kurt Rambis has already watched a lot of inconsistent play from rookie Jonny Flynn, but predicts the 20-year-old will become an “elite guard.”
The Lynx have the first pick in next April’s WNBA draft and two players creating talk that they could go No. 1 are Connecticut’s Tina Charles, and Stanford’s Jayne Appel.
The Lynx are the only Minnesota major pro sports team to draft No. 1 overall since the Twins in 2001 (Joe Mauer).
Carlos Gomez, who hit .229 in 137 games for the Twins last season, didn’t sound too disappointed to leave here in last week’s trade to Milwaukee for shortstop J.J. Hardy. He told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “I know I can hit,” he said. “When you’re young and you play every day, it’s easier. Last season, I didn’t play every day. It’s tough.
“I need to play every day. This is good for me. I can’t wait for the season to start. I want to show everybody how I can play.” More at https://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/69423807.html.