Timberwolves “Dunks After Dark” Midnight Event

Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves will open their 2014-15 Training Camp, with a “Dunks After Dark” event at Bresnan Arena in the Taylor Center on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato. Doors will open to the public at 11:00 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29 with the Wolves expected to take the floor shortly after midnight.

Modeled after a traditional collegiate “Midnight Madness,” the Wolves’ Dunks After Dark event will be free and open to the public, featuring over an hour of Wolves entertainment, headlined by a scrimmage and a dunk contest involving  Wolves’ rookies Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine. NBA TV will be on hand to provide live coverage throughout the night. Media availability will follow the conclusion of the event.

Doors to Bresnan Arena will open at 11:00 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29. Tickets will be available to the general public and Minnesota State University, Mankato students at the Student Union Center beginning Monday, Sept. 29 at 10:30 a.m.

More details on Dunks After Dark, including an event schedule, will be issued the week prior to the event.  

Training camp is presented by the Hilton Garden Inn - Mankato.

The Timberwolves' 26th NBA season will tip off with the team's annual Media Day on Sept. 29 from 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at Target Center. The Wolves open preseason play with a game on Oct. 7 at the Indiana Pacers. Minnesota's first home preseason game is Oct. 10 vs. Philadelphia at Target Center.

Tickets now on sale for 2015 NCAA Men’s Hockey West Regional in Fargo

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota Athletics Department announced today that requests for tickets to the 2015 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey West Regional in Fargo, N.D., are now being accepted from North Dakota Champions Club (NDCC) members. The regional tournament will be held at SCHEELS Arena on March 27-28, 2015. A limited amount of tickets for UND students and a limited amount of tickets for general public will be available at a later date.
  

The opportunity for NDCC members to request tickets for the 2015 West Regional begins immediately and ends at 12 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 6. This special opportunity is available only to NDCC members and is a benefit of membership in NDCC.

Requests will be based on North Dakota Champions Club priority points. The descending NDCC list for 2015 West Regional tickets will be based on NDCC priority points as of 12 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014. NDCC members in the top 100 spots will have the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets per NDCC membership account, subject to availability. NDCC members ranking from No. 101 through 400 will have the opportunity to purchase up to four tickets per NDCC membership account, subject to availability. NDCC members No. 401 and beyond will have the opportunity to purchase a maximum of two tickets per NDCC membership account, subject to availability.

Requesting tickets does not guarantee tickets as ticket inventory for the 2015 West Regional is extremely limited.  

Callbacks from the Ralph Engelstad Arena Box Office to NDCC members who have requested tickets will begin on Oct. 9. NDCC ticket requests must be submitted via email to the Ralph Engelstad Arena Box Office at tickets@theralph.com. The subject line of the email must say “2015 West Regional Tickets.” The body of the email for NDCC ticket requests must include the following information: the NDCC account name; the number of tickets requested; and primary phone number along with a secondary phone number if applicable.

Questions about priority points and all NDCC matters should be directed to Champions Club Associate Director Val Sussex at 701.777.4078 or at vals@undfoundation.org. 

A limited number of tickets will be held for a general public on-sale that will start at 11 a.m. on Oct. 28. Those seeking to purchase tickets to the 2015 West Regional via the public on-sale may do so by visiting NCAA.com/FrozenFour.  

In addition, a limited number of 2015 West Regional tickets will be held exclusively for UND students. More information will be available to UND students at a later date. UND student tickets for the 2015 West Regional will be $69, and located in a student-only section which is standing room-only behind the North goal at SCHEELS Arena.

All tickets for the 2015 West Regional will be sold as a three-game package that includes the two semi-final games and the regional championship game. Ticket prices for NDCC members and the general public range from $74 to $89. 

Fort Wayne Mad Ants to be Minnesota Timberwolves 2014-15 NBA D-League Affiliate

Minneapolis/St. Paul – The NBA today announced that the Minnesota Timberwolves will be among 13 independent NBA teams affiliated with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for the 2014-15 NBA season. This is the first season the two teams have been paired as affiliates to develop young players. The Wolves had been paired with the Iowa Energy last season, and the Sioux Falls Skyforce for the previous seven seasons.

Minnesota will be able to send players to Fort Wayne for development or rehabilitation as part of the NBA D-League’s new flexible assignment system which will enable the 13 independent NBA teams to continue to assign players to the NBA D-League.

To accommodate assignments to Fort Wayne, the lone independent NBA D-League team, a flexible assignment system will be utilized when an independent NBA team assigns a player at a time when the Mad Ants already have either the maximum of four NBA players on assignment or two assigned players at the position of the NBA player who is being assigned. In either event, the NBA D-League will identify to the assigning NBA team any singly-affiliated NBA D-League team that is willing to accept the assigned player, and the independent NBA team assigning the player will choose a team from among those teams to assign the player. If no singly-affiliated NBA D-League team is willing to accept the assigned player, he will be assigned to one of the non-NBA-owned single affiliate teams pursuant to a lottery.

During the 2013-14 season, an all-time high 62 NBA players were assigned to their NBA D-League affiliates a record 187 times. Twenty-five players drafted in 2013 spent time on assignment in the NBA D-League last season, including 10 first-round selections. Portland Trail Blazers’ rookie C.J. McCollum, selected 10th overall, and Wolves rookie Shabazz Muhammad, selected 14th overall, headlined the group of 2013 NBA draftees who honed their skills in the NBA D-League last season.

The NBA Development League is the NBA’s official minor league, preparing players, coaches, officials, trainers, and front-office staff for the NBA while acting as the league’s research and development laboratory. Featuring 18 teams with affiliations with NBA franchise for the 2014-15 season, the league offers elite professional basketball at an affordable price in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. One-third of all NBA players at the end of the 2013-14 season boasted NBA D-League experience. In fostering the league’s connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote health and wellness, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. Fans can watch all NBA D-League games on nbadleague.com

UMC's Looker Named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week

BURNSVILLE, Minn.-  University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball player Brittany Looker (Jr., OH, Rochester, Minn.) was named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week Monday after her standout performance at the Maryville Invitational in St. Louis, which earned her Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors.

Looker averaged an impressive 5.35 kills per set and hit .302 for the weekend with seven service aces and a 2.82 digs per set average. In addition, the senior had a career-high 29 kills in a five-set thriller against Maryville University, in which the Golden Eagles came away with the victory. She had three matches with 20 or more kills and posted double-doubles against Saint Joseph’s College (Ind.) and Maryville with 17 digs against Saint Joseph’s and 14 versus Maryville. Looker was an All-NSIC First Team pick, the second in school history, during the 2013 season. 

Tahlyr Banks of Augustana College (S.D.) was named the Defensive Player of the Week, while Upper Iowa University’s Hailey Brown earned Setter of the Week honors.