The Daily Gopher

Basketball Recruiting page has been updated

2009-07-10T14:40:16Z

Basketball Recruiting page has been updated

A page that hasn't been touched since the beginning of The Daily Gopher has been updated with a scholarship allotment table and the initial list of players Tubby and staff have offered for the 2010 recruiting class.

Golden Nugz for 07-10-09

2009-07-10T12:27:56Z

Interesting piece of out Vancouver as the Canucks are holding their prospect camp and they seem to be high on drafting Golden Gophers.

The Canucks opened their prospect camp on Monday and once again the comparisons between Jordan Schroeder and Patrick White flared up again. Both Minnesotans, both Golden Gophers, both Canucks first-rounders. But boy, has the Canucks official site really put the hate on White by pretty much calling him a bust. Certainly as a junior next year White hasn’t done anything at the NCAA level to warrant his status as a top pick, but talk about pressure. He’s got the pressure to perform for the Gophers, make the Canucks, prove himself worth the pick, and out do Schroeder. They’re setting him up to fail. Stop the comparisons. They’re not the same player and they don’t play the same game.

Also interesting is that Schroeder had to borrow money from dad to attend the camp.

Jordan Schroeder, the Vancouver Canucks’ first-round pick in last month’s draft, had to borrow money from his father to attend the NHL team’s prospect camp at the University of British Columbia this week.

Schroeder, who attends the University of Minnesota, is subject to the strict rules of the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association. To protect his amateur status, and to be eligible to play for the Golden Gophers later this year, Schroeder had to pay his own way and must take care of his own lodging while in Vancouver.

"I definitely wanted to come and show the organization that I’m interested," said Schroeder, the 22nd pick in the draft who has yet to sign a professional contract. "I wanted to prove to them that I can come in and pay my dues, even if it costs a little bit."

It won't be long and he'll be able to pay dad back, with interest.

Gophersports.com has a spotlight o Megan Wilson of the volleyball team. Wilson is transferring in from Missouri, has one year of eligibility left and will be working towards her masters.
Iowa, like Minnesota, does not have a men's soccer team No Iowa men’s soccer team soon, despite sport’s prominence - The Daily Iowan. Due to the same reasons of money and Title IX.
Penn State's Talor Battle at the World University Games. This guy scares me on the basketball court.
A little recruiting battle with Calipari and Tubby! I love the drama, but not as much as would love to have Harrison Barnes in maroon and gold!
A look at the Big Ten wide receivers and tight ends. The Gopher's unit comes in as the second best in conference.

76 Classic match-ups...Gophers vs. Butler in round 1

2009-07-09T22:15:28Z

76 Classic match-ups...Gophers vs. Butler in round 1

There will be no easing into the 76 Classic next fall. Butler should be a very good test. Butler is projected to be a 5 seed in Lunardi's summer bracketology, ranked 15th in Andy Katz's early top 25 and ranked 11th in CBS Sports early top 25. Like the Gophers, the Bulldogs did not graduate anybody of consequence. This is a very intriguing match-up.

Golden Nuggz 7.09.09

2009-07-09T08:00:19Z

There has been some good stuff coming out of ESPN this week. At least stuff wroth commenting on and reading. I'll start with this brief blog article from ACC blogger, Heather Dinich. She is commenting on the recent Senate discussions into the BCS and possible anti-trust.

If non-BCS teams like Utah want to work their way into contention for the national championship, they've got to beat teams like Oklahoma, Texas and play other gauntlet-type schedules the BCS conferences have to face. One of the reasons Florida earned a No. 1 ranking is because it beat LSU, Georgia, Alabama, etc. Beating Weber State and Utah State won't cut it.

This is partially true. You have to beat good teams to have a shot at a national championship. But the key to all of this isn't comapring schedules and picking the most worth teams with the strongest schedules. The fact is that Utah beat some very good teams. Florida beat more good teams, Oklahoma beat some more good teams, but they didn't beat every team. Assuming Utah makes an attempt to play a good schedule and they actually win every one of their games, they should be allowed to play for a national championship.

I'm not a huge Utah apologist and I don't believe they were the best team in college football, but they deserved a shot. It is incredibly difficult for teams in the Mountain West to consistently schedule good teams from BCS conferences. They got Oregon and Michigan on their schedules last year. Went on the road for both and beat them. They beat TCU and they beat BYU. I understand the rest of their schedule was weak and it is easier to make this argument after they beat Alabama. But I believe they deserved a shot.

Regardless of what you think about the system, the bottom line is strength of schedule, and the teams that finish atop the final BCS standings have it.

No, the bottom line is winning your games in a strong schedule. Florida was rewarded for losing a home game and Utah was left out in the cold for winning every game on their schedule. It isn't right.

With all of that said, the Mountain West took the money rather than take a stand on princple by signing the BCS agreement.
This story out of ESPN on how recruits are using social networking to their advantage is very interesting as well.
CHECK THIS OUT, this Boston College marketing ploy is really good.
Finally, this is a ridiculous story. Apparently LeBron was dunked on during one of his Nike skills camps. immediately either LeBron or Nike decided all video needed to be confiscated so it didn't end up on YouTube. REALLY? Is this really going to hurt LeBron's image? If video gets out it is a joke for a few days. But instead he looks like an insecure, superstar with a fragile ego. I'm sure endorsments would go running and opponents would see his one weakness if this video ever gets out.

Golden Nugz for 07-08-09

2009-07-08T12:52:09Z

Hey, today is 7-8-9. Now on to the Nugz...

The Quad is continuing their countdown of all 120 D1 teams and yesterday they came out with #57-Michigan and #58-Air Force. I know these rankings are incredibly subjective and meaningless, but at the very least this should give us reason to not overlook Air Force or the wil beat us.

But there’s plenty to like, starting with the young backfield combination of Clark and Jefferson and continuing with a stellar secondary. The team will also excel in the turnover battle, giving it a leg up over the competition. And, most important, the team has a terrific young coach in Calhoun, who has shown nothing but promise since taking over the program in 2007. Add it all together, and you get another eight-win season from the Falcons.

We'll keep an eye on what exactly that starting backfield will be but the Gopher defense will have to be disciplined and the Gopher offense will be facing a 3-4 defense for the first time in a while so out boys better be ready for this one and not look ahead to Cal the next week.

The Daily Gopher is apparently one of the best 100 college football blogs out there.
Yesterday I took some time to join Buck's 5th Quarter on their radio show. Listen here, it was fun.
Eden Prairie finished as one of the top 10 high school athletic programs in the country. This is sort of a Director's Cup for high school.
Interesting article on an apparent shift in recruiting philosophy for Iowa.
Indiana received a four-star commitment which is huge news for that program.
Interesting article on whether or not media market size really matters for endorsements. I wouldn't say that LeBron is hurting for endorsement opportunities in Cleveland.

Daily Nugz - Tuesday, July 7, 2009.

2009-07-07T12:00:12Z

Let's get down to business. As of today, there are exactly sixty days until the Gophers play Syracuse in what will hopefully be their last non-bowl game in a dome. With that in mind, I provide the expansive TDG readership with (what I hope is) an interesting link for each Big (11) Ten football team.

Alphabetically (except for the TDG team of interest):

(1) Minnesota - This web-site bludgeoned Coach Brewster recently over his "coaching record," but it is worth having another look at the Coach's blog / recruiting website. It's dolled up now and looks pretty good. Plus, you can see inside the mammoth locker room at the Vault, and listen to scholarship athletes attempting to sound pithy.

