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Unless you were under a rock somewhere, you obviously know that yesterday was National Signing Day for most of the fall sports, including most notably football. The Gophers have signed a nice class and all of the Twin Cities media has plenty to say about it. In case you missed our recap of yesterday, check out the story stream here, and most notably Matt's recap here:
See Matt Limegrover and Tracy Claeys talk about the class in the video below:
Local Media NSD Links
Joe Christensen starts us off with his recap of the class in the Star Tribune, and an article on how now all Jerry Kill has to do is coach them up.
He also has individual articles on a couple of the Gophers higher profile recruits such as Demry Croft here and Jonathan Femi-Cole here.
Andy Greeder has taken over the Gopher Football beat for the Pioneer Press while marcus transitions into more basketball coverage and some general Gopher reporting. Here is Greeder's recap of the class in the PP
Greeder also has a small blurb about the Minnesota High School Class of 2016, and how it could be one of the best in several years. .
Of course, we still have several other players who have not yet stepped on the field who were highly recruited. Fuller recaps Jerry Kill talking about one of these players, running back Jeff Jones on ESPN yesterday.
Continuing the local coverage of NSD--here is Tyler Mason of Fox Sports North's recap
Jack Satzinger of the Minnesota Daily also has a couple of feature articles on recruits including one on Demry Croft and one on Alonzo Craighton
National Media NSD Links
ESPN has a Q & A with Brain Bennett and Jerry Kill on recruiting.
ESPN recaps the Big Ten's recruiting and ranks Minnesota 13th. Illinois being the only team worse. D'okay.
ESPN also identifies a few underrated recruits in the Big Ten, one of which is new Gopher receiver Rashad Still.
The AP has a good recap of the class as well.
Other Gopher Sports News:
ESPN's Todd McShay has Maxx Williams going #30 overall in the first round in his latest NFL Mock Draft to....The Green Bay Packers. Yuck.
Amelia Rayno has two blog posts on the Star Tribune, one on the Gophers hot shooting at home but awful road shooting, and one on the Gophers zone defense and the improvements that are necessary with some tough opponents in the future.
Jason Gonzalez has a blog post on Gopher Hockey in the Star Tribune talking about Seth Ambroz being named the Big Ten's 2nd Star of the Week for his play at Wisconsin and the fact that single session Big Ten Tournament tickets are now on sale.
Our buddy Nate Wells over at SBN College Hockey has a post on the Gophers Previewing this weekend's series against Ohio State, an update on Connor Reilly's injury (its not good), and a look at the rest of the schedule down the stretch.
Minnesota senior Leandro Toledo was named the Big Ten's Tennis Player of the Week for his efforts last weekend for the Gophers. He went 3-0 defeating the # 65, #77, and #98 ranked players in the country. He helped the Gophers team upset #24 Oklahoma State 4-1.
Matt Greenstein with the Minnesota Daily has an article about the Gopher Women's Basketball Team trying to get back on a role after going 1-3 in thier last four games after a great start. They will try again tonight at Illinois.
Grant Donald with the Daily has a nice article on Gopher Women's Hockey defenseman Lee Stecklein. The Gophers will travel to Grand Forks for a big series with North Dakota this weekend.
The Gopher Softball team starts their 2015 season this weekend at a tournament in Las Vegas. The Gophers open the season ranked #15 in the country. Its the highest the Gophers have ever been ranked to start a season, and the first time they are pre-season ranked since 1999.Their first game on Friday will be a test as they take on #11 Washington.
Two Gopher Softball Players, senior Kaitlin Richardson and sophomore Sara Groenewegen were named to USA Softball's Collegiate Player of The Year Top 50 Watch List. Richardson is a two-time All-American, and Groenewegen was named both the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2014.
In what may be the best news of the week, Gopher Baseball Pitching Coach Todd Oaks is once again in remission for leukemia. Oaks was initially diagnosed in the summer of 2012, and after a bone marrow donation from his brother entered remission in 2013. This past fall, a recurrence occurred. However, after another transplant, he once again is in remission. He will be taking it easy and not getting immediately back into work, and former Gopher pitcher Scott Matyas will be taking over his duties this season on an interim basis.
Just for Fun:
For anyone who grew up in the 1990s, you remember the "classic" TV show Saved By The Bell. In what sent many of us into hilarious reminiscing fits last night on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon remembered that one time when he was a student as Bayside High....and then this glorious 8 minute sketch happened. Its amazing.
That's all for today. Have a great one!