Golden Nugz - 07.23.10

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg has submitted his workout warriors from around the Big Ten.  Here were his Minnesota winners...

LB - Mike Rallis 6-2, 210, So., Edina, Minn.

• Has increased his bench press from 325 to 365 pounds during the last year
• Power cleans 345 pounds and squats significantly more than 550 pounds
• Strength coach Mark Hill says: "Mike's work ethic exemplifies a guy who wants to succeed. He comes into the weight room every day and shows that he wants to contribute to this team winning. He does everything he needs to do. Mike absolutely attacks his workouts every day."

RB - DeLeon Eskridge 5-11, 198, Jr., San Francisco

• Has improved his squat from 250 pounds when he arrived at Minnesota to 375 pounds now
• Increased his bench press from 300 pounds to 340 pounds during the last year
• Has increased his power clean from 250 to more than 300 pounds as a Gopher
• Strength coach Mark Hill says: "I’ve been very impressed by DeLeon's improvements. He was a 185-pound freshman who had to play, due to depth issues. He could have used a redshirt year to get bigger and stronger. But to see where he’s gone to achieve the strength, weight, speed, explosiveness and power needed to be a successful Big Ten back says a lot about his hard work."

So Rallis is squating over 550 lbs? I'm starting to raise my expectations for him this year at LB. He was too slow to play safety (imo), but especially when you consider that he has that kind of strength as a base he may be perfectly suited to play LB.

• Here is a sports betting site with a little Gopher preview.  Usually I ignore these links but here is the first preview that says we may not be as bad as everyone else thinks we're going to be.
• Gopher Volleyball 101 is being planned again this August.  Sounds like a volleyball version of Midnight Madness.
• FBT lays out the blueprint to no longer be a fringe bowl team.