All Things 2023 Gophers Basketball Recruiting Thread

Donate To GopherHole
skyman31 said:
Gonna be interesting to see how Ben approaches the rest of the 2023 class. With only 2 guaranteed spots for next year, does he take someone like Winter? Or do you hold out for Chatman? Do you take 3 and assume someone leaves?
Click to expand...
He has to get a PG. I think he takes both if he can get both. I'd be surprised if Garcia didn't go into the draft after this year and I would guess one other guy is not going to fit somehow. It always happens.
 

Come on now, have the gopher been so bad for so long that the rubes get this excited for 3* guys, really? Is the bar truly that low.
With all due respect, I like what we see so far from the coaching staff but let's take a look not but 4 hours south of the TC. The Cyclone coach took over a program in as bad a shape as the Gopher, look at his 2023 so far.

Omaha Biliew, a 5-star kid is the third recruit to verbally commit to Iowa State’s 2023 class. He joins four-star power forward Milan Momcilovic out of Wisconsin and four-star shooting guard Jelani Hamilton out of Georgia.

Prior to Biliew’s commitment, T.J. Otzelberger’s 2023 class was ranked No. 7 nationwide.
 

skyman31 said:
Gonna be interesting to see how Ben approaches the rest of the 2023 class. With only 2 guaranteed spots for next year, does he take someone like Winter? Or do you hold out for Chatman? Do you take 3 and assume someone leaves?
Click to expand...

Take all 3. It wouldn't surprise me to see Battle and Garcia test the NBA Draft. And wouldn't surprise me to see one of them enter.
 

RockChalk said:
Come on now, have the gopher been so bad for so long that the rubes get this excited for 3* guys, really? Is the bar truly that low.
With all due respect, I like what we see so far from the coaching staff but let's take a look not but 4 hours south of the TC. The Cyclone coach took over a program in as bad a shape as the Gopher, look at his 2023 so far.

Omaha Biliew, a 5-star kid is the third recruit to verbally commit to Iowa State’s 2023 class. He joins four-star power forward Milan Momcilovic out of Wisconsin and four-star shooting guard Jelani Hamilton out of Georgia.

Prior to Biliew’s commitment, T.J. Otzelberger’s 2023 class was ranked No. 7 nationwide.
Click to expand...

Thanks for outing yourself as a troll. If you were actually a Gopher fan, you'd know that beating out a kid that had recent and legitimate offers from the Big Ten elite (not to mention a recent national champion in UVa and your beloved Iowa State Cyclones) is plenty of reason to get excited. I don't care if he is a 3-star. I care that Izzo, Painter, Holtmann and Bennett wanted him.
 

RockChalk said:
Come on now, have the gopher been so bad for so long that the rubes get this excited for 3* guys, really? Is the bar truly that low.
With all due respect, I like what we see so far from the coaching staff but let's take a look not but 4 hours south of the TC. The Cyclone coach took over a program in as bad a shape as the Gopher, look at his 2023 so far.

Omaha Biliew, a 5-star kid is the third recruit to verbally commit to Iowa State’s 2023 class. He joins four-star power forward Milan Momcilovic out of Wisconsin and four-star shooting guard Jelani Hamilton out of Georgia.

Prior to Biliew’s commitment, T.J. Otzelberger’s 2023 class was ranked No. 7 nationwide.
Click to expand...
ISU wasn’t in as bad of shape. They had one bad season. We’ve had a run of 30 years that was mediocre at best. You also were just spouting off about KU winning a championship with a 3 star as their best player. Stop trolling and at least be consistent
 


Gopherfan84 said:
ISU wasn’t in as bad of shape. They had one bad season. We’ve had a run of 30 years that was mediocre at best. You also were just spouting off about KU winning a championship with a 3 star as their best player. Stop trolling and at least be consistent
Click to expand...
Good call. I also wonder how much NIL money they are getting.
 

WriterGoph said:
Thanks for outing yourself as a troll. If you were actually a Gopher fan, you'd know that beating out a kid that had recent and legitimate offers from the Big Ten elite (not to mention a recent national champion in UVa and your beloved Iowa State Cyclones) is plenty of reason to get excited. I don't care if he is a 3-star. I care that Izzo, Painter, Holtmann and Bennett wanted him.
Click to expand...
Not a troll at all. I don't begrudge the enthusiasm because there is only one way to go and that is up for the Gopher. Just don't shoot the messenger for being honest when calling a spade a spade. For what it's worth, I was a gopher season ticket holder for nearly 10 years.