(2) Illinois - Honestly, would you put this on a tree in your yard without giving it the axe 10 minutes later?

(3) Indiana - when is there any Indiana football news? Well, Kellen Lewis is gone, they've been recruiting well (this guy picked Indiana over Minnesota? Huh?), and here's pics of some remodeling done at Memorial Stadium.

(4) Iowa - Significant news out of Iowa City this week, as projected starting RB Jewel Hampton (who Gopher fans should be quite aware of - see 55-0's second half) tore his anterior cruciate ligament (known to the sports fan as the ACL) in non-contact drills on Friday, July 3rd. This leaves walk-on Paki O'Meara and incoming recruit Brandon Wehger, a 4-star recruit and Rivals' #14 all-purpose back. Yes, Hampton did well last year as a frosh and Wehger could have done well in 2009, but not as the feature back. This is a significant blow to Iowa's 2009 team.

(5) Michigan - this off-season has understandably been one of soul-searching for the fans of the Ann Arbor team. The Wolverine Liberation Army, which somehow ably links 1910s Communist icon Vladimir Lenin with 2009 Wolverines freshman Vladimir Emilien, has begun its assessment of the Rich Rodriguez revolution. See part one of their inquest here. Well worth your time.

(6) Michigan State - A somewhat interesting article discussing whether football coach Mark D'antonio is pillaging Tom O's (Jay Z says Izzo) recruiting style.

(7) Northwestern - I'm a fan of Playboy Magazine (sorry, no link here high schoolers), and I really, really, like their All-American team. So, too, I'm guessing, does Corey Wootton and his surgically repaired knee which will hopefully heal on September 27th. The amazing thing that Hugh Hefner has been able to accomplish, in my eyes, is getting headlines like this, for example, touting Arizona State's 14 individual Playboy All Americans.

(8) Ohio State - This is a little bit dated, but so is coach Jim Tressel's offense. Tressel was part of a group of college coaches, including Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, and UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, who toured U.S. military bases in Africa, Europe and Iraq (think Neuheisel arranged any side trips to casinos?) Read about it here.

(9) Penn State - Zombie Nation didn't like Dennis Dodd's recent 2009 Big Ten preview.

(10) Purdue - Hey! A Little Bit Softer Now! Vote in this poll to determine who should lead the singing of "Shout" between the 3rd and 4th quarters of the Notre Dame game! (Think of it as "Jump Around" without the jumping and with more, er, shouting.)

(11) Wisconsin - Screw Wisconsin, and leave the Axe behind on October 3rd.

The Seantrel Henderson Sweepstakes

2009-07-06T19:00:13Z

It isn't very often you get the consensus #1 recruit in the country playing in your home state. So let this be the first of regular installments giving you the latest on the recruiting circus surrounding Seantrel Henderson. Below is a map with the schools most often associated with the Seantrel Sweepstakes. As Henderson schedules his unofficial and official visits I will update with dates and links. I will also add and/or drop schools as I get relevant information requiring me to do so.

Here are some very important things to know about the nation's number one college football recruit...

He plans to make his decision during one of the post-season All-Star games. Both ESPN's Under Armour and the Army All-American games are courting him for obvious reasons.
Basketball remains his first love and is considering playing both in college. But he knows his meal-ticket is football so that will be the priority.
Plays football for Minnesota powerhouse, Cretin-Derham Hall. The Raiders have been a recruiting pipeline for Notre Dame in recent years but Henderson does not seem real high on the Irish.
Remember the name J.D. Pride II. The dual-threat QB plays for Totino Grace (another local privat school with a history of very good football), is a very good friend of Seantrel's and his father is a sort of mentor/advisor/consultant to Seantrel. While the two are not officially a package deal, it is rumored that they would enjoy playing together at the next level. Pride's offer sheet begins and ends with Minnesota but he has interest from Ohio St, Wis, S Car, UNC, Alabama, etc.
Has publicly stated that distance isn't a factor, but also is very family oriented and wants his family to be able to see him play. Something there will have to give. Michigan fans want to think that playing "a few times" in Minnesota will suffice if he chooses Michigan but his only trip to Minneapolis would be 2012 (they do not play in 2010, away in 2011, home in 2012).

The Gopher perspective

I sincerely believe the Gopher's chances of landing Henderson come down to winning in 2009. I think he likes the idea of staying close to family, I think he likes the coaching staff in Minnesota, but I also think he wants to win. If you can choose a school that you firmly believe has a chance to play for a national championship in your career, why wouldn't you do that? I think THAT is the biggest hurdle the Gophers have.

The Gophers have some things going for them. They were quick to offer J.D. Pride and have been all over Seantrel from day one. His future, Gopher offensive-line coach's son is attending school with Seantrel. He has had ample opportunity to get to know the current roster of Gophers, developing those relationships is a good thing. He can be a program changer and local hero should he chose to stay home. The Gophers have MarQueis Gray under center for Seantrel's career giving him a talented QB to block for. And if he wants to play basketball we have Tubby Smith as an ace up our sleeve.

But like I said it really comes down to winning for the Gophers. If we can rack up some wins and show that this program can take another step forward then we have a chance. If we falter to another 7-5 or worse record then I think Henderson takes his skills elsewhere.

Gopher Recruiting - the fast and the furious

2009-07-06T15:30:09Z

A little over a week ago the Gophers had received one verbal commitment since the beginning of April. If Gopher fans were getting restless about the lack of commitments then at the very least they should feel better as Tim Brewster and staff picked up four new commitments over the last seven days to bring the Gopher class up to 10 commitments.

Unfortunately I've been unable to keep up with the recent activity until now so here is a snapshot of the current Gopher recruiting class 2010.

The Early Commitments

CB-Antoine Lewis - was the first to commit back in early March. Lewis is a corner out of the Chicago area. A three-star recruit according to Rivals but gets a little more love from ESPN as the second highest ranked player in the Gopher class.

Can run man-to-man with speed receivers and stays stride for stride with them on the deep ball. Exhibits great anticipation and seems to read the quarterback's eyes resulting in a quick break on the pass.

Smallish but fast. Lewis also plays WR but is likely going to be a corner at this level. His other official offers were from MAC-esque schools (Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, W Kentucky). The Hilltoppers are apparently still holding court with Lewis as they'd like to see him contribute on offense as well. The first to commit (and maintain his commitment) could be a Troy Stoudermire type player who is able to contribute on special teams sooner rather than later as he learns his craft, whether that be defense or offense.

OT-Jimmy Gjere - so far this is the jewel of the class. According to Rivals Gjere is the 49th overall player in the country and the 7th best OT. Were he not overshadowed in the recruiting world by some other massive OT coming out of Minnesota (cough...Seantrel Henderson), Gopher fans would be ecstatic about this commitment. But don't discount Gjere just because he is ranked lower by recruiting services. We should be thrilled to have Gjere as the multi-sport athlete is huge and should be a bookend tackle for the Gophers down the road. The Irondale native is a beast along that Knight offensive line, looks even bigger on skates during hockey season and I would imagine looks just as imposing on the mound as he pitches for the Knights.

He has great size and long arms that really help in pass protection. A very good technician in terms of footwork; takes short steps and is always in control of his body. Especially productive executing zone blocking schemes; works his way up field showing the ability to pick up line stunts and blitzes.

