The first time I ever came to Minneapolis was a little over three years ago, when I was 16 years old.  I’ve been a kid that traveled a lot growing up with vacations, but even being from Southeast Wisconsin, I’ve never been to the state of Minnesota.  As I was trimming down my possible college destinations, the University of Minnesota stuck out like a sore thumb.  It’s a Big Ten school, great academics, and a city lifestyle.

There was one thing that troubled me, the professional sports.  I would never switch back to the American League and become a Twins fan, especially with how likeable a team the Milwaukee Brewers had and how much Miller Park meant to me.  The land of cheese and brats could never allow a Packers fan to right the ship to the Metrodome and be a Vikings fan.  But, there was one sport that could change my mind, basketball.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were kicked in the groin after the departure of Kevin Garnett, leaving a team without a true identity with only bits and pieces trying to mash to fit the puzzle.

That 2007-2008 team had a group of guys that would make any basketball expert throw up in their mouth.  Al Jefferson, Antoine Walker, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, Corey Brewer, Randy Foye, Rashad McCants, Sebastian Telfair…among others.  That team ended up with a record of 22-60, and the only good thing that came from that was the draft rights to Kevin Love.

The following season wasn’t perfect by any means either, and the seasons since still have been brutal, but the hope in Minneapolis changed one night in June of 2009.

I came and visited the University of Minnesota and left with a smile knowing that this was going to be the perfect destination for me once senior year ended.  With the state of Minnesota in my future, the 2009 NBA draft was extremely important to me.  Only two months remained before I journeyed off into college, into the abyss of unknown, full of shameless parties and hazy nights.  Having sports figures that I could actually root for was going to be important to have since I’d be miles away from Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Andrew Bogut, and so many more.

I glued myself to the big screen television in my living room to watch the NBA draft.  The picks began to fall: Blake Griffin, Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden, Tyreke Evans.  It was time for the Timberwolves to select back-to-back picks after trading with the Wizards in the Mike Miller/Randy Foye deal.  I had a hunch that the Timberwolves were going to take the best player in my opinion in the entire draft; some squirrely point guard with amazing skill and court vision out of Spain.  Finally, David Stern walked up to the microphone at the WaMu Theatre in Madison Square Garden.  He cleared his voice, the crowd got silent, and then he spoke.

“With the fifth pick of the 2009 NBA draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves select Ricky Rubio…”

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New York booed because they wanted him.  Tables around Rubio applauded his young talent.  The experts at the ESPN table thought the pick was perfect.  The most talked about player coming into the draft was going to go to the Twin Cities and play for an organization that still needed a new identity.

As we all know, the story didn’t have such a happy ending after that selection.  Chaos broke loose when general manager David Kahn decided to take another point guard, Jonny Flynn out of the University of Syracuse, with the sixth pick.  Rubio ended up deciding to go back to play for his team in Barcelona for two more seasons.  The struggles continued on the court for the Twolves, becoming a laughing stock in basketball.

Fast-forward to this day, Friday June 17, 2011.  It’ll be a day that’ll live infamously for basketball fans and the entire state of Minnesota.  In a press conference this morning, Rubio announced that he would take his talents to the hub of the Mississippi River, to the Target Center, to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Rubio means so much more to the city of Minneapolis and the Timberwolves organization than people realize.  He has been that first real beacon of hope since the departure of the fierce Kevin Garnett.  He’ll be able to come to Minnesota with a solid group of good young players.  There’s Kevin Love, the double-double machine, and Wesley Johnson, fresh off of his rookie season.  There’s also the misfits of Darko Milicic, the man that people laugh about from the 2003 NBA draft, and Michael Beasley, the former number two overall pick from only a few years ago.

With those players and others, there’s a sense of ambition and expectation in the Twin Cities again.  Getting to twenty wins shouldn’t be the goal for the Timberwolves.  Making the playoffs again should be the target.