SID's JOTTINGS

• NFL.com reported Thursday that former Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield is being heavily courted by the Washington Redskins. The 14-year veteran was taken to dinner by team owner Dan Snyder, star quarterback Robert Griffin III and coach Mike Shanahan.

• Gophers forward Trevor Mbakwe was named to the winter Academic All-Big Ten team. Mbakwe is majoring in applied kinesiology. Incidentally, Mbakwe had a $2 million insurance policy taken out before the season in case he got injured and couldn't play pro basketball.

• Miguel Sano, the most coveted prospect in the Twins minor league system, is very close to Yankee superstar Robinson Cano. They are from the same community in the Dominican Republic and Cano reportedly has taken Sano under his wing. So it was very big for Sano to make his major league baseball spring training debut against Cano and the Yankees last week.

• Wolves center Nikola Pekovic, who sat out Saturday's game with Memphis, has grabbed an offensive rebound in each of the past 68 games. This is the second-longest active streak in the NBA. Kevin Love is first with 75. Pekovic had seven offensive rebounds in Friday night's victory over Oklahoma City.

• Eric Hartzell, son of former Gophers men's hockey player Kevin Hartzell, is one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award. The Quinnipiac senior was the best goalie in college hockey this year.

• The Gophers men's track and field team, which finished tied for 12th at the NCAA indoor meet, ranks 19th in the nation heading into the outdoor season. The Gophers will lose the services of sprinter Devin Crawford-Tufts, who was third in the 60 meters at the Big Ten indoor meet, as he concentrates on spring football as a wide receiver.