Cashius McNeilly & Emanuel Miller (Texas A&M) both in the portal

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xxxdog said:
https//uhoopsscouting.com......Considered a top source for Canadian BB scouting & player
analysis....its been around for several years......
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Appreciated my man. It’s new to me. Thanks.
 

Beyond McNeilly and Miller, there's a couple of other former Aggies in the portal who could be interesting.

Jaxson Robinson, 6'7" wing was a top 50-60 recruit last year who reclassified to move up a year and played sparingly for A&M. However, lots of big names are trailing his recruiting--Arkansas, Ohio State, Colorado, Oregon, Oklahoma have all been in touch. He's from Ada, Oklahoma, so it may not seem likely that he would come to the "U", but who knows his relationship with McNeilly?

Jonathan Aku is a 6'10", 260 lbs post who has also played sparingly through his sophomore year at A&M, but would serve to fill the gaping hole currently at center. Overall numbers were better than Sam Freeman, although he shot a horrific 36% (however, that was on a total of 25 attempts the whole season). Again, who knows the relationship with McNeilly and if it's worth taking up a scholarship for 2-3 years, but he's a big. Coming out of high school, he was a top 150 recruit via 247 and top 100 via Rivals.
 


coolhandgopher said:
Beyond McNeilly and Miller, there's a couple of other former Aggies in the portal who could be interesting.

Jaxson Robinson, 6'7" wing was a top 50-60 recruit last year who reclassified to move up a year and played sparingly for A&M. However, lots of big names are trailing his recruiting--Arkansas, Ohio State, Colorado, Oregon, Oklahoma have all been in touch. He's from Ada, Oklahoma, so it may not seem likely that he would come to the "U", but who knows his relationship with McNeilly?

Jonathan Aku is a 6'10", 260 lbs post who has also played sparingly through his sophomore year at A&M, but would serve to fill the gaping hole currently at center. Overall numbers were better than Sam Freeman, although he shot a horrific 36% (however, that was on a total of 25 attempts the whole season). Again, who knows the relationship with McNeilly and if it's worth taking up a scholarship for 2-3 years, but he's a big. Coming out of high school, he was a top 150 recruit via 247 and top 100 via Rivals.
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Umm....yeah if you can get both....take both. Center is obviously a position of great need.

Anyone know why everyone is leaving A&M? They aren't going through a coaching change....are they?
 

coolhandgopher said:
Beyond McNeilly and Miller, there's a couple of other former Aggies in the portal who could be interesting.

Jaxson Robinson, 6'7" wing was a top 50-60 recruit last year who reclassified to move up a year and played sparingly for A&M. However, lots of big names are trailing his recruiting--Arkansas, Ohio State, Colorado, Oregon, Oklahoma have all been in touch. He's from Ada, Oklahoma, so it may not seem likely that he would come to the "U", but who knows his relationship with McNeilly?

Jonathan Aku is a 6'10", 260 lbs post who has also played sparingly through his sophomore year at A&M, but would serve to fill the gaping hole currently at center. Overall numbers were better than Sam Freeman, although he shot a horrific 36% (however, that was on a total of 25 attempts the whole season). Again, who knows the relationship with McNeilly and if it's worth taking up a scholarship for 2-3 years, but he's a big. Coming out of high school, he was a top 150 recruit via 247 and top 100 via Rivals.
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While we have a definite need at center I don't see Johnson signing a multi-year option at center unless they feel he is a sure thing to pan out. Seems like with the portal they are leaning more towards short term fixes in order to keep spots open for recruits.
 

stocker08 said:
Umm....yeah if you can get both....take both. Center is obviously a position of great need.

Anyone know why everyone is leaving A&M? They aren't going through a coaching change....are they?
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I’d say no thanks unless they’re incredible defenders. I’ve never seen them play, but their stats are terrible. I don’t want commits just for the sake of getting commits.
 




MNVCGUY said:
While we have a definite need at center I don't see Johnson signing a multi-year option at center unless they feel he is a sure thing to pan out. Seems like with the portal they are leaning more towards short term fixes in order to keep spots open for recruits.
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The more I think about Aku, I wonder if he could be player #3 to come to Dinkytown. Here's my logic:
* There's a definite need for a big body at the "U". Aku would fill that need.
* Aku has been in the portal since August 12, so over two weeks with no noise around his destination. Of course, he's not exactly Emanuel Miller, but the dearth of big bodies in the portal would lead you to think there's some interest out there.
* There's a pre-established relationship with McNeilly-no idea if it's a good one, no idea if McNeilly thinks he's worth inviting north, but they know each other. He's more familiar with and to this staff than Sam Freeman, by comparison.