Gjere has the strength, athleticism and technical skills to play relatively early at the next level.

ATH-Lamonte Edwards - another four-star recruit home grown in Minnesota. Edwards plays both ways for Woodbury at RB and OLB. Some project his power running style fits best at the D1 level and others believe his lack of speed makes this hard-nosed football player better suited for OLB in the Gopher defense.

Edwards is a big and powerful running back. He is stout and though he doesn't possess blazing speed, he is a deceiving ball carrier that is very productive with the football under his arm. Displays good vision and follows blockers like a big time running back

Doubles as an outside linebacker and shows same toughness as on offense. Defeats blockers with his hands then separates and gets to the football. A sure tackler but needs to take the extra step to finish the hit. Edwards is a very good football player that is versatile and hard nosed.

I feel as though Edwards is another player overshadowed by the Seantrel Henderson sweepstakes just because he plays in the same state. But once again Edwards is a very good football player who despite his early commitment had offers from Wisconsin and Iowa. We've become a bit spoiled with the last couple recruiting classes but having two four-star commitments by the end of June is something this program wasn't used to just a few years ago. We are well on our way to putting together another great overall class.

QB-Tom Parish - After getting a couple of the highly ranked in-state players, Parish is the first in line from our neighbors to the east. Parish is the 13th ranked dual-threat QB in the 2010 class.

He has good feet, drops are quick and smooth and he gains good depth away from center. Is not in the shotgun all the time and shows quality footwork in the three and five step passing game. He is a sound ball handler and works off play-action well. He is at his best in the short and intermediate passing game because this is what his arm allows him to do best. He possesses adequate-to-good arm strength and velocity, but in order to get the most out of his arm he must be balanced, plant and throw on time. The one thing that does stand out about Parish is his overall accuracy. What he lacks in elite strength he generally makes up for in ball placement. He shows very good touch and throws a very catchable ball especially on underneath throws.

Parish had an offer from Iowa but had yet to receive one from the Badgers, which seems odd considering his family legacy in Madison.

Parish has a family legacy at Wisconsin, both his father and grandfather were Badger quarterbacks, but he felt no pressure to follow in their footsteps. "We talked about all the colleges and when it came down to it Minnesota was the right fit. There was no pressure, he wanted what was best for me and that is Minnesota."

I would assume that Parish will be the only QB we take in this class unless we grab JD Pride as we do what is necessary to land Seantrel Henderson.

The Summer Commitments

CB-Allen Veazie - The Gophers keep the Texas pipeline going with this Houston area corner. Veazie has "natural cover skills" and despite being undersized (5-11, 165) he is a talented corner who I'm excited to see in a Gopher uniform.

Excels in both man-to-man and zone schemes. Shows fluid hips and turns. Anticipates the pass well and displays good breaking quickness jumping and often undercutting the perimeter pass. Transitions smoothly in and out of his pedal and flashes deceptively strong plant and drive skill. Closes hard on the football and makes solid contact limiting yards after the catch. Sticks tightly to the receivers' hips out of their breaks and knows how to utilize his play-side hand properly to deflect the pass. Breaks up a lot of passes in deep coverage by soundly tracking and adjusting his body to the downfield throw.

Gopher Illustrated had a nice writeup on Veazie and he certainly has the confidence to play corner at the BCS level.

"I see myself as a physical type of corner who can play either bump and run man or in the zone. I feel like I have the speed to run with anyone, even if a play breaks down I can get back in and make a play. I don't ever give up and I work hard to get in and make every hit that I can. I might be undersized, but I love to get physical and hit people. Don't let my size fool you, I can cover anyone and I will hit anyone, I love to hit."

OT-Matt Eggen - This massive tackle from LaCrosse was the second verbal from the Badger state. Eggen measures out at 6-5 and 290 lbs and plays both sides of the ball for his LaCrosse Logan team. According to the scouting report on ESPN Insider Eggen is not a finished product and needs more polishing than some of our other verbals.

Gives good effort on the screen and getting to second level linebackers. A sound pass protector that is impossible to power rush but needs to kick back and anchor down quicker in order to handle a speed rusher.

He still has received three-stars from Rivals and had offers from Indiana and a number of MAC schools (or MAC level). Eggen is a huge recruit who given a red-shirt should have every opportunity to refine his skills and contribute to the Gophers before all is said and done.

OL-Zac Epping - the third Wisconsin native to commit to the Gophers. Epping is more of a tough and physical player than explosive. He plays OT and DT currently and may end up somewhere else along the OL when he actually gets to campus. Like Eggen, Epping's ESPN scouting report points out areas of improvement more than his dominating skills.

We like his toughness but his explosion and agility must improve if he is to compete for a starting position at the major level of competition. Epping is a developmental player; more of a mauler then finesse type guy who will need a red shirt plus to develop his athletic and physical skills.

Brewster likes guys with toughness and mauler-like skills. He may be a good fit for the Gophers and after a few years we will find out how productive he will be at this level.

K-Kip Smith - with their eight commitment the Gophers took care of some special team's needs. Recruiting services and scouting reports are not often complete for kickers and punters at this stage of the recruiting season, so it is tough to gauge where Smith will end up being ranked. But his high school stats are pretty good.

This accoring to Gopher Illustrated...

Smith is rated as one of the top ten kickers in the country by every reputable kicking service. Smith hit a career long field goal of 56 yards as a sophomore. During his junior season Smith had touchbacks on 47 of his 50 kick offs and one of the misses was an onside kick. Smith also punts for Legacy High School with a career long boot of 65 yards.

Kicking could be a trouble spot for the 2009 Gophers so I think it will be safe to assume that Smith could arrive in 2010 and have a chance for playing time very early.

OL-Mark Lenkiewicz - will be coming to the Gophers from Tinley Park, IL. Another developmental lineman who as a reputation for toughness.

This is a tough battler who works to finish blocks and with time and a red shirt year should improve his explosion and playing strength. Lenkiewicz does not project as an immediate starter or impact player at the major level of competition, rather a developmental player who after polishing his skills and adding bulk to his frame should begin to see playing time and eventually start.

Considering we have a number of young linemen already and last year's class had guys like Josh Campion and Ed Olsen, this may be just the right time for a player like Lenkiewicz to come in and develop into a contributing player at the Big Ten level.

RB-Donnell Kirkwood - after grabbing four players from the state of Florida last year, the Gophers received their first verbal commitment from the Sunshine State in the 2010 class. Kirkwood had offers from Rutgers, Pitt and Kansas State but ended his recruitment early picking the Gophers. He is a big and strong back who at a Rutgers camp last week impressed with, "surprisingly quick feet from someone of his size." With the young stable of running backs we currently have it would not be surprising to see Kirkwood end up at FB but that is pure conjecture. In 2008 he rushed for just over 1,000 yards and scored 14 TDs. It is really hard (impossible) to gauge what kind of impact he'll have but at the very least he will be a link to the Florida pipeline of talent.

----------

So that concludes out current list of verbal commitments. Through the first 10 verbals here is what I like and what I don't like.

What I like...

