Hey! Look at who is back in the transfer portal and who else just entered it

Well, I'm in my mid-sixties and I love it! It's about time that student athletes are allowed to move to another place without restrictions, at least for once in their careers.

Its great for the Gophers, if we get the right Coach who can pull the right transfers then away we go. Who wouldn't want to play in the B1G?
 


It was a mess, during the nadir of the Monson years. I'm going on dusty memories here, but he left midway through the season or right at the end (might have been injured?) as he was dissatisfied with his role (this was the year Kris Humphries was here). He transferred to Arkansas, enrolled in classes, but then returned and NCAA didn't take away any eligibility. He came back just as Ben Johnson and Adam Boone transferred in-it was the height of Minnesota preps returning home after choosing other programs. (anyone who thinks the Pitino years were a mess has a sketchy memory when compared to Monson).

In one of my most wildly hyperbolic and mistaken statements, I posed the thought that Boone, Johnson and Hargrow could be the Gophers version of the Illini's three headed monster of Deron Williams, Dee Brown, and Luther Head. I've shied away from predictions ever since.
Anyone moaning about the Pitino era could have no experience with the Monson era. Very different and difficult circumstances for Monson with recruiting restrictions and the like, but it was a disaster. His last game against Clemson at the Barn has to down as one of the worst nights there ever.

For the uninitiated, this board had something called the “bitter end “ club. It had posters writing soap opera dialogue using the players, coach, and some posters as protagonists, and included the memorable separation of the Gopherhole from the Rivals network who banned a whole pile of us from their boards. Memories. Vivid memories. Not all good memories. But vivid. Today is calm compared to that.
 

I wouldn't assume it's an exodus ... the player landscape has changed a lot in college basketball ... with a Coaching change, it's an opportunity for the player to be "re-recruited" ... why not have the new coach convince you to stay and at the same time, see what other schools are offering.

It's pretty clear that kids pick schools based on the coach. The new portal and transfer rules give them the power to make sure they want to play for the new coach.
Because the new coach may not want you nor any other decent school giving you an offer-- if so you've just lost your scholarship.
 

Maybe I'm just showing my mid-30s age but I just despise the amount of transfers there are each year.
The big losers in the open transfer market are the JC players. There used to be an incentive to take a JC as they could play right away. That's now lost as anyone can play right away. Coaches will now pick a D1 player over a JC player. Watch "Last Chance" on Netflix to see a great documentary on what it means to JC players to get a scholarship.
 


Why? Has he grown taller or gotten quicker?

Pitino said that he was a very good shooter when he recruited him. He wasn't great his freshman year but he still hit .346 on threes. Since then, he's been much better, albeit against weaker competition, but he is three years older now and was .438 this year. For a one-year grad transfer, I definitely take him as a shooting specialist.
 

Anyone moaning about the Pitino era could have no experience with the Monson era. Very different and difficult circumstances for Monson with recruiting restrictions and the like, but it was a disaster. His last game against Clemson at the Barn has to down as one of the worst nights there ever.

For the uninitiated, this board had something called the “bitter end “ club. It had posters writing soap opera dialogue using the players, coach, and some posters as protagonists, and included the memorable separation of the Gopherhole from the Rivals network who banned a whole pile of us from their boards. Memories. Vivid memories. Not all good memories. But vivid. Today is calm compared to that.

I wasn't paying attention then but, looking back at the results from that year, that was quite a streak that ended with the Clemson game:

Lost to Iowa State at home by 5 (they had a losing season that year)
Lost to Marist by 7 on a neutral court
Lost to Southern Illinois by 16 on a neutral court
Lost to Montana by 7 on a neutral court
Lost to Clemson by 22 at home
 


Gotta admit, the massive turnover and transfers makes me lose a little interest in CBB. I guess it is great for the players to be able to move around as they please, but doesn't mean that it is good for the game or fans.
 










Gonzaga in 1999 was roughly the equivalent of Illinois-Chicago today. Who wants to go hire an ASSISTANT off the Illinois-Chicago staff to be our next coach? Stop it. Mark Few was never a candidate at MN.

If we're going back and revising history, let's prioritize getting the AD a working phone line to reach John Wooden!
 


Gotta admit, the massive turnover and transfers makes me lose a little interest in CBB. I guess it is great for the players to be able to move around as they please, but doesn't mean that it is good for the game or fans.
The one and done trend made it a lot tougher to really develop any sort of attachment to the top players in college basketball.

For the most part thought the Gophers have had guys around for multiple years.
 

I wasn't paying attention then but, looking back at the results from that year, that was quite a streak that ended with the Clemson game:

Lost to Iowa State at home by 5 (they had a losing season that year)
Lost to Marist by 7 on a neutral court
Lost to Southern Illinois by 16 on a neutral court
Lost to Montana by 7 on a neutral court
Lost to Clemson by 22 at home
Really miserable. Coach Molinari was the interim after Monson got canned in December. He’s a great guy. That was a really bad team. If I recall they list all three games at Disney at Thanksgiving. Brutal.
 

Really miserable. Coach Molinari was the interim after Monson got canned in December. He’s a great guy. That was a really bad team. If I recall they list all three games at Disney at Thanksgiving. Brutal.

The amazing thing is that even in that year and Pitino's truly horrific year (2016), neither of those coaches finished last in the conference. There were actually teams each year that were worse. For the majority of my adult life I've been an Iowa fan and I suffered through the terrible 3 year tenure of Todd Lickliter. As bad as he was, he never finished last either (mostly because Indiana's probation teams coincided with his tenure).
 

