Jottings Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury, who together helped make the Timberwolves into a big draw, were reunited this season with the Celtics, but the two have yet to play on the floor together during a game. Garnett suffered a right knee strain Feb. 19 against Utah, an injury that knocked him out of the lineup. Marbury, a free agent after the Knicks bought out the $20 million remaining on his contract, was signed by the Celtics as a backup point guard on Feb. 27. Garnett returned from his injury March 20, but he made it only four games before getting shut down again. And Garnett played in only the first and third quarters of those games. Marbury, on the second unit, played in only the second and fourth quarters. Marbury didn't score in eight minutes of the Celtics' 83-75 loss to Orlando in Game 6 of their playoff series after scoring 12 points, all in the fourth quarter, in Boston's 92-88 victory in Game 5. Garnett is expected to miss the entire postseason, which could end today if Boston loses Game 7 to the Magic.
Taylor Mehlhaff was ranked with the top placekickers in the country coming out of high school in Aberdeen, S.D. The Gophers though they had landed him, but he changed his mind and went to Wisconsin. He was a sixth-round draft pick of the Saints last year and played three games for them. He has signed as a free agent with the Vikings, who have an excellent kicker in Ryan Longwell, but Mehlhaff, who kicks off consistently into the end zone, picked the Vikings because he thought he could earn the kickoff job. Mehlhaff, the second-leading scorer in Wisconsin history with 295 points, went only 2-for-4 on field goals kicking at the Metrodome in 2007, when the Badgers beat the Gophers 41-34.
Not only is Cretin-Derham Hall's Seantrel Henderson ranked No. 1 among Rivals.com's top 100 senior prep football players in the nation, but Jimmy Gjere, the 6-7, 275-pound tackle from Irondale who has committed to the Gophers, is ranked 49th.
The Iowa football team is making a strong bid to recruit Taylor Grant, the son of Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant, brother of Gophers linebacker Ryan Grant and the grandson of Bud Grant. Taylor, who plays tight end and quarterback, has made two visits to Iowa. The Hawkeyes offense can call for three tight ends and is more of a tight end offense than that of the Gophers. So right now Iowa might have the edge for the 6-5, 250-pounder. ... The Gophers have offered a 2010 scholarship to All-America kicker/punter Michael Palardy of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ... The Gophers football team will fly with Delta-Northwestern this year. One of the airlines' key employees in running the Gophers' flights is former Gophers basketball player Cookie Holmes.
San Diego State athletic director Jeff Schemmel agreed to a three-year contract extension. Schemmel, who worked for the Gophers athletic department from 1991 to 2003 and has been running the Aztecs athletic program since 2005, had one year remaining on his current deal and will continue to earn $257,000 a year.
Not only did former Twins pitchers Johan Santana (Mets) and Matt Garza (Rays) start Saturday, but so did Eric Milton, pitching for the Dodgers in his first major league appearance since 2007, when he pitched for the Reds.