Two things stand out. First it is that we are keeping our in-state, four-star kids at home. I'm very excited about Jimmy Gjere and Lamonte Edwards. I'm not declaring that they will be future All-Americans but as of right now they are considered the best players not named Seantrel Henderson in the state. We need to keep them here and Brewster did that early this year. Secondly we are making a dent in the Wisconsin top 10. I know that these guys did not hold offers from the Badgers but that is irrelevant imo. We have three players who will likely be in the top 6 or 7 out of Wisconsin committed to the Gophers. Iowa has another. If the Badgers want to make a living by signing kids who are unranked and passed on by all other schools I believe that will catch up to them sooner rather than later. I believe that with his family history Parish would have received an offer and Epping canceled his Badger camp visit which possibly would have ended with his scholarship offer. Ultimately just the fact that the Badger staff has to work a little harder on their own kids is at least making them do their job.

What I don't like...

If there is an area for concern it would be the offer lists on most of our incoming recruits. Kirkwood had a decent offer sheet, Kip Smith is a kicker so that is acceptable, Gjere and Edwards surely would have had a long list of offers had they lengthened their recruiting process. But the majority of the other incoming recruits have offers from schools like Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, North Dakota State, Toledo, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, etc. I believe that the Rivals star rankings is a pretty good indicator of the potential these kids posses. But the second thing to look at is the list of schools willing to give these kids a precious scholarship. Either we are advanced in our scouting and we see things that nobody else is seeing. OR we are giving away scholarships to kids who won't be able to adequately contribute at the Big Ten level. We won't know the answer to any of that for a couple years but if there is reason for concern at this point it would be just that.

Finally The Daily Gopher top 10 wish list - I like throwing this out there. If I could get 10 more guys to sign right now this would be my list.

OT - Seantrel Henderson - ya, I'd love to get the #1 recruit in the country. I guess...if we have to take him
CB - Tyrone Bouie - love the way this kid tackles in his videos, I'd really like to see this Florida native choose Minnesota.
DT - Beau Allen - Minnetonka native and a top 5 player in the state.
WR - Kevin Johnson - teammate of Hasan Lipscomb last year in Houston. Johnson has commited to OK State but there is still time for him to come to his senes.
DE - Tobi Okuyemi - Wayzata native and athletic DE. May end up moving to OLB at this level but very good player.
WR - Toby Durham - teammate of Tyrone Bouie, three-star receiver
S - Isaiah Lewis - attends MarQueis Gray's old high school, the top 25 S has offers from nearly all B10 schools.
RB - Marcus Coker - Maryland back who was rumored to have committed but it was just a rumor
OLB - Kevin Kisserberth - there are not a ton of offers out there for LBs and this Klein, TX native is one still looking at us.
S - Gregory Barksdale

This list will change as players begin to narrow down their lists, official visits are planned and further rankings are completed. But this is a good start.

Golden Nugz for 07-06-09

2009-07-06T08:01:07Z

I hope everyone had a fun 4th of July weekend and I hope everyone is returning to work and TDG with ~~all 10~~ te same amount of fingers and toes that you entered the weekend with.

Athlon has a full preview of the Gophers and their lede is that the winds of change are blowing up here. Good change is the six win increase from 2007 to 2008, the return of a ton of starters and a brand new stadium. Bad change? Or at least change that can end up bad...a new defensive coordinator and a new offensive coordinator.

"Now is a hard step — this next step, from where do you go from seven wins and being a bowl team to winning 10 games, or 11 games. I made the statement when I took the job here that our goal is to win a Big Ten championship. I have firm belief that it can and will happen after having been here and going into my third (season at Minnesota)."

I am always fascinated by this topic. I don't think it is terribly difficult to move from terrible to mediocre. And I think being mediocre you will occasionally have a good season. But how do you move from mediocre to consistenly good and even great. A top for another day, but for now enjoy the Athlon preview.

The Lansing State Journal has their top 25 projections for next year's NCAA basketball season.
Iowa football may run into some APR trouble down the road with eight players having transferred out since the beginning of the 2008 season.
Gopher wrestler, Dustin Schlatter is taking a year off to compete in the 2009 Freestyle World Championships.
Florida State thinks it is unfair to have to give up wins, tell that to my Final Four memories that never happened!
Congratulations to Mauer, Morneau and Nathan for all making the All-Star team.

TDG's Fantasy College Football league - CBS Sports

2009-07-04T18:22:57Z

TDG's Fantasy College Football league - CBS Sports

I've set up a TDG fantasy college football league. Unfortunately only 10 team can join so first come...

League: The Daily Gopher
password: tremendous

I hope the link works, if not go to CBS Sports, college football fantasy and search for TDG's league.

Golden Nugz for 07-03-09

2009-07-03T08:00:22Z

Happy almost 4th of July.

The McCleod County Chronicle has a nice story on Gopher's junior fullback, Jon Hoese. The former walk-on has bulked up considerably and is currently the first-string fullback.

Hoese walked on the University of Minnesota Gophers football team weighing 205 pounds.

Since then, he has become one of head coach Tim Brewster's big men.

Hoese, still a whisker short of his 20th birthday, now is a "true junior" at the U, weighing in at 235 pounds. Not only that, he has earned the right to wear a shirt that lists the numbers 330, 350 and 450 on the front and makes the statement IT'S A BIG MAN'S GAME on the back.

To qualify, Hoese had to meet Brewster's weightlifting specifications for big men at his fullback position: a power-clean lift of 330 pounds, a bench of 350 and a squat of 450.

As you may recall the Gophers switched to a "power run game" right before the Insight Bowl and Hoese was the benefactor of the switch scoring two touchdowns during that game. Hoese isn't talked about when discussing the 2009 season but he will be a very important cog in the Gopher offense.

A.J. Pettersen was named to Baseball American's first team Freshman All-American team.
Gopher wrestling has brought in the #1 ranked recruiting class for the second year in a row. With a long history of getting a lot out of his kids, one would expect J Robinson to have his boys fighting for a national championship again soon.
Athlon Sports lists Duane Bennett at the top of his list of Big Ten running backs who may be sleepers heading into the season. The list may be alphabetical but he is on top none-the-less.
The University of Minnesota is the birthplace of cheerleading so this is a sad day for all of us when Florida International announced they are cutting their cheerleading program in an effort to cut costs. Unfortunately the author of this post took an unnecessary cheap shot at your Golden Gophers.

A way too early look at the 2009 Schedule - Week 5 - Wisconsin

2009-07-02T18:30:10Z

The battle for The Axe is the highlight game of the year, imo. A year ago the Gophers went down to Madison and played arguably their best game of the year, nearly pulling off the huge upset on the road. Instead the game was the last competitive game we would see out of the Gophers and 2008 finished in a tailspin not easily forgotten. 2009 cannot come soon enough for the Gophers and you can bet this game is one they are looking forward to winning.

This game is the Big Ten opener for TCF Bank Stadium, it is the longest rivalry in all of college football, ~~we have Brett Favre on our team now~~ and it is our anual chance to house Paul Bunyan's Axe where it rightfully belongs. I love this game and I love rivalries of this nature. I have queried a couple quality Badger blogs to get their thoughts on the Badgers. Bucky's 5th Quarter is an SBN sister and On Wisconsin is a lesser known blog full of great content. Let's get to the game...

The Badgers on Offense

Much like the Gophers the Badger offensive strengths lie with their skill position players. Dustin Sherer returns to likely start at QB, John Clay and Zach Brown should be one of the best RB tandums in the conference, Garrett Graham may be the best TE in the conference and the WRs with David Gilreath, Nick Toon and Isaac Anderson are all pretty good. Outside of Graham, those names are not going to be appearing on any All-American radar screens but they are all experienced and talented.

