2025 Transfer Portal Watch

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SplitDecision said:
I get your point, but it is the same "high road" example that the Univ. of MN took initially with NIL.

-- We are against paying college athletes because the purity of amateur sports would be stained.

It comes down to what we would want in our fantasy world/ideal case scenario VS wanting to compete today in the real world. UMN and its fans need to adapt to the way things are, not necessarily how we would like them to be. Its ok to just say, "I really had hoped things would be this way, but the people in charge didn't ask me, so as a fan I just have to go forward with it the best way possible".
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That may be true...but I dont think bringing Garcia back is some moment in Gopher History that will change anything. I get he is good but he wasn't good enough enough to make bad teams better...we saw it firsthand. If you want to sell out your thinking you should at least do it for elite players that make you a great team.

I am not against paying athletes...I am against players that could be PHDs playing sports against 18 year olds. (yes I know some people finish undergrad in 2 years...lets just not go there you know what I am saying) College hockey has that but at least those players were in juniors not playing D3, then CCHA, then Hockey East, then NCHC, then Big Ten...etc. I am sorry but that is just not appealing to me at all as a life long Gopher Fan.
 


TwistingMyMelon said:
What about principles? I read people complaining constantly about the current system but then I see: "Oh, sure, we want Garcia to come back for a 6th year!" Sounds like situational principles: against changes in general but on board when those changes benefit us.
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Neither he nor any of the others should be allowed to return, restraint of trade be damned.
 





Dave H said:
In truth I dont know. I guess that depends on whether you think Garcia is enough to go from "this team is better than last year" to "this team could make the tourny". Personally, I dont think that is the case. Plus the money...

I am not Niko so it is definitely easier for me to just talk but I think I want to see how Niko builds a roster. I was actually glad a lot of his CSU guys didn't show up in part for that reason. We need a foundation built, a system in place. I will take the growing pains to see what Niko is trying to build.

Fans may get angry over it, but I dont want to just be Garcia's excuse to get a few more bucks and not move on to his next phase in life. He isn't that good.
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I think you and I differ some on how good we think Dawson is :)

In a well run system with strong guard play he could be a matchup nightmare for teams.

And in my opinion adding Garcia to what is already in place very well might be enough to propel this team into the tournament as early as next year. But of course no way to know that until we actually see guys in action and how they mesh together.
 


MNVCGUY said:
I think you and I differ some on how good we think Dawson is :)

In a well run system with strong guard play he could be a matchup nightmare for teams.

And in my opinion adding Garcia to what is already in place very well might be enough to propel this team into the tournament as early as next year. But of course no way to know that until we actually see guys in action and how they mesh together.
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Maybe, I just dont think Dawson is the guy you think he is but where we differ more is how good we think this team is going to be. I dont think we are going to be anywhere near a tourny team unless something surprising comes out of the portal. I think people are vastly overrating what we have so far and I dont think Garcia will change that all that much.

I think the team will be fun to watch don't get me wrong, but I have a feeling the negative nancies will have one more year to whine like children before we see real progress.
 




Hates Monikers said:
I'm not sure if this is a joke, but I'll reply. Two things can be true: You can hate the way the game is changing and also try to win playing by the current rules.

Using "principles" might encourage a coach to tell a player entering the portal that if he makes that move he's not welcome back, no matter what. Not if a player is magically granted an extra year of eligibility.
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Did it read like a joke? Let me be clear: Neither Garcia, nor Patterson, nor Odukele, nor any other player in their situation should be granted another year of eligibility. They've already been given an extra year of eligibility. These extra years of eligibility have hurt high school seniors looking for scholarship positions. Enough is enough.
 


Dave H said:
Maybe, I just dont think Dawson is the guy you think he is but where we differ more is how good we think this team is going to be. I dont think we are going to be anywhere near a tourny team unless something surprising comes out of the portal. I think people are vastly overrating what we have so far and I dont think Garcia will change that all that much.

I think the team will be fun to watch don't get me wrong, but I have a feeling the negative nancies will have one more year to whine like children before we see real progress.
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Outside of Garcia- I firmly believe we will have a better roster than last year, a better system and a better coach.
 





Desmond Claude entered the portal today. I thought he was really good for USC this past season.
 


Dave H said:
That may be true...but I dont think bringing Garcia back is some moment in Gopher History that will change anything. I get he is good but he wasn't good enough enough to make bad teams better...we saw it firsthand. If you want to sell out your thinking you should at least do it for elite players that make you a great team.

