BleedGopher
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Hard to find a Gopher fan that doesn't love SHIK!!!! Dude was a hard working blue-collar big man during the "good ol' days" and a constant at The Barn ever since with his big smile and personality. So cool to see his son will wear maroon and gold, albeit on the football field after Max turned down a D1 basketball offer. Godspeed to Max's Mom, very tough news:
Per Marcus:
As a two-sport star at Stillwater High School, Max Shikenjanski had a big decision to make last October.
Would he play Division I basketball like his father? Or would he play for the Gophers like his father but in a different sport?
He had committed to play basketball on scholarship at The Citadel in South Carolina. But when Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck offered to make him a preferred walk-on, Shikenjanski changed his mind.
"He's been a Gophers fan his whole life," said Jim Shikenjanski, Max's father and a former Gophers basketball center from the Clem Haskins era. "It was a dream of his to play for Minnesota."
At the time, the Shikenjanski family didn't know how important it would be for Max to pick a school close to home. Just a few weeks after he made the decision, his mother, Rebecca, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, affects the brain's nervous system and breaks down physical function. There is no known cure.
Picking Minnesota "makes it easier for [Max] and his mom for everything she's going to eventually be going through," Jim said.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
Per Marcus:
As a two-sport star at Stillwater High School, Max Shikenjanski had a big decision to make last October.
Would he play Division I basketball like his father? Or would he play for the Gophers like his father but in a different sport?
He had committed to play basketball on scholarship at The Citadel in South Carolina. But when Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck offered to make him a preferred walk-on, Shikenjanski changed his mind.
"He's been a Gophers fan his whole life," said Jim Shikenjanski, Max's father and a former Gophers basketball center from the Clem Haskins era. "It was a dream of his to play for Minnesota."
At the time, the Shikenjanski family didn't know how important it would be for Max to pick a school close to home. Just a few weeks after he made the decision, his mother, Rebecca, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, affects the brain's nervous system and breaks down physical function. There is no known cure.
Picking Minnesota "makes it easier for [Max] and his mom for everything she's going to eventually be going through," Jim said.
Max Shikenjanski follows his father's Minnesota Gophers footsteps — but in a different sport
A two-sport star and son of former Gophers center Jim Shikenjanski, Max turned down a D-I basketball scholarship to walk-on for Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