Where the Badger offense may struggle is along the offensive line. This group reminds me of the Gopher OL heading into last year. They are coming off a strong season from the prior year (2008) but have to replace three starters. All likely starters have experience and had started in the past just not full time. Neither B5Q or OnWisconsin seemed concerned but replacing three starters is a big deal. Here is college football expert, Phil Steele on offensive line returning starts...

When most folks judge a team for the upcoming season they look at the QB, RB and WR's that are returning. A few may take the time to look at star defensive players that are back (those with a lot of sacks or interceptions). Very few look at the offensive line and yet the team that controls the line of scrimmage wins the game more often than not. Now experience on the Oline is not the only criteria for an offensive lines potential for the next year. You have to add in Blue Chips, how last years line performed (YPC rushing and sacks allowed), size, etc.

Minnesota ranks 8th nationally with 102 returnings starts and Wisconsin ranks 95th out of 120 schools with 49 returning starts. I think this is a bigger issued than either of my respected blog-egues care to admit.

B5Q - Last year's offensive line wasn't all that special so I don't think it is that big of a deal that they lost some guys. The three new guys all have seen playing time in the past and sophomore RT Josh Oglesby should live up to all the hype he has received since high school. The point is that these guys are definitely good enough to allow John Clay to have a big season.

OnW - Of the three new starters, all have started in their careers, and all have logged many minutes. Oglesby was a 5-star recruit, Bscherer started over him their freshman year when injuries dictated the need, and Nagy started several games at guard last season. The first string will be fine. The concern is the depth. The second string has no experience, and I don't think there is a true two-deep at guard. Not counting incoming true-freshman, we don't have four guards. So the starters are fine, but injuries could pose a huge problem for the line.

I'm not convinced. The three starters they are losing all received some level of post-season recognition in the Big Ten. Kraig Urbik was 2nd team All-Conference and drafted in the third round, Andy Kemp and Eric Vanden Heuvel were both honorable mention. They weren't the most dominant players in school history or anything but they will be missed.

John Clay and Zach Brown return to form one of the deepest and more talented backfields in the conference. Assuming the OL can create some holes they should easily combine for 1,600 + yards on the season. Last fall in Madison the Gopher defense did a much better than expected job of containing this rushing attack. Clay was held to a season low 35 yards (with at least 10 carries) and PJ Hill had 117 yards but 38 of those was on one play with a missed tackle in the backfield. When the game was finished the Badgers had been held to their lowest rushing total of the season. This is a good ground game but for whatever reason the Gophers did a very good job gameplanning and executing in Madison.

Wide Receiver and Tight End are also areas of strength for the Badgers. David Gilreath was 2nd team All-Big Ten a year ago and keep an eye on sophomore, Nick Toon who may be their best receiver this year. Garrett Graham is an outstanding TE.

B5Q - As far as the receivers go, I think you are going to see a much improved group. Gilreath will continue to cause some problems and Kyle Jefferson should be healthy again. But the guy defenses should be worried about is sophomore Nick Toon who started to come on late last season and has the size and speed to be the best receiver on the team. True freshman Kraig Appleton could surprise too.

OnW - This is the best four-deep (Jefferson is the fourth) WR corps the Badgers have had in some time (at least since Williams/Orr). But the biggest concern opponents should have in the passing game is the Badger tight ends. Consider that the last three starting Badger TEs are playing in the NFL (Daniels was in the last pro bowl). Garrett Graham is the real deal and should be on all-American watch lists. Lance Kendricks is very athletic, and while slower than Beckum was, is bigger, approximating true TE size, but still fast enough to split wide. Finally, Turner is a decent true-TE, too. Expect a lot of two-TE sets that drive linebackers and safeties nuts in coverage. That's where the Badger passing game is toughest to defend. A competent quarterback could make this a very dangerous offense.

Hmmm, a compent quarterback huh? Dustin Sherer should be competent but unless he surpasses expectations he'll be in the bottom half of Big Ten QBs this season. I'm not going to spend a ton of time on Sherer as he isn't a game-changer. The 5th year senior is solid and reliable. Expect about 58% completions, slightly more TDs than INTs and somewhere between 180-199 yards per game. He'll be required to hand off more than most Big Ten QBs and hit open receivers. As long as he doesn't try to do more than that (be like Brett Favre) he'll be find and this offense will be potent.

The Badgers on Defense

The key figure on the Badger defense is 5 returning starters. They lose three on the line, two linebackers and one in the secondary. That is five of their front seven that need replacing. In 2008 the Badgers finished 5th against the run giving up 133 yards per game and the second most rushing TDs in the conference. Expect more yards to be allowed this year as the front seven is a major question mark. I asked Bucky's 5th Quarter to give me a breakdown of the position groups and here are his thoughts on the defensive line and linebackers.

LBs - Honestly we don't really know what to expect here. Jaevery McFadden is the lone returning starter, while Culmer St. Jean (who has seen playing time, but never played extremely well) takes over in the middle. Kevin Rouse, who has been one of UW's better special teamers the last two seasons, should start on the outside as well, but he wasn't exactly spectacular in the spring.
DL - Again, Wisconsin has to replace three starters, but the coaches love DE J.J. Watt and a number of talented freshmen could provide depth. Still, it will probably be a tough year on the defensive line, a problem that could end up being the Achilles heel of this team.

He doesn't sound too overly optimistic about the 2009 Badger defense. But On Wisconsin is downright negative.

As for the front 7? Oy. Your guess is as good as mine. Transfer J.J. Watt, at DE (and maybe moving inside on passing downs) is expected to be a spark on the line, but he's among three new starters, so who knows? Linebackers McFadden and St. Jean will be fine (McFadden is returning, but moving outside), but I'm worried about Blake Sorensen on the weak side, and it isn't as though the former two will be on any pre-season all-conference teams. As dangerous as the Badger offense could be (with a decent quarterback), the defense is a total question mark, and were I guessing, I would say soft against the run, especially inside.

All of this sounds good for Gopher fans. The secondary should be OK. They lose Allen Langford at CB who was 2nd team All-Big Ten a year ago, but the other three starters return.

B5Q - It looks like Niles Brinkley will be the other starting cornerback, which is kind of a scary thought when you consider how lost he was on the field last season. Still, the coaches insist he has improved immensely. At safety, the Badgers return a lot of experience but not a whole lot of talent. But Jay Valai, Chris Maragos, Aubrey Pleasant and Shane Carter all have logged a ton of playing time and should be more than adequate.

OnW - There aren't any serious questions about the secondary. It should be solid. Henry is a very good cover corner and Brinkley isn't bad. Valai is a big hitter, but in obvious passing downs you might instead see Pleasant at strong safety as he has better size and doesn't give up much in talent. Either Maragos or Carter is a good option at free safety.

While they return the most in the secondary it isn't exactly a scary group. On paper this looks like a defense that most teams will be able to run on and I'll take my chances with Weber/Decker/Green against this secondary as well.

What is going to Happen

Well prior to researching this post I figured we had a coin flips chance of winning this game, maybe slightly better since it is a home game. But upon further review I am more confident now than I was a week ago. If Brewster wants to show that this team is improved and that he is capable of winning with the upgraded talent then he absolutely needs to win this game.

