BREAKING!!!! Dennis Evans ask for release….


And just like that, one if the few elite players to play for Minnesota never did

"Sources close to Evans confirmed to 247Sports on Friday that Minnesota will honor his request for a release and that paperwork for the release should be completed by early next week."



And with that, me hyping Evans so much as the bright future next year, I will excuse myself from this men's basketball forum chastised. AKA wingspan.
I honestly thought you were related to he or Ben.
 

Debating on the positive potential and data is not a leg to stand on, just the negative?
Correct. The "negative" has legs, your side is just "wishful thinking" like I said. "Positive potential" can be twisted around to fit whatever narrative you are arguing against, and I don't even wanna know what "data" you have to be optimistic....
 

Forget the coach.

How many schools have gone 1-19 in a P-whatever conference in the last 20 years and at some point later on emerged from the dead to challenge for the conference title?

Well, Iowa State was 2-22 (0-18) two years ago but then went and hired a guy who had run a program successfully. Now they are 17-10 (8-7) and ranked #23 in the country in the best conference in basketball. I guess I could live with that trajectory two years from now.
 

You answered your own question. Major Metropolitan area with every pro league in town.
I’ve always found this argument interesting. Are there examples of other D1 programs in major cities that don’t struggle with NIL stuff? If so, what’s unique to Minnesota’s situation? Is it the administration, apathy in the fanbase/locally, lack of rich alums who care about college sports, a cultural focus on pro sports even if the U is good, or what?
 


Does Ben go in there and like, actively sabotage practice?

Thorson? Any of the other assistants?


I doubt that they don't run a practice the same as pretty much every DI bball team. I doubt Izzo figured out some way to practice basketball that no one else has ever figured out.

You put the round thing in the hoop.
This is oversimplified. There is a heck of alot more to coaching than what you say.

If there wasn't, then Ben would be doing better than he is. As it were, he has been decent at best and terrible at worst.
There is a reason the same teams are good year in and year out in college sports. It is more coaching than anything. Mix that with high end talent when you prove that you are a good coach and you have your successful programs.
 

Forget the coach.

How many schools have gone 1-19 in a P-whatever conference in the last 20 years and at some point later on emerged from the dead to challenge for the conference title?
So just for fun, the lowest conference records in the 2002-03 season for these "major" conferences:

Big Ten: Penn State 2-14
Big East: Miami/VT/Rutgers 4-12
ACC: Florida State 4-12
Big 12: Nebraska 3-13
SEC: Venderbilt 3-13
PAC 10: Washington State 2-16
 

This is oversimplified. There is a heck of alot more to coaching than what you say.

If there wasn't, then Ben would be doing better than he is. As it were, he has been decent at best and terrible at worst.
There is a reason the same teams are good year in and year out in college sports. It is more coaching than anything. Mix that with high end talent when you prove that you are a good coach and you have your successful programs.
I'm mainly just saying that coaching is a LOT more than just running practices during the year.

Which you clearly are saying the same thing.

Roster compilation, scheme/identity, in-game decisions, clearly these things are more important that how you run a practice.
 

Well, Iowa State was 2-22 (0-18) two years ago but then went and hired a guy who had run a program successfully. Now they are 17-10 (8-7) and ranked #23 in the country in the best conference in basketball. I guess I could live with that trajectory two years from now.
There you go, great example!
 



I’ve always found this argument interesting. Are there examples of other D1 programs in major cities that don’t struggle with NIL stuff? If so, what’s unique to Minnesota’s situation? Is it the administration, apathy in the fanbase/locally, lack of rich alums who care about college sports, a cultural focus on pro sports even if the U is good, or what?
Like I questioned earlier, if the hockey team needed NIL, I'm pretty sure it would be there.

Heck, I'm old enough to know that even if we do what's needed to make a good tourney run, we'll still get hosed by the refs before winning it all. So I'd never donate to BB, even if I was a billionaire.
 

Weeeell. Hit the transfer portal hard, get another guard and big man. Parker and Isaiah healthy.

2nd to last next year 😎
 

And just like that, one if the few elite players to play for Minnesota never did

"Sources close to Evans confirmed to 247Sports on Friday that Minnesota will honor his request for a release and that paperwork for the release should be completed by early next week."



And with that, me hyping Evans so much as the bright future next year, I will excuse myself from this men's basketball forum chastised. AKA wingspan.
 

I’ve always found this argument interesting. Are there examples of other D1 programs in major cities that don’t struggle with NIL stuff? If so, what’s unique to Minnesota’s situation? Is it the administration, apathy in the fanbase/locally, lack of rich alums who care about college sports, a cultural focus on pro sports even if the U is good, or what?
I don't think there is a good sense of what the NIL situation is generally. I think it varies wildly from school to school for a plethora of reasons.
 





