All Things 2014 Basketball Recruiting Thread

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Pitino and Co. must be killing it. Wish I knew what they were telling these kids and what their overall strategy is. Whatever it is, it's effective.
 


LOL! That is why also rans from the Sun Belt and MVC are beating down the door to play for Pitino
 

SaintLouisGopher said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>RT <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherHole">@GopherHole</a>: Quote from national AAU coach this morning "Out of nowhere, Minnesota became one of the 'it' schools for recruits" <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a></p>— Matt H. (@MVofDT) <a href="https://twitter.com/MVofDT/statuses/358254016859348993">July 19, 2013</a></blockquote>
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This is usually the point in the dream when I wake up.
 


STrib: Catching up with Gophers' target Paul White, plus other recruiting notes

How much more interesting does it make it that he is a Pitino? Obviously he’s a young coach with just a year of head coaching experience. But to hear that name … It’s a little interesting because you also can’t help the fact that you’re going to compare and contrast. I really don’t know Rick Pitino that well, but from what I see on the TV he seems like a real intense dude. So I feel he may have carried that over to his son. But it’s kind of fun to see because you want to see a legendary coach, what his son is going to do. It’s going to be interesting.

Do you plan to narrow your list soon? Probably. It’s probably going to be around five or six. I really don’t know exactly when, it’s probably going to be after Peach Jam, sometime after Peach Jam.

Want to give us any hints? Is Minnesota going to be on that list? I can’t make any promises, but if coach Pitino keeps hitting me up, I mean, it’s a good chance.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/216179101.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!
 


SaintLouisGopher said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>RT <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherHole">@GopherHole</a>: Quote from national AAU coach this morning "Out of nowhere, Minnesota became one of the 'it' schools for recruits" <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a></p>— Matt H. (@MVofDT) <a href="https://twitter.com/MVofDT/statuses/358254016859348993">July 19, 2013</a></blockquote>
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This is awesome to hear. I was so skeptical when Pitino was first hired but still was going to give him some time before I considered him a failure. Nice to know that all indications so far are that Pitino was a home run hire.
 

I wonder how many commits we will get from these high ranked kids who are interested... I am optimistic, but trying not to get my hopes up too much. Regardless, it's been quite some time since recruiting news has been this good... at least not since Royce and Rodney.
 



Former Goofer said:
This is awesome to hear. I was so skeptical when Pitino was first hired but still was going to give him some time before I considered him a failure. Nice to know that all indications so far are that Pitino was a home run hire.
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Not trying to be glass half empty here because I am also really impressed with the first couple months on the job. BUT....we still haven't officially signed a 2014 recruit or even saw him coach a game. Not ready to call him a home run hire just yet. I do think the excitement about the program locally and nationally with recruits is much better than it was the last few years. I definitely give him credit for that.
 


golfing18now said:
Not trying to be glass half empty here because I am also really impressed with the first couple months on the job. BUT....we still haven't officially signed a 2014 recruit or even saw him coach a game. Not ready to call him a home run hire just yet. I do think the excitement about the program locally and nationally with recruits is much better than it was the last few years. I definitely give him credit for that.
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Oh I know. I'm just saying that Pitino came out of nowhere and I thought he;d be a nobody. So far he has far exceeded what I thought he'd be doing.
 

JDGopher said:
I wonder how many commits we will get from these high ranked kids who are interested... I am optimistic, but trying not to get my hopes up too much. Regardless, it's been quite some time since recruiting news has been this good... at least not since Royce and Rodney.
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It looks like Pitino has statistics working for us. If we are in the top 5 on most of these 23 recruits that we have offered- it would sure seem that our odds are pretty strong we are going to get some of them.
 



Former Goofer said:
Oh I know. I'm just saying that Pitino came out of nowhere and I thought he;d be a nobody. So far he has far exceeded what I thought he'd be doing.
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I agree with you. It also seems like he has put together a very competent staff of recruiters.
 

Has anyone watched highlights of this Alex Robinson kid? He looks like a player.
 

Pitino chatting it up with Mark Few at a game featuring Josh Perkins.

