All Things 2016 Gophers Basketball Recruiting Thread

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MadtownGopher said:
Watching some Curry highlights, I'm reminded of all of the versatile players we could have on the roster in 16-17...

PG Only
- Kevin Dorsey

PG/Wing
- Nate Mason
- Dupree McBrayer
- Amir Coffey

Wing/PF
- Ahmad Gilbert
- Jordan Murphy
- Michael Hurt
- Charles Buggs
- Eric Curry
- Donte Fitzgerald

PF/C
- Bakary Konate
- Gaston Diedhiou
- Reggie Lynch

That Wing/PF category is super interesting from a talent and depth perspective.
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I think you're pretty loose with that PF assignment, but the point remains. Lots of options. Still lacking the "banger" a lot of people on this board want, but I like the roster and they will be able to pressure the **** out of most teams and cause all sorts of havoc defensively. Offensively someone in there needs to be a knock down shooter, looking at Mason and Hurt to fill those roles, perhaps McBryer?
 

JMGIII said:
I'm in the group who was a student/fan during that drama. He was boo'd mercilessly every time he touched the ball when the Illini visited The Barn. Good times!


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Can someone fill us youngins in with some details?
 

Winasota Gopher said:
I think you're pretty loose with that PF assignment, but the point remains. Lots of options. Still lacking the "banger" a lot of people on this board want, but I like the roster and they will be able to pressure the **** out of most teams and cause all sorts of havoc defensively. Offensively someone in there needs to be a knock down shooter, looking at Mason and Hurt to fill those roles, perhaps McBryer?
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Gilbert was brought in for his shooting. Coffey can stroke it too.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Can someone fill us youngins in with some details?
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Jerry Gee was a big time recruit out of Chicago in the early 90's or so who provided an above average amount of drama in his recruiting. Not nearly as much public info/rumors then as there is now on recruiting, but there was strong money on his coming here. It may have even been reported that he committed (some details are pretty fuzzy). It went down to the wire and he committed to Illinois. Our fan base was pretty ticked and razzed him mercilessly when he came to the Barn. I do remember him being a pretty good sport about it saying, "I would boo me too, if I were them."

The glory of it all is that he had a serviceable career with Illinois, but was not the difference maker recruit many of us thought he would be. Served him right for blowing us off.

Sadly, there are a lot of these stories in our history, but this was terrible because it really wasn't a pipe dream. The team was on the rise and we really thought we had a shot at big time out of town recruits. Turns out Illinois probably had more cash for his family. Only a little bitterness remains.:)
 

Holy Man said:
Wow. You must be old, maybe even older than I am. The Gee saga was a looong time ago, and it feels like yesterday to me. We should take a poll to see how many on the board even know who he is!
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I think I was 12 years old. During his recruitment, I'd ride my bike to the store and buy the paper hoping Sid had an update on Gee since he was the only source of recruiting news back then. I'd pedal over to McDonalds to get a Big Mac value meal and read the paper. I love Sid for his devotion to our Gophers and I wish I was 12 again and my only care in the world was who the Gophers were recruiting.
 


Holy Man said:
Jerry Gee was a big time recruit out of Chicago in the early 90's or so who provided an above average amount of drama in his recruiting. Not nearly as much public info/rumors then as there is now on recruiting, but there was strong money on his coming here. It may have even been reported that he committed (some details are pretty fuzzy). It went down to the wire and he committed to Illinois. Our fan base was pretty ticked and razzed him mercilessly when he came to the Barn. I do remember him being a pretty good sport about it saying, "I would boo me too, if I were them."

The glory of it all is that he had a serviceable career with Illinois, but was not the difference maker recruit many of us thought he would be. Served him right for blowing us off.

Sadly, there are a lot of these stories in our history, but this was terrible because it really wasn't a pipe dream. The team was on the rise and we really thought we had a shot at big time out of town recruits. Turns out Illinois probably had more cash for his family. Only a little bitterness remains.:)
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Thanks for the info, I followed the team then (I was about 12 at the time as well like Slim Tubby) but didn't follow recruiting at all.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Thanks for the info, I followed the team then (I was about 12 at the time as well like Slim Tubby) but didn't follow recruiting at all.
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It's funny how players like Jerry Gee and Doug Wrenn get stuck in your head as a kid. I've always been intrigued as much in the recruitment of players as I am the games themselves. Must be the Roto in me.
 

The Gophers cancelling Frankie Hughes visit could mean they are filled up or just that the second available scholarship was always going to a bigger player. Curry would be a great addition on Wednesday, and then the staff could really be choosy in the Spring if another scholarship were to open up. It would be almost ideal to land Curry this week and then find a knockdown shooter in the Spring.
 

Slim Tubby said:
It's funny how players like Jerry Gee and Doug Wrenn get stuck in your head as a kid. I've always been intrigued as much in the recruitment of players as I am the games themselves. Must be the Roto in me.
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Ha, Doug Wrenn. Seattle kid, correct? I remember that we offered Burleson in attempt to help land Wrenn. So much for that.. although KB went on to have a nice, albeit short, stint in the NBA. He seemed to develop more after college (defensive stud).
 