I'm putting this game into the "must win" category for a number of reasons. First and foremost this is year three of the Brewster era and he has yet to win a rivalry game. I'm not overly confident about our trip to Iowa this year and we don't have Michigan on the schedule, which means if he wants to win any rivalry game in his first three years on the job then this is the game he has to do it. Secondly the schedule gets really tough following Purdue and Indiana isn't on the schedule so the Gophers want to get back to a bowl game this is a must win. Lastly the Badgers are a bit down (at least replacing a number of starters) and the Gophers have a good nucleaus returning for 2009, this is in the must win category because it is winable against a good program.

I think the upper-classmen will remember last year's gut-wrenching loss in Madison and you will see a Gopher team that will play a great game. The Gophers avoid any semblance of a 4th quarter melt-down and for the first Big Ten game in TCF Stadium the Axe will be hoisted high as the rouser is sung by 50,300.

Wisconsin - 20
Minnesota - 34

The rest of the questions and answers from Bucky's 5th Quarter and On Wisconsin after the jump...

TDG - Does this game make you nervous? The Gophers nearly stole one from you in Madison a year ago and the Badgers have been playing Russian-Roulette with near losses to the Gophers for a while now. Will the bullet finally fall into the chamber or do Badger fans just pencil in the W on their schedule as soon as they are printed?

B5Q - Yeah, this game definitely makes me nervous. The Gophers would have won last year if the game was in Minnesota and now they have a "real" home stadium where it won't be 60% Badger fans. I expect for Minnesota to be favored in this game and have a good shot at finally getting the Axe back.

OnW - I don't know about nervous, but I've marked it as one of two losses in my overly optimistic 10-2 pre-prediction for the season. The Badgers certainly didn't blow Minnesota away the last two games, but have gone 8-2 over the last 10 (including the remarkable finish in Minneapolis in 2005, but that wasn't they only way we might have won that game). I think Minnesota has a good chance in this game, but I think many Badger fans find that idea reprehensible and assume we'll indoctrinate TCF the right way. These are probably the same fans who wanted Alvarez fired in 2002. Don't get me wrong, I think the Badgers can and should win this game, but for now I have it down as a loss (you always have to pick one . . .)

TDG - I'll trade you any Wisconsin native on the Gophers roster for David Gilreath, what will it take?

B5Q - Hmm... backup kicker David Schwerman looks pretty good. Wasn't he on "Friends"? No offense, but the Wisconsin natives on the Minnesota roster are probably there because they weren't good enough to play for the Badgers (unless we're talking hockey and Phil Kessel).

OnW - Gilreath is overrated. He's the third best receiver on the team. Anderson and Toon are the true 1 and 2. Gilreath is speedy, but small, with mediocre hands. For all his speed, he hasn't been a hero in the kicking game (if I remember correctly he ranked 11th in the conference in return yardage last season). Anderson has better size, better hands, and isn't exactly slow; same for Toon.

TDG - The schedule is rather weak in Madison this year. Heading into the Big Ten schedule the Badgers host Northern Illinois, Fresno State and Wofford. Is this weak schedule going to keep the Badgers fresh or will the schedule do them a disservice by not adequately preparing them for Big Ten play?

B5Q - Actually this schedule is a step up from previous years. Northern Illinois and Fresno State will compete for a bowl game and the Bulldogs actually have some of the better running backs in the country. I hate the Wofford game, but it seems like everyone is scheduling FCS schools these days so you might as well play the better ones and Wofford at least is a competitive FCS team. I actually think the first three weeks will help this Badger team. Northern Illinois is a decent Week 1 opponent and Fresno State will beat you up physically (we saw that last year), so the new starters will get tested early while the team should still start 3-0. Wisconsin also ends the season at Hawaii.

OnW - The schedule is very weak. We get Michigan State and Iowa at home, we don't play Penn State or Illinois, and after Ohio State, our toughest road games are Northwestern and Minnesota. No offense to your program or theirs, but in the big picture of tough roadies, those aren't the two that normally get flagged. As for the weak schedule leading up the game at TCF? We open Big Ten play with Michigan State, in Madison, the week before so, I'm not terribly worried about the team being soft when it comes time for the trip west. The out-of-conference games should help keep the team healthy and hopefully will provide a little extra time for both lines to gel and for Sherer to get three more non-critical starts under his belt (though Fresno State has a history of pushing us). What concerns me more is the team's struggles on the road. Look at last season: nearly blew the Fresno State game, did blow the Michigan and Michigan State games, got annihilated in Iowa City, and folded in the Champs Sports Bowl. 2007? Losses at Illinois, at Penn State, at Ohio State, played you guys way closer than was appropriate in the Metrodome, and lost at the Outback Bowl vs. Tennessee. The road has not been kind to Bielema's Badgers.

Thanks be to B5Q and OnW, excellent responses from a couple of excellent blogs.

Poll

Who wins this critical match-up?

Golden Nugz 07-02-09

2009-07-02T12:59:35Z

I've been researching a bit for my Badger game preview so the links today may be a little heavy on Badger links, but you'll make due.

Bucky's 5th Quarter had a good post this week on the rules of buying a Badger jersey. I enjoyed the read so I'm sharing it with you. There are 5 basic rules for buying a college team jersey..

1) If the player is a true freshman then he must be a No. 1 recruit who is not red-shirting and if he is a red-shirt freshman then he must be a starter and lead the team in at least one key statistical category. Too many highly regarded recruits fall flat on their face.
            Pass: ~~Ron Dayne in 1996~~ Lawrence Maroney 2003
            Fail: ~~Josh Oglesby in 2007~~ MarQueis Gray 2008 (you gt the idea)

2) If the player is a sophomore or junior then he must be a starter and lead the team (among returning players if it is the offseason) in at least one key statistical category. These are the guys you want to invest in. They have already proven themselves and they are going to be around for a while.
            Pass: ~~David Gilreath or John Clay~~ Adam Weber 2008
            Fail: ~~Kyle Jefferson~~ Brandon Green

3) If the player is a senior then he must be a Heisman/Player of the Year candidate or be a good candidate to have his jersey number retired at that player’s school. Sorry Garrett Graham fans, you missed your chance.
            Pass: ~~Alando Tucker in 2006-07~~ Maroney 2005
            Fail: ~~Kammron Taylor in 2006-07.~~

4) If the player plays football and wears No. 1, 7, 9, 12, 14, 18 or 80 then the previous rules do not apply to purchase the jersey, although the jersey can only be worn during seasons when the player currently wearing that number is a clear cut starter and leads the team in at least one key statistical category.
            Pass: ~~No. 12 Tyler Donovan in 2007.~~ - I'm not sure what he is getting at here, maybe those are retired numbers for Wisconsin?
            Fail: ~~No. 4 Allan Evridge in 2008.~~

5) Any former All-American is eligible for a jersey purchase, but the jersey must be from a year in which that player played.
            Pass: ~~Ron Dayne and Alando Tucker~~ - Kevin McHale
            Fail: ~~A No. 33 or No. 42 placed on a 2009 jersey~~

6) He forgot one rule.

Pass: Gopher Jersey
Fail: Badger jersey

A couple years back there was a post out in the blog-sphere giving the general rules about wearing a jersey (any jersey). His rules were things like don't tuck your jersey in, don't buy #69 (it's not that funny), don't wear average players no longer on your team (i.e. Brad Johnson, Vikings fans), etc.

Zombie Nation shares his Big Ten picks and he has Hassan Lipscomb as his pick to surprise the rest of the conference this year. Interesting.
Good article by Marcus Fuller on Mbakwe. This kid is going to help us a LOT next year.
On Wisconsin asked me a few questions, here are my answers.
This Badger sports fan thinks it will be a rough year for the Badgers, always good to read.