Why this could be a good thing for the Gophers:
* Aku was a Top 150 recruit, but some circumstances have lead to a delay in his development—firstly, he reclassified and jumped up a year to join A&M early and over his two seasons there, he didn’t have a summer to practice with the team, which as this article points out, didn’t help in his development. Could be some untapped potential there that McNeilly is aware of and has indicated to Coach Johnson.
* He played the 7th most minutes for A&M, but only attempted 25 field goals all season (the top six minutes guys were all over 100 attempts). So, he is not unfamiliar with being used as a “dirty work” player. A&M’s offense seemed to be very guard/forward heavy with Miller being the guy working offense in the post. If the two other guys from A&M matriculate here, you could see a similar set-up on offense.
* I could see this playing out similarly to Bryan Greenlee from a couple years ago-come on board, you’ll have a chance to prove yourself and earn minutes in the Big 10 and if it doesn’t suit you, well no hard feelings if you go back into the portal next year.

I say all this and Aku could very well be the next name committing to some lower-level program, but I am not seeing many viable alternatives at this point in time and he could definitely be a useful player for the Gophers next season.
 
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GopherBlood666 said:
I would assume until some time next month as it has been stated repeatedly that nothing will happen until May due to McNeilly's contract at A&M. I can assure you it will be prior to the start of next season.
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Yeah, this all feels like a done deal at this point, just waiting until the day it can be made official for contractual reasons. Definitely an odd situation but would seem like the wait is almost over.
 



GopherBlood666 said:
I would assume until some time next month as it has been stated repeatedly that nothing will happen until May due to McNeilly's contract at A&M. I can assure you it will be prior to the start of next season.
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Not sure why if it's such a done deal for the assistant coach why his nephew and teammate couldn't commit now. Makes me wonder if all three are really that sure of a thing. Keeping my expectations low.
 




CentralGopher said:
Not sure why if it's such a done deal for the assistant coach why his nephew and teammate couldn't commit now. Makes me wonder if all three are really that sure of a thing. Keeping my expectations low.
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There really is no such thing as a done deal before everything is signed and closed. Anybody who's been in business very long has been burned by "done deals" falling through. So from the players' view, assuming they are a package deal with the coach, it's in their best interest to wait until the coach is hired.
 

GopherBlood666 said:
I would assume until some time next month as it has been stated repeatedly that nothing will happen until May due to McNeilly's contract at A&M. I can assure you it will be prior to the start of next season.
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My concern is that it hasn't been said by anyone with any real information. Most of that is our insulated message board speculation. I have to say, A&M must be real pieces of manure for not letting this contract thing go. If he's gone, he's gone. Why not let him get to work at the next job right away?

I'm with the deep Minnesota crowd that will doubt it until it happens.
 

Holy Man said:
My concern is that it hasn't been said by anyone with any real information. Most of that is our insulated message board speculation. I have to say, A&M must be real pieces of manure for not letting this contract thing go. If he's gone, he's gone. Why not let him get to work at the next job right away?

I'm with the deep Minnesota crowd that will doubt it until it happens.
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I mean it could have to do with work visa since he is from Canada. I know it's a process to change jobs when you have a work visa from a foreign country.
 


Holy Man said:
My concern is that it hasn't been said by anyone with any real information. Most of that is our insulated message board speculation. I have to say, A&M must be real pieces of manure for not letting this contract thing go. If he's gone, he's gone. Why not let him get to work at the next job right away?

I'm with the deep Minnesota crowd that will doubt it until it happens.
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A&M message board I looked at the other day had similar speculation that the trio was headed to Minnesota. But I totally understand not feeling comfortable about it happening until the ink is dry because until that time anything could happen.

Would be a heck of a package to add to the team if it all comes through. Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer to know for sure and the May speculation ends up meaning early May and not late May... :)
 

WriterGoph said:
I mean it could have to do with work visa since he is from Canada. I know it's a process to change jobs when you have a work visa from a foreign country.
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And Ontario is the middle of a 6 week covid lockdown so i doubt this happens before that ends. As long as it gets done before June thats all that really matters.
 

whalenfan said:
And Ontario is the middle of a 6 week covid lockdown so i doubt this happens before that ends. As long as it gets done before June thats all that really matters.
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Wouldn't this only matter if McNeilly was actually in Canada? I would assume his current residence is in Texas.
 





GopherBlood666 said:
Wouldn't this only matter if McNeilly was actually in Canada? I would assume his current residence is in Texas.
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If he knows he is leaving, he could have very well gone back home. I'd almost guarantee that the two players are already back in Canada (just like Carr last summer), especially having already entered the portal.
 

WriterGoph said:
If he knows he is leaving, he could have very well gone back home. I'd almost guarantee that the two players are already back in Canada (just like Carr last summer), especially having already entered the portal.
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If it would create headaches in an upcoming job transition, then that would be foolish to leave the country. Especially with the ebb and flow of covid restrictions. I'm sure Carr still lives with his parents in Canada and also has a personal trainer there. Not really an apt comparison in my opinion.
 

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