All Things 2024 Daniel Freitag Recruitment Thread (Gophers Have Offered)



Knowing the young man and family a little bit, I hope this works out for him. Genuinely a good kid. My only reservation is this is a bit of a pop-up prep school that has been in existence since 2019. Not exactly a huge sample size for moving so far away from home.

Exposure would most likely be less at Jefferson, as well as competition. Playing at a prep school for basketball vs. playing his senior year of football for the Jags is about a wash. I have a fair amount of first-hand knowledge of that program, and the head coach is quite possibly one of the worst HS football coaches I've seen.
 


Really college football is in play but he’s not going to play football his senior year? Can prep schools compensate players or their families?
 


Freitag is a guy who is undeniably superbly talented and athletic...and yet I don't really want him on a Gopher team. Seems like he has a lot of growing up to do, and while that's possible in a year, and maybe he can grow that quickly, I wouldn't bet on it and don't want that kind of attitude on our teams.
 

Freitag is a guy who is undeniably superbly talented and athletic...and yet I don't really want him on a Gopher team. Seems like he has a lot of growing up to do, and while that's possible in a year, and maybe he can grow that quickly, I wouldn't bet on it and don't want that kind of attitude on our teams.

A good coach can still work with that
 

I'm guessing NIL money is bigger in Basketball than Football. Focus your energy, time, and exposure on that and see where it takes you. I wouldn't be surprised to see him wait until spring to commit to one sport or the other.
 

I'm guessing NIL money is bigger in Basketball than Football. Focus your energy, time, and exposure on that and see where it takes you. I wouldn't be surprised to see him wait until spring to commit to one sport or the other.
I highly doubt it. Bryce Young was projected to make millions
 



Can you skip football your senior year in High School other than because of an injury and expect high level football offers ? Is he that talented? If he plans on football as a possible career is this a wise choice?
 

Can you skip football your senior year in High School other than because of an injury and expect high level football offers ? Is he that talented? If he plans on football as a possible career is this a wise choice?
No, he’s not Chris Weinke
 

A good coach can still work with that
A good coach can work with that, but I'd have to agree that what I saw when I watched him live was not pretty in terms of leadership and emotional intelligence on the court. He's playing a position where those things are pretty important. He has great talent, but in terms of the Gophers it would be awfully risky to try to "work with that" when you already have Asuma coming and Mitchell as well.
 

A good coach can work with that, but I'd have to agree that what I saw when I watched him live was not pretty in terms of leadership and emotional intelligence on the court. He's playing a position where those things are pretty important. He has great talent, but in terms of the Gophers it would be awfully risky to try to "work with that" when you already have Asuma coming and Mitchell as well.
The staff knew 1 of 2 things would happen. He would either reclassify and commit and play next year in college, or go to a program like SC academy.

The following are my thoughts and does not necessarily reflect the thoughts or feelings of the Bloomington Jefferson staff:

At the surface, you’re thoughts are not out of left field. He was a different player as a sophomore, but they had more healthy players then, even though he was forced to guard some centers his sophomore year, one of the coaches told me, when I was chatting with him after the game that “we can ask a lot of him”. Meaning, that even though he was out of position, he was putting the team on his shoulders and would do whatever the staff asked. He was an eager and aggressive player on both sides.

This past year, I saw him a few times, and refused to talk to my buddies on the staff about him because my perception of him changed. He did not fight for balls on the floor, he was not getting over to help guys off the floor when they were knocked down, when Daniel made a mistake with a bad pass, he would glare at his teammate like they made a mistake instead of getting back on “D” and doing his job, and when things went sideways (remember, there were guys playing that were far down the bench) he would roll his eyes and give gesture like”what am I supposed to do”?

On a message board, I can speculate that he was frustrated by the lack of supporting talent around him, but I’m just guessing that this point. A lot of the negatives that people have noted may seem understandable when discussing a young, highly competitive man in a frustrating situation.

He has also grown, physically, a ton from last year, he already looks like a full grown man, and I expect him to continue. He has the frame to be a monster, hence the continued speculation about him playing football. He moves and elevates with ease, and I think it is a step WAY to far to say that he would be a risk for the Gopher’s to take a chance on him.

According to his coaches, he’s a great kid. I hope he flourishes wherever he ends up.

I would be thrilled if he chooses to be a Gopher, but I trust this staff to make the right decision.
 



Can you skip football your senior year in High School other than because of an injury and expect high level football offers ? Is he that talented? If he plans on football as a possible career is this a wise choice?
He played the first game of the 2021 season at WR as a sophomore (two TD receptions), left with an injury, and was still the highest rated WR in Minnesota.

He could play water polo next year at SC Academy and still have his choice of where to play basketball or football damn near any school in the nation.
 

The staff knew 1 of 2 things would happen. He would either reclassify and commit and play next year in college, or go to a program like SC academy.

