JOTTINGS
• It's interesting that the Gophers men's basketball team offered six local players in the 2017 class and none of them chose to play for Richard Pitino. Now they have five scholarships in the 2018 class, and landing Daniel Oturu from Cretin-Derham Hall this past week is a big deal. That 2018 class also features Race Thompson of Armstrong and Tre Jones of Apple Valley. And looking ahead to 2019, maybe one of the top-rated state high school players in recent years is Matthew Hurt out of Rochester John Marshall, who has already been offered by the U and whose brother, Michael, plays for the Gophers.
• Speaking of Gophers recruiting, four-star signee Isaiah Washington, who is playing at St. Raymond High School in New York City and is ranked as the 62nd-best player in the country by Rivals.com, recently had Knicks star Carmelo Anthony come to his game after Washington invited him. Washington finished with a triple-double — 29 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists — and scored 15 points in the final eight minutes as his squad beat Bishop Loughlin 85-84.
• Former Gophers Ra'Shede Hageman and De'Vondre Campbell with the Atlanta Falcons, Eric Murray with the Kansas City Chiefs and Damien Wilson with the Dallas Cowboys made Jerry Kill and his staff look good in the NFL playoffs. Now Hageman and Campbell will appear in the Super Bowl next week. As for future pros, Damarius Travis has an opportunity to play in the NFL. He was the only Gophers player at the Senior Bowl, making six tackles as the South beat the North 16-15 Saturday.
• The Vikings are considered the No. 2 favorite in the NFC North to reach the Super Bowl next season as Las Vegas has them going off at +3,300. The Packers, not surprisingly, are the favorite at +1,000.
• The NHL's list of its 100 greatest players revealed Friday included both the GM (Bobby Clarke) and coach (Bob Gainey) of the 1990-91 North Stars team that reached the Stanley Cup Final, as well as that team's star, Mike Modano.