If this is the case for 3's OMG what will happen if and when he gets a high 4 or dare I say a 5?

BTW you forgot to mention Underwood from the Illini
 

Gopherfan84 said:
ISU wasn’t in as bad of shape. They had one bad season. We’ve had a run of 30 years that was mediocre at best. You also were just spouting off about KU winning a championship with a 3 star as their best player. Stop trolling and at least be consistent
Click to expand...
Consistent about what? Don't take my 3 star KU post out of context, which was about coaching not recruiting.
 

RockChalk said:
Not a troll at all. I don't begrudge the enthusiasm because there is only one way to go and that is up for the Gopher. Just don't shoot the messenger for being honest when calling a spade a spade. For what it's worth, I was a gopher season ticket holder for nearly 10 years.

If this is the case for 3's OMG what will happen if and when he gets a high 4 or dare I say a 5?

BTW you forgot to mention Underwood from the Illini
Click to expand...

I already mentioned the "Big Ten elite". I didn't feel the need to call out each and every coach.

Your so-called "calling a spade" is misguided. Nearly every fan on here would take a kid with fantastic offers (like Christie) over a kid who is a 4-star with more questionable offers. Are you seriously basing your whole argument on recruiting rankings?
 




RockChalk said:
Come on now, have the gopher been so bad for so long that the rubes get this excited for 3* guys, really? Is the bar truly that low.
With all due respect, I like what we see so far from the coaching staff but let's take a look not but 4 hours south of the TC. The Cyclone coach took over a program in as bad a shape as the Gopher, look at his 2023 so far.

Omaha Biliew, a 5-star kid is the third recruit to verbally commit to Iowa State’s 2023 class. He joins four-star power forward Milan Momcilovic out of Wisconsin and four-star shooting guard Jelani Hamilton out of Georgia.

Prior to Biliew’s commitment, T.J. Otzelberger’s 2023 class was ranked No. 7 nationwide.
Click to expand...
The staff proved last year they are pretty good at polishing turds. We were competitive when we should’ve been run out of the gym. Getting mediocre to play well is what it’s going to take. Welcome to Minnesota.
 

nooram said:
chicago.suntimes.com

Rolling Meadows senior Cam Christie commits to Minnesota

Cam Christie has been the rare teenage college prospect who doesn’t advertise every step while navigating the recruiting process.
chicago.suntimes.com chicago.suntimes.com
Click to expand...

Also very nice to hear that Gonzaga and Nova were on his trail! I feel like that confirms Ben's instinct was very good to pour all the time he did into never missing one of Cam's games (even when he wasn't playing!)
 

RockChalk said:
Come on now, have the gopher been so bad for so long that the rubes get this excited for 3* guys, really? Is the bar truly that low.
With all due respect, I like what we see so far from the coaching staff but let's take a look not but 4 hours south of the TC. The Cyclone coach took over a program in as bad a shape as the Gopher, look at his 2023 so far.

Omaha Biliew, a 5-star kid is the third recruit to verbally commit to Iowa State’s 2023 class. He joins four-star power forward Milan Momcilovic out of Wisconsin and four-star shooting guard Jelani Hamilton out of Georgia.

Prior to Biliew’s commitment, T.J. Otzelberger’s 2023 class was ranked No. 7 nationwide.
Click to expand...
A Sweet Sixteen in year 1 and getting one of your highest rated recruits in school history in the following recruiting class is not the standard.

And yeah we have 2 tournament wins in the last 25 years, and have gone above .500 in conference, what, 3 times in that span? Getting excited about a top 150 commit, from a player who appeared to be a high priority for the staff, a staff that has identified high level talent before other people did on multiple occasions, is totally reasonable. Pretty much any commit other than a desperation signing 5 months before the season starts, from a guy who was going to commit to Chicago State otherwise, is going to garner some degree of excitement from fans.

Iowa State can do what they’re gonna do, I just know that every success they have is going to lead to unreasonable negative comparisons for Ben Johnson.
 



Great news! When was the last time the Gophers out recruited the Illini for someone from Illinois? Jim Brewer? Shikenjanski ( was he from Illinois)?
 