Full rant. My Dad started taking me to games since I was 2 years old, and The Barn is my favorite place of all-time. I now have 3 kids of my own that I enjoy taking to the games and sharing that experience with. I've seen the good and the bad, mostly bad, but the good times make it worth it. But honestly I can't take it anymore. The state of this program has never been worse and it is hard to see it getting any better until Gabel and Coyle decide they want to get serious. The Ben Johnson hire was wrong from the get go and everyone knew it. They listened to all the outsiders about "losing all the Minnesota recruits", rather than make a qualified hire. Ben is a great guy, but he is not a head coach in the Big Ten. The Barn is a morgue and it is only going to get worse. It used to be the best ticket in town, now it is embarrassingly bad and stale. There were plenty of people when we hired Ben saying that no decent coach would want to come here. Well if they didn't want to come here then why would they want to come here now when we are even worse off than we were two years ago? And by all accounts we are behind pretty much everyone when it comes to NIL. I'm not sure where we go from here, but I can't see light at the end of the tunnel. Even with Evans I had close to zero interest in next season. Thank you for listening, I feel a little better.
 

Full rant. My Dad started taking me to games since I was 2 years old, and The Barn is my favorite place of all-time. I now have 3 kids of my own that I enjoy taking to the games and sharing that experience with. I've seen the good and the bad, mostly bad, but the good times make it worth it. But honestly I can't take it anymore. The state of this program has never been worse and it is hard to see it getting any better until Gabel and Coyle decide they want to get serious. The Ben Johnson hire was wrong from the get go and everyone knew it. They listened to all the outsiders about "losing all the Minnesota recruits", rather than make a qualified hire. Ben is a great guy, but he is not a head coach in the Big Ten. The Barn is a morgue and it is only going to get worse. It used to be the best ticket in town, now it is embarrassingly bad and stale. There were plenty of people when we hired Ben saying that no decent coach would want to come here. Well if they didn't want to come here then why would they want to come here now when we are even worse off than we were two years ago? And by all accounts we are behind pretty much everyone when it comes to NIL. I'm not sure where we go from here, but I can't see light at the end of the tunnel. Even with Evans I had close to zero interest in next season. Thank you for listening, I feel a little better.
Great post! Agree with the barn, its old and out of date and been filled with mostly bad teams, but I still love it. Such a shame to be in this spot. I've said it how many times, we aren't a powerhouse, but there is no reason we can't be wi or IA level competent every year. Ups and downs so happen, that's not this. This is pathetic on so many levels.
 



Not sure if this has been said, but Evans wanting to leave is clear evidence of tampering by 3rd parties. It reveals the entire debacle that is NIL and open portal movent. It also is a display by Dennis Evans that he is a person who reneges on his commitment. It speaks adversely to his parents who are responsible to teach their son to make choices and keep those commitments. This also speaks to this generation of young people who want an easy path in life without struggling through adversity. To say I'm disappointed in Dennis Evans is an understatement.
 

People should look at minnesota and say they are rebuilding and have things going in right direction, but it started with pitino, but now people look at this program as it's the worst program around. Hard to build a program when everyone takes off. Fire Johnson and we start from scratch again. I have this feeling unless we hire some NAME coach it's gonna be a long time until we win. Aren't there players out there that believe they can help rebuild this? With the portal most kids are like screw it I'll just go somewhere else and win. With those attitudes how will we ever get players? Love to get christie here, but in this day and age of nil and the portal who can ever predict anything in college basketball. Getting tired of this. Sorry if I'm rambling and all over the board, but this is just frustrating!
 

Not sure if this has been said, but Evans wanting to leave is clear evidence of tampering by 3rd parties. It reveals the entire debacle that is NIL and open portal movent. It also is a display by Dennis Evans that he is a person who reneges on his commitment. It speaks adversely to his parents who are responsible to teach their son to make choices and keep those commitments. This also speaks to this generation of young people who want an easy path in life without struggling through adversity. To say I'm disappointed in Dennis Evans is an understatement.
I think it speaks more to a team that has 1 win.
 


People should look at minnesota and say they are rebuilding and have things going in right direction, but it started with pitino, but now people look at this program as it's the worst program around. Hard to build a program when everyone takes off. Fire Johnson and we start from scratch again. I have this feeling unless we hire some NAME coach it's gonna be a long time until we win. Aren't there players out there that believe they can help rebuild this? With the portal most kids are like screw it I'll just go somewhere else and win. With those attitudes how will we ever get players? Love to get christie here, but in this day and age of nil and the portal who can ever predict anything in college basketball. Getting tired of this. Sorry if I'm rambling and all over the board, but this is just frustrating!
You don't have to have a name or be a "name" to be good at what you do. Thinking you're limited to a certain kind of candidate because of the situation you find yourself in is equivalent to drafting for need early in the NFL draft. There's no surer way to failure. Find the best person you can find regardless of what their name is.
 




You don't have to have a name or be a "name" to be good at what you do. Thinking you're limited to a certain kind of candidate because of the situation you find yourself in is equivalent to drafting for need early in the NFL draft. There's no surer way to failure. Find the best person you can find regardless of what their name is.
You're absolutely right, but if I'm a better coach than Calipari and a no name, who you think will recruit better at minnesota right now? Calipari or me?
 

You're absolutely right, but if I'm a better coach than Calipari and a no name, who you think will recruit better at minnesota right now? Calipari or me?
You're probably younger than Cal, so I like your long-term potential better.
 





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