All Things 2018 Gophers Basketball Recruiting Thread

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per Marcus:

Pitino has now used two of his three open scholarships for next season after also signing former Vanderbilt guard Payton Willis, who will have two seasons to play after sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules. Carr is eligible for three seasons starting in 2019-20.

The Gophers backcourt depth for next season is still a concern, especially with freshman Isaiah Washington as the only true point guard on the roster able to play in 2018-19. Returning starters Amir Coffey and Dupree McBrayer both play more off the ball. Pitino said he's open to moving them to play point guard if needed, but he's still looking to add another ball handler to help right away if he can.

"I think more than anything it's to provide flexibility," Pitino said earlier Monday. "With whoever you do take that's important. You can always move pieces around. You can put Dupree at the point. You can go with Amir at (shooting guard). You can put Amir at the point. I just like versatility and flexibility. So it is important that we add a good piece with that and not just take anybody. Just be patient. The way things are going you never know who is going to pop up and transfer at any moment."

Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate transfer Brock Stull could be visiting the Gophers this weekend. Stull, a 6-foot-4 guard from Illinois, averaged 13.4 points and 3.1 assists as a junior this season. He played with former Gophers guard Akeem Springs and played for new assistant Rob Jeter at Milwaukee two years ago.

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...with-former-pitt-guard-marcus-carr/481989741/

Go Gophers!!
 

Random fact I learned tonight...Brock Stull was a pretty good WR back in High School, his QB? None other than Demry Croft.
 


Bleed, I think your snippet from the article missed the most exciting aspect:

Carr, who has three years of eligibility left, is hoping to be allowed to play next season at Minnesota since Pitt coach Kevin Stallings was fired in April, according to his mentor and Northern Kings AAU coach Vidal Massiah.

"Given the current state of college basketball, I know they're looking at that rule where if your coach is fired you would be eligible to transfer and play immediately," Massiah said. "I think either way, it's a case worth fighting for. Here's a coach who had been recruiting him for years and the coach gets fired. Then you tell a kid he can't make a lateral move and secure his future? That's kind of the elephant in the room right now."

It's unclear whether Carr will get his waiver granted by the NCAA before next season, but the Gophers have a spot for him either way.
 

As for Pitino's comments, they were looking at more combo guard types last Fall when they had just one scholarship available but the same theoretical need at PG (would still have just had Isaiah as a pure point coming back before the defections of the Spring). I have always been in the camp that they should just add the best players they can get (within reason, a good grad transfer PF wouldn't be a great fit with Murphy/Curry already on the roster) and worry about position later. I am sure Pitino would love to have another PG option after Isaiah's uneven Freshman campaign, but it might not work out.
 


Or- Pitino truly believes what he says - that McBrayer or Coffey can play limited PG minutes in his offense and make it work.

You or I might not agree, but he's the coach, and he decides who plays and at what position.

if that's the case, as others have noted, then Pitino is showing a lot of trust in Washington to be "the man" at PG next year. if Washington lives up to the challenge, it could work out fine. If Washington struggles, then things could get interesting.

One could argue that Pitino is gambling his job on this decision. If things go South in a big way, he will be on the hot seat. On the other hand, if things go right, then the gamble could pay off with a lot of backcourt depth the following year.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Or- Pitino truly believes what he says - that McBrayer or Coffey can play limited PG minutes in his offense and make it work.

You or I might not agree, but he's the coach, and he decides who plays and at what position.

if that's the case, as others have noted, then Pitino is showing a lot of trust in Washington to be "the man" at PG next year. if Washington lives up to the challenge, it could work out fine. If Washington struggles, then things could get interesting.

One could argue that Pitino is gambling his job on this decision. If things go South in a big way, he will be on the hot seat. On the other hand, if things go right, then the gamble could pay off with a lot of backcourt depth the following year.
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Still is a man who won’t give a cr#p about the weather. No different than Milwaukee. He would be a great GET.


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Pitino is hearing it from the fans on the transfers:

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Go Gophers!!
 

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Bandoo has been on visits to South Carolina and Baylor and also has offers from Oklahoma and Houston. According to a tweet from someone who covers Hutchinson sports (@BrooksHNews), Bandoo is on a visit now (could that be Minnesota?) and will be announcing soon.
 

