AREA CLINIC HAS FEW OPINGINGS

Tom Nordland is in town for the week and weekend. His clinics have very few openings remaining. For more information please go to his web site www.swish22.com

SOME FANS NEED TO GET A CLUE

I found this comment on another board and I could not agree more with the general statement that is made here.

The following link was added to this posting on 4/29/2008 at 10:15pm

This comment was found at StevensSports.blogspot.com

I cannot believe all the selfish clowns out there who think that if you go to "Augustana" you have not hit the big time.

Here are a few facts for you to think about (if you have any brain cells).

Not every player wants to play at Duke, North Carolina, or other traditional winners.

Fact - Cody had already decided to stay near his home and family a long time ago.

Fact - Too many times a player goes to a college that is more than a 6 hour drive from their hometown and wishes they had not for all kinds of reasons.

Fact - Cody was looking for a college that was more than basketball. One that would help him grow educationally, spiritually, and personally.

Did he deserve the Mr. Basketball Award? I think he did but so did at least 3 of the 5 finalists. I will tell you what Cody does not deserve and that is most of the "FANS" putting down his ability just because he wanted to stay near his home.

Too many "FANATICS" and not enough "FANS" out there I guess (and yes, if you do not know the difference LOOK IT UP).

And the winners are....

Miss. Basketball 2008 is Courtney Boylan - Chaska

Mr. Basketball 2008 is Jordan Taylor - Benilde-St. Margret's

Mr. & Miss. Basketball awards are today

The awards ceremony begins at 5pm today in St. Louis Park. Don Shelby of WCCO-TV Channel 4 will be the Master of Ceremonies.

Community Hoops will be the first to bring you the results immediately after the announcement live from the banquet.

The finalists for the Miss Basketball Award are:
Courtney Boylan, Chaska
Kiara Buford, St. Paul Central
Briana Mastey, Becker
Kamille Wahlin, Crookston
Brittnye McSparron, Eastview

The finalists for the Mr. Basketball Award are:
Jared Berggren - Princeton
Michel Floyd – Cretin-Derham Hall
Cody Shilling - Ellsworth
Jordan Taylor - Benilde-St.Margaret’s
Anthony Tucker - Minnetonka

Temporary change for gbbrecruit.blogspot

Due to technical issues Kevin Anderson's website has changed addresses for the next few days. The new web address is http://gbbrecruit2.blogspot.com/

You Tube Interviews from the Girl's All-Star Weekend

Your comments are welcomed - After viewing 1 or more of these interviews scroll down a little more to add your comments for all to see.

It was a pleasure to be a part of the broadcast team from Keystone Productions this past weekend for the 2008 Girl's All-Star Games. You can read more about the coverage at The Sports Brain Blog.

The 2 games that were taped on Sunday will be edited and posted soon. You can always check here for the update on the games.

Stats for the 4 games were done by Wayzata Results Inc. You will need to click on "Clash of the Classes Website Link" to view them.

The following are some of the interviews already posted on the You Tube Channel -

Don Mulhern - Head Coach at University of Wisconsin - Superior

University of Minnesota players Ashley Ellis-Milan and Zoe Harper

Becca Friestleben - Holy Family Catholic

Alex Montgomery - Cannon Falls

Jennifer Dowd - Rogers teammate of All-Star Casey Mann

Brianna Mastey - Becker

Casey Mann - Rogers

Kiara Buford - St. Paul Central and Ephesia Holmes - Minneapolis South

CODY SCHILLING SIGNS WITH AUGUSTANA

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM STEVENSSPORTS.BLOGSPOT.COM

According to John Millea of the Minneapolis StarTribune, Cody Schilling signed a letter of intent to go play basketball at Augustana College in Sioux Falls South Dakota. Cody Schilling is Minnesota’s all time boy’s basketball leading scorer.

This information has been confirmed by Mark Kellen.

Minnesota basketball shooting expert returns for clinics at Powell Center

The “SWISH SHOOTING TOUR” is coming to Minnesota this month. Tom Nordland, one of Minnesota’s greatest high school shooters, is returning to put on a set of clinics for coaches and players at the Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center in south Minneapolis. The creator of the highly-acclaimed Swish and Swish 2 shooting videos, Tom is on a mission to shift the way the “Lost Art” of shooting is understood, learned and taught.

In conjunction with Kelby Brothen and the “Urban Stars Basketball Club,” Tom will put on eight 4-hour clinics from April 30th through May 5th. Some of the clinics are reserved for the Powell Center kids, but most are open to the public, and two of them will be just for coaches. You can see the details and enroll at Tom’s website (www.swish22.com). Click on “Clinics, Camps, Lessons.”

