St. Paul, Minn. ? Former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson, a strong booster of the University of Minnesota and its sports programs, said he’s delighted that many people have recommended he become a candidate for the Minnesota presidency.

Carlson, however, recommends Kansas State President Jon Wefald.

“We need a person with a heavy academic background, a Ph.D. or some form of doctorate, who has spent part of their career in college teaching,” Carlson said. “The person to focus on is (former head of the Minnesota Agriculture Commission) Jon Wefald, who fits us perfectly.

“His strength is in rebuilding athletics, which he did at Kansas State and which led to a rebuilding of fund-raising, which allowed him to provide for a good faculty. He’s a Democrat, he’s wonderful and I adore him.”

Carlson is a Republican.

At Kansas State, Wefald personally meets with sports recruits when they make their campus visits. Gophers senior associate athletic director Jeff Schemmel, who has a lot of support for the Gophers athletics director vacancy, was with Wefald at Kansas State.