RockChalk said:
Consistent about what? Don't take my 3 star KU post out of context, which was about coaching not recruiting.
Click to expand...
You’re devaluing this commitment by his ranking. Call me crazy but I’ll trust Ben’s judge of talent over recruiting analysts. He was barely below a 4 star. One persons ranking him low when they haven’t seen him play in about year could be why he’s ranked a 3 star. They are not the end all be all. Great staffs get the kids before their rankings shoot up and recruiting analysts are notorious for devaluing kids who don’t commit to a blue blood.
 

RockChalk said:
Come on now, have the gopher been so bad for so long that the rubes get this excited for 3* guys, really? Is the bar truly that low.
With all due respect, I like what we see so far from the coaching staff but let's take a look not but 4 hours south of the TC. The Cyclone coach took over a program in as bad a shape as the Gopher, look at his 2023 so far.

Omaha Biliew, a 5-star kid is the third recruit to verbally commit to Iowa State’s 2023 class. He joins four-star power forward Milan Momcilovic out of Wisconsin and four-star shooting guard Jelani Hamilton out of Georgia.

Prior to Biliew’s commitment, T.J. Otzelberger’s 2023 class was ranked No. 7 nationwide.
Click to expand...
Go root for cyclones then
 

WriterGoph said:
Your so-called "calling a spade" is misguided.
Click to expand...
In what way?

What I'm saying is Ben's doing a really good job to date (great is a way over used word) and I agree with those here that feel that way.
However, let's hold back the jumping over the moon excitement for 3* kids. Every Gopher coach prior to Ben has had their fair share of those kids. If/when he gets Chatman to commit then rain down the praise and excitement
 


Gopherfan84 said:
You’re devaluing this commitment by his ranking. Call me crazy but I’ll trust Ben’s judge of talent over recruiting analysts. He was barely below a 4 star. One persons ranking him low when they haven’t seen him play in about year could be why he’s ranked a 3 star. They are not the end all be all. Great staffs get the kids before their rankings shoot up and recruiting analysts are notorious for devaluing kids who don’t commit to a blue blood.
Click to expand...
I'm not devaluing anything about the commit. I just said it in a different post. Clem, Tubby and Little Ricky all had these types of kids. Hold some of this back for the first really big one like Chatman if he falls to Ben
 

RockChalk said:
In what way?

What I'm saying is Ben's doing a really good job to date (great is a way over used word) and I agree with those here that feel that way.
However, let's hold back the jumping over the moon excitement for 3* kids. Every Gopher coach prior to Ben has had their fair share of those kids. If/when he gets Chatman to commit then rain down the praise and excitement
Click to expand...
So how are we suppose to act to this commitment? Upset? It’s the summer and there isn’t a whole lot of things to be excited about. We just landed a commitment in an area that everyone thinks we need to add talent. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for our fan base to be excited when someone we’ve pursued heavily all summer commits
 
Last edited:

RockChalk said:
In what way?

What I'm saying is Ben's doing a really good job to date (great is a way over used word) and I agree with those here that feel that way.
However, let's hold back the jumping over the moon excitement for 3* kids. Every Gopher coach prior to Ben has had their fair share of those kids. If/when he gets Chatman to commit then rain down the praise and excite
Click to expand...
Yes, let's not get excited?? Beat out several good schools for a nice player, and he is pumped to play at the U...I'm excited. Deal with it.
 

RockChalk said:
I'm not devaluing anything about the commit. I just said it in a different post. Clem, Tubby and Little Ricky all had these types of kids. Hold some of this back for the first really big one like Chatman if he falls to Ben
Click to expand...
The gophers aren't going to win by getting 5 star kids.

Here is what we know:

Ben identified player and recruited him heavily. Player in question recruitment of late is gaining steam and he's highly rated recruit, just shy of 4 star and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets bumped, but regardless, he committed to university of Minnesota and we're happy to have him on board.

No one is saying final 4 here we come.

Quit trying to piss in people's Cheerios
 

RockChalk said:
In what way?

What I'm saying is Ben's doing a really good job to date (great is a way over used word) and I agree with those here that feel that way.
However, let's hold back the jumping over the moon excitement for 3* kids. Every Gopher coach prior to Ben has had their fair share of those kids. If/when he gets Chatman to commit then rain down the praise and excitement
Click to expand...

