Akeem Springs and Darin Haugh will be honored at Senior Night tomorrow

Donate To GopherHole
BleedGopher

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
62,782
Reaction score
20,201
Points
113
We really couldn't have asked for more from Springs than what he has given us (OK, I'll be greedy, we could have asked for his buzzer beater vs wisconsin to have gone in, cementing his legacy here forever) but absent of that, wow, what a great grad transfer he's been! I have to think he's one of the top producing grad transfers in the country this year.

In spite of the early twitter scares from his brother and his one tweet scaring us that he was bolting early, he's seemingly fit in with the program very well. He's been a leader, he's been a well-rounded player with some very strong D, he has had good selection for the most part and he's brought some toughness that we didn't always have in the back court. We do not win 7 straight without him. Mason and McBrayer are better guards because of him.

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 

Springs will be missed next year. He has provided a huge boost for the team and hit some really clutch shots at key times. I am sure he will get a great reception from the crowd when he is announced and it will be very well deserved.
 

Pretty great deal for Springs. Shrewd move to come to Minnesota, took a chance on a struggling program, and his gut feeling was right. It would feel more "right" if it was just his Senior Night. He's the guy who took a huge leap of faith with Pitino and the returning players. If this program goes where we think/hope it's headed, he'll be remembered fondly for a very long time.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Springs will be missed next year. He has provided a huge boost for the team and hit some really clutch shots at key times. I am sure he will get a great reception from the crowd when he is announced and it will be very well deserved.
Click to expand...

100%
 

When we talk of "losing only one" from this year's team, it really is a big one. He produced, played defense, was tough, and obviously provided much needed intangibles to this young team. The points can probably be replaced. The intangibles and the toughness I am not so sure. He deserves a massive ovation tomorrow.
 


I like when they honor guys who don't play much. Haugh is probably invaluable in practice taking reps and working as a scout team guy and committed A LOT of time to the program. He may be the equivalent of a JV basketball player who never gets in games at meaningful times but if he practices hard it helps the others.

And yeah, Springs has far exceeded expectations. Definitely has a 5th year senior body and that helps defensively and on some of the tough rebounds he has grabbed. I wish he had another year but hopefully he has helped the remaining players enough to push them further next year.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I like when they honor guys who don't play much. Haugh is probably invaluable in practice taking reps and working as a scout team guy and committed A LOT of time to the program. He may be the equivalent of a JV basketball player who never gets in games at meaningful times but if he practices hard it helps the others.

And yeah, Springs has far exceeded expectations. Definitely has a 5th year senior body and that helps defensively and on some of the tough rebounds he has grabbed. I wish he had another year but hopefully he has helped the remaining players enough to push them further next year.
Click to expand...

I would think the emergence of Springs has probably helped Dupree out quite a bit because it took a lot of pressure off of him to produce earlier in the year. Now Dupree really seems to be finding his game and taking on a much bigger role down the stretch run here.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I would think the emergence of Springs has probably helped Dupree out quite a bit because it took a lot of pressure off of him to produce earlier in the year. Now Dupree really seems to be finding his game and taking on a much bigger role down the stretch run here.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Toughness is often times learned. Dupree has been great the past few games and hopefully can continue into next year without the dips we've seen in his play. He struggled last year and struggled again when B1G play started. Maybe it is a coincidence but a leader like Springs can't hurt.
 

This is one of those times where you really wish we could have Akeem for another at least another year or two. We obviously got to see what he did on the court, which was big, but I think his contributions off the court were even bigger. He's really a leader, and even seeing him interact with the more shy guys on the team in the media room, you can tell how much he encourages them.
 



I had Springs pegged as a 3-point black hole after a few games.

I'm glad he proved me wrong.
 

Anyone thinks there is a chance Darin Haugh starts tomorrow night?
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Absolutely. Toughness is often times learned. Dupree has been great the past few games and hopefully can continue into next year without the dips we've seen in his play. He struggled last year and struggled again when B1G play started. Maybe it is a coincidence but a leader like Springs can't hurt.
Click to expand...

I think you will see a lot of growth maturity-wise out of Dupree. Many coaches say that the biggest year of growth is sophomore to junior years.
 

Holy Man said:
When we talk of "losing only one" from this year's team, it really is a big one. He produced, played defense, was tough, and obviously provided much needed intangibles to this young team. The points can probably be replaced. The intangibles and the toughness I am not so sure. He deserves a massive ovation tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Right. I pegged him as a three-point specialist and not much else early on in the season. Guys like that are nice role players. I figured he would be a nice fill in player for the year. As time's gone on......I've realized that he's not only the sharp shooter that was advertised......but he's solid all around. Won't be easy to replace.
 



I think we'll all miss Springs. Guy was a class act on the court and also extremely productive. He likes to shoot but didn't jack up a lot of terrible shots like some of our other 3 point threats from past years. This team is going to be different without him. I hope we can replace his production because it won't be easy.
 

Akeem was just what the doctor ordered. Pitino should get credit for this as well...recruited him, worked him into the rotation and clearly got the best from him. Our season would have looked much different without Akeem Spring.
Hats off!
 


It's a small universe but where does Springs rank amongst the best 1-year contributors to Gopher basketball? Humphries was a me-first numbers guy who played on a bad team, but nobody else comes to mind. I'll take Akeem's contributions to a winning season over Humphries' any day.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom