Four former Gophers were named to the 50th anniversary Proviso West Holiday Tournament all-time team. Jim Brewer, Tom Kondla, Al Nuness and Townsend Orr were among 50 players honored last week.
The prestigious Chicago area tournament has a proud tradition and its 50 member all-time team includes some of the most recognizable names in basketball history. Among those who played in the tournament as preps are Kevin Garnett, Isiah Thomas, Doc Rivers, Michael Finley, Juwan Howard, Mark Aguirre, Corey Maggette, Jeff Hornacek, Evan Turner, Dee Brown, Shannon Brown and Jon Scheyer.
Kondla and Nuness played together with the Gophers during the 1967-68 season. Kondla was an All-American center in 1967 while Nuness captained the 1968-69 team and averaged 16.4 points per game as a guard.
Brewer was also an All-American center for the Gophers and one of Minnesota’s best defensive players ever when he helped lead the team to the 1972 Big Ten championship. Orr was a high energy guard on coach Clem Haskins’ teams in the 1990s. https://pwhoops.com/
I’ve been scratching my head since last month trying to figure out how Joe Kapp isn’t included among the top vote getters for the 50 greatest Vikings. Kapp was one of the franchise’s most inspirational players ever and led the Vikings to their first Super Bowl. On his Facebook page Kapp writes that he’s the only quarterback ever to start in Rose Bowl, Grey Cup and Super Bowl games.
Also on Facebook the former University of California quarterback writes: “My sacrifice is I gave up tequila until Cal wins the Rose Bowl.”
Vikings rookie running back Toby Gerhart plans to “relax” for a short while back home in Norco, California now that the season is over. The Southern California town is located about 20 minutes from the Pacific Ocean. “It’s nice,” Gerhart said. “It’s different, a little country western town. A lot of horses, no sidewalks, no street lights. Horse trails and hitching posts and stuff like that.”