It’s been about three decades since the Gophers lineup
Lourawls Nairn Jr., a 5-foot-10, 165-pound point guard from Wichita (KS) Sunrise Christian Academy, will visit Minnesota Wednesday and attend the Golden Gophers’ season-opening football game versus UNLV.
Nairn, who is known as “Tum-Tum”, is also considering Oklahoma and Indiana.
Gopher Hole caught up Nairn Monday afternoon to learn the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: Originally, you were going to visit Oklahoma this past weekend. You didn’t go there, right?
Lourawls Nairn: No, I didn’t. I am going there September 6th.
Gopher Hole: What was the reason you decided to switch dates?
Lourawls Nairn: No reason. My coach talked about it and I think that they wanted me to go down to a football game.
Gopher Hole: You are coming up to Minnesota this week. When are leaving?
Lourawls Nairn: Wednesday.
Gopher Hole: What are you expecting to learn about Minnesota on your visit?
Lourawls Nairn: I just want to see what hey have to offer. See the campus and stuff like that. Just see the school. Mainly, just whatever they throw at me. I can expect the same thing from every visit. I am going to go there open-minded. It is my first official visit. I am really excited to go up there and see what happens.
Gopher Hole: Was there a reason you decided to make Minnesota your first visit or is just the way it worked out?
Lourawls Nairn: No, that is just how it happened. They wanted me to get down for the football game also.
Gopher Hole: Are you still going to visit Indiana?
Lourawls Nairn: Yes, sir. I will. September 20th.
Gopher Hole: How hard was it to get to three schools?
Lourawls Nairn: It was tough, but I had a lot of great schools recruiting me. I prayed about it and these were the three schools that fit me the best.
Gopher Hole: Was it hard to tell some of those schools that had been recruiting you for awhile no?
Lourawls Nairn: Yes. It was difficult. I never did anything like that before. People recruit you hard and it is disappointing to them, but that is life. That is how it works. It is not the first time that it happened. It is just the first time that I was in that situation, but they understood where I was coming from. They just told me ‘Good luck with my decision.”
Gopher Hole: Oklahoma has a kid that played at Sunrise Academy with you, Buddy Hield, who is also from the Bahamas. Is that a strong reason why you are looking at Oklahoma or is that just an extra bonus?
Lourawls Nairn: I think that it is an extra because he is like my best friend, but he is not the reason that Oklahoma is top three, though. It is actually because I played with him before and I know that he is a winner, but it is in my Top three because they were my first offer from when I was a sophomore. They were always there. We have a great relationship.
Gopher Hole: Are you familiar with Mychal Thompson at all? Have you ever heard of him from the Bahamas?
Lourawls Nairn: Yes, sir. I have heard of him.
Gopher Hole: How about Ozzie Lockhart? Have you heard of him?
Lourawls Nairn: No, sir.
Gopher Hole: They were both from the Bahamas and played for Minnesota. I didn’t know if they were before your time or if you were familiar with them. Obviously, Mychal Thompson is probably the best player to ever come out of the Bahamas. He was a number one draft pick. I don’t know if you know much about him. Did you know about him before or did the Minnesota coaches tell you about him coming up here?
Lourawls Nairn: I knew about him. I knew about him a long time ago.
Gopher Hole: Have you met him before?
Lourawls Nairn: No, sir. I have never met him.
Gopher Hole: What is going to be the main thing now that you are down to three schools that is going to make you pick School A over School B or C??
Lourawls Nairn: I think I’ll just know where the right place is. I prayed about it. Talked to God about it. When I go on my visits, I know that all three are going to be great and it is going to be crazy, but I can’t keep my emotions wrapped up seeing all the things that they are going to show me on my visits. I want to stay open-minded and I think that God is going to let me know if it is the right place for me and obviously, where I fit in with the program and how I can help them.
Gopher Hole: Do you think that there is any way that you would commit before all three visits or are you pretty much committed to taking all three visits before you decide?
Lourawls Nairn: I’ll take all three. I am going to take all three.
Gopher Hole: What do you like about Oklahoma the most?
Lourawls Nairn: They play fast and they play my game, offensively and defensively. I have a great relationship with the coaches and they have always been there. They have always been around. That is a big thing for me to have a relationship with the coaching staff. Know that they have a family bond. That is a big thing with them.
Gopher Hole: What about Minnesota? What do you like about them the most?
Lourawls Nairn: Coach Pitino wants to play fast, also. He wants to get up and down the floor, like his dad and get up on people on defense. I like how they have recruited me. Ever since they have been recruiting me, they have been recruiting me hard.
Gopher Hole: What about Indiana? What do you like about them the most?
Lourawls Nairn: They play my game also. Tom Crean is a great coach. He is a tough coach. He knows what he is doing. They are really good at developing players. Players who are not highly ranked. They come in there and they get better. You see Victor Oladipo. He wasn’t even ranked out of high school and he was the number two pick in the draft. I think that he is a really tough coach. He wants to win. Every year, they are in the NCAA Tournament.
Gopher Hole: Indiana has a very good point guard in Yogi Ferrell. Would that be a concern that if he didn’t turn pro, you might not play as much as a freshman, where at the other two schools you would probably play sooner than you might at Indiana. Or is that really a factor?
Lourawls Nairn: No. I wouldn’t say that that is a factor to me because no matter where I go, I know that I have to fight for playing time because all teams are going to have point guards, so that is not going to be a factor for me. It doesn’t matter to me who is in front of me. I am going to go and practice every day. Practice as hard as I can and compete as hard as I can when I am on the court, but obviously I want to play.