No, that's just not true. The only kids under Pitino or Tubby with comparable offers to Christie were Amir Coffey and Royce White. Both players made the NBA and Amir was a major impact player for the Gophers. Even Oturu didn't have all these competing Big Ten offers that Christie does.

You keep talking about "3-star". Get it through your obtuse head that the reason everyone is so excited is because of the fact that MANY quality coaches and programs wanted this kid. It's really not that hard to understand unless a person is trying to purposely be obstinate.
 

RockChalk said:
In what way?

What I'm saying is Ben's doing a really good job to date (great is a way over used word) and I agree with those here that feel that way.
However, let's hold back the jumping over the moon excitement for 3* kids. Every Gopher coach prior to Ben has had their fair share of those kids. If/when he gets Chatman to commit then rain down the praise and excitement
Click to expand...
How bout we act however we want about this commitment and you can act however you want. Dont tell anyone how they should feel about it. Its a great pickup!
 

RockChalk said:
In what way?

What I'm saying is Ben's doing a really good job to date (great is a way over used word) and I agree with those here that feel that way.
However, let's hold back the jumping over the moon excitement for 3* kids. Every Gopher coach prior to Ben has had their fair share of those kids. If/when he gets Chatman to commit then rain down the praise and excitement
Click to expand...
You act like there's thousands of Gopher fans out in the streets flipping over cars and rioting because they're so excited about this commitment.

Hey there are people excited about a guy choosing their favorite program. What's the big deal?
 

RockChalk said:
In what way?

What I'm saying is Ben's doing a really good job to date (great is a way over used word) and I agree with those here that feel that way.
However, let's hold back the jumping over the moon excitement for 3* kids. Every Gopher coach prior to Ben has had their fair share of those kids. If/when he gets Chatman to commit then rain down the praise and excitement
Click to expand...
Name the recent Gopher commits who had comparable offers.
 

I agree with those that responded to me that Ben should take 3 in the 2023 class if he can get Chatman and winter and figure it out later. Curious though how the current players feel about that. Must feel at least a little weird to have your coach send the signal that “one of you who could be here next year, won’t be”. Maybe it’s motivation that he thinks they can go pro? Maybe they don’t care at all?
 

bga1 said:
He has to get a PG. I think he takes both if he can get both. I'd be surprised if Garcia didn't go into the draft after this year and I would guess one other guy is not going to fit somehow. It always happens.
Click to expand...

Also interesting is the type of player CBJ is recruiting. A lot of multidimensional players here (including Thompson) among the youngest Gophers:

G - Carrington (6-4)
W - Henley (6-7)
W - Christie (6-6)
W - Ola-Joseph (6-6)
W - Betts (6-8)
B - Thompson (6-11)
B - Payne (6-9)

Would expect a true PG and another big are the priorities for the 2023 class. Not difficult to imagine that's the pitch to Chatman and Winter.
 

NorCalGopher said:
Also interesting is the type of player CBJ is recruiting. A lot of multidimensional players here (including Thompson) among the youngest Gophers:

G - Carrington (6-4)
W - Henley (6-7)
W - Christie (6-6)
W - Ola-Joseph (6-6)
W - Betts (6-8)
B - Thompson (6-11)
B - Payne (6-9)

Would expect a true PG and another big are the priorities for the 2023 class. Not difficult to imagine that's the pitch to Chatman and Winter.
Click to expand...

Christie also said he is able to play some PG in his interview.
 

RockChalk said:
Come on now, have the gopher been so bad for so long that the rubes get this excited for 3* guys, really? Is the bar truly that low.
With all due respect, I like what we see so far from the coaching staff but let's take a look not but 4 hours south of the TC. The Cyclone coach took over a program in as bad a shape as the Gopher, look at his 2023 so far.

Omaha Biliew, a 5-star kid is the third recruit to verbally commit to Iowa State’s 2023 class. He joins four-star power forward Milan Momcilovic out of Wisconsin and four-star shooting guard Jelani Hamilton out of Georgia.

Prior to Biliew’s commitment, T.J. Otzelberger’s 2023 class was ranked No. 7 nationwide.
Click to expand...
Dude......seriously go back to you cheating Jayhawk board. Be gone.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom