Minnesota men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith promised his graduating seniors that he would do everything within his power to help them in their quest to take their games to the next level.
True to his word, Smith called up Timberwolves management and asked if they would be willing to take a look at three of his former players: Golden Gophers guard Lawrence McKenzie, center Spencer Tollackson and power forward Dan Coleman – a request the Wolves were happy to accommodate.
The Gophers' tri-captains from a season ago, who were largely responsible for helping Minnesota rebound from a program-worst 9-22 season in 2006-07, to a respectable 20-14 mark in Smith’s first season in Minneapolis in 2007-08, were joined by three other local draft eligible prospects – Winona State guard Jonte Flowers and forward John Smith and Minnesota State-Mankato center Atila Santos – Friday afternoon at Target Center.
Despite their college image as “stars” as Big Ten basketball players, all three Gophers were giddy about the chance to work out for the team they grew up idolizing.
Homegrown talent … Homegrown fans
Tollackson’s affection for the Wolves started at, of all places, a suburban restaurant. As Tollackson remembers, when he was in elementary school he met former Timberwolves forward Tom Gugliotta at an Eden Prairie Fuddruckers. From that day - in which Gugliotta autographed a T-shirt for him - and into the Kevin Garnett Era, Tollackson became a diehard Wolves fan.
So when Wolves assistant GM Rob Babcock called Tollackson last week and asked him if he would like to showcase his skills at Target Center, the Chaska native was ecstatic.
“I called my parents right away,” Tollackson said. “Being a Minnesota kid, it means a lot to work out for your home team. If we pursue it after this that would be great, if not, I gave it my best shot.”
The 6-9, 260-pound Tollackson, who averaged 9.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in his final collegiate season, has signed with NBA agent Bill Duffy's group, BDA Sports Management - the firm that represents many top NBA prospects including Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and Yao Ming.
The theatre major - if this whole basketball thing doesn’t work out, Tollackson plans on being on a TV set near you soon - will work out in Indiana for the Pacers next week and then entertain offers from European teams if no NBA summer league offers come around.
“I want to play as long as I can,” he said. “It would be great it was (in the NBA), but if not I'd love to go overseas and play as well. There are not too many guys my size walking around these days so I figure God put me here to play basketball.”
Tollackson, who finished his collegiate career in sixth place on the Gophers all-time field goal percentage list at 52.5 percent, said regardless of what happens going forward, he’s glad he accepted the Wolves’ invitation.
“It was fun. I met Mr. McHale before and Mr. Hoiberg - he was probably one of my favorite Timberwolves - so it was fun to meet those guys again and actually show them what I can do and play for them a little bit.”
Lawrence McKenzie could hardly control his excitement before arriving to the Wolves Practice Facility. McKenzie, who averaged a Minnesota team-high 11.8 points per game last season and owns the Minnesota single-season record for three-pointers in (79 in 2007-08), said he was antsy for the opportunity to show NBA personnel his game.
“I was just so anxious to get here, I barely slept last night. I was walking around in circles at my house this morning,” McKenzie said. “It's just a dream come true, like everything I've worked for is finally here and I've got a chance to do what I want to do.”
The Minneapolis native said he hopes his chances of latching on to an NBA team’s roster were enhanced by his performance in front of Wolves’ brass on Friday.
“My main goal is the NBA,” explained McKenzie. “If that doesn't happen, we'll see what happens from there, but I'm working hard to make the NBA. You shoot for the moon so you land on the stars.”
“When my time comes, I try to do the best I can,” McKenzie continued. “We'll see after (Friday). I thought I did pretty well out here, so hopefully I'll get a chance to get on a summer league roster and show myself a little bit more.”
Forgive Dan Coleman for not wanting to take off the Wolves practice gear he dawned Friday afternoon. Coleman, who is tied for the second most games played in U of M men's basketball history (127) and ended his college career in 15th place on Minnesota's career points list (1,317) was, not surprisingly, like his college teammates a huge Timberwolves fan growing up.
“If they let me, I'll keep everything,” said Coleman, who has long tried to make it to as many home Wolves games as he can fit into his schedule.
The lengthy the 6-9, 225-pound forward, who averaged 11.6 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds in his last season, played predominately at power forward in college, but due to his shooting range, could be asked to play small forward when he moves his game to the pro level. Coleman said he is equally comfortable playing either forward spot.
“I could be a little bit of everything, a combination,” he said. “Go big I can play the three, go small I can play the four.”
The Minneapolis product, who like his Maroon and Gold counterparts is listening to offers from overseas, has also signed with BDA Sports Management, but said he won’t make a hasty decision on his future.
“It has to make sense,” Coleman said. It’s not that time to make a decision but when it will be I'll sit down with my agent and make an educated decision on what's best for me, so we'll see.”
While all three Gophers’ futures are still up in the air, one thing is seemingly apparent: Tubby Smith – who has produced a plethora of NBA-ready talent (Tayshaun Prince, Rajon Rondo to name a few) - is as good as they come at preparing his players for the expectations demanded at the next level.
“Coach Smith is a tough coach,” said Coleman. “(The NBA pre-draft workout) was very similar to Coach Smith’s individual (workouts), so we were well prepared.”
Said Tollackson: “He said he'd do anything to help us and he's done a great job of that so far.”
