More Maresh Setbacks

It is being reported that Sam Maresh has had another setback to making his Gopher debut. Doctors have discovered a tumor on his left leg. There is good news to this story. It is not related to his heart condition that required heart surgery causing him to miss this past season and there is also a very low chance of it being cancerous. It is also not made up of blood vessels but it is causing him pain and needs to be removed. It is tough to see a 19-year old kid face so many obstacles in trying to just do what he loves in playing football. I hope all goes well and I think I speak for all Gophers when I say I hope to see him leading the Gophers on to the field in the first game in TCF Bank and he is in uniform.

In other Gopher football news, Brewster has hired a new Wide Recievers coach to replace George McDonald who left for the NFL. It is Richard Hightower. He spent the last few years as an assistant for the Houston Texans. He played for the University of Texas from 1999-2002 as a defensive back and wide receiver. I think the reason for his hiring is thinly veiled. He is a Texan through and through being born and raised in Houston and he will be used to recruit the Texas area where we have done fairly well under Brewster getting Hasan Lipscomb, Kerry Lewis, Spencer Reeves, and Keanon Cooper. His obvious main objective is to lure Mike Davis up north.

On Gopher Illustrated it has a story about how junior guard Jacob Thomas wants to be a Gopher. He has flown so far under the national radar but is likely the best junior guard in the state and might be the best junior in the state. He is averaging 21.5 ppg and scored 41 against Cooper and Rodney Williams and 30 in his last game while Saul Smith was in attendance. I think he will be a very good player the problem is, in my opinion, whether he becomes a Gopher or not is out of his hands. It is in those of Cory Joseph. He is the younger brother of Devoe Joseph and by accounts might be the better of the two. He is more of a true point guard than Devoe. He is the point guard for the #3 high school team in the nation and along with an offer from the Gophers he has offers from Georgetown, Louisville and Marquette. If he heads to Minneapolis there won't be room for another guard, but if Joseph heads elsewhere you will likely see Thomas in a Gophers uniform come the Fall of 2010.

I mentioned in the previous post about Hopkins making a name for it self on the east coast over the weekend. Well, I wasn't just talking. They are now the #16 team in the nation and ESPN.com in it's coverage of the event listed Royce White as the most impressive player in the event which featured Lance Stephenson (#9 in nation) and Dexter Stickland (#17 in nation). I almost just want this season to end so we can see Royce in maroon and gold. He should come in next year and win Big Ten freshman of the year.

Stats of the Day

• 0: Minnesota players in the Rivals Top 150 for 2010. There are 5 in the 2009 Top 150 and 2 in 2008. Tubby is going to have to look elsewhere for his recruits like he did in 2008.
• 87 - 57 : The average score of a Hopkins game this season. When you average beating a team by 30 you need to find a harder challenge.