The University of Minnesota’s search for a men’s basketball coach became officially embarrassing when it was learned Saturday, March 30, that Flip Saunders had turned down the job.
Saunders is believed to be at least the fourth coach to say no thanks to Gophers athletic administrators Norwood Teague and Mike Ellis since they fired Tubby Smith on Monday.
Saunders, the popular former Gophers point guard and 16-year NBA coach who resides in Medina, wasn’t saying anything publicly other than he’ll always “bleed maroon and gold.”
But it was clear that Teague and Ellis, who declined to hire a search firm because they reputedly didn’t need one, put restrictions on Saunders’ hiring that the former Timberwolves coach found unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin, 42, apparently has surfaced as a candidate, along with Florida Gulf Coast’s Andy Enfield.
What should be disturbing for Gophers’ rooters is that Saunders has a close relationship with Tyus Jones, Apple Valley’s junior point guard prodigy, who is still considering a handful of colleges, including Minnesota, depending on the coaching hire.
Meanwhile, Saunders continues as a NBA analyst for ESPN.
The Vikings couldn’t have a better quarterback combination with Christian Ponder and newly acquired Matt Cassel, Chris Weinke said.
“I think it’s a perfect fit,” Weinke said Friday.
Weinke, 40, a former Cretin-Derham Hall QB who went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 2000 at Florida State, trained Ponder during the NFL lockout in 2011. Last week, Weinke spent a half-hour with Cassel in Los Angeles, where he was working out.
“We talked quarterback fundamentals. I think Cassel is going to be great for the Vikings,” Weinke said. “You get a veteran guy who understands the game. And he’ll be great in the locker room.”
Weinke knows and understands quarterbacks. He works with many calibers at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Last week, he oversaw Matt Barkley‘s USC pro day in Los Angeles. Besides Barkley, Weinke has been preparing West Virginia’s Geno Smith, Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson and Miami (Ohio)’s Zach Dysert for next month’s NFL draft.
Weinke, after spending time talking with Cassel, had intended to work him out in Los Angeles.
“But he had to fly up to Minnesota to find a place to live,” Weinke said.
Weinke expects Smith and Barkley to be the first two quarterbacks taken in the draft — not necessarily in that order — but he also likes Wilson a lot. He figures all three will go in the first round.
“Not many people are talking about Wilson, but I’d put him right in that mix with Smith and Barkley,” Weinke said.
NFL coaches and general managers have been calling Weinke for his opinion on the QBs.
“Where they go will depend on what teams are looking for,” Weinke said. “It will be interesting.”
Weinke also has been training NFL QBs Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers, Tim Tebow of the New York Jets and Brandon Weeden of the Cleveland Browns this offseason.
Besides training 42 QBs at the Bradenton academy, Weinke is putting together an independent high school football team that next fall will compete in the Florida High School Athletic Association. Weinke will be head coach of the team, which will play an 11-game schedule.
Among opponents will be Cardinal Newman of West Palm Beach, Fla., coached by Steve Walsh, a Cretin High grad. Walsh was an All-America QB at Miami, then had an 11-year NFL career. Weinke also played in the NFL for five seasons.
“Two former Cretin guys and former NFL guys who’ll be playing each other in Florida — I’m pretty excited,” Weinke said.
The prep team that Weinke is launching — currently he has 30 players — includes prospects from the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada.
Weinke has had opportunities for coordinator jobs with college and NFL teams but is focused on his career at the Bradenton academy, which is building a new stadium.
It’s a good bet that the decision to replace Tubby Smith as Gophers men’s basketball coach was made way before the NCAA tournament.
Twin Cities listeners will hear a much clearer and crisper sound on Twins radio broadcasts this season when the club, for the first time in its 53-year history, moves to the FM spectrum (KTWN, 96.3).
Inductions to the Mancini’s Sports Hall of Fame on May 13 at the Char House: football, Eddie Hitchcock; hockey, Moose Younghans; boxing, Marco Morelli; baseball, Jack Palmer; basketball, Tom Perrault; special awards, Jim Wells and Larry McMahon. The banquet is a sellout.
Former Benilde-St. Margaret’s star basketball guard Sanjay Lumpkin, home on break from Northwestern, said he doesn’t know much about his new coach, Chris Collins.
“But I’ve heard a lot of good things,” said Lumpkin, who received a medical redshirt this season and has four years of eligibility remaining.
Hall of Fame former Gopher Paul Molitor will be among speakers when his alma mater Gophers baseball team has its grand opening event for the new Siebert Field at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Basketball-football star Grant Shaeffer of Eden Prairie has committed to the University of St. Thomas.
Brad Frost and Joel Johnson, both of whom coached the Gophers women’s hockey team to its second straight NCAA championship, played hockey for Bethel.
Wild first-round draft pick Matt Dumba has 42 points in 62 games for Red Deer in the Western Hockey League. Wild second-round pick Mario Lucia has 23 points in 31 games for Notre Dame, and Louie Nanne has 41 points in 45 games for Pendicton.
Two-time state 100-meter hurdles champion Jessica January of Richfield will forgo her senior track season to prepare for basketball next season at DePaul.
DON’T PRINT THAT
It wouldn’t be surprising if Flip Saunders turned down the Gophers men’s basketball coaching job in part because he wouldn’t be allowed to have the staff of assistants he wanted.
That staff could have been expected to include son Ryan, Don Zierden or Jerry Sichting of the Washington Wizards, and perhaps Trent Tucker, Quincy Lewis and Vince Taylor.
Taylor was briefly mentioned for the Drake head coaching job that went to Gonzaga assistant Ray Giacoletti.
Besides having to pay Tubby Smith $3.25 million to leave, the Gophers owe four of Smith’s assistants their salaries through June. That’s about $150,000 more in payouts. And the new staff will cost in excess of $700,000 total.
There had been speculation that the Gophers might reach out to Duke assistant and alumnus Jeff Capel, a former head coach at Virginia Commonwealth and Oklahoma.
Capel has been recruiting Apple Valley’s Tyus Jones. At Oklahoma, Capel recruited the 2009 national player of the year, Blake Griffin.
No respect: In the entrance of the Gophers men’s basketball office Saturday was a vacuum cleaner. And parked in Smith’s former spot outside his office was a catering van.
The Gophers men’s basketball team has an overall value of $16.3 million, ranking 13th in the NCAA, according to Forbes. No. 1 is Louisville, which is worth $38.5 million.
That was 6-foot-4, 355-pound Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata of the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in St. Paul last week to train with Ravens speed and flexibility coach Roger Erickson.
Injured Timberwolves shooting guard Brandon Roy said he has been practicing hard for two weeks, that his tender right knee is improving and that he’ll ask coach Rick Adelman this week if he can return to the court. Roy, 28, has played in just five games for $5 million this season after signing with Minnesota in the offseason as a free agent.
OVERHEARD
Twins VP Matt Hoy on the bright green grass at Target Field: “It’s the best-looking lawn in all of Minnesota for this time of year.”
Charley Walters can be reached at cwalters@pioneerpress.com.
