http://www.startribune.com/tcf-bank...-specific-no-football-markings-yet/377999721/

So the U decides to permanently etch a rectangular box (presumably more user friendly for soccer pitches) on the new turf at TCF Bank Stadium but the football field lines will be painted (and removable). I guess the other way around would be done at every other Power 5 conference FB school in the country, but I guess we're smarter than everyone else. Nice to know that fans and players alike will have to contend with another set of lines on the field. Does anyone else here think this is a bit backwards?

who makes the biggest impact?

and 16 are to kids who have already committed. We've defined a new meaning to "slow play"

Defensive line coach Jeff Phelps is the rep on the recruiting trail in Indiana. Here's a look at who the Gophers have already offered and other targets they most likely be visiting.

The prize recruit of all the Indiana prospects is five-star quarterback and Clemson commit Hunter Johnson. Bryant Fitzgerald, a three-star safety who is committed to Indiana, said Phelps is planning to visit him during this period and he plans to visit Minnesota. LeShaun Minor, a defensive tackle in Indianapolis, recently told CycloneReport.com that Indiana and Iowa State are his two favorites schools at the moment, but did say he wants to visit Minnesota this summer.

Here are high to mid-profile recruits they will likely visit

RJ Potts, S, Fishers HS. 4-star safety with offers from Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana and Iowa State, to name a few. Said he wants to visit Tennessee, Missouri, Notre Dame, Indiana and maybe Penn State this spring.

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Esezi Otomewo, DE, Ben Davis HS. Has offers from Iowa State and Miami (Ohio).

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Ben Stewart, DB, Cathedral. Boston College commit. About a dozen offers, including Iowa and Western Michigan.

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Mac Hippenhammer, WR, Snider: Three-Star player with about 10 offers.

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Pompey Coleman, OL, Ben Davis HS. Missouri commit. Another quality lineman the Gophers are looking for.

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Can only load so many Hudl vids, but I'll mention a few more.

Caleb Jones, OL, Lawrence North HS. 6-foot-9, 320 lbs. 3-star tackle. Plows anything in his direction. Has offers from Cincinnati, Miami (Ohio) and Ohio.

Curtis Blackwell, OL, Norwell HS. 6-5, 300 lbs tackle. Offers from Columbia Miami, OH, Toledo and Ball State.

Markese Stepp, RB, Cathedral. 2018 recruit, but will be one of the Midwest's top recruits. Already has offers from Notre Dame, Michigan State, Illinois and Iowa.

Tyrone Tracy, RB, Decatur Central. 2018 kid but on the rise.

Mykelti Williams is on campus today, presumably meeting with head coach Tracy Claeys.

Williams, the former 4-star safety from Warren Central in Indianapolis, transferred from Notre Dame in March. Williams redshirted this past season and was expected to compete for a large role at safety for 2016.

Minnesota was Williams' first official visit his senior year and he seemed to have enjoyed his trip and connected with the staff. You can read the recap of his visit here

Assuming he would be ineligible for this season, Williams would have three years of eligibility left. The NCAA no longer grants immediate eligibility for transfer student-athletes.

If he does stick with Minnesota, Williams becoming an addition to Minnesota's secondary would prove to be perfect timing in 2017, as he would step in as Damarius Travis says goodbye.

Sandalwood High junior defensive back Quran Hafiz received an offer from Minnesota today. The three-star recruit already has 21 offers,which includes South Florida, Colorado State, Duke, Indiana, Iowa State, N.C. State, Temple and Memphis.

Hafiz said he plans to enroll early and will narrow his choices to 10 by the end of the summer.

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Ellison Hubbard. Junior defensive lineman at Grayson HS. Minnesota is his first Big Ten offer.

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the ESPN prime time games for the B1G. No Gopher games scheduled. How does Michigan versus Rutgers supercede the Gophers and Iowa? Unreal....

Here is the release:

Gophers to Host St. John's in Gavitt Games


The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team will take part in the Gavitt Tipoff Games this upcoming season, pitting the Big Ten Conference against the BIG EAST Conference in an early-season matchup. The Gophers will welcome St. John’s (N.Y.) to Williams Arena, hosting the Red Storm on Friday, November 18, 2016.