Tom’s approach to basketball’s most important skill is different from the way shooting is normally taught, yet it can be proven to be the way of the great shooters. It comes from being a great high school shooter at Minnesota Roosevelt* who lost his touch for over 30 years and then rediscovered it 18 years ago. Because of this experience, he sees shooting in a different light, in terms of big muscles vs. small muscles, minimizing variables, the importance of alignment of hand and ball with the eye, the generation and use of inertia to make accuracy easier, and a constant, automatic Release. In a word, he’s “simplified” the skill of shooting.

As Dale Davis, former Indiana Pacer and Detroit Piston power forward put it years ago, Tom teaches “a combination of technique and the science of repeatability.” That’s a beautiful way to describe it -- part technique, part the putting of shooting into a form that allows the shooter to find the center of the basket over and over and over, even under great pressure.

Current coaching methodology isn’t working. Mediocre shooting performance is rampant. You see a magnificent team like Memphis (final record 38-2) miss 4 of 5 crucial free throws where just one more of them would have won the game. For years our national teams have been getting beaten by teams with less physical ability and talent, but who have better teamwork and shooting. This is the “answer” people are seeking!

Visit Tom’s website for his background and the special endorsements, remarkable testimonials, video clips, articles, and a collection of 107 monthly Newsletters. Come to the Powell Center and learn how to coach yourself and others.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact: Tom Nordland

Swish International, Inc.

888/794-7422

Tom@swish22.com

*Tom lead his ‘57 team to the second of two consecutive State Championships and was honored last year for the 50th anniversary of his free throw record that was tied by Cody Schilling of Ellsworth -- 19 in one game.

2 amazing photos

Trust us...the ball is not flat.

FORMER GOPHER COACH GETS HIRED AT WESTERN ILLINOIS

Jim Molinari who was an assistant for the Minnesota Gophers and who was Dan Monson’s assistant when he got fired mid way through the 2006-2007 basketball season got hired as the head coach at Western Illinois. Jim Molinari replaces Derek Thomas who resigned on March 11 after 5 seasons.

MINNEAPOLIS SOUTHWEST COACHES OUT

I am hearing reports that the Contracts of Tony Taylor and Brian Myer are not going to be renewed. They were the co head coaches for the Men's basketball team at Minneapolis Southwest high school.

Carolyn DeHoff named Bison women's head basketball coach

Audio Link for the press conference

Video Link for the press conference

www.gobison.com website story link

Some odd's and end's

Here are the first of a few postings with left over business from the month of march.

Here are 2 sets of photo's from Anna Rajdl -

Lynx Select Stanford’s Candice Wiggins in 08 WNBA Draft

The following is from the Minnesota Lynx web site. They also have a couple of audio clips.

The Minnesota Lynx today selected Stanford University guard Candice Wiggins, the 2008 State Farm Wade Trophy winner for National Player of the Year, with the team's third overall pick of the 2008 WNBA Draft.

"It is very exciting to be able to add an elite player like Candice Wiggins to our roster with our first pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft," said Lynx Chief Operating Officer Roger Griffith. "She has been one of the best players in the nation in each of her four collegiate seasons. She was certainly one of the best players in the draft, which she proved throughout the NCAA Tournament. Throughout her career she has shown an amazing intensity and incredible passion for basketball that Lynx fans and women's basketball fans throughout the state of Minnesota will really enjoy watching this summer and for many years to come.".


To read more CLICK HERE

Lynx - War Room Blog

The following is from the Minnesota Lynx web site:

Well folks, the 2008 WNBA Draft is now finished.

Overall, it was a very positive day for the Minnesota Lynx Organization.

“We got the three things we wanted,” explained Coach Z. “Wiggins, a big and an athlete.”

Gillom summed up this eventful, memorable day with one simple statement: “It’s all gooood.”

For more on this CLICK HERE

Utah Associate Head Coach to Interview For NDSU Head Women's Basketball Position

The following is a complete copy of the press release I recieved today. The web site for NDSU is www.gobison.com:

FARGO, N.D.--University of Utah associate head coach Carolyn DeHoff will be on campus to interview for the North Dakota State University head women’s basketball position late Wednesday, April 9 and Thursday, April 10. She has a full schedule of meetings with university and athletic department officials. NDSU director of women’s athletics Lynn Dorn made the announcement today.

DeHoff completed her first season as associate head coach in 2007-08 and fifth overall on Elaine Elliott’s Utah staff. The Utes finished 27-5 overall and won the Mountain West Conference regular season championship with a 16-0 record. Utah lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament this season.

