Posted April 28, 2010    

•Tubby Smith

•Troy Merritt

•Twins Tickets

•MIAC Streak

•Antti Miettinen

Joseph Answer in but Other U Questions Remain

Last week’s announcement by Cory Joseph that he won’t be coming to the University of Minnesota to play for the Gophers answered one major off-season question about coach Tubby Smith’s program, but several others remain.  How those questions are answered will determine the success of the 2010-11 season.   

Joseph is one of the elite prep guards in the country and chose Texas.  Although the Gophers were on his final list of potential college programs, recruiting sources weren’t surprised he didn’t choose Minnesota.  What raises concerns is that since being hired at Minnesota in 2007, Smith and his assistants have yet to convince an elite out of state player to become a Gopher. 

Joseph has scoring and play making skills that the Gophers need, particularly at the point guard position.  His brother Devoe, a junior next season, will likely play that position if Al Nolen doesn’t return.  Nolen is another question in need of an answer.  If he can become academically eligible and return for his senior season, the Gophers will have an experienced point guard who is among the best defenders in the Big Ten Conference. 

This spring, reserve point guard Justin Cobbs has put the program and news media on alert.  He’s made it known transferring to another school is a possibility, perhaps closer to his California home.   

While the Gophers await the answer to Cobbs’ future, they can also ponder their front court questions.  Paul Carter transferred to be closer to his ill sister but even prior to that announcement the Gophers were stuck in the Trevor Mbakwe and Royce White marathons.   

Mbakwe’s basketball eligibility is tied to resolution of an alleged crime in Florida.  He missed all of last season because of that situation.  White dropped out of school earlier this year after not playing in any games because of off court incidents.  White and the Gophers reportedly have interest in a White return, but guess what? There’s no answer yet.   

The Gophers have a partial start on developing a competitive Big Ten team for next season with a backcourt of Devoe Joseph and Blake Hoffarber, and a center tandem of Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson.  But this roster has unanswered depth questions in the backcourt and it’s speculation as to who will start at the power and small forward positions.  

Mbakwe or White will likely be the starting power forward, if either is available.  Carter’s absence opens the small forward position to a few players, but Rodney Willliams, a freshman last season who averaged 4.2 points per game, is the most likely candidate. 

There are so many uncertainties about the program that fans are entitled to wonder “What’s next?”  Another transfer or ineligibility?  Perhaps the biggest question of all is why so many questions?

 

Minnesotan Emerges on Pro Golf Tour 

Minnesota’s professional golf heroes are few but another one has emerged in 24-year-old Troy Merritt who has boosted his PGA earnings to nearly $600,000 already this year and might make THE PLAYERS Championship next week.   

The former Spring Lake Park High School golfer finished third last weekend in the Zurich Classic and hopes to build upon that success at this week’s Quail Hollow Championship.  The third place was Merritt’s first top 10 finish on the PGA Tour, according to PGA.com. 

Merritt has only been on the PGA circuit since January.  His biggest payday, $435,200, came at the Zurich where he finished 14 and under, and was at one point the tournament leader.   

Although Merritt had a strong start on the PGA tour, more recently he had been missing tournament cuts.  Merritt learned how challenging the tour can be, and prior to the Zurich Classic he made an adjustment, according to a story by PGAtour.com contributing writer Craig Dolch. 

Merritt told Dolch: "I thought about what was going on, what I wasn't doing right. And basically, what it came down to was it was all in my head.  Not committing to the shots that I wanted to hit.  I was half committing to the shots that people were expecting me to hit.  So I came out this week really focused on playing my game how I always played it."  http://www.pgatour.com/2010/r/04/26/troy-merritt/index.html 

Merritt needs another outstanding performance (including his newly found short game) at Quail Hollow to qualify for the prestigious PLAYERS next week.  Dolch points out that Merritt’s hopes rest on making it on the FedExCup rankings of top 10 players.   

Merritt won the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in December to make the 2010 tour.  That’s part of a success story that began at Spring Lake Park, continued at Winona State and Boise State, and then on to pro golf in 2008.

 

Worth Noting

Fans from Minneapolis, St. Paul and three suburbs purchase the most Twins season tickets.  Minneapolis is No. 1 with 17.6 percent of season tickets, followed by St. Paul at 6.4, Plymouth 2.6, Eden Prairie 2.5 and Bloomington 2.4.  Hennepin County fans purchase 43.2 percent of the approximately 24,500 season tickets. 

Among the design successes of Target Field is that the ballpark was built to "turn its back” to the nearby county garbage incinerator.   

The Twins dugout at Target Field is located near first base as it was at Met Stadium.  The team’s dugout at the Metrodome was located near third base. 

The Twins began a four series schedule against Central Division teams last week in Kansas City.  After their current series in Detroit, the Twins play at Cleveland over the weekend and then come home to face Detroit again. The Twins play 72 games against division teams.   

The Twins have committed only two errors, the best total by seven in major league baseball.  The Twins franchise record for fewest errors in a season is 74 in 2002.  

Luke Hughes, recalled last week from AAA Rochester, is the kind of versatile bench player the Twins prefer.  He can play third or second base, and also the outfield.  Hughes was hitting .267 with five RBI playing for Rochester.   

Augsburg senior first baseman Joe Pierce (Eden Prairie) extended his consecutive-game hitting streak to 31 with hits in all five of Augsburg's most recent games, including a 5-for-7 performance in a doubleheader against Saint John's on Sunday. Pierce's streak of 31 straight games is the 16th longest in NCAA Division III history. His .477 batting average was best in the MIAC at the beginning of this week.  

The Vikings can’t use inclement late season weather as an excuse if the team doesn’t finish well in its last several games.  The Vikings must play outside in Philadelphia on December 26, but three other December games are in the Metrodome and the last game of the season, January 2, will be at Detroit’s Ford Field, a covered facility.  

Nathan Tow-Arnett, the Gophers redshirt junior walk-on safety, was born July 25, 1982 and will be 29 years old when he plays his senior season.   

Gophers redshirt freshman walk-on tight end Sahr Ngekia is a cousin of former Vikings and Gophers running back Thomas Tapeh.  Ngekia has only been playing football for three years.  

Wild prospect Kris Foucault has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 18 playoff games and helped the Calgary Hitmen advance to the Western Hockey League finals versus the Tri-City Americans. 

Wild wing Antti Miettinen will represent Finland at next month’s IIHF World Men’s Championship.  He will join defenseman Brent Burns (Canada), coach Todd Richards (USA) and assistant equipment manager Brent Proulx (USA) as other Wild representatives at the tournament. 

 

 Joe Pierce