I get what you are trying to say, but I think there were like three 5-stars in MN that stretch, two went to Duke, one to Gonzaga. Coffey was #1 in state, Oturu was #2 in state in that same period. Hard for a middling to low Big Ten team to land those players given who the competition is. Agree winning at an elevated level will help.
Can you take a crack at my question, then?
Would Wisconsin fit the bill?
I think Michigan State always has good in state players
Of course ..... do they keep a significant percentage of their state/area's top 150-ish, 4*-ish talent home? Honest question.
No, they take it from Minnesota lol
I took a shot in the dark and picked Purdue to look at. Indiana is similar in population to MN, largest city is similar in size to the Twin Cities, next largest cities similar to MN.
Right. But Purdue is quite close to Chicago, if local kids didn't work out. We can't fall back on that.
That's kind of a different example due to Indiana having one of the best prep schools in the country.
Right they are closer to a lot of population centers...maybe it evens out because they compete with Indiana and Butler among others?
University of Washington.
For sure, a solid comparison. Colorado and (new-money) Utah are other good ones.
MSU is a great comparison. Similar to the u of m, MSU decided to recruit black players in the early 60s and since then those 2 schools have led in integration in the Big Ten. It’s time to recruit those kids that the other BT schools are afraid to add to the basketball locker room.
Washington State and Oregon as well.
I'm not sure I follow. Who are the kids the other B1G schools are afraid to add?
I'm not making the argument that the University of Washington is something to look up to...but I think think they are our closest analogue. They just had a couple really down years (5-21, 15-17) but I think we could reach their early Lorenzo Romar years.
Well, mid-to-low 3-stars, for one.
This I disagree with. I really do hope Johnson is that guy, but let's say he isn't. That doesn't mean it's impossible. I'm sure Gonzaga 25 years ago thought well we will never compete with Washington for recruits! Or I'm sure TTU didn't think that they would out recruit every B12 school until Beard showed up. It's not easy to find that right coach (on any level and at any place) but because 1 or more people failed at it doesn't mean it's impossible.
But isn't the hope, and a reason he was hired, is he has that connection to both the kids AND the influencers? And one of the reasons everybody is so excited about Dave Thorson coming back? I have no doubt Ben and staff will put in the work. Just need a couple to buy in and it goes from there.
Just from the top of my head most of their stars have been from the chicagoland, minnesota and wisconsin area.
I hope Johnson is that guy too. If he isn't are we going to stop recruiting MN kids? No of course not, but maybe we can start to put less priority on that being a top requirement for the job and instead get someone who can recruit anywhere well. On top of that, let's get someone who can make their players better once they're here regardless where they are from.
Getting the other top state recruits really depends on where they rank nationally and the positional need. Andrew Morgan is arguably the #3 recruit in 2021. 2019 and 2020 were very good. 2022 looks good as well.