Her duties at Utah included coordinating recruiting efforts, point guard development, organization and planning of the schedule, coordination of academic affairs and directing summer camps.

During her stay in Utah, the Utes won 123 games, three regular season conference championships and one MWC tournament championship. Utah made three trips to the NCAA tournament including an Elite Eight berth in 2006 and a WNIT appearance in 2007. The Utes also had a pair of WNBA first round draft picks.

Her 17-year coaching resume includes a five-year stop at Weber State. The Wildcats went from a sub-.500 program to a back-to-back NCAA tournament participant. Weber State won consecutive Big Sky titles and posted back-to-back 20 win seasons.
Prior to Weber State, DeHoff was the top assistant at Wyoming for seven seasons and also was an assistant coach at Coronado High School in Scottsdale, Ariz.

A standout high school player at Cheyenne (Wyo.) East, DeHoff was a Street & Smith’s All-America her senior year. She played at Arizona State University from 1987-90, she was a captain.

A native of Cheyenne, DeHoff graduated from Arizona State in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and physical education.

Mr. & Miss Basketball Banquet Information

The Banquet will be at the Minneapolis Marriott West on April 27th at 5:00 p.m..

Click Here to see the Flier for Ticket Information.

CORRY ROCKNE JOHNSON LEAVING IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Corry Rockne Johnson, from Duluth Minnesota, is planning on leaving Iowa State University men's basketball program according the University website.
Corry Johnson played his high school basketball at Duluth East high school.
I have not heard where he is planning on transferring to, but I will keep you updated when I do hear of anything else.

MR BASKETBALL FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

The five finalists for the Mr. Basketball award have been announced. The Mr. Basketball Awards banquet will be on Sunday April 27th 2008 at 5:00 pm at the Minneapolis Marriott West. The finalists are:

Jared Berggren - Princeton
Michel Floyd – Cretin-Derham Hall
Cody Shilling - Ellsworth
Jordan Taylor - Benilde-St.Margaret’s
Anthony Tucker - Minnetonka

LOCAL STAR IN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Cole David Aldrich who played his high school basketball at Bloomington Jefferson is playing basketball and going to school at Kansas this year. His Kansas team will play for the National Championship on Monday night against Memphis.
Cole Aldrich is a freshman this year and he is averaging 2.9 points per game. Good luck in the game on Monday night.

ALL STARS SHINE IN FINAL GAME

The game got close towards the end but in the end the Blue team ended up beating the Green team by the final score of 99-88. The leading scorer for the Blue team was Lief Nomeland he had 19 points.
This game was another out standing display of action for both sides of the ball. Each player should be congratulated on a season well done. Good luck to all of the players who put on a wonderful show this weekend.

SECOND ALL STAR GAME IS AT THE HALF

In the second game of the all star series it has come to the half. Once again this looks like a game where there is not much defense. The Blue team is ahead of the Green team by the score of 51-42. The leading scorers for the blue team are Leief Nomelang (10) and Jordan Taylor (9). Each of these teams are doing a lot of tricks when they go up with the ball and try to score. There is not much intensity out there. The players will do there most part to let the other team to have there fun. A lot of the guys will throw up shots to the basket and hoping some one will get up and dunk it.
The coaches are having fun also. The coaches are not up and coaching there kids. They are coaching don’t get me wrong but they are not in it for themselves they just want to have each of the kids have fun and enjoy themselves.

SATURDAYS FIRST GAME IS IN THE BOOOKS

The first game is in the books. The Maroon All Stars beat the Gold all stars by the final score of 121-109 The leading scorers for the Maroon all stars were Jared Berggren (23) Armond Battle (22) Colin Utke (19). This game was fun to watch because it had a lot of hype and it was up and down. Each trip was up and down the court. This was like a show case and a guess on what the players were going to do. Both teams were playing very little defense.

Halftime in Saturday's first game

In the first game we have reached halftime. It has been a game that has been up and down. There are a lot of dunks and a lot of open scoring. The score is at the half is Gold 60 and Maroon 58. The leading scorers for the Gold team is Anthony Tucker (16) and Theo Rothstein (11) from St. Michael-Albertville. This game will be back and forth in the second half. There will be a lot of points scored.
There is a light crowd to watch this game. I am surprised to see how many people are here. I was expecting a larger crowd. Tony is dropping pins the crowd is so quite.