Slim Tubby said:
It's funny how players like Jerry Gee and Doug Wrenn get stuck in your head as a kid. I've always been intrigued as much in the recruitment of players as I am the games themselves. Must be the Roto in me.
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Doug Wrenn did absolutely everything but come here. I think it was a longer recruiting saga than Gee. I think he and Nate Burleson were supposed to be a package deal. It turned out that Wrenn didn't do much in college either.
 


jamiche said:
Doug Wrenn did absolutely everything but come here. I think it was a longer recruiting saga than Gee. I think he and Nate Burleson were supposed to be a package deal. It turned out that Wrenn didn't do much in college either.
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I never truly believed Gee was coming here, but I thought we had Wrenn in the bag - especially after he was quoted telling some fan or reporter at the time of his visit, "People of Minnesota, rest assured." Speculation was that Georgia Tech swooped in with a bunch of improper benefits and knocked him off his mooring. He didn't sign with them, but I wonder if it fundamentally changed his approach to his recruitment, wink, wink.
 




Wing/PF
- Ahmad Gilbert

on the roster Gilbert is listed as a guard. Don't know about his ball handling skills, but it might be interesting to see a line up in a few years that's 6'6" to 6'9". maybe look a little like 78-79 MSU where every player seemingly could play any position.
 

jamiche said:
Doug Wrenn did absolutely everything but come here. I think it was a longer recruiting saga than Gee. I think he and Nate Burleson were supposed to be a package deal. It turned out that Wrenn didn't do much in college either.
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Wrenn had some major character issues as well. I think he ended up playing for two or three different college teams because he was kicked off. Kevin Burleson, the "throw-in" part of the package had a better career than most will give him credit for (his connection with the NCAA tournament dooming meltdown against Illinois sadly identifies his memory to Gopher fans). Perhaps more importantly, he was never involved in any public drama. Wrenn would have been a disaster that way.
 

EG#9 said:
The Gophers cancelling Frankie Hughes visit could mean they are filled up or just that the second available scholarship was always going to a bigger player. Curry would be a great addition on Wednesday, and then the staff could really be choosy in the Spring if another scholarship were to open up. It would be almost ideal to land Curry this week and then find a knockdown shooter in the Spring.
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I do think Curry will commit here but if he does not, I think it's smart for Pitino to wait until the spring (unless he wants to check on Kevin Marfo again).. I know Alpha Diallo is another name that's come up but adding another 6'6 player? Hmm.... not sure that's smart.

I'd bank two scholarships for the '17 class, I think you want two anyways with the home state featuring Gary Trent JR (the only reason I'm somewhat optimistic now on him is Coffey coming here), Theo John, Goanar Mar (still doesn't have a Gophers offer) and McKinley Wright. I was surprised to see Wright in rivals top 150 but it's time to Gophers pay more attention to him.. especially if Jarvis doesn't end up playing here. Adding Wright gives you a backup pg for Dorsey in a couple years when Mason's a senior. That's an easier transition then just waiting for Tre Jones... Tre too will be a top 50 player who will command attention from nearly every top school. I wouldn't rule out the Duke connection to if he remains in the top 50.. Coach K could see him as a guy who could come in and be the backup for a year or two and then start as a junior/senior versus Tyus who as a consensus top 10 and potential one and done guy.
 

I want at least 3 scholarships for 2017 with the talent that's going to be available. It will be interesting to see how the roster shakes out. I could definitely see Buggs grad transferring after this season. I could also see Gaston transfer after the season if it looks like he's going to be buried behind Konate, Lynch, and the other PFs on the roster.
 

Gophers get Curry! Recruiting class 2016 is now top 15!
 


GopherOhana said:
Are we done?
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Probably unless we have a mass defection. Even if 1 scholarship opens up we'll probably save it for next year as we have our 3 recruits plus Lynch and Fitzgerald as new or newly eligible starting next year.
 

Gopher basketball is truly getting exciting! I was so afraid of a Travis Reid moment with Amir. Especially since Richard Coffey was one of my all time favorites (being a paratrooper plays into that). Great family. Great tradition for us. I believe it was the Coffey commit that locked Curry. We are looking good!
 



GopherHole was melting down for a second there. High, high traffic because of the Curry commit.
 


I love how tall and long our team will be with the addition of this class. We now have size at every position next year(except point where we are still 6'1" or shorter)
 

Tim1406 said:
I love how tall and long our team will be with the addition of this class. We now have size at every position next year(except point where we are still 6'1" or shorter)
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Coffey plays some PG so then our average jumps up to around 6'4!
 

MadtownGopher said:
Coffey plays some PG so then our average jumps up to around 6'4!
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Yep a line up we could see in 2016 (not starting): Coffey(Fr. 6'7"), McBrayer(So. 6'4"), Fitzgerald(Sr. 6'8"), Diedhiou(Jr. 6'9")(or Curry Fr. 6'8"), Konate(Jr. 6'11")
 

30 is about right. very good job as they found guys that are high character guys that can be developed. this is the right approach to build a program. When you do that and only then can you start to approach even better talent. You must win at a high level, like a conference championship to build a meaning brand.
 


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