All time Gopher team from Minnesota

The Blake Hoffarber (hang his banner) thread got me to wondering about the best Gopher lineup of players who played their HS basketball in Minnesota. (Last 40 years - sorry Terry Kunze - Mencel Garmaker and others)

It is easy to find the bigs - Breuer Mchale Olbeding Ben Coleman Landsberger Lingenfelter Dan Coleman yadayada - Point guard selections are pretty slim though. Adam Boone? Russ Archambeault? Others?

Maybe I'll move the HOFF to Point. Here is my selection off the top of my head.

CE Breuer
PF McHale
SF Dusty
SG Jacobsen
PG Hoffarber Edit: Insert Nolen & delete press comment below

But I hope the opponents don't press.

Wow...there really haven't been many homegrown guards that have been stellar in the past 40 years.

Hoffarber is a SG that has been pushed to the PG spot at times out of necessity; for a true PG, I'd say Nolen deserves to be in the discussion (looking at his career steals, assists, etc.). Sam the Man was more of a 3 when he played IMO, but if you're putting him at 2, he and Hoffarber are probably the most deserving of any of the homegrown guards I can think of at that spot. Lynch is another one that bears consideration.

Can't disagree with the other positions, although as rough of a pick as he may be, Humphries had some ridiculous stats and dominated at his position in his 1 year here. If you had some talent around him (and a coach that made him share the rock), he'd probably challenge Dusty for that spot, and potentially beat out McHale (who had a good college career, but an even better NBA career; Humphries averaged better numbers in his freshman year than McHale did for his Gopher career).

Kevin Lynch

Upon Further reflection

PG Kevin Lynch
SG Hoffarber
SF Jacobsen
PF McHale
CE Breuer

1st Guard off the bench Nolen
1st Big off the Bench Humphries

rrjackIII said:

Upon Further reflection

PG Kevin Lynch
SG Hoffarber
SF Jacobsen
PF McHale
CE Breuer

1st Guard off the bench Nolen
1st Big off the Bench Humphries

Click to expand...

I can agree with that lineup...of course, I could probably agree with 2-3 more different lineups, but a pretty good start IMO.

There's actually been some standout guards produced in MN over the last 15 years, but they just haven't chosen the U for their college years:

Khalid El-Amin: UConn
Troy Bell: Boston College
Jake Sullivan: Iowa St.
Darius Lane: Seton Hall
Kam Taylor: Wisconsin

Off the top of my head. . .I feel like I'm missing someone significant from that list

coolhandgopher said:

There's actually been some standout guards produced in MN over the last 15 years, but they just haven't chosen the U for their college years:

Khalid El-Amin: UConn
Troy Bell: Boston College
Jake Sullivan: Iowa St.
Darius Lane: Seton Hall
Kam Taylor: Wisconsin

Off the top of my head. . .I feel like I'm missing someone significant from that list

Click to expand...

I think you forgot Hosea Crittenden.

coolhandgopher said:

There's actually been some standout guards produced in MN over the last 15 years, but they just haven't chosen the U for their college years:

Khalid El-Amin: UConn
Troy Bell: Boston College
Jake Sullivan: Iowa St.
Darius Lane: Seton Hall
Kam Taylor: Wisconsin

Off the top of my head. . .I feel like I'm missing someone significant from that list

Click to expand...

A couple recent HS guards from MN

Ben Woodside PG from NDSU

Matt Janning SG from Northeastern - Now on the Phoenix Suns roster

coolhandgopher said:

There's actually been some standout guards produced in MN over the last 15 years, but they just haven't chosen the U for their college years:

Khalid El-Amin: UConn
Troy Bell: Boston College
Jake Sullivan: Iowa St.
Darius Lane: Seton Hall
Kam Taylor: Wisconsin

Off the top of my head. . .I feel like I'm missing someone significant from that list

Click to expand...

