Tollackson Stepping Down

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short ornery norwegian said:
So - to the best of my recollection - Andre Hollins was a graduate manager for Gopher Men's hoops last year while working on his MBA in the Carlson School of Management.

the question is what he wants to do - get into coaching, go into business or what? He's also engaged to Lynx guard Rachel Banham.

he's probably be good on the radio - the question is whether he wants to.
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I believe Andre works in finance at General Mills, not sure how his role there will accommodate the travel needed for this role.

Go Andre Hollins!!
 

Shooter chimes in:

>> Joining Andre Hollins among a handful of Gophers men’s basketball radio analyst considerations is ex-Gopher Joey King, the Eastview grad.

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Charley Walters: Looking ahead to Vikings’ QB candidates in 2024 draft

The way it looks now, the Vikings are headed for a 9-8 or 8-9 season or so that begins in a week against Tampa Bay.
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Go Gophers!!
 


Tollackson was given 13 years to get comfortable in the job. Let’s hope the next guy/gal is able to be comfortable from the jump.
 






Al Nolen career stats at MN:

98 games - 67 starts - avg 6.1 pts/gm - 4.0 asts - 3.0 rebs - 2.1 stls - 34% FG (31% 3-pt FG) - 73% FT

missed part of Junior season due to academic issues. missed part of senior season due to injuries.
 



Full press release:
Al Nolen Announced as Men’s Basketball Radio Color Analyst



MINNEAPOLIS – Gopher Sports Properties, the locally based team of LEARFIELD, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced today the hiring of Al Nolen as the color commentator for Golden Gopher men’s basketball radio broadcasts this upcoming season. Nolen replaces longtime color analyst Spencer Tollackson, who held that role for the previous 13 years. Nolen joins voice of the Gophers, Mike Grimm, who enters his 18th year as play-by-play.

"I am excited to be back in the Barn,” Nolen said. “The opportunity to be a color analyst for the men's basketball team during coach Ben Johnson’s era, as well as to work alongside and learn from an on-air talent such as Mike Grimm, is a dream come true. This will be a good year for our team, and I am elated to be a part of this journey. I’m really looking forward to providing Gopher fans with expert analysis and insight into the game. Ski-U-Mah and go Gophers.”

Al Nolen was a member of the Gopher men's basketball team from 2008-11, where he played in 98 career games, including 67 starts and amassed 595 points, 205 steals and 394 assists. He graduated with a bachelor of science in business and marketing. After graduation, Nolen was drafted by and played in the NBA G-League, completing his professional basketball career in Germany and the Czech Republic.

“We are thrilled to welcome Al Nolen back to Williams Arena as our men’s basketball color analyst,” said Greg Gerlach, Vice President and General Manager, LEARFIELD’s Gopher Sports Properties. “Al represents the very best of what Gopher student-athletes are capable of, on and off the field of play. We couldn’t be prouder to have him represent Golden Gopher Men’s Basketball in this role.”

Following his professional career, the Minneapolis native returned to his hometown and started his career in education with the Minneapolis and Osseo Public School districts, including eight years working with at-risk youth, as well as coaching middle and high school varsity basketball. In 2020, he founded the Al Nolen Foundation. The non-profit organization was built to create an affirming and supportive environment that nurtures higher-risk youth on their journey to overcome emotional trauma, social isolation, and economic hardships. The Al Nolen Foundation creates fun, inclusive and educational activities designed to develop basic life skills that will be key components in everyday success.
 

Great news! Al was a phenomenal point guard; I look forward to his insights!
 


GopherLady said:
Full press release:
Al Nolen Announced as Men’s Basketball Radio Color Analyst



MINNEAPOLIS – Gopher Sports Properties, the locally based team of LEARFIELD, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced today the hiring of Al Nolen as the color commentator for Golden Gopher men’s basketball radio broadcasts this upcoming season. Nolen replaces longtime color analyst Spencer Tollackson, who held that role for the previous 13 years. Nolen joins voice of the Gophers, Mike Grimm, who enters his 18th year as play-by-play.

"I am excited to be back in the Barn,” Nolen said. “The opportunity to be a color analyst for the men's basketball team during coach Ben Johnson’s era, as well as to work alongside and learn from an on-air talent such as Mike Grimm, is a dream come true. This will be a good year for our team, and I am elated to be a part of this journey. I’m really looking forward to providing Gopher fans with expert analysis and insight into the game. Ski-U-Mah and go Gophers.”

Al Nolen was a member of the Gopher men's basketball team from 2008-11, where he played in 98 career games, including 67 starts and amassed 595 points, 205 steals and 394 assists. He graduated with a bachelor of science in business and marketing. After graduation, Nolen was drafted by and played in the NBA G-League, completing his professional basketball career in Germany and the Czech Republic.

“We are thrilled to welcome Al Nolen back to Williams Arena as our men’s basketball color analyst,” said Greg Gerlach, Vice President and General Manager, LEARFIELD’s Gopher Sports Properties. “Al represents the very best of what Gopher student-athletes are capable of, on and off the field of play. We couldn’t be prouder to have him represent Golden Gopher Men’s Basketball in this role.”

