It's Charley Walters is a gossip columnist trying to fill a column.
He's 75 and except for going to a golf course, he doesn't get to events anymore. He loves private schools, the Twins and golf. He really dislikes the Wolves, Gopher administrators and P.J.Fleck. Except for maybe Gopher Hole, Walters don't get much play anywhere else.
Here's many examples from today's column. Any real insight there?
— That was Gophers senior golfer Antoine Sale, who is from France, shooting a Woodhill Country Club course record 11-under-par 60 the other day. The previous record was 64. Arnold Palmer, by the way, set a Woodhill record with a 65 in 1957.
— Daniel Oturu, 23, the former Cretin-Derham Hall and Gophers basketball star who received a guaranteed $2.9 million contract from the Los Angeles Clippers two years ago, has opted not to play overseas this season to return to the NBA G League with Chicago’s Windy City Bulls for $85,000.
— Matthew Hurt, 22, the 6-foot-9 former Atlantic Coast Conference scoring leader at Duke from Rochester John Marshall, is in training camp with the G League Memphis Hustle.
— Theo John, the 6-9 Champlin Park grad who starred at Marquette, was chosen 16th overall by Capital City (Washington, D.C.) in last week’s NBA G League draft.
— Former East Ridge star Kendall Brown has made the Indiana Pacers’ final roster but with a two-way contract, meaning he’ll spend most of this season at G League Fort Wayne.
— Speaking of the Pacers, Mark Boyle, son of former Ch. 11 sportscaster Joe Boyle, has begun his 35th season as Indiana’s esteemed broadcast voice and will work his 3,000 NBA game in January.
— Tony Jaros Jr., whose late father played with Mikan with the Lakers for three seasons, died unexpectedly at age 79 last weekend.
— Pat Eilers, the former St. Thomas Academy, Notre Dame and Vikings defensive back, and wife Jana, a University of St. Thomas grad, have made a $5 million gift to Notre Dame’s sports performance program.
— Former Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino’s New Mexico team is projected to finish fifth in the Mountain West this season. Richard, in his second season at New Mexico, will host his father Rick’s Iona team on Dec. 18.
— Brian Dutcher, 62, son of former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher, and his San Diego State team are predicted to win the Mountain West.
— Ex-Gophers men’s basketball coach Dan Monson, in his 16th season at Long Beach State, has his team projected for a third-place finish in the Big West.
— The Gophers, with Dennis Evans and Cameron Christie committed, rank 30th in 2023 men’s basketball recruiting by 247sports.com, and seventh in the Big Ten behind Michigan State, Ohio State, Maryland, Penn State, Illinois and Indiana, but ahead of Wisconsin, which is eighth.
— Happy birthday: Jim “Hurricane” Carter, the tough former Gophers football captain and Pro Bowl Green Bay Packer from South St. Paul, turned 74 the other day.
— Ex-Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk, 36, who lives in Edina, made his retirement from hockey official on Saturday.
— Not only is Bill Lechner in the Minnesota Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, but the Hill-Murray hockey coach recently was inducted into the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame with Tartan’s Steve Romanchuk.
— Inducted into the St. Paul Central 102nd “C” Club on Tuesday at Ideal Hall will be Ashley Ellis, Adam Hunkins, Angelique Robinson, Dave Vogel and Phil Taconita.
— Late NFL referees Jerry Seeman from Blaine and Ron Gibbs, a St. Thomas College alumnus, have been promoted for Pro Football Hall of Fame election by the “Football Zebras” national blog.
— Eagan’s Tom Barnes, who was an on-field official in two Super Bowls, evaluates officials for the Big Ten and critiqued the Minnesota-Penn State game.
— Retired Dakota County chief justice Dick Spicer just completed his 30th season of refereeing high school football.