Exactly; I know there have been some strong guards from MN...I was just alluding to the fact that none of them chose the hometown school; thus our guards from MN haven't been that strong over the last 40 years.

Have to include Dick Garmaker. All American and NBA hall of famer.

Interesting discussion. I think I would be Hoff in that lineup before Al.

But what I love about this years team is that so many of the starters/talented players are from Minnesota - Trevor, Rodney, and our senior guards.

Go Gophers! Beat WVU!

Mass MD said:

Interesting discussion. I think I would be Hoff in that lineup before Al.

But what I love about this years team is that so many of the starters/talented players are from Minnesota - Trevor, Rodney, and our senior guards.

Go Gophers! Beat WVU!

Click to expand...

And they play like a 'team'.

nm

ncgo4 said:

Have to include Dick Garmaker. All American and NBA hall of famer.

Click to expand...

You also missed Whitey Skoog, Ron Johnson, Dave Winfield, Terry Kunze, Mel Northway, and Bill Simonovich, and the list goes on and on.

Hey, you said "all time."

C- Jim McIntyre, Mpls. Patrick Henry, 2X all-American in the late '40s
F- Kevin McHale, Hibbing
F- George Tuck, Mpls. Central, Gophers won 2 national championships 1902-1903 with Tuck as their best player
G- Marty Rolek, Mpls. Edison, 2X all-American late '30s
G- Whitey Skoog, Brainerd, 2X all-American early '50s

2nd

C- Randy Breuer, Lake City
F- Frank Lawler, voted best Gopher player ever in 1950
F- Eric Magdanz, Mpls. South
G- Kevin Lynch, Bloomington Jefferson
G- Blake Hoffarber, Hopkins

Some people say no way is Hoffarber better than Sam Jacobsen. But the best player I left off of this top 10 is Ron Johnson, New Prague, all-America C in 1960. John Kundla, Dick Garmaker and Harold Gillen make the 3rd team.

Not a true line up....but most of the best players who have come out of MN are centers and forwards:

K. McHale
M. Olberding (went pro after Frosh or Soph. year)
R. Bruer
J. Pryz
K. Humphries

All had decent NBA careers.

sunnyday2 said:

Hey, you said "all time."

C- Jim McIntyre, Mpls. Patrick Henry, 2X all-American in the late '40s
F- Kevin McHale, Hibbing
F- George Tuck, Mpls. Central, Gophers won 2 national championships 1902-1903 with Tuck as their best player
G- Marty Rolek, Mpls. Edison, 2X all-American late '30s
G- Whitey Skoog, Brainerd, 2X all-American early '50s

2nd

C- Randy Breuer, Lake City
F- Frank Lawler, voted best Gopher player ever in 1950
F- Eric Magdanz, Mpls. South
G- Kevin Lynch, Bloomington Jefferson
G- Blake Hoffarber, Hopkins

Some people say no way is Hoffarber better than Sam Jacobsen. But the best player I left off of this top 10 is Ron Johnson, New Prague, all-America C in 1960. John Kundla, Dick Garmaker and Harold Gillen make the 3rd team.

Click to expand...

Great list.

I said "All Time" in the subject line but I did qualify it in my post to the 'last 40 years'.

From original post --- "(Last 40 years - sorry Terry Kunze - Mencel Garmaker and others)"

I like your list though. I think I would move Ron Johnson to forward and play him ahead of Magdanz though.

Prior to Kundla bringing in Hudson Yates and Clark in the 60's the Gophers were predominantly - almost exclusively' made up of Minnesota kids. That's why I thought I would limit my 'All time' (last 40 years) team to Minnesota HS players who played for Gopher teams once the Gophers began to take part in "National Recruiting".

rrjackIII said:

The Blake Hoffarber (hang his banner) thread got me to wondering about the best Gopher lineup of players who played their HS basketball in Minnesota. (Last 40 years - sorry Terry Kunze - Mencel Garmaker and others)

It is easy to find the bigs - Breuer Mchale Olbeding Ben Coleman Landsberger Lingenfelter Dan Coleman yadayada - Point guard selections are pretty slim though. Adam Boone? Russ Archambeault? Others?