Golden Nugz 07-01-09

2009-07-01T08:00:21Z

The recruits are rolling in this week. The Gophers have received a couple verbals in the last couple days.

Today the Gophers received a verbal from a kicker out of Colorado. Kip Smith accepted our scholarship offer and plans to be a Gopher next fall. According to Gopher Illustrated...

Smith is rated as one of the top ten kickers in the country by every reputable kicking service. Smith hit a career long field goal of 56 yards as a sophomore. During his junior season Smith had touchbacks on 47 of his 50 kick offs and one of the misses was an onside kick.

Zac Epping is another OT out of the state of Wisconsin to commit. The Kenosha native is a three-star recruit and after attending camp last week he recevied an offer. Epping has canceled his trip to a Badger camp since he has accepted our scholarship. Epping becomes the third verbal commitment out of the Badger state. Tom Parrish and Matt Eggen also plan to cross the border and play for the Gophers. Badger fans will tell you that it isn't a big deal as they did not have scholarship offers from the Badgers. But these guys are likely to be three of the top 5 or 6 players to come out of Wisconsin this year so to get them to come to the dark side is significant.

Brew Crew Report has a few pictures of the captains in the new locker room for promo pictures. They are all impressed with their new home.
I'll link to it again in case you don't scroll down. The Quad Blog has finally gotten around to ranking the Gophers this year but unfortunately we don't make the top 62 in the country. Our schedule is pretty tough and the record could be fairly ugly but I think we are one of the top 50 teams in the country at the very least.
The MN Daily has a nice article on the generosity of President Bruinicks and Maturi.

The Tim Brewster Era - Off the Field Issues...Academics are the key

2009-06-30T19:15:08Z

Part 3 in a series of posts on the Tim Brewster Era.

Public Relations
Program Leadership
Off the Field Issues
Recruiting
On the Field
Year Three

Off the Field - few issues, academics are mixed

We touched on the EJ Jones case in part 2 and I'm not going to spend more time on it here. This occurred within months of Brewster taking over and I'm not sure you can fault him for the actions of someone else's players who acted out. Other than that there really have not been any off the field issues to speak of yet. Brewster's teams have been rather clean so far and it should be noted. I am quickly glossing over this largely because there is very little to speak of but for whatever reason (Brewster's leadership, recruiting good kids or nobody has been caught yet) the negative headlines have been non-existent in the Brewster era and he should be commended for that.

But there are two areas worth discussing. Academics and player attrition have become not only relevant but also connected because the two have combined to cost us scholarships.

I'll start with player attrition because that will directly tie into the academic side of this coin. When a coach takes over a program player attrition is expected. New coach didn't recruit current players and current players were not recruited by new coach, so there is often a disconnect between the two that is un-reconcilable. This happened when Brewster took over and I'm not too concerned about it. What is more concerning has been the seemingly high percentage of transfers from players he recruits. Here is a list of Brewster's initial recruiting class and where they are today...

Clint Brewster	QB	gone
Curtis Thomas	DB	gone
Damien White	WR	gone
Tray Herndon	WR	gone
Kyle Theret	DB	still here
Ralph Spry	WR	gone
Harold Howell	ATH	gone

That is 7 players recruited by Brewster, six are no longer with the program, 14.3%. In all fairness, Brewster had precious little time to get anybody to sign with the Gophers in just a couple months after being hired. To his credit the ones who stayed have been valuable. Theret has been starting since his freshman year and has been very valuable. And his second recruiting class (his first class with a full year to recruit) has seen 82.8% retained so far. Vincent Hill never made it to campus, WR's Broderick Smith & Xavian Brandon have transferred, John Nance is rumored to be transferring and Tramaine Brock is currently not enrolled because of academic issues.

Players transferring is part of the game and I understand the uniqueness surrounding Brewster's first class but all of this hurts the precious NCAA APR score.

The APR is calculated by allocating points for eligibility and retention -- the two factors that research identifies as the best indicators of graduation. Each player on a given roster earns a maximum of two points per term, one for being academically eligible and one for staying with the institution. A team's APR is the total points of a team's roster at a given time divided by the total points possible.

Players transferring out hurt the APR and enough years below the mandated 925 minimum can result in loss of scholarships and/or post season bans. The multitude of transfers, at least 12 over the last two seasons plus years of graduation rates ranking at or near the bottom of the Big Ten equaled negative three scholarships for the most recent recruiting class.

While I believe the tide of transfers is stemming, the next step is graduating the players currently on the roster. And this is an area where Gopher football that has been rather disappointing. According to NCAA's graduation success rate (GSR) which includes transfer data in it's calculation (data found here) the Gophers have been one of just two Big Ten teams that consistently graduate less than 50% of their players.

	2008	2007	2006	2005	4 Yr Avg
Northwestern	92	94	91	92	92.3
Penn St	78	76	80	84	79.5
Illinois	70	73	67	73	70.8
Indiana	68	67	71	77	70.8
Michigan	70	73	71	68	70.5
Iowa	75	73	65	58	67.8
Purdue	63	70	68	70	67.8
Wisconsin	63	61	62	67	63.3
Ohio St	52	53	55	54	53.5
Minnesota	51	49	44	41	46.3
Michigan St	51	43	45	41	45.0

This data takes the freshman classes over a four year span and I believe gives them six years to graduate. So the 2008 data takes the freshmen classes from the years 1998 - 2001. Any player who began their first season during that span on the Gopher roster must graduate within six years although it does allow institutions to subtract student-athletes who leave their institutions prior to graduation as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained. 2009 data is not yet available.

The GSR and APR are not the same thing and are used for different purposes. The APR is what the NCAA looks at to determine if schools/programs need a slap on the wrist before things get really bad, we are talking about student-athletes here. This is the reason we lost three scholarships this past signing period. The GSR gives us a number, factoring in the mobility of student-athletes today, so we have an idea how well or how poorly programs are graduating their players. As you can see by the data, the football program (particulary those recruited by and coached by the Mason regime) has not been very successful at getting it's players to earn their diplomas.

The intention of this post is to take a look at the two-year Brewster era and how he has fared in off the field issues, not to harp on the football program for having such poor grad numbers over the last decade or so. I am hoping to touch more on this issue to get a better understanding of resources are available to the athletes and what is being done to improve this grad rate. But that will be a longer post all on it's own.

Brewster has had very little opportunity to impact the GSR. The graduating class of 2007 was factored into the 2008 GSR so he has had minimal impact. Graduating the current roster is his responsibility but we will get a much clearer picture down the road when we see him bring in a class of recruits and see what percentage of his recruits leave the U of M with a dimploma. I believe things are looking up as this past fall more Gophers (29) earned Academic All-Big Ten than any other school in the conference. To be eligible you must be in their second year at the school, be a letter winner and carry at least a 3.0 GPA. Three of those 29 were Brewster recruits from that first class (Collado, Theret and Small). Clearly a step in the right direction for the program.

As far as grading Brewster? Overall he has kept his teams out of the police blotter, hopefully the transfer exodus is over and players will begin to earn their diplomas under Brewster. Off the field has been a moderate success. No news is good news when it comes to D1 football. The programs track record of poor GSRs has to change but it is impossible to know how Brewster will affect that for a few years.