I am not against paying athletes...I am against players that could be PHDs playing sports against 18 year olds. (yes I know some people finish undergrad in 2 years...lets just not go there you know what I am saying) College hockey has that but at least those players were in juniors not playing D3, then CCHA, then Hockey East, then NCHC, then Big Ten...etc. I am sorry but that is just not appealing to me at all as a life long Gopher Fan.
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Dawson Garcia is a very good player. I don't know what you expect him to do! Did they make the tournament the last two years with him? No, they were in the bottom half of the BIG. He was about the only big ten caliber player we've had in the last couple of years. Can't play with a bunch of guys that are mid major players and expect to make the tourney. Many people thought we wouldnt win a big ten game the last two years. Garcia was a huge reason we won 16 big ten games. I don't think we will see Garcia play another game with the Gophers and I don't think Garcia is the best player that came through the U, but if you're talking about making a NCAA tournament, you have to start with a guy like Garcia.
 

bga1 said:
Outside of Garcia- I firmly believe we will have a better roster than last year, a better system and a better coach.
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I didn't say otherwise...but you are talking about ridiculously low bars my friend ;)
 

gophereric30 said:
Dawson Garcia is a very good player. I don't know what you expect him to do! Did they make the tournament the last two years with him? No, they were in the bottom half of the BIG. He was about the only big ten caliber player we've had in the last couple of years. Can't play with a bunch of guys that are mid major players and expect to make the tourney. Many people thought we wouldnt win a big ten game the last two years. Garcia was a huge reason we won 16 big ten games. I don't think we will see Garcia play another game with the Gophers and I don't think Garcia is the best player that came through the U, but if you're talking about making a NCAA tournament, you have to start with a guy like Garcia.
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You are taking this as a slight on Garcia...it isn't. I literally said he is a good player. I said if you are going to sell out your principles (which is what the post I was responding to said) then you do it for players that are better than him. You do it for Bobby Jackson not Blake Hoffarber.

I think this is another of those situations where locals love the best player on a bad team and overrate him a bit. Used to see it all the times with the Twins.

Look all we hear is we have finite resources...how much is Dawson going to want do you guess and how much do we have? It is going to be a sizeable chunk. I think that money can better be spent elsewhere.

(and remember this is all contingent on him getting another year which the odds are against)
 

Dave H said:
I didn't say otherwise...but you are talking about ridiculously low bars my friend ;)
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Right. My point is that the team which crossed that low bar had 7 Big Ten wins. Can better talent and coaching get us to 10 or so? There is at least hope! For me, I don't need Garcia, but I think we need a 6-9 or 6-10 kid that can defend and provide a little offense. It is great to have a little size to drop dimes to when you have some guys than can drive and dish like Willis and Reynolds.

A million (which might not be enough for Garcia?) might be good enough to grab a pretty good guy with size. I would guess we are saving that kind of money towards the possibility of Garcia or a guy as I described. I just think it is more than a little curious that the hole in our roster pretty much fits the Garcia type role- so that says something to me.
 

I agree...which is also part of why I think it is time to move on. Use that money on players in the portal.

Again, if they are holding a spot for him to the detriment of the rest of the roster I think that is malpractice. We have a lot of spots to fill still and even if he comes back will need them filled. Unless you really think there is a better than 50/50 chance he returns you assume he is gone and recruit as such. (which I would suspect Niko is) You wait too long and you run the risk of being stuck with lesser players out of the portal.
 




bga1 said:
Outside of Garcia- I firmly believe we will have a better roster than last year, a better system and a better coach.
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How do we even know whether or not this is a better roster? We could probably look back at the spring threads every year and optimistic viewpoints reign. Not intended to be a shot at your post here. Optimism and looking forward to the next year is part of being a fan. But it's impossible to really to know how these pieces will fit together. Less doubt (for me) on whether or not the system/coach will be improved.
 


To compete in the Big Ten the Gophers definitely need another big or two, 6’10” or taller. I’d take this guy!
 

Bobek said:
To compete in the Big Ten the Gophers definitely need another big or two, 6’10” or taller. I’d take this guy!
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The issue isn't whether we would take him. The issue is whether he would take us. When it comes to the good (or at least good enough) players, it's a sellers' market. That's particularly true with centers.
 


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