EG#9 said:
Bandoo has been on visits to South Carolina and Baylor and also has offers from Oklahoma and Houston. According to a tweet from someone who covers Hutchinson sports (@BrooksHNews), Bandoo is on a visit now (could that be Minnesota?) and will be announcing soon.
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I read an interview of Bandoo after his South Carolina visit, and he referenced how he likes the warm weather there. He also talks about how he has it narrowed down to USC and West Virginia and is tired of the recruiting process and ready to make a decision. I also read some comments on the UWV site that seemed to indicate that he was not a PG, but was athletic and a good shooter/scorer. Sounds like USC has been after him pretty hard for quite a while.


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Bordergopher said:
I read an interview of Bandoo after his South Carolina visit, and he referenced how he likes the warm weather there. He also talks about how he has it narrowed down to USC and West Virginia and is tired of the recruiting process and ready to make a decision. I also read some comments on the UWV site that seemed to indicate that he was not a PG, but was athletic and a good shooter/scorer. Sounds like USC has been after him pretty hard for quite a while.


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This is on me, but when you reference "USC," my immediate response is, "when did the trojans get involved?"
 




Still need a pure ball handler/point guard badly IMO. Unless someone on the roster has been working all offseason on being a great point guard.

Would be a shame if this season imploded due to an Isaiah Washington injury that prevented us from being able to get the ball up the court. I'd also love if Amir, Dupree and others could focus on being themselves instead of trying to be point guards.
 

You may be under selling the abilities of McBrayer and Coffey to develop their ball handling skills.

The issue, to me, is that both are left handed and that changes the tendency as to how the offensive sets begin. With IW being right handed there could be adjustment issues that slows down ball movement when he is out.

fraternity2017 said:
Still need a pure ball handler/point guard badly IMO. Unless someone on the roster has been working all offseason on being a great point guard.

Would be a shame if this season imploded due to an Isaiah Washington injury that prevented us from being able to get the ball up the court. I'd also love if Amir, Dupree and others could focus on being themselves instead of trying to be point guards.
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MennoSota said:
You may be under selling the abilities of McBrayer and Coffey to develop their ball handling skills.

The issue, to me, is that both are left handed and that changes the tendency as to how the offensive sets begin. With IW being right handed there could be adjustment issues that slows down ball movement when he is out.
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This is such an aggressive take. I only played basketball through highschool and wasn't even a point guard and could move the ball at the varsity level with both hands. If Coffey and McBrayer cannot do the same, please kick them off the team.
 

They can play the point, but what I'm saying is they will start the offense going left while IW will likely start by going right. It's like catching a pass from a right handed quarterback and then having a left handed QB enter the game. They just do it differently and the rest of the team has to adjust. I suspect that you will see something similar in running the offense for basketball.
gray4heisman said:
This is such an aggressive take. I only played basketball through highschool and wasn't even a point guard and could move the ball at the varsity level with both hands. If Coffey and McBrayer cannot do the same, please kick them off the team.
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MennoSota said:
They can play the point, but what I'm saying is they will start the offense going left while IW will likely start by going right. It's like catching a pass from a right handed quarterback and then having a left handed QB enter the game. They just do it differently and the rest of the team has to adjust. I suspect that you will see something similar in running the offense for basketball.
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Pitino has eluded to this before and got **** on the board. I think it was less to do with the point guard and more to do with where playmakers receive the ball. If I recall correctly, Pitino made a comment that boiled down to macbrayer and coff both prefer to drive from the left wing, and that poses a spacing “challenge” since neither wing was as equally as strong from the other half of the court.


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bc2211 said:
Pitino has eluded to this before and got **** on the board. I think it was less to do with the point guard and more to do with where playmakers receive the ball. If I recall correctly, Pitino made a comment that boiled down to macbrayer and coff both prefer to drive from the left wing, and that poses a spacing “challenge” since neither wing was as equally as strong from the other half of the court.


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I can see that. I also think when you play the point from a child, you can see things and react quicker (it's that microsecond difference) to make the correct pass or drive to the right spot. Those are things that don't come naturally to a person who played the wing. Yes they can do the job, but the instant decision making is just a moment off and it can stop ball movement.
Perhaps it's my bias, but the point is the equivalent of the quarterback in football. Everything revolves around the decisions a point guard makes.
 

I think this Devontee Bandoo would be good for us if we get him but can he play point guard? Cause if Isaiah Washington goes down and we don’t have point guard behind him we will be hurting big. Maybe even as much as we did when we had no one behind Reggie
 

Goph33 said:
I think this Devontee Bandoo would be good for us if we get him but can he play point guard? Cause if Isaiah Washington goes down and we don’t have point guard behind him we will be hurting big. Maybe even as much as we did when we had no one behind Reggie
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People saying that we have to disaster prevent for an IW injury seem to be a little bit over reaching to me. If he goes down (or sucks) this will be a long season regardless of who we bring in as backup pt guard. Whoever it is will not be as dynamic getting to the paint and creating for the rest of the team and frankly if he goes down for a significant time, sniffing the NIT will likely be all the hope we can have, regardless of who comes in
 

Cayman said:
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Hard to find 44% beyond the arc. I guess with him and Gabe there would be no need for a point guard to drive and dish. Fire away boys! Chuck it up there!


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Bahamas Tribune: It’S Decision Day For Our Very Own Prep Basketball Star

It’s decision day for prep basketball star Franco Miller Jr.

#Miller will announce his decision and sign his letter of intent today at the campus of his alma mater, Tabernacle Baptist Academy Falcons.

#Miller’s meteoric rise in recruitment has been reduced to five schools for his decision – the Oklahoma Sooners, Ole Miss Rebels, Oregon Ducks, Minnesota Golden Gophers and Towson Tigers.

#The 6’2, 180-pound guard previously received offers from Hofstra, Montana State, Wyoming, St Bonaventure and Illinois at Chicago.

#Following his tenure at Tabernacle, Miller played at Crestwood Prep in Ontario, Canada. He led the Lions to the National Preparatory Association playoffs. He averaged 21.8 points, four rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this season and was named a First Team All-Star during the league’s tournament finale.

#His latest honour was last month being named to the roster for the 2018 Allen Iverson Roundball Classic, popularly referred to as the Iverson Classic.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2018/may/10/its-decision-day-our-very-own-prep-basketball-star/

Go Gophers!!
 

Putting aside that Bandoo might be a bit of a long shot at this point, I'd take him in a minute, even if it means we'd be thin at the point. Always good to keep in mind that, on Pitino's best-performing team, McBrayer was the backup point guard. It can work because it has worked.
 



Bad Gopher said:
It can work because it has worked.
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Yes, and it could also fail because such a strategy has failed. Decisions are always a matter of probabilities. In Pitino's best season Mason averaged 35.5 points a game which took its toll as the season progressed. The team was remarkably injury free for the entire regular season but all it took was an injury to one guard to turn a team with significant potential into a dead man walking.
 

upnorthkid said:
People saying that we have to disaster prevent for an IW injury seem to be a little bit over reaching to me. If he goes down (or sucks) this will be a long season regardless of who we bring in as backup pt guard. Whoever it is will not be as dynamic getting to the paint and creating for the rest of the team and frankly if he goes down for a significant time, sniffing the NIT will likely be all the hope we can have, regardless of who comes in
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Well, if you are saying that if IW "goes down (or sucks)" that this will be a bad season anyway and the situation possibly will be resolved with Pitino being terminated, then I guess I agree with you. Either we will be significantly better than we were last year (a good outcome for all, or almost all) or we'll be no better (or only marginally better) and perhaps we can at last move on. I can live with either outcome.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Putting aside that Bandoo might be a bit of a long shot at this point, I'd take him in a minute, even if it means we'd be thin at the point. Always good to keep in mind that, on Pitino's best-performing team, McBrayer was the backup point guard. It can work because it has worked.
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Now this is the type of positive thinking I like to hear Bad! Get Bandoo (what a great name- Bandoo for two!) or Stull and we have a lot of talented players heading into next year. There is also the possibility that Carr is eligible for next year ...if that happens we are loaded with depth.
 

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