One of ours coaches the Princeton basketball team

Stopping and popping from downtown. Well, OK, downtown Lakeville:

-Exchanged emails with Princeton University basketball coach Sydney Johnson, whose team upset Harvard on a last-second shot to make it into the NCAA Tournament.

A reader noted that Johnson played two seasons of high school basketball for Moorhead State High School, and Johnson confirmed this in an email, writing: ``

I played two seasons for Chuck Gulsvig at Moorhead High School (my sophomore and junior years in high school). The Moorhead Spuds share the colors of orange and black with the Princeton Tigers...ironic...All the best...''

Johnson was the Ivy League player of the year in 1997 at Princeton who then had a successful run playing in Italy. He worked as an assistant coach at Georgetown before taking over Princeton.

He became the Princeton coach at 32 and four years later remains the youngest coach in the Ivy League.

He took over a struggling program. His records as a head coach: 6-23, 13-14, 22-9, 25-6.

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Received a tremendous amount of response from my Gophers athletic department column today.

I always get a voluminous response from readers. What's amazing to me is that every time I write about the Gophers, I hear from so many former players and employees at the U who are fed up with the way the place is being run.

In addition to the decline of the revenue sports, which is detailed in the column, Maturi also presides over the mess that is the golf program, thanks to his hiring of John Harris and Harris' treatment of associate women's coach Katie Brenny.

I've never seen such a mess. And I cover the Timberwolves.

So now we're nearing the end of another long Timberwolves season. Let's check in on David Kahn's pet projects:

1. Darko Mlicic. He may be a relative bargain for a skilled big man, but how much does he actually produce? Not enough. And does anyone think this man's heart is in it, or ever will be in it? Can you see him actually caring enough to be a key player on a good team? Didn't think so.

2. Anthony Randolph. Talented. Intriguing. And I'll ask the same questions of him that I just asked about Darko.

3. Michael Beasley. Worth what he cost in the trade, a wonderful scorer, but...I'll ask the same questions of him that I just asked about Mlicic and Randolph.

4. Kevin Love. Obviously, keeping him was wise. He doesn't play much defense, but he is remarkably skilled and productive. So...why couldn't Love, who plays facing the basket and loves to crash the boards, play alongside low-post scorer Al Jefferson? I've had some outstanding basketball thinkers tell me there is no reason they couldn't co-exist.

6. Jonny Flynn. Steph Curry would be the Wolves' best point guard as well as their missing shooting guard.

7. Wes Johnson. Wes could develop into a nice player. I continue to say DeMarcus Cousins, with his franchise-player potential, was worth the risk.

There is no doubt that Kahn has upgraded this team's physical ability. But how many winning basketball players has he accumulated?

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Yes, Adrian Peterson compared millionaire players to slavery. It was a stupid thing to say. He should avoid doing interviews until the season begins and then he should speak only on football.

So while he certainly said something stupid, I don't think what he said is a reflection of who he is.

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I picked Kansas to win it all, which is strange, because I don't think Kansas is going to win it all. But I think it's such a watered-down field that I couldn't find anyone in the bracket I think is going to beat Kansas head-to-head. So I'm stuck with my arch-rivals (I attended Missouri.)

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Working on a piece on St. Thomas basketball and longtime coach Steve Fritz, a great guy who has his athletic department rolling, thanks to his coaching and his hiring of Glenn Caruso as football coach. Also planning to cover the Wild on Saturday.

Upcoming: