MinnesotaSportsScene.com

Tragedy struck close to home for Gophers men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith on Sunday; his nephew, William Smith, 19, a Becker College student in Scotland, MD, was stabbed once in the chest following a fight at an off-campus apartment. He died shortly thereafter.

“We lost a special young man last night,” Tubby Smith said in a statement released by Minnesota. “The grieving process will take some time for my brother and his family, but I know that they appreciate and will need all the support.”

An autopsy was scheduled for today (Monday) and the results have not yet been announced; the murder weapon was recovered at the scene and no arrests have been made yet, though Maryland police are believed to be hard at work on the case.

This is never the kind of news that’s fun to report; our prayers go to all of the Smith family during their tragic loss. Hopefully this blog can soon return to it’s usual sports frivolity and occasional wacky off-topic references to things like sweet potato pie.

California point guard Justin Cobbs committed to the Minnesota Gophers on Sunday, delivering coach Tubby Smith the first pure point guard of his stint in Minnesota. Cobbs is considered a three-star prospect by most experts, but has been highly recruited and made his decision while visiting the campus at the same time as another prime Gophers target, Rodney Williams Jr., a forward who ranks Top 50 nationally but hasn’t announced his decision yet.

Cobbs joins a 2009 recruiting class that already includes a Top 20 talent, Royce White, who committed last spring to the Gophers. If Tubby can land Williams Jr. and add a decent big man, he’ll be well on his way to having one of the top recruiting classes nationally, and maybe the top class in the Big 10, for a second year in a row, which would be a Gophers feat worth its weight in unlocked cell phones.

Well, the Minnesota Vikings finally came up with their first win of the season, but it took until game three, and a QB change, to secure it. The win game against the acne treatments-needing, so-called “Cardiac Cats,” the Carolina Panthers, who the Vikes have done very well against over the years since Carolina entered the league.

The 20-10 victory may not seem like a lot to write home about, but at least it wasn’t a loss. MinnesotaSportsScene.com was among the first to question whether T-Jack had the drive to be a starting QB, and the answer, finally, seems to be, “Nope.” We don’t revel in being right, this time.

Still, when a 37-year-old journeyman signal caller like Gus Frerotte can outperform you, something’s wrong. And that’s what happened Sunday as Frerotte led Minnesota to a long-awaited first win of the season.

Star RB Adrian Peterson carried only 17 times for 77 yards, but it was enough to help the passing game while Peterson doesn’t overwork his ailing hammy. The important thing, again, is it was a win.