JOTTINGS

• Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck recently talked about how transfers Micah Dew-Treadway and Gervarrius Owens can help the team immediately: "Dew-Treadway, the defensive tackle from Notre Dame, will help us and he will play. We get him for one year and maybe, hopefully, for two. … Owens is a guy we signed and we have him for three years, which is really good because we need some depth in the secondary."

• Former Gophers coach Jerry Kill was named the athletic director at Southern Illinois on Thursday. He was the acting AD since April 2018. That promotion couldn't have happened to a better or more deserving person.

• The New York Times ran a story last week about Sports Reference, which operates many popular statistical websites including Baseball Reference. The story quoted Twins GM Thad Levine, who noted the team hired Hans Van Slooten away from the company to be a baseball systems operator last year.

• Timberwolves rookie Josh Okogie took part in the NBA Rising Stars Game on Friday after his best game as a pro in Wednesday's 121-111 victory over Houston. Okogie had 16 points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. "We saw him grow up in a lot of ways," interim coach Ryan Saunders said. … All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half of that game, shooting 10-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-4 from three-point range. He added nine rebounds, five assists and a pair of blocked shots. … Maybe Andrew Wiggins, who missed the victories over the Clippers and Rockets because of illness, should come off the bench and be successful like Taj Gibson has the past couple of games.

• The Gophers really miss point guard Nate Mason, who was recently claimed by the Texas Legends of the NBA G League. In two games, Mason has averaged 4.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals.