BleedGopher
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Per Pat:
"Does the dreary state of our big-time basketball have a negative impact on youth basketball, with numbers or enthusiasm?''
John Oxton, the veteran boys coach at Lakeville North, was asked about the Timberwolves/Gophers malaise and said:
"I can only speak for Lakeville North, but I would say 'not.' I look at those as three different entities — Timberwolves, Gophers and high school — and with our parents, more attention is paid to what the high school is doing.
"We're very active. Our program starts in kindergarten and I'm there, trying to get the kids hooked on the game.
"Right now, I'd say most of the players in the program — including high school — are more interested in looking at the latest Anthony Edwards highlights on their phones than getting upset because the Wolves or Gophers lost a game.''
Oxton paused and then said: "I want to add that I'm a huge fan of Ben Johnson. I think he's the right coach to bring the Gophers out of this.
"We would have seen more progress in Year 2, if the first thing that happened this summer wasn't losing two starters — Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen — to knee injuries.
"Put those two with Battle and Garcia, and the freshmen, and this would be a deeper and more competitive team.''
For now, the interest is such there was a half-full Williams Arena for an early Big Ten game vs. Michigan.
"I think it's true every place in college sports,'' Oxton said. "You have a 70-inch TV at home and can watch every meaningful game in comfort, or you can spend quite a bit of money to buy a ticket.
"In the Gophers case, you also have to find a place to park, walk across campus in the cold, and squeeze into a seat. I'd guess a lot of people who did that for 25 years are choosing the 70-inch TV.''
Oxton is 61; thus, old enough to remember when Clem Haskins had the Barn jumping during the run to the Final Four.
m.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
"Does the dreary state of our big-time basketball have a negative impact on youth basketball, with numbers or enthusiasm?''
John Oxton, the veteran boys coach at Lakeville North, was asked about the Timberwolves/Gophers malaise and said:
"I can only speak for Lakeville North, but I would say 'not.' I look at those as three different entities — Timberwolves, Gophers and high school — and with our parents, more attention is paid to what the high school is doing.
"We're very active. Our program starts in kindergarten and I'm there, trying to get the kids hooked on the game.
"Right now, I'd say most of the players in the program — including high school — are more interested in looking at the latest Anthony Edwards highlights on their phones than getting upset because the Wolves or Gophers lost a game.''
Oxton paused and then said: "I want to add that I'm a huge fan of Ben Johnson. I think he's the right coach to bring the Gophers out of this.
"We would have seen more progress in Year 2, if the first thing that happened this summer wasn't losing two starters — Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen — to knee injuries.
"Put those two with Battle and Garcia, and the freshmen, and this would be a deeper and more competitive team.''
For now, the interest is such there was a half-full Williams Arena for an early Big Ten game vs. Michigan.
"I think it's true every place in college sports,'' Oxton said. "You have a 70-inch TV at home and can watch every meaningful game in comfort, or you can spend quite a bit of money to buy a ticket.
"In the Gophers case, you also have to find a place to park, walk across campus in the cold, and squeeze into a seat. I'd guess a lot of people who did that for 25 years are choosing the 70-inch TV.''
Oxton is 61; thus, old enough to remember when Clem Haskins had the Barn jumping during the run to the Final Four.
Minnesota's long-running big-time basketball malaise hasn't fazed youth players
As Timberwolves, Lynx and Gophers men's and women's basketball teams struggle, there's still a strangely hopeful vibe among the state's younger generation of players.
Go Gophers!!