Game time and television broadcast information will be announced at a later date.


“This is a great matchup for our team and will be an exciting game at the Barn in November,” said Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino. “St. John’s is one of the most storied programs in the BIG EAST and after playing them two years ago in New York, we look forward to the challenge of hosting them this season.”


This will be the second meeting between the two teams, with the last coming two years earlier. The Red Storm defeated the visiting Gophers, 70-61, in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden in New York.


Minnesota is taking part in the Gavitt Tipoff Games for the first time, after the series debuted last November. In total, eight games will be played between the two conferences during the first full week of the college basketball season in mid-November. Last season, the leagues split the event, with each conference earning four wins.


In total, the Gophers own a 43-32 record against the current 10-team membership of the BIG EAST Conference.


St. John’s will be in its second season under head coach Chris Mullin, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and former Red Storm legend on the court. They defeated Rutgers, 61-59, last year in the Gavitt Games as part of an 8-24 campaign (1-17 BIG EAST).


The Gavitt Tipoff Games is a unique early-season series played between the two conferences and named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the BIG EAST and basketball visionary. The BIG EAST home games will be telecast on FS1, while Big Ten home games will air on BTN or an ESPN network.


Scheduled through 2022, the Gavitt Tipoff Games will be played on consecutive days in the first full week of the college basketball season. The series will span eight years, with games played at home sites. Each BIG EAST team will participate a minimum of six times, while Big Ten programs will take part a minimum of four times. Teams from both conferences already meet in some traditional rivalry games, and those matchups will continue in the upcoming seasons.


The unique series between the two conferences is named to honor the late Gavitt, who had a profound and lasting influence on the sport of basketball on the collegiate, professional and Olympic levels. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.



2016 Gavitt Tipoff Games Schedule (times/ TV to be announced)

Monday, Nov. 14

Villanova at Purdue


Tuesday, Nov. 15

Maryland at Georgetown

Wisconsin at Creighton


Wednesday, Nov. 16

Northwestern at Butler


Thursday, Nov. 17

Seton Hall at Iowa

Providence at Ohio State

Rutgers at DePaul


Friday, Nov. 18

St. John’s at Minnesota

Not the best videos to look at but I love this guys energy, his size and length as a wing, and his handles going either way as a guy his size. Like this prospect and others obviously do to. Recent offers from Kansas and Illinois.

https://minnesota.n.rivals.com/news/2017-prospect-watch-abu-kigab

Makes me wonder if the Gophs are recruiting like they have a certain number, or without number, or like they will just take the first combination of a PG, wing, PF, and C that they can get. I really can't see a signing class of four this fall but I could see three. That said the Gophs I think would take two bigs, it's obvious they are after a PG, and based on numbers of wings they have followed they seem to be after one of those too. The wings though seem like guys that they would want to simply up the talent as Trent, Wilson, and Kigab look to be quite talented.

From the press release:

The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team will take part in the Gavitt Tipoff Games this upcoming season, pitting the Big Ten Conference against the BIG EAST Conference in an early-season matchup. The Gophers will welcome St. John’s (N.Y.) to Williams Arena, hosting the Red Storm on Friday, November 18, 2016.

Game time and television broadcast information will be announced at a later date.

Other Gavitt Tipoff Games:
Villanova at Purdue
Maryland at Georgetown
Wisconsin at Creighton
Northwestern at Butler
Seton Hall at Iowa
Providence at Ohio State
Rutgers at DePaul

Story on front page here

Who and why?

Other than Carson Wentz and Jack Conklin, whom, for some unknown reason I cannot find on the Michigan St. roster, but still may possibly be a 4-star recruit, check out the stars of the top ten picks this year:
Top Ten NFL Picks
1 - Jared Goff - 4 stars
2 - Carson Wentz
3 - Joey Bosa - 4 stars
4 - Ezekial Elliott - 4 stars
5 - Jalen Ramsey - 5 stars
6 - Ronnie Stanley - 4 stars
7- DeForest Buckner - 4 stars
8 - Jack Conklin -
9 - Leonard Floyd - 4 stars
10 - Eli Apple - 4 stars

Michigan has been a place the staff has found success on the recruiting trail. Ray Buford, who will be a solid contributor in the secondary this season, comes from Detroit, as does redshirt freshman DB Dior Johnson, redshirt freshman TE Bryce Witham and freshman defensive tackle Tamarion Johnson.