Maybe I'll move the HOFF to Point. Here is my selection off the top of my head.

CE Breuer
PF McHale
SF Dusty
SG Jacobsen
PG Hoffarber Edit: Insert Nolen & delete press comment below

But I hope the opponents don't press.

Click to expand...

I think Pryzibilla (sp) and Humphries, while asses at times, were two of the best to ever come out of the state in college and paly at the U

gopherbadgerman said:

I think Pryzibilla (sp) and Humphries, while asses at times, were two of the best to ever come out of the state in college and paly at the U

Click to expand...

Actually I plum forgot about Pryzbilla - I agree with you - one of the best.

Mikkelsen

Forward Vern Mikkelsen stayed home at Hamline then went on to win 5 NBA titles, play in 6 All Star Games, followed by an induction into the Hall of Fame. On top of that he is generally credited with being the first power forward.

Turning tables--how about Gopher all-time team before Hudson, Clark, et al, who were NOT from Minnesota?

Wm Deering was the next best player after Geo. Tuck on those national champs of '02-'03, he was from Fargo

Then the 1919 national champs--the 2 All-Americans were guard Erling Platou and forward Arnold Oss. Oss was also an all-American in football. I know he was from North Dakota somewhere. I forget where Platou was from but pretty sure not Minnesota.

Bud Grant from Superior, WI.

Chuck Mencel also from WI. About the same time center Ed Kalafat, who went on to play in the NBA, was from Montana.

not a Gopher, but still should be recognized as a Minnesota great.....the late great Bob Zender

all time Gopher.......my man Ollie Shannon

Yes, the greatest MN HS players of the '60s--Zender and Kunze.

Another who did not become a Gopher--best of the '90s, Khalid El-Amin.

And the '50s, Burdie Halldorson of Austin, went to U. of Colorado and had a great career in the NIBL. Oddly enough, Bill Simonovich of Gilbert out-scored him 35-4 in the 1st round of the state tournament that year. But Halldorson had much the better post-HS career.

sunnyday2 said:

Yes, the greatest MN HS players of the '60s--Zender and Kunze.

Another who did not become a Gopher--best of the '90s, Khalid El-Amin.

And the '50s, Burdie Halldorson of Austin, went to U. of Colorado and had a great career in the NIBL. Oddly enough, Bill Simonovich of Gilbert out-scored him 35-4 in the 1st round of the state tournament that year. But Halldorson had much the better post-HS career.

Click to expand...

sunnyday, to the 60's you might want to also add the late LeRoy Gardner, St Paul Central great and Golden Gopher.

Tully55 said:

not a Gopher, but still should be recognized as a Minnesota great.....the late great Bob Zender

Click to expand...

The Edina teams of mid to late 1960's were powerhouses. They won multiple state titles.

Clipped:

A key contributor to one of the greatest achievements in Minnesota high school sports history has died.

Bob Zender, a 6-8 center on Edina's three boys' basketball state championship teams from 1966-68, passed away Sunday in Fairway, Kan., of complications from a heart filter coming loose that was used to prevent blood clots following knee surgery. He was 60.

A 69-game winning streak embedded in those championship years was part of Zender's remarkable prep career. The Hornets were 79-1 in his three varsity seasons. The one loss was a six-point defeat to Richfield during his senior season.

He remembered that road loss well.

"I've never been in a gym that was quite so loud as it was in the fourth quarter, when it became apparent we were going to lose. And, in the locker room afterward, the tears came with the end of a three-year run," Zender told the Star Tribune in 2002, when Fosston's girls' basketball team matched and eventually passed Edina's 69-game mark. "It [the defeat] showed us that we could lose, but we were not going to lose [again]. We thought we owned the championship."

