All Things Chet Holmgren Recruitment Thread (Class of 2021, Gophers Have Offered)

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per Shooter:

Incoming seven-foot Minnehaha Academy senior Chet Holmgren, ranked the No. 1 prep in the country by ESPN, is now the highest-rated Minnesota high school basketball player in history. People close to Holmgren say he’s still destined for Gonzaga, but if he puts weight onto his 7-foot frame, the NBA’s G League, which is paying elite players as much as $500,000 to opt away from college, could become a consideration.

Holmgren has spent the summer mixing weight training with some boxing techniques.

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Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Shooter:

Incoming seven-foot Minnehaha Academy senior Chet Holmgren, ranked the No. 1 prep in the country by ESPN, is now the highest-rated Minnesota high school basketball player in history. People close to Holmgren say he’s still destined for Gonzaga, but if he puts weight onto his 7-foot frame, the NBA’s G League, which is paying elite players as much as $500,000 to opt away from college, could become a consideration.

Holmgren has spent the summer mixing weight training with some boxing techniques.
Go Gophers!!
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People close to Holmgren. Sounds like Shooter just looked at the blogs and twitter world and sent this in
 

With the amount of recruiting and money the G League pathway program has been throwing around for other high-end recruits, I'd be shocked if Holmgren doesn't get a massive offer from them.

I've always said I'd be surprised if he played college basketball.
 



Chet had a zoom call with Pitino last week.


Go Gophers!!
 

Twist that knife, just a little more Chet, please?

You're not coming here.
 

MplsGopher said:
Twist that knife, just a little more Chet, please?

You're not coming here.
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Are you actually that confident that there’s 0 chance that he comes here or is it more that you don’t want to get your hopes up for a small chance of him coming here?
 

skyman31 said:
Are you actually that confident that there’s 0 chance that he comes here or is it more that you don’t want to get your hopes up for a small chance of him coming here?
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5* players who've grown up in an area all their life, don't want to play college in that area. They want to use their talent as a ticket to see what some other area of the country is like.

And I don't blame them, to be honest.
 



MplsGopher said:
5* players who've grown up in an area all their life, don't want to play college in that area. They want to use their talent as a ticket to see what some other area of the country is like.

And I don't blame them, to be honest.
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Agreed, it’s unlikely that he stays here and I don’t blame him. Just was curious if you had to give a percentage chance that he stays, is it 0 (or essentially 0) or non-zero? Personally I think it’s closer to 10%, so still very unlikely, but wouldn’t be the craziest thing to ever happen.
 

skyman31 said:
Agreed, it’s unlikely that he stays here and I don’t blame him. Just was curious if you had to give a percentage chance that he stays, is it 0 (or essentially 0) or non-zero? Personally I think it’s closer to 10%, so still very unlikely, but wouldn’t be the craziest thing to ever happen.
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To be frankly honest, I would not be able to accurately tell if the number was closer to 0%, 10%, 20%, etc. I just think it is very unlikely he plays for the Gophers.
 

Biggsohnasty said:
With the amount of recruiting and money the G League pathway program has been throwing around for other high-end recruits, I'd be shocked if Holmgren doesn't get a massive offer from them.

I've always said I'd be surprised if he played college basketball.
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Speaking of... is Suggs really going to play for the Zags or will he end up in the GL?
 

MplsGopher said:
5* players who've grown up in an area all their life, don't want to play college in that area. They want to use their talent as a ticket to see what some other area of the country is like.

And I don't blame them, to be honest.
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Seems like I just saw a post from a female hoops prospect being recruited by the Gophers who specifically said, (paraphrasing) "Spent my whole life in the Midwest, I want to see what other parts of the country are like.". As a guy who grew up in Minnesota, I know that by the time I was 18, I was ready to see what it was like to live in another part of the country. I also hated Minnesota winters. No reason to put up with that anymore. :)
 



You can always come home to raise a family. Great quality of life, great jobs, and property isn’t astronomical like it is on the coasts. But those aren’t the things that 18 year olds are dreaming of usually.
 

MplsGopher said:
Twist that knife, just a little more Chet, please?