CHANGE OF VENUE FOR THE SECOND DAY OF ALL STAR GAME

With the change of venue for the second day of the 2008 Minnesota State High School Boys Basketball Coaches Association the action is at Concordia University in St Paul. The Gold and the Maroon All Stars kick it off. Then the Blue and the Green All Stars will take to the court. The teams were chosen by the boys high school basketball coaches. These are some of the top elite players in the state and the all star game is a way to showcase their talent. After the players were chosen they were all picked for different teams. This all star series has been going on since 1987. The series used to be an in-state out-state series. In 1998 was the last time that they had the instate out state series. In 1999 the All Star Game changed to the current format which is the teams are picked with no relation to where they went to high school. Now the in-state players play on the same teams as the out-state players.

THE GREEN TEAM WINS

In a game that was up and down the Green Team beats the Maroon team by the final score of 109-93. The leading scorer for the green team was Bobby Fong (15). The Green team will take on the Blue team tomorrow afternoon for the championship in this two day event.

GAME 2 AT THE HALF

The score of the second game is Green All Stars 58 and the Maroon All Stars 46. The leading scorer for the Green team is Bryce Tesdahl he has 9 points. Look for this game to come down to the wire.

THE FIRST GAME IS IN THE BOOKS

In a game that was up and down the Blue team beat the Gold team by the final score of 105-77. The leading scorers for the Blue team were Jordan Taylor (21) David Hanson(18) Jordan Hicks (16) Carrington Tankston (11) The game was up and down but in the second half the Blue team pulled away. The Blue team will play the winner of the next game, Maroon vs. Green, tomorrow afternoon in St. Paul.

Important request from Steven Mac Donald Froemming

Do you have any information or any tips that you might want posted on the board? If you do please email me at stevenmgr@hotmail.com Thanks a lot and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

TIGHT GAME AT THE HALF

At the Half we have a tight game with the Blue Team and the Gold Team tied at 46. The leading scorer for the Blue Team is Jordan Hicks (10) and for the Gold team it is Jordan Cunningham (10). Look for both teams to score a lot of points.

WELLCOME TO THE 2OO8 ALL STAR SERIES

With a light crowd at Halenbeck Hall the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association 2008 Boys Basketball All Star Game got underway. The first order of business was the Slam Dunk contest. The players that participated were Emeka Okafor, Theo Rothstein, and Jordan Hicks. The winner of the first slam dunk contest was Jordan Hicks from Rochester Mayo.

Mr. Basketball

To those basketball fans who have had discussions on who should be Mr. Basketball, the conversations should stop at Cody Schilling. In fact, he should be the only player to be talked about.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some worthy candidates that could be considered for Mr. Basketball, but that could only be in different years. There have been discussions about Jordan Taylor being Mr. Basketball. Yes, he is good and is going to a big school next year, but that should not lock him for Mr. Basketball.

Now everybody knows that Cody Schilling just broke the all-time scoring record for the state of Minnesota, but let’s add more to his resume. He has played in the state championship for the last three years, winning the last two. The championship game his sophomore year they got beat by 3 points but beat the two-time defending state champions (RTR) in the section final to make it to state. During each of the states tournaments, he was the leading scorer for all teams participating in all classes. Furthermore, during the last two seasons, he nearly averaged a triple double per game.

But Mark, people say, they don't play any competition. Not only do they have the toughest section in class A, they play up against many other classes. Mayo High School, Marshall, Worthington, Mankato West, Litchfield, Pipestone are all team of a higher class that they played this year. But Mark, his stats are padded when he plays conference ball games. Not true. After losing the older Stoep from last year, Cody understood that he needed to make the team better not by scoring more points but by helping his teammates score more points, which he did.

During this record breaking run, he kept saying that the record will come as long as the team kept winning, and it did. All this was done very unselfishly. All the credit he receives he passes it on to his teammates, and as for why he doesn't want to play at a big school (like Jordan Taylor), family and faith are important to him and he just doesn't think he can maintain those values if he goes to a school that far from home.

No disrespect to Jordan Taylor and the other candidates, but they should not be on the same ballot as Cody Schilling. Not this year. The disappointing thing is that he is not from the Metro and he doesn't get the press. But that doesn't really matter. Cody is the type of kid that will take what is given to him and be gracious. He doesn't need to receive the Mr. Basketball award because in my opinion, he already knows that he is Mr. Basketball of Minnesota.

BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT ATTENDANCE

The attendance for the Boys State Tournament was 69,657
The attendance for the Class A and AA final 6,953
The attendance for the Class AAA and AAA 10,272
The attendance for the first day at Mariucci was 11,663

2008 All Star Series

The Minnesota State Boys Basketball Coaches Association will be having their 2008 All Star series this weekend in St Cloud and St Paul.

On Friday night the games will be at St Cloud State University and on Saturday the games will be at Concordia University in St Paul. The game times on Friday are 7 and 8:45 pm and then the games on Saturday are 2:15 and 4:00 pm.