Following his professional career, the Minneapolis native returned to his hometown and started his career in education with the Minneapolis and Osseo Public School districts, including eight years working with at-risk youth, as well as coaching middle and high school varsity basketball. In 2020, he founded the Al Nolen Foundation. The non-profit organization was built to create an affirming and supportive environment that nurtures higher-risk youth on their journey to overcome emotional trauma, social isolation, and economic hardships. The Al Nolen Foundation creates fun, inclusive and educational activities designed to develop basic life skills that will be key components in everyday success.
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Love this!
 




the real test will be how he responds when Grimm goes off on one of his rants about officiating.

seriously, I would like to hear a little more analytical approach - meaning, talk about what the teams are doing on offense and defense and how that impacts the outcome of the game. tell me something that I might not know, or something I can't tell from just watching the game.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
the real test will be how he responds when Grimm goes off on one of his rants about officiating.

seriously, I would like to hear a little more analytical approach - meaning, talk about what the teams are doing on offense and defense and how that impacts the outcome of the game. tell me something that I might not know, or something I can't tell from just watching the game.
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Being out of the area, I don't often get to listen to Grimm, but I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that he seems pretty focused on how the "refs are screwing us" at some point during every game that I DO get to hear. It's pretty irritating.

I'm with you, talk about what's working and not working and why. Point out the scout stuff that the team worked on during morning shoot-around and what adjustments the teams and players are making. The typical fan generally never gets to see or hear that stuff. Things like why are we doubling or not doubling. Why are we going over instead of under screens on particular players.

The play-by-play and color guys are insider basketball guys, with access that most fans don't have, so they have and would hopefully provide insight of game strategy and the reasons for the philosophies being utilized during a game.

I know that sometimes refs are having a tough time and there are always going to be bad calls, but the refs are not out to screw anybody and constantly falling back to the "Bad Refs" excuse is just being lazy and not really adding anything useful to a broadcast.
 

I listened to the 2nd half of the Michigan game last night and could tell right away from Grimm's inflection that he believed the Gophers were capable of pulling the upset. A few takeaways.

- Grimm made it clear in no uncertain terms that their vantage point in Crisler Arena was less than ideal.
- He also made several points that that the radio crew had no access to TV replays because the game was being streamed on Peacock, and thus not provided to the radio team for whatever reason. Join the club.
- Nolen is very subdued, which I don't mind, unlike Tollackson who I don't think ever let there be more than 1/10th of a second of dead air.
- Had to be at least a little emotional for Nolen. It was his first time in the building since he broke his foot there which ended his playing days as a Gopher.
 
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Ope3 said:
I listened to the 2nd half of the Michigan game last night and could tell right away from Grimm's inflection that he believed the Gophers were capable of pulling the upset. A few takeaways.

- Grimm made it clear in no uncertain terms that their vantage point in Crisler Arena was less than ideal.
- He also made several points that that the radio crew had no access to TV replays because the game was being streamed on Peacock, and thus not provided to the radio team for whatever reason. Join the club.
- Nolan is very subdued, which I don't mind, unlike Tollackson who I don't think ever let there be more than 1/10th of a second of dead air.
- Had to be at least a little emotional for Nolan. It was his first time in the building since he broke his foot there which ended his playing days as a Gopher.
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C'mon Ope, Nolen.
 



Grimm's a "homer". Not unusual for a home-team play-by-play announcer. When any team plays Michigan State/Iowa (the worst offenders) regardless if at home or away, the B10 refs are barraged by Izzo\McCaffrey for any call that goes against MSU\IA. Frankly it's annoying and the refs are human and appear to be affected by the constant criticism of the calls. Grimm pointing out bad calls isn't as annoying as Izzo\McCaffrey complaining about every call.
 


dbmn said:
Grimm's a "homer". Not unusual for a home-team play-by-play announcer. When any team plays Michigan State/Iowa (the worst offenders) regardless if at home or away, the B10 refs are barraged by Izzo\McCaffrey for any call that goes against MSU\IA. Frankly it's annoying and the refs are human and appear to be affected by the constant criticism of the calls. Grimm pointing out bad calls isn't as annoying as Izzo\McCaffrey complaining about every call.
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I’ve never thought of Grimm as an over the top homer, though all team play by play announcers are bound to be partisan as they support the team that approves their employment. But Grimm is an excellent play by play guy, the best they have had in decades IMO. And I go back to Dick Enroth in the 60s, an outstanding radio guy who brought the game to life when there was minimal television coverage. For the most part the refs do excellent work in a very difficult and stressful job, something most of us couldn’t handle. Agree on Izzo and McCaffrey, with McCaffrey being the biggest whiner in the conference.
 

dbmn said:
Grimm's a "homer". Not unusual for a home-team play-by-play announcer. When any team plays Michigan State/Iowa (the worst offenders) regardless if at home or away, the B10 refs are barraged by Izzo\McCaffrey for any call that goes against MSU\IA. Frankly it's annoying and the refs are human and appear to be affected by the constant criticism of the calls. Grimm pointing out bad calls isn't as annoying as Izzo\McCaffrey complaining about every call.
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One of my favorite comments by the legendary announcer Ray Christensen went roughly like this: "I think I remember one call many years ago against Purdue that Gene Keady did not challenge, but it could be my mind playing tricks on me."
 
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Bobek said:
I’ve never thought of Grimm as an over the top homer, though all team play by play announcers are bound to be partisan as they support the team that approves their employment. But Grimm is an excellent play by play guy, the best they have had in decades IMO. And I go back to Dick Enroth in the 60s, an outstanding radio guy who brought the game to life when there was minimal television coverage. For the most part the refs do excellent work in a very difficult and stressful job, something most of us couldn’t handle. Agree on Izzo and McCaffrey, with McCaffrey being the biggest whiner in the conference.
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Grimm is actually closing in on being the Gophers Radio Announcer for "decades". He's been the guy since Fall 2006.

Before that was Dave Lee who replaced Ray Christensen in 2001.
 

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