Former Minnesota Basketball Star(s) Making Waves on ‘The Bachelorette’

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The very popular ABC reality TV series, ‘The Bachelor / Bachelorette‘ takes over televisions across America at least two nights every week and it never takes breaks. Sports have off-seasons, this show doesn’t.

My household is no different. It’s one of 347 weekly reality shows my wife has packed into our DVR and it might be her favorite. In the latest rendition of ‘The Bachelorette’, which just premiered last week, one contestant caught my attention.

If you’re a Minnesota basketball fan, the name “Joe Coleman” might ring a bell for you too. That’s right, Hopkins own Mr. Basketball and former Gopher, is now a contestant on one of history’s most popular reality TV shows. And he’s not some background dude who gets eliminated in the first week. No, Joe may have worn #11 when he played for the Gophers but he made waves in episode #1 of “The Bachelorette”.

The Bachelorette, Minnesota Edition

If you’re a Minnesotan who’s never gotten into this series, now might be the time to jump in. The Bachelorette, Michelle Young, is also from the land of 10,000 lakes and she has a her own high-level basketball background. Now an elementary school teacher in Burnsville, Young once starred for the Woodbury Women’s basketball team where she made her own run at Minnesota’s Ms. Basketball, before playing under scholarship for D1 Bradley University.

Joe Coleman (Hopkins) was Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball in 2011 and played for the Gophers from 2011-2013 before transferring to St. Mary’s, where he played for one season. He never lived up to the Top-100 status he had as a high school prospect, averaging just 7.1 PPG in 22 minutes per night during his college career.

Hopefully that’s not the way things end for him on the show.

First Episode Drama

As you can collect from the promotional clip above, Michelle Young and Joe Coleman had met before he stepped out of that limo on national TV. Viewers would go on to find out that the two went back and forth through social media direct messages before Joe “ghosted” her.

After talking about their feelings and after Coleman blamed the George Floyd tragedy for his “ghosting”, the two were able to move on. Joe has now made it through two episodes and remains someone the storyline is centering around.

If you’re an avid fan of “The Bachelorette” and want to see the show unfold without spoilers, I’d recommend you exit this blog now.

**Spoiler Alert**

We’re pretty sure Joe Coleman becomes a major focal point of the show, at least early. Both Young and Coleman threw out the first pitch during a Minnesota Twins game back in August. According to Cosmopolitan.com (yes, I’m citing Cosmo), that means he made it past cut #4. My wife tells me that Tuesday night’s episode aired cut #2.

I might have to watch the next couple of episodes and might even become an every-night fan if this blog gets a bunch of views. Two former Minnesota basketball stars falling in love… What could possibly go wrong?

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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