JOTTINGS
• Gophers junior Brandon Lingen, who this past week was named to the John Mackey Award watch list as the nation's top tight end, is spending a lot of time this summer catching passes thrown by Mitch Leidner, who is healthy for the first time in his career. I predict they will give the Maroon and Gold one of the best passing combinations in the Big Ten. Lingen caught 33 passes for 428 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games last year and is expected to do much better in 2016 because he is also 100 percent healthy.
• New Timberwolves guard Brandon Rush is familiar with playing in the Twin Cities from his time playing for the Howard Pulley summer program. He also played in Howard Pulley's Sabes Foundation Invitational tournament in high school when Rush was playing for K.C. Rocktown out of Kansas City, Mo.
• The two incoming Gophers selected in last month's NHL draft, defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Rem Pitlick, are not given any thought to signing and will be in a Maroon and Gold uniform this coming season. Lindgren was drafted in the second round (49th overall) by Boston. Pitlick went in the third round (76th) to Nashville.
• DeLaSalle boys' basketball coach Dave Thorson continues to develop college players, and he has another one in 6-4 junior guard Gabe Kalscheur, who has already been offered by the Gophers. Kalscheur led the Islanders in scoring last season at 20.1 points per game as they won the Class 3A state championship.
• Here's a unique combination: Matt Lane, a 31-year-old assistant pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Faribault is also a righthanded pitcher for the Faribault Lakers, an amateur baseball team. His first victory of the season was a complete game where he struck out five and gave up only one earned run.
• Gophers athletes were awarded 72 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Awards for the 2015-16 season.