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MadtownGopher said:
Well we pretty much only have offers out to 4 and 5 star players. http://espn.go.com/colleges/basketball/recruiting/school/_/id/135/class/2014/page/offers
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Oh, yes. The level of excitement for MN amongst those type of players is a great thing and I'm quite excited. But until someone signs, it matters little (even though, like you and others mention, it would seem likely we'd land at least a few with those numbers...). Interest is cheap. Hoping to get some commitments soon.
 

over a third of rivals top 150 2014 already have given verbal. Give Pitino a break for 2014. I do not see the gophs on many confirmed top 5 lists. Huge if we get a top 50 2014 other than Mn. kid... We do not have great facilities , we have been on average a below average Big Ten Team for several years. We have an unproven HC. Hard recruiting might get you noticed and mentioned but it will take more than that to bring in 4 or 5 star out state kids to Mn. Pitino is fortunate to start here when the local recruit pool is relatively quite high at least through 2016 and there in lies his best chance to kick start the program and upgrade the sales pitch substance
 

The Brain Trust said:
over a third of rivals top 150 2014 already have given verbal. Give Pitino a break for 2014. I do not see the gophs on many confirmed top 5 lists. Huge if we get a top 50 2014 other than Mn. kid... We do not have great facilities , we have been on average a below average Big Ten Team for several years. We have an unproven HC. Hard recruiting might get you noticed and mentioned but it will take more than that to bring in 4 or 5 star out state kids to Mn. Pitino is fortunate to start here when the local recruit pool is relatively quite high at least through 2016 and there in lies his best chance to kick start the program and upgrade the sales pitch substance
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Not sure if this is in reference to me, or not, but I would like to clarify my earlier posts and state that I am not insulting Pitino (love what the staff is going so far), but more saying that I am attempting not to get my hopes overly high because, while interest is great, it is not meaningful unless it turns into commits (which I think it will, at some point). Definitely agree with you- landing a non MN 4 or 5 star would be HUGE
 

The Brain Trust said:
over a third of rivals top 150 2014 already have given verbal. Give Pitino a break for 2014. I do not see the gophs on many confirmed top 5 lists. Huge if we get a top 50 2014 other than Mn. kid... We do not have great facilities , we have been on average a below average Big Ten Team for several years. We have an unproven HC. Hard recruiting might get you noticed and mentioned but it will take more than that to bring in 4 or 5 star out state kids to Mn. Pitino is fortunate to start here when the local recruit pool is relatively quite high at least through 2016 and there in lies his best chance to kick start the program and upgrade the sales pitch substance
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Good post. I think you may be pretty close.
 


ZagsBlog: Ja’Quan Newton Will Cut List Soon

Minnesota is also involved and head coach Richard Pitino was on hand.

‘I watched him coach at his previous school [FIU],” Newton said. “Get up and down and run. Pick and roll.”

Newton and Brooklyn Lincoln’s Isaiah Whitehead have talked about packaging, possibly at Minnesota, UCLA or Syracuse.

“We still thinking about it,” Newton said. “If it don’t happen it just don’t but there’s a chance that it might.”

http://zagsblog.com/articles/jaquan-newton-will-cut-list-soon/

Go Gophers!!
 

futuregopher said:
http://zagsblog.com/articles/stakes-are-huge-as-pitino-minnesota-go-all-out-for-big-3/
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Some good quotes:

And if Pitino is unable to land any of them?

“It’s one of those things to where the new coach would get a pass on that,” Harris said. “He just got there, it’s kind of tough to get guys at the last minute. But he’s rebuilding over there, so I feel good about the program.”

Still, Vaughn knows exactly what it would mean — both to the state of Minnesota and to himself — if he stayed home to play for Pitino.

“I think it would mean everything,” Vaughn told SNY.tv. “I don’t think a day goes by where a Minnesota Gopher fan doesn’t Tweet one of us [Vaughn or Jones] so it would mean a lot.”

He added: “I know if I stay home I’ll be the superstar and the city will love me.”

Go Gophers!!
 

@TheRecruitScoop: Along with Pittsburgh, UCLA has offered 2014 PG Ja'Quan Newton of Team Final (PA).

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
@TheRecruitScoop: Along with Pittsburgh, UCLA has offered 2014 PG Ja'Quan Newton of Team Final (PA).

Go Gophers!!
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I feel like Pitt is pretty late to offer (not necessarily UCLA b/c Newton has shown interest) considering Newton has said he plans to cut his list to 5 within the next week or two. Especially considering how close Newton has been to Pitt the whole time.
 

GopherDude said:
I feel like Pitt is pretty late to offer (not necessarily UCLA b/c Newton has shown interest) considering Newton has said he plans to cut his list to 5 within the next week or two. Especially considering how close Newton has been to Pitt the whole time.
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Huh?
 


KSBGopher said:
Pitt, UCLA, and Nova are going to be tough to compete with. Newton is tight with some of the guys at Pitt, and his dad is in love with UCLA. Gonna be tough to land Newton with those guys in the picture.
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That is not what the dude said.

But you make more sense.
 

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