The big losers in the open transfer market are the JC players. There used to be an incentive to take a JC as they could play right away. That's now lost as anyone can play right away. Coaches will now pick a D1 player over a JC player. Watch "Last Chance" on Netflix to see a great documentary on what it means to JC players to get a scholarship.


I never watched Hoop Dreams until a month ago, and was appalled the rural Missouri JC the "underdog" CPL kid Arthur Agee had to head to. Of course St. Joe's Academy/ cartoon character coach Gene Pingatore and a lot of other things in that documentary were more harsh than the JC.

Of course Arthur Agee had a chance to get a two year education and a full "ride" so that was good, but living in a windowless one story plywood house in the middle of nowhere looked pretty bleak.

I knew a few very skilled MN HS kids playing at the YMCA over the years that were academic risks that could not get admitted anywhere good, with few BB options. The no scholarship JC level (Minnesota) is even crazier. I used to know a couple of the coaches and see games at the Mpls CC years back under Jay P (visiting coaches pass) That is one crazy desperate approach to basketball and life in my view.

My 7 month stay in Chicago was just a couple of years after this all went down, and Hoop Dreams just reminded me of how strange and dysfunctional Chicago and the State of Illinois are in general. I still to this day am not sure if I wished I had stayed there or not. Maybe I'd have a nice penthouse and boat in the marina off of LSD, who knows!

I did not even know at the time that Cabrini Green, where Gates Jr. lived, was just a couple of miles or less west of Lincoln Park West (by Zoo) where I was, a glittering, high dollar professional area. ( I was a low rent squatter by the park/ zoo)

I tend to think urban, near the lake Chicago is a glorious place to live if you make 150K plus a year otherwise it can be sort of miserable.

Gold Coast or Calumet City?
 
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I'm seeing some reports on twitter that Mash is entering the portal. Can anyone confirm?
 


Mason Madsen becomes 6th Cincinati player to enter transfer portal.
I saw a bit of their game against Wichita and I was surprised to see Mason on the floor. He had a lot of minutes and appears to be statistically better than Gabe, who I thought was the better player. Maybe he was hurt or something. It's either a toxic environment or the coach is cleaning house.
 

I saw a bit of their game against Wichita and I was surprised to see Mason on the floor. He had a lot of minutes and appears to be statistically better than Gabe, who I thought was the better player. Maybe he was hurt or something. It's either a toxic environment or the coach is cleaning house.
I always try to watch Minnnesota players when I can on national tv or espn+. Somehow I was able to watch Cincinati a lot this season. Gabe opted out early on in the season and only played one game, 6 minutes. Mason stuck it out and played major minutes off the bench second half of the season, often playing around 25 minutes a game. His best two games of the season he had 17 and 20 points. At times he really looked like a senior with his decision making. I was really impressed. I was under the impression Gabe had a lot more offers and schools like Minnesota wouldn't offer a scholarship to Mason, so they went to Cincinnati where both had offers. I dont know if these guys have any interest in coming home, but I would welcome them back. Having them or Jamison Battle would be fun to see.
 

I always try to watch Minnnesota players when I can on national tv or espn+. Somehow I was able to watch Cincinati a lot this season. Gabe opted out early on in the season and only played one game, 6 minutes. Mason stuck it out and played major minutes off the bench second half of the season, often playing around 25 minutes a game. His best two games of the season he had 17 and 20 points. At times he really looked like a senior with his decision making. I was really impressed. I was under the impression Gabe had a lot more offers and schools like Minnesota wouldn't offer a scholarship to Mason, so they went to Cincinnati where both had offers. I dont know if these guys have any interest in coming home, but I would welcome them back. Having them or Jamison Battle would be fun to see.
Thanks for the information. I thought they were relatively new to Minnesota and may not necessarily consider this home like those of us here from birth or close to it. Great to see the under recruited guy beat expectations. Question is whether they still consider themselves a package.
 

Thanks for the information. I thought they were relatively new to Minnesota and may not necessarily consider this home like those of us here from birth or close to it. Great to see the under recruited guy beat expectations. Question is whether they still consider themselves a package.
His family still lives here though, so I'm sure they still consider Minnesota home. I'd guess the odds of them transferring here are pretty good.
 

Thanks for the information. I thought they were relatively new to Minnesota and may not necessarily consider this home like those of us here from birth or close to it. Great to see the under recruited guy beat expectations. Question is whether they still consider themselves a package.
I believe they're from wisconsin. I'm looking at Gabe's offers out of high school and thinking they'll go a package deal to one of those schools as Mason might have proved he's worth a scholarship now. Mason shot 32% from 3, decent size at 6'4", I dont know how well he could defend in the B1G though.
 

His family still lives here though, so I'm sure they still consider Minnesota home. I'd guess the odds of them transferring here are pretty good.
Even though they played AAU for wisconsin playground, I still want these guys to play for Minnesota. I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I could see Wisconsin having room for both if a lot of their seniors dont come back. I could see wisconsin being more attractive for them
 

I believe they're from wisconsin. I'm looking at Gabe's offers out of high school and thinking they'll go a package deal to one of those schools as Mason might have proved he's worth a scholarship now. Mason shot 32% from 3, decent size at 6'4", I dont know how well he could defend in the B1G though.

If three point shooting is your biggest strength, 32% isn't very good. Maybe he will improve though. I think Gabe could be a really solid player so I'm hoping they transfer here.
 




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