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Brewster Signs Gopher Contract
Tim Brewster told Sports
Headliners on Monday he has signed a five year contract to coach at the
University of Minnesota. Brewster said in March the contract was being
finalized and he signed it late last week. It’s believed the contract
is for about $1 million per year and has no escape clause allowing him
to leave for another school.
“I am thrilled with the contract and believe it’s a
good deal for both sides,” Brewster said by phone on Monday. Since the
end of spring practice on April 7, he’s been traveling and recruiting in
various parts of Minnesota, and other areas of the country. His
recruiting stops have included Texas, Virginia and New Jersey where he
called from Monday.
This morning Brewster was scheduled to fly to
Phoenix where his agenda will include celebrating wife Cathy’s 47th
birthday. He describes her as “the older woman in his life.” He
doesn’t turn 47 until October 13.
Later in the month Brewster will be recruiting in
south Florida and Houston. While it’s unusual for a head coach to be so
involved with recruiting, few coaches have the energy and salesmanship
of Minnesota’s new coach. He literally runs in the mornings to renew his
energy and build stamina for his hectic schedule.
His highly recruited son, safety Nolan Brewster,
will play his senior season of high school football in Denver. Brewster
and his wife are in the process of selling their home and they hope to
buy or build here in the next several months.
Brewster was an assistant coach with Denver and San
Diego before coming to Minnesota. Prior to his NFL jobs, he coached
college football for many years including at Texas. With perspective on
both pro and college football, Brewster was asked what the most common
mistakes are that pro teams make in drafting players.
He said the “biggest mistake” is being focused on a
player’s physical prowess and statistics, and not looking at what the
player gets done on the field. Teams can fail to “translate” a player’s
love for the game and productivity, he added.
Brewster also said you “can’t ever underestimate
character.” Teams have taken chances on bad character players and in
the “long run these guys really hurt” (their teams), he said.
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While it’s unusual for a head coach to be so involved with recruiting,
few coaches have the energy and salesmanship of Minnesota’s new coach.
Tim Brewster
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Wolves’ Madsen Inspires at Banquet
At the awards banquet Sunday night
Mark Madsen encouraged the Mr. and Miss
Basketball finalists to think about how they want to be remembered on
and off the court. The Timberwolves center gave an inspiring talk to
the 10 players and the audience as the banquet’s featured speaker at the
Minneapolis Marriott West.
Madsen, who has played six seasons in the NBA for
the Lakers and Wolves, shared his observations about players he’s known,
offering on and off-court impressions. He admires Kevin Garnett’s
caring for people including the $2 million check he wrote to help with
the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Garnett’s weight lifting commitment,
including on game days, is impressive, too. “I don’t know if you’ll
find a man who works harder,” Madsen said.
Madsen said legendary center Shaquille O’Neal,
once a teammate with the Lakers, is an extraordinary family man, and he
made a surprising comment about controversial Latrell Sprewell.
The latter has been known as an NBA bad boy but Madsen praised Sprewell
for the respect he showed teammates and ability to bring them closer
together when he played for the Wolves.
Madsen talked about fate and keeping your word when
he read a story about hall of fame coach John Wooden. Almost 60
years ago both Minnesota and UCLA were in pursuit of Wooden. A
Midwesterner, Wooden favored coming to Minnesota, according to the book
“Wooden: A lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the
Court.” He was hoping to be officially offered the Minnesota job at
6 p.m. on a Saturday night but a blizzard knocked out the phone lines in
Minneapolis. When the 6 p.m. call didn’t come, Wooden thought Minnesota
wasn’t going to hire him and he took a 7 p.m. call from UCLA and
accepted the job as Bruins coach where he eventually won 10 national
championships. Minnesota called later that evening but it was too late; Wooden honored his commitment to UCLA.
Blake Hoffarber of Hopkins, who will play
for the Gophers, won the Mr. Basketball award and Angel Robinson
of St. Paul Central, headed to Marquette, won the Miss Basketball.
Both were emotional as they expressed their appreciation to the crowd.
The boys’ finalists included Cole Aldrich of Bloomington Jefferson,
Noah Dahlman of Braham, Trevor Mbakwe of St. Bernard’s and
Alex Rubin of Armstromg. The girls’ finalists included
Kachine Alexander of Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Alyssa Karel
of Cretin-Derham Hall, Macie Michelson of Marshall and Janessa
Wolff of Park Rapids.
Noah’s brother Isaiah, now at Michigan
State, won the Mr. Basketball award last year. Jenna Smith of
Bloomington Kennedy, now at Illinois, was the Miss Basketball.
The Mr. Basketball award dates back to 1975, the
Miss Basketball to 1979. The finalists for the 2003 Mr. Basketball
award included Kris Humphries and Dan Coleman of
Hopkins, Lawrence McKenzie of Patrick Henry and Kammron
Taylor of North. Humphries is now with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors,
while Coleman and McKenzie play for the Gophers, and Taylor finished his
career at Wisconsin in March.
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“I don’t know if you’ll find a man
who works harder.”
Mark Madsen on Kevin Garnett
Mark Madsen
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Worth Noting
The Wild will soon be
starting its season ticket renewal process. Season tickets will be
capped at 16,500. The franchise has over 7,500 on a waiting list to
purchase season tickets.
Except for Minnesota natives Wyatt Smith
and Mark Parrish, Wild players will be summering other places
than the Twin Cities. Nine players from the Wild organization,
representing several different countries, are
participating in the IIHF World Championships in Russia. Players include Pavol Demitra,
Marian Gaborik and Branko Radivojevic,
all playing for Slovakia,
On a
team that didn’t consistently close out games with wins, Wolves rookie
Randy Foye often was better in the fourth quarters than earlier
in games. He scored 48% of his points (398 of 832) in
the fourth quarters and overtimes. In those late game situations he made
48.2% of his field goals, 39.3% of three point field goals and 87.5% of
free throws. His game averages in those categories: 43.4%, 36.8% and
85.4%.
Although heights of NBA players are often
exaggerated, Mark Madsen said teammate
Kevin Garnett is 7-1, not 6-11 as often written. Garnett, who led
the NBA in rebounding for a fourth consecutive season, was selected as a
member of the NBA’s all-defensive second team announced on Monday. It
was the eighth time Garnett has been on the first or second team. The
teams are selected by NBA coaches and Garnett received the second fewest
votes (Kirk Hinrich of the Bulls had less). With forwards Tim
Duncan and Bruce Bowen, the Spurs were the only franchise
with two players on the first team.
Madsen will lead Timberwolves camps for kids 6-14
at Champlin Park High School (June 25-29) and Eden Prairie High School
(July 9-13). For more information, call the Timberwolves offices,
612-673-1600.
Vikings coach Brad Childress on
Randy Moss being traded to New England from
Oakland: “You’re always happy he’s not in your division. He’s a good
football player. I talked with Bill (Belichick, Patriots’
coach) about that a little bit. ... He’ll do a good job with
them. I know Randy is happy to be there so it looks like a match made in
heaven.”
The MIAC has honored Bethel University senior
centerfielder Kirby Carr as its Baseball Player of the
Week. The Fergus Falls native was 11-for-22 at the plate including
five home runs, 10 runs scored, 12 RBI and compiled a 1.182 slugging
percentage as the Royals won games against St. Olaf, Saint Mary’s, and
Gustavus last week.
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Marian Gaborik
John M. Williams, DDS
Cosmetic & Family Dental Care
612-521-7611 |