You're not coming here.
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I never get replies like this. It's on the Gophers and RICHARD PITINO specifically to make top prospects want to play here. If Chet or any other prospect wants to keep the Gophers on their list for reasons other than sincere interest, that's their right. Every coach we've had in my lifetime has done a much better job keeping local talent home (yes you can win without local talent not arguing that). For what it's worth Ryan James (who has been more than a bit of a Pitino apologist) reported on the 247 board (I read it while it was free, so not violating anything here) that Chat has interest in Minnesota but not playing for this coaching staff. The recent zoom meeting took place after that report, so maybe things have changed.
 

EG#9 said:
I never get replies like this. It's on the Gophers and RICHARD PITINO specifically to make top prospects want to play here. If Chet or any other prospect wants to keep the Gophers on their list for reasons other than sincere interest, that's their right. Every coach we've had in my lifetime has done a much better job keeping local talent home (yes you can win without local talent not arguing that). For what it's worth Ryan James (who has been more than a bit of a Pitino apologist) reported on the 247 board (I read it while it was free, so not violating anything here) that Chat has interest in Minnesota but not playing for this coaching staff. The recent zoom meeting took place after that report, so maybe things have changed.
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Don’t want to derail to hard, so I’ll try to keep this focused on Chet...

I think this is an interesting comment from Ryan. While I’m not doubting it’s accuracy, it’s framing will place blame on Pitino (which he earns, to some degree) without acknowledging the reality that Chet’s gets to choose whatever college or (presumably) G league situation he thinks is best for his own career growth.

Maybe Ryan is suggesting that it’s the personalities of the current staff and not their performance? I donno, I think this is more like saying “Coaching staff is a higher priority for Chet than playing for the home state.” Which should be obvious. It’s unfortunate Pitino isn’t of the quality that Chet is seeking, but I assume very few are.... many things to blame Pitino for, but Chet’s coaching priority is not one. If anything, I’d point the finger at the AD for not employing the right guy for this situation.
 

Get the best from your state and steal top recruits from border states and you win the big ten. It’s a matter of destabilize your comp.
 

EG#9 said:
I never get replies like this. It's on the Gophers and RICHARD PITINO specifically to make top prospects want to play here. If Chet or any other prospect wants to keep the Gophers on their list for reasons other than sincere interest, that's their right. Every coach we've had in my lifetime has done a much better job keeping local talent home (yes you can win without local talent not arguing that). For what it's worth Ryan James (who has been more than a bit of a Pitino apologist) reported on the 247 board (I read it while it was free, so not violating anything here) that Chat has interest in Minnesota but not playing for this coaching staff. The recent zoom meeting took place after that report, so maybe things have changed.
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Is it their right?? To string along the program? Get free benefits out of it, to boot? Free suite/VIP tickets for himself and friends? Go on an official here and get all that benefit? Etc.

I say BS on that. Maybe he thinks he’s doing the school a favor? Make it look like the U is such a good program, that he’s actually considering coming here? Wink wink, nudge nudge.

I’d rather he take us off his “list”, frankly.
 

bc2211 said:
Don’t want to derail to hard, so I’ll try to keep this focused on Chet...

I think this is an interesting comment from Ryan. While I’m not doubting it’s accuracy, it’s framing will place blame on Pitino (which he earns, to some degree) without acknowledging the reality that Chet’s gets to choose whatever college or (presumably) G league situation he thinks is best for his own career growth.
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That is the impression I am getting, he's not coming here and that is a good excuse.
 

bc2211 said:
Don’t want to derail to hard, so I’ll try to keep this focused on Chet...

I think this is an interesting comment from Ryan. While I’m not doubting it’s accuracy, it’s framing will place blame on Pitino (which he earns, to some degree) without acknowledging the reality that Chet’s gets to choose whatever college or (presumably) G league situation he thinks is best for his own career growth.

Maybe Ryan is suggesting that it’s the personalities of the current staff and not their performance? I donno, I think this is more like saying “Coaching staff is a higher priority for Chet than playing for the home state.” Which should be obvious. It’s unfortunate Pitino isn’t of the quality that Chet is seeking, but I assume very few are.... many things to blame Pitino for, but Chet’s coaching priority is not one. If anything, I’d point the finger at the AD for not employing the right guy for this situation.
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MplsGopher said:
Is it their right?? To string along the program? Get free benefits out of it, to boot? Free suite/VIP tickets for himself and friends? Go on an official here and get all that benefit? Etc.

