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Gophers men's basketball recruit Wesley Washington said Saturday it is too late for him to play for Minnesota this season. The two-time Southern California prep player of the year from Mater Dei High School still is waiting for results from his latest SAT eligibility exam.
"Either way, I'm not playing this year," Washington said from his
home in Corona, Calif., "because of my shape and because I'm not mentally
prepared to play in the Big Ten. It's best for me not to play this season. I'm
not in great shape."
Regardless, the 6-foot-4 guard said he intends to become eligible and play for the Gophers as a freshman next season. He would have four years of eligibility.
"That's my goal; that's what I'm working toward, the 2004 season,"
he said.
Washington said the best present he received for Christmas "was being able
to see my mom (Irma)."
He flies back to Minnesota today.
• With one game remaining in the regular season, today in Phoenix, Vikings
owner Red McCombs' reluctance to extend contracts to any of his front-office
staff and coaches has some people wondering whether he's planning major changes
or is ready to make an announcement of a sale of the team.
• The end of the season marks the end of a $2.8 million payoff to ex-Vikings
coach Denny Green for the final year of his contract.
• Don't be surprised if Arizona Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis ends up
as the Vikings' defensive coordinator next season, replacing George O'Leary,
who has accepted the head coaching job at the University of Central Florida.
• Pittsburgh wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr., the Heisman Trophy runner-up
from Minneapolis, will be the No. 5 overall pick in April's NFL draft by the
Detroit Lions, projects the credible NFL Draft Countdown.
• A little birdie says the Twins could end up with a starting pitcher
or a closer via a trade with the Cincinnati Reds. The Twins remain intent on
dealing outfielder Jacque Jones, who commands a $4.35 million salary and can
become a free agent after next season. At the recent baseball winter meetings,
the Twins' salary budget for 2004 was still several million dollars over the
$55.5 million limit set by owner Carl Pohlad.
If Jones is traded, which is likely, Lew Ford or Michael Ryan most likely would
be the club's right fielder.
• The men's basketball Gophers are recruiting a 6-4 German exchange student,
Edwin Ofori-Attah, who recently scored 71 points, a North Carolina high school
record, in a game for Statesville Christian. Ofori-Attah is seriously interested
in Minnesota.
• Fired Gophers women's basketball coach Cheryl Littlejohn, who was paid
$100,000 a year at Minnesota, is prohibited from working at any NCAA member
institution until 2009 because of indiscretions at Chicago State, where she
coached after getting dumped at Minnesota, according to The Chronicle of Higher
Education.
For violations under Littlejohn, the Gophers women's basketball program is on
probation through 2006.
• Danny Brooks, son of the late Herb Brooks, is headed to Los Angeles
in 11 days with four members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team his father
coached to a gold medal at Lake Placid, N.Y., for a sneak preview of the Disney
movie "Miracle." It will premier late next month or in early February
in New York City. St. Paul is expected to get the next opening in conjunction
with the NHL All-Star weekend Feb. 6-8.
"Kurt Russell (who plays Herb Brooks) told (Olympic captain) Mike Eruzione
that the movie is incredible," Brooks said Saturday.
Eruzione, Jim Craig, Rob McClanahan and Buzzy Schneider from the 1980 Olympic
team will view the film with Brooks. As it is now, the movie is two hours, 45
minutes long, and must be trimmed to two hours.
Danny Brooks is a financial broker with partner Roy Smalley, a former Twins
shortstop, for Dain Rauscher in Minneapolis. Herb Brooks' wife, Patti, said
she's doing fine.
• Gophers signee Rico Tucker, a 6-foot guard whose 46-inch vertical leap
was the best measured at the NBA's a camp last summer, is averaging 29.1 points,
9.6 assists, 6.6 rebounds and 5.4 steals per game at San Diego's University
High School. Tucker has 2,110 career points, and his team, which plays Tartan
on Jan. 24 at Target Center, is 10-1 and ranked No. 2 in the San Diego area.
• If the Vikings play host to Green Bay in a playoff game next weekend
at the Metrodome, scalpers can expect $1,000 for tickets worth $140 at face
value.
• Totino-Grace will hold its state football championship banquet Monday
at Mancini's Char House.
• Coach John Gagliardi of NCAA Division III football champion St. John's
will join Ohio State coach Jim Tressel as an assistant at the Hula Bowl in Maui,
Hawaii.
DON'T PRINT THAT
• A Vikings victory at Arizona today should result in a contract extension
of $2 million a year for coach Mike Tice. If that doesn't happen, it is evident
that Tice is working for the wrong guy in Red McCombs.
• Breck all-state quarterback Liam O'Hagan, who plays in the U.S. Army
high school all-star game Jan. 3 in San Antonio, has narrowed his college choices
to Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Colorado and Vanderbilt.
OVERHEARD
• John Gagliardi, who coached St. John's to a fourth national football
championship this year, asked if he expects to be rewarded with a new contract:
"From the Benedictine monks? Maybe they'll give me absolution for all my
sins up to this point. That could knock off a few centuries of purgatory."