Smith appreciates Cuddyer's attitude

Twins General Manager Bill Smith has as much respect for Michael Cuddyer as any player he has been involved with and is especially impressed with the way Cuddyer has agreed to play multiple positions, from right field to first base and now third base.

"Cuddyer is not only versatile, but he is as big a team player as there is in the game," Smith said. "I think Michael would love to just stay in right field and be comfortable and all that, but last year, when Justin Morneau went down, Gardy [manager Ron Gardenhire] talked to him about first base, and I think Michael's response was, 'Whatever helps the team.'

"A few weeks ago we needed him at second base -- 'whatever helps the team.' And now he played third base the other day, because all he wants to do is win.

"The biggest thing is he's a leader," Smith added. "He's a team-first guy. He plays hard every day. He's accountable. He's one of those guys that if he has a good game, he's a little bit humble about it, but when he has a bad game, he stands there and answers for it. You wish you had a team full of guys like Michael Cuddyer."

Smith recalls the situation when the Twins decided to draft Cuddyer in the first round in 1997.

"He was an 18-year-old player out of high school in Virginia Beach, and we had him up high on the board," Smith recalled. "... We loved his makeup. We saw him as a guy that was going to develop as a power hitter.

"At the time he was a shortstop; we projected that he was going to move off shortstop, probably to third base, and as it turns out he's gone one step further out into right field."

"Players look up to him, rightfully so," Smith said. "He comes to play every day, and he's just a great representative of this organization."

Likes second base best Cuddyer doesn't mind being used at multiple positions.

"I'm all about winning games," he said. "If having Jim Thome in the lineup DH'ing, hitting all these home runs, it's fun to watch. If it takes me playing third base for that to happen, then you know what? I'm all for it.

"Whatever Gardy feels is going to give us the best chance to win that day, that's what I plan to do."

Most people might think Cuddyer's favorite position is right field, where he can take advantage of his great throwing arm. But he said second base is his favorite position.

Novak expects White to choose Iowa State Hopkins boys' basketball coach Ken Novak Jr., who accompanied Royce White on his visit to Iowa State, said he believes White will wind up playing for new Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State. Novak said White, a former Minnesota Mr. Basketball at Hopkins who left the Gophers during spring semester, has a chance to get a waiver from NCAA that would allow him to play this season rather than sitting out a year as a transfer. Apparently there is nothing to the rumors about Kentucky recruiting White.

Novak also revealed that Marvin Singleton, a standout player who will be a senior at Hopkins this season, has committed to Northern Iowa.

Jottings The felony assault trial for Gophers basketball player Trevor Mbakwe is set for July 26 in Miami, and coach Tubby Smith hopes there are no more delays. "We were hoping that it would have been resolved before the [2009-10] season even started and then throughout the season," Smith said. "I thought that we'd have him available to us by Big Ten play, because he would have made a real difference. ... I'm hoping that he will get it resolved in his favor in the near future. We'd love to have him back, because I think he would make a real difference."

Gophers guard Blake Hoffarber, who had surgery for a sports hernia following the season, has made a complete recovery and is playing in the Howard Pulley League.

July is a big recruiting month for the Gophers, with Smith attending the King City Classic in Cleveland, where Apple Valley's sensational ninth-grader, Tyus Smith, is playing with a Howard Pulley team. Gophers assistant coach Ron Jirsa is working Indiana, while fellow assistant Vince Taylor is spending time in New York and Los Angeles. The Gophers have one scholarship available for the 2010-11 season but don't expect to use it at present.

Rambis said he expects all of his assistant coaches to return. That includes J.B. Bickerstaff, who was the only Wolves assistant whose contract didn't go beyond the 2009-10 season.

Max Hanson, a Gustavus runner who won 800 meters in the NCAA Division III outdoor track and field championships in May, has transferred to Minnesota and will have one year of eligibility while attending graduate school.

Eric Butorac, a former Gustavus tennis star and Rochester, Minn., native, is the 41st-ranked doubles player on the ATP World Tour. Butorac, 29, is 14-18 this season with winnings of $81,289.

The Gophers' Austin Lubinsky, pitching for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League, is 2-1 with a 1.44 ERA in four starts. ... Gophers catcher/outfielder Kurt Schlangen is hitting a team-best .382 for the North Fork Ospreys of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. ... Three Gophers are playing in the Northwoods League -- shortstop Troy Larson for the Mankato MoonDogs, infielder Ryan Abrahamson for the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers and pitcher Tim Ryan for the Waterloo Bucks.