Published: February 10, 1998
Section: SPORTS
Page#: 03C
For Minneapolis CC, it's another season of nice surprises
By Patrick Reusse; Staff Writer   

This is Jay Pivec's eighth season as the men's basketball coach at Minneapolis Community College. Every winter, Pivec has surprises available in the small gym on Hennepin Avenue.

Pivec and assistant Ron Gates assemble such an amazing cast of characters that the steady, on-court influence with this season's bunch is Joshua Bausel, a veteran of the Joliet State Prison in Illinois. Bausel came to Minneapolis to change his life after the jail term and seems to be succeeding with this personal reformation.

There are five sophomore starters for the two-year school: 6-foot-1 Ben Classen at point, 6-3 Mike Spencer and 6-2 Bausel on the wing, and 6-5 Thomas Blunt and 6-5 Kenton Fisher on the inside. Two freshmen - 5-10 Kasim Withers and 6-8 1/2 Montrell Yancey - play as many minutes as the starters.

This winter's surprise is Yancey, 22, a player with leaping ability, mobility, touch and no prior experience in organized basketball. He was a senior at Roosevelt High in 1992-93, the winter the Teddies had four starters who later played Division I basketball:

center John Thomas, forward Bebop Walker and guards Sam Willis and Robert Mestas.

Yancey was a 6-5 senior. "I had played some pickup ball with all those guys - John, Bebop, Sam, Mestas," Yancey said. "But my mother [Linda] wouldn't let me play high school ball. She didn't think I was mature enough to handle basketball and still get good grades." Frank Hentges, Roosevelt's coach, was familiar with Yancey's talent. "Coach Hentges made a couple calls to our house, to try to convince my mother that basketball would be a benefit to me," Yancey said. "She wouldn't budge."

After graduating with those good grades in 1993, Yancey worked various jobs around Minneapolis. During this time, Johnny Griffin graduated from Roosevelt and went to Minneapolis CC to play for Pivec. Last year, Griffin hooked up Yancey with Gates.

Yancey told his mother that he wanted to enroll at Minneapolis - and he would need some financial assistance to do so. "She said she would go along with it, as long as I was getting good grades here," Yancey said.

So far, Yancey's grades are good, and so is his game. One more season and he figures to join the group who have received Division I or II scholarships.

Clem wants Koenen

Minneapolis' latest victory was 107-85 over Ridgewater CC on Sunday. The visitors from Willmar withered in the final 10 minutes against Minneapolis' full-court pressure. Ridgewater freshman Scott Koenen, a 6-7 forward, was outstanding, shooting 11 of 16 and scoring 28 points.

Koenen's brother Mike played two years at Ridgewater and is now a 6-6 junior starter at Southwest State. Younger brother Chad is a 6-10 senior center at MACCRAY High in Clara City.

Earlier this winter, it appeared that the Koenen brothers planned to assemble at Southwest State next fall for one season together. That could change now that the Gophers have taken an interest in Chad - taller, thicker and nearly as mobile as his brothers. Chad was the Gophers' guest at Saturday's victory over Michigan. "[Coach] Clem Haskins would like Chad to walk-on, with the possibility of a scholarship if one opens up," Scott said. "I don't know if Chad wants to do that. If there was a solid offer of a scholarship, I'm sure Chad would be interested."

Search for power

The Twins have been ridiculed nationally for the players they received in the trade for second baseman Chuck Knoblauch. The Yankees were lauded for being able to hold onto Ricky Ledee, considered by many as an outfielder ready for the majors. The Twins insist they preferred the 6-4, 225-pound Brian (Buck) Buchanan over the 6-1, 170-pound Ledee. It is the continuation of the philosophy to get bigger and stronger that the Twins adopted entering the 1997 June draft.

There had been jokes that the Twins - with players such as Kirby Puckett and Knoblauch, followed by Marty Cordova, Rich Becker, Matt Lawton and Todd Walker - should be playing in an under-6-feet league.

The Twins were 13th in the American League in home runs with 120 in 1995, 14th (last) with 118 in 1996, and last again with 132 in 1997. Those numbers tell you why the Twins have spent the past 18 months trying to add power to the organization.

It started with the acquisition of first base prospect David Ortiz from Seattle for Dave Hollins in August 1996. It continued with the expenditure of $3.5 million to sign the first three picks in the 1997 draft - shortstop Michael Cuddyer, catcher Matt LeCroy and outfielder Mike Restovich. At season's end, the Twins took Steve Hacker, a 6-5, 235-pound first baseman, from Atlanta to complete a trade for catcher Greg Myers. The Twins also protected Corey Koskie, a 6-3, 215-pound third baseman with power potential, over Brent Brede, a line drive-hitting outfielder, in the expansion draft.

The timetable on this influx of power with the Twins would be this: Buchanan and Ortiz in mid-1998, Koskie in 1999, LeCroy and possibly Hacker in 2000, and Cuddyer and Restovich soon thereafter.

Return to top
© Copyright 2002 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.