The Quad (NY Times) ranks the Gophers #63

2009-06-30T19:08:40Z

The Quad (NY Times) ranks the Gophers #63

A disappointing ranking to say the least. On the bright side we currently rank #2 for best former players to have played in the NFL.

Golden Nugz for 06-30-09

2009-06-30T14:17:20Z

Last day of June, Gopher fans. July will be here tomorrow and football seemingly the day after that.

The Gophers finished 14th nationally in the finaly 2008-09 Director's Cup standings. This was their highest finish since 2003 and the third best among Big Ten Schools.

#5 Michigan
#10 Ohio State
#14 Minnesota
#19 Penn State
#20 Illinois
#27 Michigan State
#38 Purdue
#41 Wisconsin
#44 Northwestern
#45 Iowa
#55 Indiana

The Gophers traditionally finish well in the Director's Cup as this is their 14th consecutive year in the top 20 with one top 10 finish in 2002 (seventh place).

Gopher baseball finished 21st in the final Rival's top 25.
Your daily Seantrell Henderson update. The nation's most coveted OT is planning trips to South Carolina and Clemson this summer.
Lake the Posts has polled some of the finest Big Ten blogs to get their collective thoughts on the 2009 football season. As a group they predicted the Gophers would finish 8th in the league but we were also the pick to be the sleeper team to crack the upper tier!
Finally, I love this post giving us the 20 worst moments in Vikings history. Hard to argue and we could probably come up with a comparable list for Gopher football.

Golden Nugz for 06-29-09

2009-06-29T08:00:24Z

The big news of the weekend concerning Gopher sports (one of the big items, at least) is the expansion of the WCHA (Boston Globe covering the expansion). Bemidji State becomes the fifth team in the state of Minnesota in the WCHA and Nebrasak-Omaha has also been aproved to expand the league to 12 teams. For Bemidji the move makes all the sense in the world. I would imagine that this wil greatly help with in-state recruiting battles and they should be able to capitalize in natural in-state rivalries with Minnesota, Duluth, St. Cloud and Mankato. And ultimately they'll see their revenue jump up.

For UNO the choice was also pretty obvious, the Omaha World-Heralds summed it up like this...

Start with 58 years of history and tradition. Add 36 national championships. Throw in overwhelming attendance figures at attractive arenas, and revenue potential from the conference tournament and other sources from a passionate fan base. Then consider that UNO sits squarely within the league's geographic footprint, giving it the opportunity to develop regional rivalries, save money on travel costs and capitalize on recruiting players within the same region — not to mention providing fans the chance to attend road games more easily.

2010-11 is when the new 12-team league will face off, should be interesting.

Gopher football landed another verbal out of the state of Wisconsin. Matt Eggen is a big lineman out of LaCrosse who is going to play for the Golden Gophers in the fall of 2010. Rivals has Eggen as a three-star with no other significant offers at this point other than Indiana. But at 6-5 and 285 Eggen has the size and strength to develop into very good lineman at this level.
I love seeing that everyone thinks they are in the Seantrell Henderson sweepstakes. Although he has never formally announced his top few schools I'll be shocked if he ends up anywhere other than USC, Michigan or Minnesota.
The U's Jordan Schroeder was taken 22nd overall by the Canucks in the NHL Draft. He fell a bit due to his lack of size but congrats on being a first round pick.
Finally I'd like to say that I am 100% on board with and excited about Ricky Rubio being a Minnesota Timberwolf. There is a lot of negativity around whether or not he'll play this year or if we'll trade him to New York, but we can wait a year and New York does not have enough attractive pieces to pull off a deal. La Pistola is going to be a star and he'll make a great combo with Al Jefferson. I like that pick a LOT.

Gopher cheerleader is SI's Cheerleader of the Week

2009-06-26T20:19:18Z

Meet Toni Gabrielli. I thought for sure when asked who her celebrity crush was, she would answer "Gopher Nation." But I'll talk to her about it later.

La Crosse Logan accepts scholarship from Gophers

2009-06-26T16:05:50Z

This from the La Crosse Tribune

By KIRK BEY | kbey@lacrossetribune.com

So maybe it wasn’t as easy as Matt Eggen initially believed it would be. It doesn’t matter anymore.

Eggen was proud to say Thursday night he had verbally committed to play NCAA Division I football for the University of Minnesota. But the Logan High School offensive tackle could be just as proud to say he had stuck to his plan of choosing a college before the start of his senior season.

“It (making a decision) feels really good,” Eggen said.

Understandably so. Eggen will be receiving a full scholarship — a nice reward considering tuition runs an undergraduate student from Wisconsin $21,144 a year according to Minnesota’s Website.

And deep down, Eggen had a feeling he would pick the Gophers. He has relatives in the Twin Cities. His parents hoped he would stay close to home. He wants to major in accounting, and he calls Minnesota’s program “top-notch.”

Still, maneuvering through the recruiting process was tougher on the 6-foot-6, 290-pound Eggen than a persistent defensive lineman wanting to flatten the quarterback.

Eggen, named second-team, All-State by The Associated Press last season, was a hot commodity. By May he had received scholarship offers from nine Division I programs. Besides Minnesota, he also gave consideration to playing for Indiana, Marshall and Western Michigan.

The fact he was attending football camps and getting his fair share of letters and calls from coaches who wanted his services kept Eggen busy.

“It (the recruiting process) is a lot more involved that you would think. That’s how it ended up being (for me),” said Eggen, who can sign his National Letter of Intent in November.

“At first I just thought that a couple of coaches would call me, I’d decide on a college and be done with it. It’s a lot different than I thought it would be.”

But today, Eggen is happy he’s put that all behind him.

He likely will redshirt his freshman year, but he knows he eventually will get to play in TCF Bank Stadium, the Gophers’ new home field this fall. He knows he will have the opportunity to help a program that went 7-6 (3-5 Big Ten Conference) and reached the Insight Bowl last season.

And, Eggen knows he will get along just fine with Minnesota coach Tim Brewster.

“(Brewster) is a motivated guy. You can tell that in his speeches,” Eggen said. “When you listen to him you can tell how determined he is. He really wants to win, and so do I.”

The Daily Gopher

Basketball Recruiting page has been updated

Basketball Recruiting page has been updated

Golden Nugz for 07-10-09

76 Classic match-ups...Gophers vs. Butler in round 1

76 Classic match-ups...Gophers vs. Butler in round 1

Golden Nuggz 7.09.09

Golden Nugz for 07-08-09

Daily Nugz - Tuesday, July 7, 2009.

The Seantrel Henderson Sweepstakes

Links

The Gopher perspective

Gopher Recruiting - the fast and the furious

The Early Commitments

The Summer Commitments

Golden Nugz for 07-06-09

TDG's Fantasy College Football league - CBS Sports

TDG's Fantasy College Football league - CBS Sports

Golden Nugz for 07-03-09

A way too early look at the 2009 Schedule - Week 5 - Wisconsin

The Badgers on Offense

The Badgers on Defense

What is going to Happen

Who wins this critical match-up?

Golden Nugz 07-02-09

Golden Nugz 07-01-09

The Tim Brewster Era - Off the Field Issues...Academics are the key

Off the Field - few issues, academics are mixed

The Quad (NY Times) ranks the Gophers #63

The Quad (NY Times) ranks the Gophers #63

Golden Nugz for 06-30-09

Golden Nugz for 06-29-09

Gopher cheerleader is SI's Cheerleader of the Week

La Crosse Logan accepts scholarship from Gophers