I say BS on that. Maybe he thinks he’s doing the school a favor? Make it look like the U is such a good program, that he’s actually considering coming here? Wink wink, nudge nudge.

I’d rather he take us off his “list”, frankly.
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Isn't that up to the adults to realize that a prospect is stringing them along? Isn't it up to the adults to take advantage of having Chet/whoever attend games and impress them to the point that they change their mind? When the Gophers bring in plan B, C, D guys in for officials when they know they won't take a commitment are they stringing those kids along or is it just part of the process?

As for Chet specifically, all I took from Ryan's post was that he liked the idea of staying home, but didn't like the idea of playing for this staff. That could be personalities, style of play, his perception of their abilities to improve him as a player, etc.not simply Pitino's record sucks so I am not going there.
 


Wasn’t meant to start any arguments EG. It’s good info to have and glad you shared it (it’s why I’m on GH).

Good clarification. My only reaction was that I think its silly for James to craft the statement in such a way that semantically places blame on Pitino for not being hall of fame caliber - at least as I perceived it. If it’s personalities, I think that’s a bigger issue than his track record compared to guys like Few.

Going forward, I do hope Oturu’s development plays more favorably for Pitino and his ability to recruit top tier bigs.
 

Former Gopher big man Dave Holmgren chimes in, per Shama:


Do one or two schools lead the list right now? “No, everybody is kind of equal platform right now,” Chet’s father David Holmgren told Sports Headliners Monday. “Still just kind of feeling everything out, watching (developments). Things are changing daily at these schools. The closer we get to actually graduating from high school is going to be a closer time to make that decision, I think.”

Will a program having NCAA championship potential in place prior to Chet’s arrival be a factor in his college choice? “We haven’t really discussed that,” David said. “I think anywhere he goes that (winning the national championship) could be viable. I am not trying to brag but he brings that kind of quality to a team.”

David said Chet’s college destination will be impacted by at least one factor involving complementary players. “They gotta have some bigs so that Chet doesn’t get thrown into the middle. The middle is not his game. I don’t want him anywhere where one guy gets hurt, now he’s gotta be the big. It won’t make sense.”

Chet is several pounds under 200 even after a summer of strengthening his body. Dad wants his son to play with big, physical teammates who can absorb much of the pounding near the basket. David, a thin 7-footer himself when he played for the Gophers in the 1980s, predicted it could be four years before Chet weighs about 220 pounds.


Go Gophers!!
 



Looks like Robbins is helping us more than just on the court! (y)(y)
 


tmvander said:
Imagine the block parties with Robbins and Chet.
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Sounds to me like his preference is to join a team in which he is at least 3-4 injuries away from having to play the 5 and at least 2-3 injuries away from having to be slotted at the 4. I get the feeling that the only way he wants to be on the blocks is if he slashed his way in from the perimeter or beat a perimeter block out to sneak in for a rebound or put-back.
 

Chico Gopher said:
Sounds to me like his preference is to join a team in which he is at least 3-4 injuries away from having to play the 5 and at least 2-3 injuries away from having to be slotted at the 4. I get the feeling that the only way he wants to be on the blocks is if he slashed his way in from the perimeter or beat a perimeter block out to sneak in for a rebound or put-back.
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Sorry don't mean playing the block i mean blocking shots...Robbins averaged like 3 a game at Drake and Chet is a machine.
 

Chico Gopher said:
Sounds to me like his preference is to join a team in which he is at least 3-4 injuries away from having to play the 5 and at least 2-3 injuries away from having to be slotted at the 4. I get the feeling that the only way he wants to be on the blocks is if he slashed his way in from the perimeter or beat a perimeter block out to sneak in for a rebound or put-back.
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Sounds to me like he is 7' but doesn't want to play down low much at all. The Big Ten might be too physical for him anyway. Expect him to go to a conference that doesn't play defense or to the G league or whatever that is very close to the next level of zero defense which is the NBA.

That said, this kid is more than light years ahead of a guy like that Hurt kid from last year. This dude is athletic, has a nice stroke, and is 7'. He will be dominating most likely wherever he goes. Much, much more impressed with this kid than about any we've seen out of this state in awhile. Especially one his size.
 

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