All Things 2013 Basketball Recruiting Thread UPDATED 5/15: Malik Smith a Gopher!

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EG#9 said:
They first wanted him to walk on, then they told him he was behind other prospects on their list, and then they decided to take him when other options fell through.
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Just curious, is this like how Norwood offered the job to and was rejected by coaches he didn't know he talked to?
 

RoyalGopher said:
How so? McNeil, as you mentioned, should make an impact in the future. Dre Mathieu should also play a role right away - he had offers from Memphis, UCLA, Ole Miss, and other high-majors. Why you are frustrated that Pitino brought in a highly-regarded JUCO? As for King...Joey's a guy that fills a need (PF). Yes, he's not your ideal recruit, but it's June.

Mathieu didn't have an offer from Memphis, he was a plan B guy for them and they chose not to bring him in for a visit. Ben Howland offered McNeil while he was on the hot seat and their is even some debate as to whether it was an offer or "interest" if you look around UCLA boards. I hope he can play, I like his athleticism on paper, but he chose Minnesota over Ole Miss essentially (Kind of like Oto chose Minnesota over Providence?)

That's two years from now; you're thinking way too far ahead.

Every team wants impact guys.



Let's compare our 2013 recruiting class to our rivals' classes. Pitino really hasn't done that bad considering when he arrived and how much time he's had.

Wisconsin
Vitto Brown - good, but his offer list isn't any better than Mathieu or McNeil's.
Riley Dearring - Tubby didn't even look at Dearring hard. Meh.
Nigel Hayes - only high-major offers were Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota - not any better than Mathieu or Mcneil's offer list.
Jordan Hill - second and third best offers were Lehigh and Florida Gulf Coast. Yikes.
Bronson Koenig - very talented and the gem of Wisconsin's class

All in all, I'd say McNeil, Mathieu, King, and Smith make up a class about equal to Wisconsin's.

I strongly disagree with your assessment that our class is about equal to Wisconsin's. Koening is on a level far above anyone the Gophers have in this class and Hayes offer list, especially when you consider he had those offers in the Fall, is stronger than any one of the Gophers recruits. My point is not that Pitino should have been able to put together a class this year to beat Wisconsin's, that's entirely unrealistic. My point was that he should be focusing on bringing in the best recruits he can for 2014 and leaving scholarships open as opposed to settling. Take all the Malik Smith's you can get, but don't burden yourself with guys you may not want in a year or two.
Iowa
Peter Jok - Iowa and Drake were Jok's only offers. However, Jok is pretty talented; he certainly lit up Roseville at the T-Wolves Shootout.
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I don't really consider Iowa a benchmark for basketball recruiting, but they also add Uthoff as a transfer from Bucky. Uthoff is better than anyone we are bringing in and Jok is arguably as good/better than anyone we're bringing in.

I don't "hate" Pitino, I just am pointing out that these are the type of recruits (Spring recruits, lightly regarded before the Spring, recruited to fill perceived needs,etc) that got Tubby in trouble. Taking 3 of those guys is too many in my opinion when you are dealing with just 13 scholarships. I acknowledge that Tubby put Pitino in a tough spot, but I think he should have just bit the bullet for 2013 and concentrated on bringing in a large, talented class in 2014.
 

EG#9 said:
I don't really consider Iowa a benchmark for basketball recruiting, but they also add Uthoff as a transfer from Bucky. Uthoff is better than anyone we are bringing in and Jok is arguably as good/better than anyone we're bringing in.

I don't "hate" Pitino, I just am pointing out that these are the type of recruits (Spring recruits, lightly regarded before the Spring, recruited to fill perceived needs,etc) that got Tubby in trouble. Taking 3 of those guys is too many in my opinion when you are dealing with just 13 scholarships. I acknowledge that Tubby put Pitino in a tough spot, but I think he should have just bit the bullet for 2013 and concentrated on bringing in a large, talented class in 2014.
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I see what you're saying but, Pitino is still going to have at least 4 scholly's to work with next year. Assuming we either get Buckles, or pass on Randall and save it. And thats not taking into account possible transfers. It's also a possibility that Andre could leave for the draft after next year.

Lets take a look at the players Pitino brought in:

Dre Mathieu- It's obvious that Mav is a mediocre backup point guard, and it obviously hurt us not having a guy who could handle the ball well off the bench. One would think that Dre will be that guy and will be thenprimary backup to Andre. I look at this as an upgrade over Maverick.

Malik Smith- Should take Coleman's spot in the starting lineup. Will be able to space the floor because of his shooting, something Coleman didn't do. Already knows the system and is only under scholarship for 1 year. I look at this as a lateral move to Coleman.

Joey King- Stretch 4 who has proven he can shoot the three at a division 1 level. We absolutely needed more forwards after losing Mbakwe and Rodney. I look at this as an upgrade over Oto.

Daquein Mcneil- A three star recruit whose stock has risen over the past year. Was recruited by Oklahoma, Richmond and VCU, who runs an uptempo pressing style like we will run. Espn shows that louisville offered him as well but I can't find another source to verify it. Don't sleep on three star recruits. Plenty of 3 star recruits go on to have good college careers. With the system Pitino is implimenting, Mcneil is going to be a nice depth guy who will see his fair share of minutes.

All in all Pitino brought in a probable starter in Smith. Two guys who look to be upgrades, over players Tubby recruited, who will provide better bench depth than we had last season. And Mcneil, an athletic slasher who fits Pitino's system well. I could see people not liking the Joey King offer, but I really don't think Pitino did a bad job considering the curcumstances.
 

Please...there's almost always a hiccup when you change coaches. If, for his first couple recruiting classes it never gets better than this, then we are in the Tubby-style disaster zone. This recruiting class barely counts and he's just filling out the roster with guys that can handle his style. The class you're comparing this one to was well into Tubby's tenure (which is embarrassing for Tubby). Spring recruiting is hardly ever an ideal scenario, and I don't expect Pitino will have to rely on it outside of this cycle. But, let's say you're correct and this class is on par with Tubby's, all that means is that Pitino was able to replicate in a couple weeks what took Tubby a couple years to work on.
 

IMO it's very apparent King was a fall-back scholarship option (to Buckles and perhaps 1 or 2 others), but that won't bother me in the least if he proves he can handle the rigors of the Big Ten. He doesn't fill an immediate need (a glass cleaner on the frontline), but let's give the kid a chance and see what he can do.
 


RoyalGopher said:
How so? McNeil, as you mentioned, should make an impact in the future. Dre Mathieu should also play a role right away - he had offers from Memphis, UCLA, Ole Miss, and other high-majors. Why you are frustrated that Pitino brought in a highly-regarded JUCO? As for King...Joey's a guy that fills a need (PF). Yes, he's not your ideal recruit, but it's June.



That's two years from now; you're thinking way too far ahead.

Every team wants impact guys.



Let's compare our 2013 recruiting class to our rivals' classes. Pitino really hasn't done that bad considering when he arrived and how much time he's had.

Wisconsin
Vitto Brown - good, but his offer list isn't any better than Mathieu or McNeil's.
Riley Dearring - Tubby didn't even look at Dearring hard. Meh.
Nigel Hayes - only high-major offers were Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota - not any better than Mathieu or Mcneil's offer list.
Jordan Hill - second and third best offers were Lehigh and Florida Gulf Coast. Yikes.
Bronson Koenig - very talented and the gem of Wisconsin's class

All in all, I'd say McNeil, Mathieu, King, and Smith make up a class about equal to Wisconsin's.

Iowa
Peter Jok - Iowa and Drake were Jok's only offers. However, Jok is pretty talented; he certainly lit up Roseville at the T-Wolves Shootout.
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I really don't think you can honestly say that our recruiting class is on par with Wisconsin's. Bronson Koenig is easily a top 100 guy, maybe top 50 depending on whose opinion you trust. We don't have anyone like that in our class.

Nothing against Pitino, he's definitely put in a lot of work in his short time here, but our recruiting class isn't in the same league as Wiscs.
 

GopherHomer said:
But, let's say you're correct and this class is on par with Tubby's, all that means is that Pitino was able to replicate in a couple weeks what took Tubby a couple years to work on.
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That's just not true. Tubby is very much to at least partially to blame for the transfers, but he didn't have 2 years to prepare for the replacements.

I'm ok with this class though, anyone thinking we should bank 3-4 scholarships or thinks there is an abundance of talent available to a program like Minnesota just doesn't get it.

I actually think Mathieu is going to play some really nice minutes for this team.
 

Golden_Sloth said:
I really don't think you can honestly say that our recruiting class is on par with Wisconsin's. Bronson Koenig is easily a top 100 guy, maybe top 50 depending on whose opinion you trust. We don't have anyone like that in our class.

Nothing against Pitino, he's definitely put in a lot of work in his short time here, but our recruiting class isn't in the same league as Wiscs.
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I agree with you here that we can't compare our class to Wisconsin's. But I think that given his lack of time he has done well, and I'm not sure a different coach could have done any differently or better given the time. What is the main argument now? bank a scholarship vs. having King on the roster? I say that have king on the roster and see what the kid can do as you can always not renew the scholarship next year. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. lets see what this season brings. I kinda like how the team for next year is shaping up, given the circumstances. Remember Pitino only had 6 scholarship players on that FIU team that far exceeded expectations.
 

SelectionSunday said:
IMO it's very apparent King was a fall-back scholarship option (to Buckles and perhaps 1 or 2 others), but that won't bother me in the least if he proves he can handle the rigors of the Big Ten. He doesn't fill an immediate need (a glass cleaner on the frontline), but let's give the kid a chance and see what he can do.
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They still have one scholership available for Buckles, looks like King might be filling an opening created by Coleman.
 



Cayman said:
Tubby did not have fall 2009 to find replacements for Justin Cobbs and Paul Carter, who were still on the team at the time and probably expected to be back the next season. They were scholarships that opened up in the spring, and they were filled with spring recruits. I think the two situations are comparable.
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Not even close. Tubby had a full recruiting years to get his contacts made. His plans and fall back plans made if someone left. Which he should of at least had an idea could happen.
 

Tim1406 said:
I agree with you here that we can't compare our class to Wisconsin's. But I think that given his lack of time he has done well, and I'm not sure a different coach could have done any differently or better given the time. What is the main argument now? bank a scholarship vs. having King on the roster? I say that have king on the roster and see what the kid can do as you can always not renew the scholarship next year. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. lets see what this season brings. I kinda like how the team for next year is shaping up, given the circumstances. Remember Pitino only had 6 scholarship players on that FIU team that far exceeded expectations.
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I suppose technically you can do that, but I think when you sign a player, the understanding is that that scholarship is theirs until they graduate, unless they decide to transfer. I don't think coaches recruit players and say "You have a scholarship this year, but if you don't play well you won't have one next year."

Blackhammer said:
Not even close. Tubby had a full recruiting years to get his contacts made. His plans and fall back plans made if someone left. Which he should of at least had an idea could happen.
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Now coaches are supposed to sign a recruiting class and then have other players on the hook months in advance on the off chance someone decides to leave the program? Even if that were the case, I don't think you would be able to get any good recruits to hang around in limbo waiting for someone to leave the team. Decent recruits will have better options than "Wait around and hope someone transfers out of Minnesota."
 

Patino is mostly a very young, and an unknown commodity, for big ten standards. I like the hire and I will give him a chance. But to think out of state 4 star talent will commit to him before this team plays a game is foolish. If he can get this team into the ncaa tourney in his first year that will say something to me. If he is taking these type of players, 2-3 star guys throughout the entire class, 3-4 years from now I will be worried. I think singling out 5 slower players and assuming they will be on the court together is also unrealistic. We have 12 players, some will be stars, some will be learning, and others will be role players.
 

Cayman said:
Now coaches are supposed to sign a recruiting class and then have other players on the hook months in advance on the off chance someone decides to leave the program? Even if that were the case, I don't think you would be able to get any good recruits to hang around in limbo waiting for someone to leave the team. Decent recruits will have better options than "Wait around and hope someone transfers out of Minnesota."
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It is comical that you would even compare ones ability to recruit at a university in their 2nd FULL recruiting cycle vs someone I'm their 2nd full month on the job.... Speaks volumes of what Tubby was able to accomplish in his time here....

Essentially what you are claiming is impossible, to lure recruits from one place to another when a situation arises, is what Pitino has done here. Now we can go on all day about who had the better recruiting class Tubby 09 and Pitino 13, we won't have an answer for another 3 or 4 years. However I will tell you what answer I do have, Pitino has shown an ability to make SOMETHING happen given short notice or difficult constraints where we saw Tubby snag anything he could get.

Year 1 vs year 3, the jury is still out but I like the ideas behind year 1 more than I believed there was an idea in year 3....
 



Winasota Gopher said:
It is comical that you would even compare ones ability to recruit at a university in their 2nd FULL recruiting cycle vs someone I'm their 2nd full month on the job.... Speaks volumes of what Tubby was able to accomplish in his time here....

Essentially what you are claiming is impossible, to lure recruits from one place to another when a situation arises, is what Pitino has done here. Now we can go on all day about who had the better recruiting class Tubby 09 and Pitino 13, we won't have an answer for another 3 or 4 years. However I will tell you what answer I do have, Pitino has shown an ability to make SOMETHING happen given short notice or difficult constraints where we saw Tubby snag anything he could get.

Year 1 vs year 3, the jury is still out but I like the ideas behind year 1 more than I believed there was an idea in year 3....
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It doesn't matter if it was Tubby's 2nd full recruiting cycle, he didn't have a full recruiting cycle to replace guys who transferred in April, unless Tubby had chosen to bank the scholarships, in which case we would have been left with something like 6 uninjured scholarship players by the end of the 2010-11 season. Regardless of how long a coach has been at a school, there still aren't going to be loads of great recruits left in the spring. In fact if this were Pitino's second full cycle, he probably would not have been able to get guys like McNeil or Smith, who are simply following him from FIU to Minnesota.

Pitino has gotten 4 players so far this class. He "lured away" a recruit who had already committed to him at his previous school, (which Tubby recently did, getting Alex Foster to follow him to Texas Tech), another player who had already played a year with him, Joey King, who grew up here and is leaving a Missouri Valley school for a Big Ten school, and Dre Mathieu from JuCo.

I will give you that I'm not sure why Tubby didn't seem to go after transfers more in the spring, maybe because they wouldn't have been eligible to fill the holes in the roster for the coming season, (although we probably could have gotten Trent Lockett for this past season if Mbakwe hadn't gotten injured and had graduated as planned). I actually thought that the two JuCo's Tubby got, Welch and Ingram, were solid contributors and ended up being good signings for the time that we got them, with Welch even averaging over 25 minutes a game and being one of the best three point shooters in the Big Ten in his junior year.

I wasn't trying to argue that it's impossible to fill holes in the spring with good players, though it is difficult, I was saying to Blackhammer that I don't think coaches find fallback plan recruits in the fall in case someone transfers in the spring. For instance I don't think Pitino is going out and telling 2014 forwards "Hey I have a scholarship for you at Minnesota if Charles Buggs transfers, so just wait on that and don't commit anywhere else in the meantime."

I think the reason Pitino has been able to make something happen this spring is because he is taking 2 players from his former school (something he will not be able to do in the future, and something Tubby was not able to do in the spring of 2010), and had the fortune to have a D1 caliber (not sure if Big Ten caliber, but I hope so) recruit who grew up Minnesota looking to transfer closer to home.
 

I'm sick of people defending Tubby's recruiting simply because he had guys transfer. The guys that transferred were guys that Tubby recruited. Part of running a program is recruiting the right guys and keeping them. I'll give him a pass on Paul Carter because that was a legitimate issue beyond anyone's control, but the main reason Tubby had a crappy class was that he couldn't keep his OWN players happy or recruited the wrong players.
 

GopherHomer said:
I'm sick of people defending Tubby's recruiting simply because he had guys transfer. The guys that transferred were guys that Tubby recruited. Part of running a program is recruiting the right guys and keeping them. I'll give him a pass on Paul Carter because that was a legitimate issue beyond anyone's control, but the main reason Tubby had a crappy class was that he couldn't keep his OWN players happy or recruited the wrong players.
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+1

Dealing with possible attrition is on the coach. Freak things happen (Paul Carter), but having a mass exodus of players is on the coach. It might just be bad luck, but when it becomes a trend, it's on the coach.
 

Cayman said:
I wasn't trying to argue that it's impossible to fill holes in the spring with good players, though it is difficult, I was saying to Blackhammer that I don't think coaches find fallback plan recruits in the fall in case someone transfers in the spring. For instance I don't think Pitino is going out and telling 2014 forwards "Hey I have a scholarship for you at Minnesota if Charles Buggs transfers, so just wait on that and don't commit anywhere else in the meantime."

I think the reason Pitino has been able to make something happen this spring is because he is taking 2 players from his former school (something he will not be able to do in the future, and something Tubby was not able to do in the spring of 2010), and had the fortune to have a D1 caliber (not sure if Big Ten caliber, but I hope so) recruit who grew up Minnesota looking to transfer closer to home.
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No, you said to me, who you quoted, that Tubbys 2009 class was comparable to Pitinos 2013, which in no way it is. Period.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
No, you said to me, who you quoted, that Tubbys 2009 class was comparable to Pitinos 2013, which in no way it is. Period.
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I think it was the 2010 class that I was referring to, the one with Austin, Elliot, Mo, Mav, Chip, and Oto, but yes, I did say that. The entire class is not comparable, no, which maybe I should have clarified. I was referring to the spring signings of that class, Mo excluded. Austin and Elliot were both fall recruits as I recall. Mo signed in April 2010, possibly as an attempt by Tubby to help lure Cory Joseph, but even if signing Mo failed to do that, he was a top 150 recruit with multiple BCS offers, and I don't believe he was someone we took because we were scrambling for players.

I think Mav and Chip, and maybe Oto to a lesser extent, were spring recruits signed to fill needs that came up in the spring and didn't exist in the fall, when we assumed Paul Carter and Justin Cobbs would be returning.

Pitino is also signing players in the spring for needs that he did not have in the fall because he was at FIU. In that respect, that is, signing spring recruits to fill spring needs, I think Pitino's 2013 class and the last half/third of Tubby's 2010 class are similar. I'm not even upset about this class, McNeil and Mathieu seem legit, Smith is a senior so I'm hoping he'll be solid if only because he seems like a decent shooter and has experience in Pitino's system. The only one I have some reservations about is King, as it sounds like did decent but didn't set the world on fire in a lesser conference, but then few players have really great seasons in their freshman year, so maybe I'm just being too hard on him.

So I don't even think this class is that bad, especially for the amount of time Pitino had to recruit, but I could see where some posters would probably not be happy with Tubby having a recruiting class of let's say Alvin Ellis, a JuCo, a MVC transfer, and a Conference USA transfer.
 

Tubby having that recruiting class while not changing jobs while having 6 years to establish a program is much different than a new 1 year coach comming in and filling roster spots late? If this is Patino's class in year 6 I am downright pissed! See the difference?
 

Cayman said:
I think it was the 2010 class that I was referring to, the one with Austin, Elliot, Mo, Mav, Chip, and Oto, but yes, I did say that. The entire class is not comparable, no, which maybe I should have clarified. I was referring to the spring signings of that class, Mo excluded. Austin and Elliot were both fall recruits as I recall. Mo signed in April 2010, possibly as an attempt by Tubby to help lure Cory Joseph, but even if signing Mo failed to do that, he was a top 150 recruit with multiple BCS offers, and I don't believe he was someone we took because we were scrambling for players.

I think Mav and Chip, and maybe Oto to a lesser extent, were spring recruits signed to fill needs that came up in the spring and didn't exist in the fall, when we assumed Paul Carter and Justin Cobbs would be returning.

Pitino is also signing players in the spring for needs that he did not have in the fall because he was at FIU. In that respect, that is, signing spring recruits to fill spring needs, I think Pitino's 2013 class and the last half/third of Tubby's 2010 class are similar. I'm not even upset about this class, McNeil and Mathieu seem legit, Smith is a senior so I'm hoping he'll be solid if only because he seems like a decent shooter and has experience in Pitino's system. The only one I have some reservations about is King, as it sounds like did decent but didn't set the world on fire in a lesser conference, but then few players have really great seasons in their freshman year, so maybe I'm just being too hard on him.

So I don't even think this class is that bad, especially for the amount of time Pitino had to recruit, but I could see where some posters would probably not be happy with Tubby having a recruiting class of let's say Alvin Ellis, a JuCo, a MVC transfer, and a Conference USA transfer.
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So Tubby could not have predicted that Paul Carter and Justin Cobbs were leaving, I agree. However, thats 2 spots, Tubby signed what like 6 guys that class? 2 of which were what we considered as quality fall recruits in Austin Hollins and Ellito Eliason. The other 4 were recruits we picked up in the spring correct? I cannot remember when we got a commit from Mo, but I'm willing to say he was a quality spring recruit if we got him at that time. The other 3 now, account for the 2 unexpected transfers.

So what I'm saying is, that with the 3 or 4 years of recruiting in the big 10 and the time he used to develop relationships on the recruiting trail for the past however many years as the coach at Minnesota he should have been able to muster together something better than a new coach coming in with 0 work done with his current team, city, and recruiting class. Suggesting that the incumbent isn't any further ahead of someone coming fresh into the situation is asinine and simplifying the situation waaaay too much.

Give it up, it's not comparable. Neither is an easy situation, and no one has ever said they were, however, one is SIGNIFICANTLY more manageable and comes with greater expectations than the other. The problem, not really problem if you are looking forward its actually kind of nice, is that the guy who had the more difficult road, Pitino, seems to have matched Tubby blow for blow, or at least close to it.
 

An incumbent coach should never have a class like this. For an incoming coach - trying to fill out his roster- I like it. This Fall will be the barometer for a Pitino class (doesn't have to be the big 3).
 

Marcus blog: Gophers basketball: Can Drake transfer Joey King make an immediate impact?

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound King reminds me a lot of former Gophers forward Dan Coleman who was released from his letter of intent at Boston College before starting 27 games and averaging eight points and nearly four rebounds as a freshman in 2004-05.

I wouldn’t be surprised if King puts up similar numbers as a sophomore for Pitino next season. Like Coleman, King is not a bruiser by any means. But he’s strong and athletic enough to be an effective offensive rebounding threat.

– Rumor is that Jones and King aren’t too fond of each other. But it’s not like the Gophers had much of a realistic shot with Jones anyway, especially after his future college teammate and the nation’s top 2014 recruit, Jahlil Okafor, narrowed his list to eight schools last week with Minnesota not included (no shock there).

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers...ow-joey-king-can-help-the-gophers-right-away/

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Marcus blog: Gophers basketball: Can Drake transfer Joey King make an immediate impact?

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound King reminds me a lot of former Gophers forward Dan Coleman who was released from his letter of intent at Boston College before starting 27 games and averaging eight points and nearly four rebounds as a freshman in 2004-05.

I wouldn’t be surprised if King puts up similar numbers as a sophomore for Pitino next season. Like Coleman, King is not a bruiser by any means. But he’s strong and athletic enough to be an effective offensive rebounding threat.

– Rumor is that Jones and King aren’t too fond of each other. But it’s not like the Gophers had much of a realistic shot with Jones anyway, especially after his future college teammate and the nation’s top 2014 recruit, Jahlil Okafor, narrowed his list to eight schools last week with Minnesota not included (no shock there).

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers...ow-joey-king-can-help-the-gophers-right-away/

Go Gophers!!
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Sounds like that new coach knows what he's doing.
 

BleedGopher said:
Marcus blog: Gophers basketball: Can Drake transfer Joey King make an immediate impact?

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound King reminds me a lot of former Gophers forward Dan Coleman who was released from his letter of intent at Boston College before starting 27 games and averaging eight points and nearly four rebounds as a freshman in 2004-05.

I wouldn’t be surprised if King puts up similar numbers as a sophomore for Pitino next season. Like Coleman, King is not a bruiser by any means. But he’s strong and athletic enough to be an effective offensive rebounding threat.

– Rumor is that Jones and King aren’t too fond of each other. But it’s not like the Gophers had much of a realistic shot with Jones anyway, especially after his future college teammate and the nation’s top 2014 recruit, Jahlil Okafor, narrowed his list to eight schools last week with Minnesota not included (no shock there).

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers...ow-joey-king-can-help-the-gophers-right-away/

Go Gophers!!
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Cool - a grudge match for when Duke and Minnesota tangle in the East Regional Final in '15.
 


I know somewhere where he can have a bigger role. Come to Junior.


LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Louisville sophomore center Zach Price is leaving the Cardinals' program after two seasons.

Price expressed appreciation for Cardinals fans on his Twitter account Tuesday, tweeting, ''It was truly a pleasure playing for this university.''

Cardinals coach Rick Pitino confirmed at a fan event Tuesday evening that the 6-foot-10 Cleveland native was departing. Earlier Tuesday, Pitino pointed out that Price had not been attending summer classes and that the player had tweeted about his intentions. The coach says the two have exchanged text messages but haven't talked.

Price averaged just under six minutes and one point in 35 career games with Louisville.

Pitino wished Price well and says he respects his decision to seek a bigger role elsewhere, adding, ''we hope he has great success when he moves on.''
 


BoneLakeMafia said:
I know somewhere where he can have a bigger role. Come to Junior.


LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Louisville sophomore center Zach Price is leaving the Cardinals' program after two seasons.

Price expressed appreciation for Cardinals fans on his Twitter account Tuesday, tweeting, ''It was truly a pleasure playing for this university.''

Cardinals coach Rick Pitino confirmed at a fan event Tuesday evening that the 6-foot-10 Cleveland native was departing. Earlier Tuesday, Pitino pointed out that Price had not been attending summer classes and that the player had tweeted about his intentions. The coach says the two have exchanged text messages but haven't talked.

Price averaged just under six minutes and one point in 35 career games with Louisville.

Pitino wished Price well and says he respects his decision to seek a bigger role elsewhere, adding, ''we hope he has great success when he moves on.''
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Seems like we're holding the last scholarship for Buckles, and it doesn't sound like Price is leaving the elder Pitino on the best of terms if they've merely "exchanged text messages."

Interesting, though, in that Price seems to fit the mold of what we'll be looking for in a C, and he also had a MN offer out of hs according to Scout.
 

Tim1406 said:
I agree with you here that we can't compare our class to Wisconsin's. But I think that given his lack of time he has done well, and I'm not sure a different coach could have done any differently or better given the time. What is the main argument now? bank a scholarship vs. having King on the roster? I say that have king on the roster and see what the kid can do as you can always not renew the scholarship next year. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. lets see what this season brings. I kinda like how the team for next year is shaping up, given the circumstances. Remember Pitino only had 6 scholarship players on that FIU team that far exceeded expectations.
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Right on. I wasn't saying Coach P isn't doing a good job with his circumstances, I'm actually pretty pleased with the class he is bringing in. I like both McNeil and Mathieu a lot. Don't really know anything about King, but he fills a definite need. I'm not at all sold on Smith, but we don't have much to lose since he'll only be on scholarship for one year.
 

Golden_Sloth said:
Right on. I wasn't saying Coach P isn't doing a good job with his circumstances, I'm actually pretty pleased with the class he is bringing in. I like both McNeil and Mathieu a lot. Don't really know anything about King, but he fills a definite need. I'm not at all sold on Smith, but we don't have much to lose since he'll only be on scholarship for one year.
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What's the problem with Malik?
 

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