So far, the staff has been busy on the trail in Michigan. In the past week, they have issued offers to sophomore tight end/ linebacker Matt Harmon. 6-foot-6 prospect has offers from Cincinnati, Kentucky and Toledo; 2018 safety Jaylin Franklin, who also has offers from Kentucky, Cincinnati and and junior tight end Keegan Cossou, who is committed to Central Michigan.

Other prospects in Michigan that have an offer from the Gophers are OL Phillip Paea, who is committed to Michigan, 4-star DBs Donovan Johnson and Jaylen Kelly-Powell, three star commit Richard Bowens III, who seemed close to committing to Minnesota, but instead chose Iowa State, WR Kahlee Hamler; four-star DE Corey Malone-Hatcher and WR and Michigan State commit Cody White.

On the trail, the staff will likely also evaluate:

Three star tight end and Arizona commit Bryce Wolma

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3-star QB Jairus Grissom: Grissom has more than a dozen offers. If the staff is to offer another QB for 2017, it will probably be Grissom. Very athletic. A shorter version of Demry Croft.

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Three-star running back and Central Michigan commit Charles Jones.

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ATH Scott Nelson, three-star prospect Plays WR, FS and QB.
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Allen Stritzinger. Three-star prospect recruited as an athlete. Biggest offer so far is from Michigan

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Also, OL Erick Eldridge. Recently received an offer from Ball State.

http://www.startribune.com/u-of-minnesota-bumps-drum-corps-show-again/377660151/

This story came out last night in the Star Tribune talking about how the University Athletic Department had an agreement with Drum Corps International to hold their event in TCF stadium and would have been paid $125,000. But the University's Tom McGinnis who is the Chief Financial officer for the athletic department told that group on March 9 that they had doubled booked and that they would have to find another date for their event.
On top of that, the article goes on to say this happened last year also, when MLB wanted to hold a free concert at TCF in conjunction with the All Star game. Norwood Teague negotiated a deal where they could use the stadium for free if MLB would give him a suite he and 50 friends, could use during the game.
It's way beyond time to that this Athletic department get flushed and bring people that can run it.

Jeffrey Burley, one of the players mentioned in our Georgia recruiting trail spotlight, tweeted this evening he has been offered by Minnesota.

Burley, a linebacker, recently received an offer from Mississippi State.

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Guy is a heckuva player. You'd think if he can't make it in the NFL, he could at least contribute on a CFL team.

Tyrone Carter is the best pure tackler I've ever seen.

But Antonio Johnson is pretty darn close. So much fun watching him make one clean, aggressive tackle after another.

Aaron Hackett, who received an offer from Minnesota in early March, said tight end coach Rob Reeves will visit him this week.

Hacket attends Venice H.S., about 50 miles south of Tampa. Has offers from FAU, Western Kentucky, Troy, Buffalo, UConn, Marshall, Toledo, E. Carolina, C. Michigan, Iowa State and Wake Forest.

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If nothing else you would just love watching him play. This would be a heck of a get as a wing considering the year he has had and is still having. And the highlights.....

https://minnesota.n.rivals.com/news/2017-prospect-watch-sidney-wilson

I see the Vikings signed Theiren Cockran, and Joel Stave as free agent signees. I would think both of these guys will get a good look in camp.
I know I'm going to spell this wrong but hopefully get it close enough you know what I mean. Did Brody Brien our db, get signed by anyone? I always liked that kid. Obviously not enough to know how to spell his name.

Gopher baseball wins two of three at Illinois and is now 11-3 in the Big Ten and 27-13 overall with a #19 ranking in the country. After two pitchers duels, the bats exploded in a 14-6 win. Next week is a huge match up against Indiana at Siebert. The winner of that series will likely be in first place with two series left. After Indiana, the Gophers travel to bottom feeder Purdue and then host Ohio St.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/minn-m-basebl-sched.html

http://www.bigten.org/library/stats/base-standings.html