Williams loses round in court in dispute over U coaching job

It must have been a big surprise to Jimmy Williams and his attorney, Richard Hunegs, when Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu ruled that Williams had no claims in his suit against the University of Minnesota over quitting his job as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State so he could take a job as an assistant under new coach Tubby Smith.

Williams claimed that the reason he didn't get the Gophers job was that Athletic Director Joel Maturi overruled Smith because Williams had been involved in some NCAA recruiting violations when he had worked for coach Jim Dutcher.

Hunegs was convinced that, under any circumstances, they would win a good settlement for Williams, who is now out of a job.

Maturi has made it clear that his policy is not to hire any coaches who have been in trouble with the NCAA, and for that reason, Williams wasn't going to be on the Gophers staff because of his previous NCAA violations with Minnesota.

According to University of Minnesota attorney Mark Rotenberg, "the judge said that essentially all of [Williams'] claims lacked legal merit, had not been filed in the proper court and that Maturi had a privilege ... to make the call he did."

Rotenberg said that the judge didn't go into detail regarding her decision, but only that Williams' claims lacked merit.

Hunegs could not be reached for comment. But in my conversations with him about the case, he had been very confident that Williams would win the case.

McKinnie gone? It might take some convincing from Rick Spielman, Vikings vice president of personnel, and Vikings coach Brad Childress for club owner Zygi Wilf to keep Bryant McKinnie after the offensive lineman was charged with a felony and three misdemeanors after a brawl outside a Miami nightclub.

And it's possible, and probably likely, that Spielman and Childress won't make any effort to keep McKinnie and they might be on the phone these days trying to make a deal for the former Miami star.

While Childress won't talk much about the recent McKinnie incident, but it is obvious with four arrests in the past six years, the tackle has made the coach very upset.

Furthermore, McKinnie is a cinch to get some type of punishment from the league and there is a question of when McKinnie would be available to play.

Offensive tackle is not one of the strengths of the Vikings. So the McKinnie situation gives them an offseason problem they never anticipated.

Quarterback Gus Frerotte, who was released by the St. Louis Rams, left here Thursday without signing a contract, but the Vikings are going to make every effort to sign the 14-year veteran. Frerotte was headed for Pittsburgh to spend Easter with relatives. About the fact he has been with so many clubs he said: "It's kind of like what my wife and I always talk about: we don't have any roots anymore -- maybe our roots are moving around. I think that's what our kids like to think."

Jottings The Twins have sold more than 1,000 season club seats for the new stadium. The ticket will sell in the area of $55 per ticket, making a season ticket for the club seats around $5,000.

Former Twins pitcher Johan Santana has a 4.50 ERA and has allowed 13 hits in 14 innings for the Mets this spring. ... Another former Twin, Torii Hunter, is having a great spring, hitting .444 with 10 RBI, three home runs, two triples and five doubles for the Angels. ... Former Gopher and St. Paul native Jack Hannahan, who could be the starting third baseman for the Oakland Athletics this season, is hitting .283 with four doubles and six RBI this spring.

The Pohlad family bought the Ford Centre across the street from the new ballpark, and the building -- which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places -- might be remodeled for condominiums and other uses.

The Raiders are definitely not going to bring back quarterback Daunte Culpepper, and to date the former Viking doesn't have a job for the 2008 season.

The clinic will start at the hotel and conclude at Bierman. Headline speakers will include scout Paul Wiggin and special teams coordinator Paul Ferraro of the Vikings, coach Tim Brewster and defensive coordinator Ted Roof of the Gophers, coach John Gagliardi of St. John's and some outstanding outstate high school coaches.

Cole Aldrich, the former Bloomington Jefferson basketball star now playing for Kansas, has the good fortune to be playing in the NCAA basketball tournament as a freshman. During the regular season the 6-10 reserve center averaged 2.9 points and 3.2 rebounds. He played 10 minutes in the opening round on Thursday against Portland State, and had two points and two rebounds.

Marcus Freeman, the former Cretin-Derham Hall and Notre Dame football player, was on the Giants practice squad last year, and the team recently signed the tight end to a contract for the coming season. ... One former Gophers baseball player who has a chance of playing in the major leagues one day is outfielder Luke Appert, the former Park High School all-around athlete. Appert was picked by the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft from Oakland after hitting .304 in 125 games between A and AA in 2007.