The following are my thoughts and does not necessarily reflect the thoughts or feelings of the Bloomington Jefferson staff:

At the surface, you’re thoughts are not out of left field. He was a different player as a sophomore, but they had more healthy players then, even though he was forced to guard some centers his sophomore year, one of the coaches told me, when I was chatting with him after the game that “we can ask a lot of him”. Meaning, that even though he was out of position, he was putting the team on his shoulders and would do whatever the staff asked. He was an eager and aggressive player on both sides.

This past year, I saw him a few times, and refused to talk to my buddies on the staff about him because my perception of him changed. He did not fight for balls on the floor, he was not getting over to help guys off the floor when they were knocked down, when Daniel made a mistake with a bad pass, he would glare at his teammate like they made a mistake instead of getting back on “D” and doing his job, and when things went sideways (remember, there were guys playing that were far down the bench) he would roll his eyes and give gesture like”what am I supposed to do”?

On a message board, I can speculate that he was frustrated by the lack of supporting talent around him, but I’m just guessing that this point. A lot of the negatives that people have noted may seem understandable when discussing a young, highly competitive man in a frustrating situation.

He has also grown, physically, a ton from last year, he already looks like a full grown man, and I expect him to continue. He has the frame to be a monster, hence the continued speculation about him playing football. He moves and elevates with ease, and I think it is a step WAY to far to say that he would be a risk for the Gopher’s to take a chance on him.

According to his coaches, he’s a great kid. I hope he flourishes wherever he ends up.

I would be thrilled if he chooses to be a Gopher, but I trust this staff to make the right decision.
Thanks for your thoughts, you're certainly closer to the situation than I am. I agree about his talent, and also that it has to be incredibly frustrating to play on a team with guys 4 levels below you. It was the way he treated his teammates that was most concerning. And you always would like to believe that players at that age still have an opportunity to improve emotionally and mature, and I share your hope that this happens for him.

Most of the "riskiness" here comes from the fact that the Gophers have shored up their point guard positions quite a bit for the coming years. If that wasn't the case, it may well be worth making a concerted effort to add him. So we can agree on wishing him the best.
 

The staff knew 1 of 2 things would happen. He would either reclassify and commit and play next year in college, or go to a program like SC academy.

The following are my thoughts and does not necessarily reflect the thoughts or feelings of the Bloomington Jefferson staff:

At the surface, you’re thoughts are not out of left field. He was a different player as a sophomore, but they had more healthy players then, even though he was forced to guard some centers his sophomore year, one of the coaches told me, when I was chatting with him after the game that “we can ask a lot of him”. Meaning, that even though he was out of position, he was putting the team on his shoulders and would do whatever the staff asked. He was an eager and aggressive player on both sides.

This past year, I saw him a few times, and refused to talk to my buddies on the staff about him because my perception of him changed. He did not fight for balls on the floor, he was not getting over to help guys off the floor when they were knocked down, when Daniel made a mistake with a bad pass, he would glare at his teammate like they made a mistake instead of getting back on “D” and doing his job, and when things went sideways (remember, there were guys playing that were far down the bench) he would roll his eyes and give gesture like”what am I supposed to do”?

On a message board, I can speculate that he was frustrated by the lack of supporting talent around him, but I’m just guessing that this point. A lot of the negatives that people have noted may seem understandable when discussing a young, highly competitive man in a frustrating situation.

He has also grown, physically, a ton from last year, he already looks like a full grown man, and I expect him to continue. He has the frame to be a monster, hence the continued speculation about him playing football. He moves and elevates with ease, and I think it is a step WAY to far to say that he would be a risk for the Gopher’s to take a chance on him.

According to his coaches, he’s a great kid. I hope he flourishes wherever he ends up.

I would be thrilled if he chooses to be a Gopher, but I trust this staff to make the right decision.
Weird. You "refused to talk to ... the staff" about him, yet somehow know what the staff expected.
 

Weird. You "refused to talk to ... the staff" about him, yet somehow know what the staff expected.
Read it again...he said he didn't talk to the staff this past season. What he knew of the staff's expectations was from the season before....

So typical of posters on this board to make a snarky comment to someone who is just sharing what he knows about a potential recruit......

Weird.
 



Thank goodness he made it loud and clear with the #NotCommitted hashtag. That was definitely necessary to do.
Not sure I have ever seen that and don;t really look, but maybe it's to make clear the difference between an offer and a commitment. It did seem weird.
 

Not sure I have ever seen that and don;t really look, but maybe it's to make clear the difference between an offer and a commitment. It did seem weird.

It happens. Think the pictures sometimes look like a commitment otherwise.
 





Word around the school yard is he really likes Wisconsin.
 



Word around the school yard is he really likes Wisconsin.
Well he's certainly not going to take an Official to the U! Why waste one on a campus you've probably been to countless times already to mooch free stuff, tix, etc.?
 





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