All Things Gophers Basketball Class of 2022 Recruiting Thread

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Southpaw said:
Payne, Carrington and Ola-Joseph signed in November's early signing period. First spring signing date is April 13 - hopefully Henley will sign then (and a few impact portal transfers as well)
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Yep....my bad....i had Carrington and Ola-Joseph confused.
 

BarnBurner said:
You continue to demean the program, rp, and now even players. And don’t lie and say this post wasn’t an attack on mcbrayer. You could have said nothing, yet you didn’t.

FRAUD.
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I think this is another semantical issue. Saying a player wasn't "great" does not mean that you think he was bad.

Personally, I thought McBrayer was a good player, but I wouldn't call him great. to me, great means an All-Conference player or approaching that status.

And - there is nothing wrong with being a good B1G player.

when a program is winning 40% of its conference games, by my definition, that program does not have a lot of "great" players. And, if they do have a lot of "great" players, and they're still not winning, then the coaching staff is decidedly not "great."
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I think this is another semantical issue. Saying a player wasn't "great" does not mean that you think he was bad.

Personally, I thought McBrayer was a good player, but I wouldn't call him great. to me, great means an All-Conference player or approaching that status.

And - there is nothing wrong with being a good B1G player.

when a program is winning 40% of its conference games, by my definition, that program does not have a lot of "great" players. And, if they do have a lot of "great" players, and they're still not winning, then the coaching staff is decidedly not "great."
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Whatever.

BADGER is a FRAUD that continuously rips the program and players.
 

Keyser Söze said:
There are people who don't think Payne will play much next year?
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There are. There have been quite a few posts saying they see him playing maybe 10-15 min next year, that the freshmen class isn't going to add too much, etc. I would invite anyone to go see him play live (this summer AAU?) and claim he won't play much.
 





Dan Oturu came in as a freshman and played 24 minutes per game. The need was very great that year, with a hobbled Eric Curry only playing 15 games in the middle of the season, and Matz Stockman coming in as a sit-out transfer as our only other guy bigger than Murphy.

With Payne, Fox, Thompson, Ihnen, and a potential grad transfer all providing some size...I think he does not have as easy of a path to playing time as Oturu did. I'm guessing he averages 20 minutes/game.
 

eker0016 said:
Dan Oturu came in as a freshman and played 24 minutes per game. The need was very great that year, with a hobbled Eric Curry only playing 15 games in the middle of the season, and Matz Stockman coming in as a sit-out transfer as our only other guy bigger than Murphy.

With Payne, Fox, Thompson, Ihnen, and a potential grad transfer all providing some size...I think he does not have as easy of a path to playing time as Oturu did. I'm guessing he averages 20 minutes/game.
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That's a fair assessment, my son played against Oturo in high school many times, and I've gotten a good look at both Oturo and Payne. Comparing the two as seniors in high school, I think Payne is better. Now Oturo improved a huge amount when he was at the U, but Payne's frame and athleticism point to him improving a huge amount as well. I see him starting or the first off the bench as well, and playing lots of minutes. Just one old baller's opinion.
 



eker0016 said:
Dan Oturu came in as a freshman and played 24 minutes per game. The need was very great that year, with a hobbled Eric Curry only playing 15 games in the middle of the season, and Matz Stockman coming in as a sit-out transfer as our only other guy bigger than Murphy.

With Payne, Fox, Thompson, Ihnen, and a potential grad transfer all providing some size...I think he does not have as easy of a path to playing time as Oturu did. I'm guessing he averages 20 minutes/game.
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Ihnen and Thompson have size but they have never played on the inside. Fox is a DII transfer and, while a highlight dunker, we have no idea what he can do and where he will actually spend time on the court. If Payne can play on the inside he'll get plenty of minutes.
 


60's Guy said:
The freshmen need to play if we are building a program and hope to recruit more Minnesota kids.
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Why is that requirement to recruit more MN kids? What does need to play entail? 30 mins? 20 mins? 5?
 

paulser21 said:
The freshmen will play because they are simply better than people on the current roster.
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The only returning scholarship players at this point are Battle, Thompson, Thiam, Ihnen, and Fox. Ramberg and Purcell return as walk-ons. We do not know who Johnson will pick up in the portal. We'll have a better idea of who will play once the roster is set.
 



paulser21 said:
The freshmen will play because they are simply better than people on the current roster.
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We are assuming we will add four experienced people from the portal and we do have 3 returning guys who will play in Battle, Fox and Ihnen. If you wanna add Thompson...we are at 8 guys who should get time. Obviously, the transfers are coming to play.
 
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Gopherfan84 said:
Why is that requirement to recruit more MN kids? What does need to play entail? 30 mins? 20 mins? 5?
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Consistently get in the game. Have the opportunity to earn more minutes or play enough early to exhibit to themselves and everyone else they are in over their heads.
Kids wanna play...it has been tough to recruit MN HS kids to play for the Gophers. If they are not worthy of minutes you should not have recruited them because everybody is watching. Kids ain't coming to sit. The future kids will go elsewhere.
If we are not going to live in the portal with four guys each spring then we need to build a program with guys who stay four years. The AAU coaches, their parents, influencers are all intently watching to see how these kids are handled....they'll be talking. It is a small local vocal group with influence.
 
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60's Guy said:
The freshmen need to play if we are building a program and hope to recruit more Minnesota kids.
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Most importantly, they need to be ready to contribute and have some success. Playing, without success, is not going to attract anyone. The good news, all three Minnesota kids will be ready to contribute - Payne and Carrington a lot, and Ola-Joseph quite a bit with what he will bring defensively (no idea how he has improved over this year, but the coaching community really high on what he brings athletically/defensively).
 

Tucker32 said:
Most importantly, they need to be ready to contribute and have some success. Playing, without success, is not going to attract anyone. The good news, all three Minnesota kids will be ready to contribute - Payne and Carrington a lot, and Ola-Joseph quite a bit with what he will bring defensively (no idea how he has improved over this year, but the coaching community really high on what he brings athletically/defensively).
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I think will see JOJ get a 4-6 minutes in the first half, might see him for a minute or two in the second half before the under 8 or under 12 to give Battle a breather for the stretch run. Think having him, we can get Battle's minutes down to the 34-35 range as oppose to the 38-40 range, may not seem like a lot but those couple minutes of rest can add up as the season wears on.
 

60's Guy said:
Consistently get in the game. Have the opportunity to earn more minutes or play enough early to exhibit to themselves and everyone else they are in over their heads.
Kids wanna play...it has been tough to recruit MN HS kids to play for the Gophers. If they are not worthy of minutes you should not have recruited them because everybody is watching. Kids ain't coming to sit. The future kids will go elsewhere.
If we are not going to live in the portal with four guys each spring then we need to build a program with guys who stay four years. The AAU coaches, their parents, influencers are all intently watching to see how these kids are handled....they'll be talking. It is a small local vocal group with influence.
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I am certain that the intent is not to hit the transfer portal every year. Johnson has touted his vision of the U as a developmental program. A non blue blood program will have its greatest success when the bulk of the starters are juniors and seniors but with the occasional star youngster thrown in. Then you develop the rest of the youngsters so that they are ready to step into the line up and contribute in a couple of years. You need to have athletes for more than a year to accomplish this.

You point out the 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' side of recruiting local athletes. There is this intense pressure to recruit locally from the fans, AAU coaches, HS coaches, and players. There is also an intense pressure to win. The key for success is to identify those local players who fit the system and can contribute to wins and not just waste valuable roster space.

There are certain classes in MN where all of the top 10 athletes will be highly regarded. The next year, you might be lucky to have a few who project as legitimate P5 players. A successful program at the U will require reaching out nationally as needed to fill out the roster with the most talented players.
 

60's Guy said:
We are assuming we will add four experienced people from the portal and we do have 3 returning guys who will play in Battle, Fox and Ihnen. If you wanna add Thompson...we are at 8 guys who should get time. Obviously, the transfers are coming to play.
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It all depends on the transfers. You could also say that the incoming freshmen are coming here to play too.
 

jamiche said:
Ihnen and Thompson have size but they have never played on the inside. Fox is a DII transfer and, while a highlight dunker, we have no idea what he can do and where he will actually spend time on the court. If Payne can play on the inside he'll get plenty of minutes.
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I agree that Payne will get plenty of minutes.

I would be surprised if Ihnen saw much time at all down low. Thompson if he can add 25 pounds (non-trivial!) I would expect it, not sure about next year though. I'm betting on Fox and Payne to split most of the big man minutes as likely our two most physical guys.

Just re-watched part of the Rutgers game with my toddler over lunch because she has gotten used to watching "ball" every day and demanded it...reminded me of how much stronger Charlie Daniels was than him.

Mostly I'm just saying there are more potential options than we had when Oturu was a freshman, particularly if we include the few weeks when we were courting Geno Crandall and Stockman was in the portal.
 

60's Guy said:
Consistently get in the game. Have the opportunity to earn more minutes or play enough early to exhibit to themselves and everyone else they are in over their heads.
Kids wanna play...it has been tough to recruit MN HS kids to play for the Gophers. If they are not worthy of minutes you should not have recruited them because everybody is watching. Kids ain't coming to sit. The future kids will go elsewhere.
If we are not going to live in the portal with four guys each spring then we need to build a program with guys who stay four years. The AAU coaches, their parents, influencers are all intently watching to see how these kids are handled....they'll be talking. It is a small local vocal group with influence.
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See I actually disagree. I think the local AAU guys get mad when their kids don’t get recruited. They back off if the kid doesn’t play as long as
1. The kid was treated with respect and communicated with.
2. There aren’t scrubs playing in front of them.

This matters more than their guys getting “ignored”. I agree kids want to play but depending on what they were told when they were recruited it isn’t a requirement. Crowl for example at Wisconsin knew he needed to sit a year. I would find it hard that at least one doesn’t play, but I don’t think it’s a requirement for the team to win or for the team to get other MN kids.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
See I actually disagree. I think the local AAU guys get mad when their kids don’t get recruited. They back off if the kid doesn’t play as long as
1. The kid was treated with respect and communicated with.
2. There aren’t scrubs playing in front of them.

This matters more than their guys getting “ignored”. I agree kids want to play but depending on what they were told when they were recruited it isn’t a requirement. Crowl for example at Wisconsin knew he needed to sit a year. I would find it hard that at least one doesn’t play, but I don’t think it’s a requirement for the team to win or for the team to get other MN kids.
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Many AAU guys like the attention from national powers. This is true in most states.
 

60's Guy said:
Consistently get in the game. Have the opportunity to earn more minutes or play enough early to exhibit to themselves and everyone else they are in over their heads.
Kids wanna play...it has been tough to recruit MN HS kids to play for the Gophers. If they are not worthy of minutes you should not have recruited them because everybody is watching. Kids ain't coming to sit. The future kids will go elsewhere.
If we are not going to live in the portal with four guys each spring then we need to build a program with guys who stay four years. The AAU coaches, their parents, influencers are all intently watching to see how these kids are handled....they'll be talking. It is a small local vocal group with influence.
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if this were the hockey team and Doug Woog (sp) was the coach….i would get what you are saying
 

Gopherfan84 said:
See I actually disagree. I think the local AAU guys get mad when their kids don’t get recruited. They back off if the kid doesn’t play as long as
1. The kid was treated with respect and communicated with.
2. There aren’t scrubs playing in front of them.

This matters more than their guys getting “ignored”. I agree kids want to play but depending on what they were told when they were recruited it isn’t a requirement. Crowl for example at Wisconsin knew he needed to sit a year. I would find it hard that at least one doesn’t play, but I don’t think it’s a requirement for the team to win or for the team to get other MN kids.
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As an AAU coach…when you have a player you think is solid, you are upset when only MIAC schools recruit them.

If you have good players with multiple offers…Wherever your players go ….90 some % of the time they expect to play. The other coaches recruiting them are telling them they’ll play. You want them to come to your school…all you have to offer is playing time and playing in the Big Ten. You haven’t won squat…like say Wisconsin, “we finish top 4 every year…trust us” so your players aren’t coming to Minnesota to sit.

Lightly recruited bigs with strength and skill deficiencies might have different expectations and conversations .

You think a kid who thinks he is all NBA is going to go to a bottom dwelling local team with the idea of sitting? Not the ones I know. Or even more unlikely have their AAU coaches fine with them sitting. The portal makes it easy to go to the other program who wanted you bad and guarantees you’ll play!
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
Are there any D1 college basketball players who aren't "AAU guys"?
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Few players. Sorry, i should have clarified that i was talking coaches. On that note there are a few coaches that have done very well by focusing a great deal of time on the high school scene. They may not see high level talent on high level talent but they will get to know parents, teachers and friends. Thorson will be great at that.
 

60's Guy said:
As an AAU coach…when you have a player you think is solid, you are upset when only MIAC schools recruit them.

If you have good players with multiple offers…Wherever your players go ….90 some % of the time they expect to play. The other coaches recruiting them are telling them they’ll play. You want them to come to your school…all you have to offer is playing time and playing in the Big Ten. You haven’t won squat…like say Wisconsin, “we finish top 4 every year…trust us” so your players aren’t coming to Minnesota to sit.

Lightly recruited bigs with strength and skill deficiencies might have different expectations and conversations .

You think a kid who thinks he is all NBA is going to go to a bottom dwelling local team with the idea of sitting? Not the ones I know. Or even more unlikely have their AAU coaches fine with them sitting. The portal makes it easy to go to the other program who wanted you bad and guarantees you’ll play!
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Yeah of course guys want to play and they is the main reason guys transfer. I don’t disagree with your points you’re making it except for early playing time being tied to relationships with local AAU programs. I would argue as long as you are fair to the kids, the AAU programs are more interested in you just recruiting their guys.

There are also staffs that get kids to sit but like you mentioned, those programs sell winning and have a track record. The build of those can be different, but they all are relationship driven and about early identification on the trail
 

Formerswish said:
There are. There have been quite a few posts saying they see him playing maybe 10-15 min next year, that the freshmen class isn't going to add too much, etc. I would invite anyone to go see him play live (this summer AAU?) and claim he won't play much.
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I guess I missed those.
 

ecoperson said:
I am certain that the intent is not to hit the transfer portal every year. Johnson has touted his vision of the U as a developmental program.
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"Visions" have their limitations and can be overtaken by events or the "leader's" inability to realize those "visions." If all basketball coaches were able to realize their visions, none of them would be fired.

A program can be developmental and still hit the transfer portal each year for one or two recruits. It would be foolish for a coach to stay completely out of the transfer portal based on principle.
 

cjbfbp said:
"Visions" have their limitations and can be overtaken by events or the "leader's" inability to realize those "visions." If all basketball coaches were able to realize their visions, none of them would be fired.

A program can be developmental and still hit the transfer portal each year for one or two recruits. It would be foolish for a coach to stay completely out of the transfer portal based on principle.
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Foolish isnt a strong enough word, negligent would be better. Listen if you don't want to be Texas/Arkansas/Oregon with 5-7 every year thats fine, but to say you just refuse to look there is beyond dumb. I agree, you can be developmental with more than just freshman you brought in. Look how many freshman of the year in lower conferences move on, you dont think those kids will continue to develop?
 

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