Five weeks after the Richfield loss, Zender's high school career ended on a high note. He scored 19 points as the Hornets beat Moorhead 70-45 for the state title in front of 18,677 at Williams Arena.

Zender later played for Kansas State, where he helped the Wildcats to a pair of Elite Eight runs in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

BTW the 1st game I ever saw live at Williams Arena was Edina and Zender beating Moorhead in the 1967 state championship game.

Tully55 said:

all time Gopher.......my man Ollie Shannon

Click to expand...

Ollie was legendary in NYC basketball. I have seen his name mentioned in the same 'message board' context as Lew Alcindor, Dr J, Wilt Chamberlain etc. http://www.washington-heights.us/history/archives/holcombe_rucker_playground_31.html

CLIPPED FROM THE GOOGLE --- POSTS FROM ELSEWHERE ABOUT OLLIE

http://knickerbockervillage.blogspot.com/2008/09/oliver-shannon.htmlTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2008
Oliver Shannon

That's Oliver above, playing for Erasmus, scoring in the 1966 high school championship game against Clinton

I looked to find an address and phone number for an Oliver Shannon. The one suspect I found in North Carolina wasn't him. In searching the Social Security Death Index I found an Oliver Shannon, born 9/29/47, and passed away 9/21/01. The card was issued in NYC and had numbers that corresponded to a lower east side location. This prompted this email to the chatterers.

Looks like Oliver Shannon may have lost the race we all will eventually lose, only looks like he lost in the trials at age 54


1. Very sad about Ollie. He passed 10 days after 9/11--I wonder if it had anything to do with the Twin Towers. Ollie signed my elementary school yearbook, played one year on my Edgies team--went on to star for Erasmus Hall on their city championship team with Coak Cannon and George Thompson and starred in the Rucker league, then played for the Cincinnati Royals for a year or two. Genuinely sweet guy.

2. He had that sleeper play where he would fall down at the key and writhe as if in agony and when people gathered around him he would dribble in and lay the ball up. Willowy and always smiling. I can't even remember talking to him but I remember his presence very clearly. A dominating player but a gentle soul. Poetry in motion. An idiosyncratic personality but a true as gravity eye. God bless Oliver Shannon.
Posted by Jimmie Reese at 11:02 PM
Labels: kv chatter, oliver shannon
4 comments:

Anonymous said...
I'm just learning of Ollie's passing. Truly a loss for humanity. We were teammates @ Erasmus and adversaries in college; he @ Minnesota and me at Marquette. Ollie was always smiling and full of pleasant mischief. Between he and Sol McMillon there was never a quiet moment. Very fond memories of a good guy.

Hugh McMahon
EHHS 1966

March 24, 2009 2:02 PM
Anonymous said...
Ollie is my uncle. My mom's sister was married to him, but they divorced a long time ago. Ollie lost his battle with cancer in 2001. He was such a woderful person! His son, Quincy plays basketball for the international league.

July 14, 2009 7:41 AM
Anonymous said...
For all those who loved Ollie, please know his memorial service was as beautiful as his spirit. He was a remarkable man.

February 11, 2010 9:47 AM
Anonymous said...
My father taught at a small college in southern Minnesota, named Bethany Lutheran College. Ollie came and played in a tournament when I was about 11 yrs.old, in 1969 (?). He played for Metro College in Minneapolis before going to the Gophers. He was unbelievable. The gym was packed just to see him play. Once he was trapped in the corner baseline, took one giant dribble and step and jammed over two defenders. Bethany's coach still thinks he may have been the greatest BB player to ever grace Bethany's gym. Great memories. - Don Moldstad

March 20, 2010 6:32 PM

Where is Rickert? BT frosh of year and All Big Ten 1st Team as Sophmore... he was a solid college player..deserving on a All time Minnesota squad (even if 2nd team)

Alas, Kyle Sanden from Thief River Falls gets no love at all.