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

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bonin21 said:
Yes. Minnesota could produce back to back number one picks and sadly not get either.
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Suggs was not coming here but i did not know that Chet made it clear. Surprised if Suggs is the number one pick. Plus, a whole bunch of NCAA championships have been won without having those first picks. Although i do think Suggs is getting his national title this year.
 

I just find it weird that top guys refuse to come here because they don't think they can compete for a final four run or make the NBA as a Gopher. That's just lazy to me. The last "top" MN guys to stay home weren't even 5-stars and both are currently playing for the Clippers. I was talking to some friends from out of state who find it perplexing why no top Minnesota guys stay home, as that isn't the case in their respective states.

With Suggs: He'd be a top 5 NBA draft pick no matter where he went. If he came here we'd be looking at 1) the top backcourt in the country by far. 2) Top 10 team who is in the final four conversation. Lastly, he'd be a hometown hero.

Hurt: For one, if he stayed home he'd be on a better team than the one he's currently on at Duke. He'd also be a 1st round draft pick. Make up one of the best frontcourt duos in the country. Again... hometown hero.

Dawson Garcia: He'd be on a way better team than Marquette and be in a much better conference to help develop him for the NBA. Again... hometown hero.

Chet: He can go anywhere he wants and he'll be the #1 pick next year easy. I know he won't, but it'd finally be cool if someone like that owned this state and said, you know what, I'm going to put my hometown university on the map. They'd probably get more credibility for that on a national level anyway.
 



BarnBall said:
I do, when was the last time a big time recruit committed? Coffey was the last good commitment. They seem to string the Gophers along for all the hype and sign elsewhere
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I think of Mashburn as a big recruit. I think Covid could play a role on this one.
 

Here's how many of the top 10 players in the last 14 years stayed in their home states (this is to the best of my ability, sorry for errors, rankings per ESPN, prep schools make this challenging)
2007: 3 (Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, Nick Calathes)
2008: 3 (Jrue Holiday, BJ Mullens, JaMychal Green, Demar Derozan)
2009: 2 (Derrick Favors, Kenny Boynton Jr)
2010: 2 (Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones)
2011: 2 (Andre Drummon, Adonis Thomas)
2012: 2 (Isaiah Austin, Cameron Ridley)
2013: 1 (Kasey Hill)
2014: 2 (Myles Turner, Theo Pinson)
2015: 6 (Skal Labissiere, Brandon Ingram, Henry Ellenson, Ivan Rabb, Caleb Swanigan, Malik Newman)
2016: 3 (Harry Giles, Lonzo Ball, Miles Bridges)
2017: 1 (Deandre Ayton $$$$$$)
2018: 2 (Romeo Langford, Jalen Smith)
2019: 4 (James Wiseman $$$, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Nico Mannion)
2020: 3 (Evan Mobley, Greg Brown, Scottie Barnes)

36/140, 25.7% "stayed home". If I have time tomorrow I may look at top 20 and update this post.

So if Minnesota has 4 top 10 kids, in theory, they should get 1. We have had 2 in the past 14 years per ESPN (Tyus was 4, Suggs was 5). Hurt was 11, Tre 17. So landing Chet would put us ahead of average.
 

We talk about the hometown hero angle with a lot of these highly touted kids but unless they're on winning teams, do they actually reach that status? Like when Kris Humphries was coming back to play at the Target Center, did he get a hero's welcome back? I mean I remember him getting booed here after all the Kardashian drama. I think unless you have a rare year with multiple elite recruits or an established team that's an impact player away (Like Dekker to Wisconsin) from contending for a conference or making a deep run in March, landing these guys can be overrated. A guy that fits culturally is important too, Washington followed a conference title winning season with landing the #3 and #8 ranked prospects in the country and had a disaster season with them. That's derailed that program, not only did you underwhelm with NBA bound guys but now you're making up for two scholarships that could have gone toward players with longer term futures with your program.

I'm to a point where I would take a Daniel Oturu that you get a solid 2-3 years out of most of the time over a season of Chet. I want to see us sustain success and I think if you look at how we're developing behind the marquee names (Carr, Robbins and I guess Gach) those guys will move on and the roster will still be in a good position with the underclassmen maturing and guys we have coming in. One of these kids is going to stay home and that's gonna be pretty exciting but I want to see it happen when we've got the opportunity to really do something special.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Here's how many of the top 10 players in the last 14 years stayed in their home states (this is to the best of my ability, sorry for errors, rankings per ESPN, prep schools make this challenging)
2007: 3 (Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, Nick Calathes)
2008: 3 (Jrue Holiday, BJ Mullens, JaMychal Green, Demar Derozan)
2009: 2 (Derrick Favors, Kenny Boynton Jr)
2010: 2 (Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones)
2011: 2 (Andre Drummon, Adonis Thomas)
2012: 2 (Isaiah Austin, Cameron Ridley)
2013: 1 (Kasey Hill)
2014: 2 (Myles Turner, Theo Pinson)
2015: 6 (Skal Labissiere, Brandon Ingram, Henry Ellenson, Ivan Rabb, Caleb Swanigan, Malik Newman)
2016: 3 (Harry Giles, Lonzo Ball, Miles Bridges)
2017: 1 (Deandre Ayton $$$$$$)
2018: 2 (Romeo Langford, Jalen Smith)
2019: 4 (James Wiseman $$$, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Nico Mannion)
2020: 3 (Evan Mobley, Greg Brown, Scottie Barnes)

36/140, 25.7% "stayed home". If I have time tomorrow I may look at top 20 and update this post.

So if Minnesota has 4 top 10 kids, in theory, they should get 1. We have had 2 in the past 14 years per ESPN (Tyus was 4, Suggs was 5). Hurt was 11, Tre 17. So landing Chet would put us ahead of average.
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To me, it’s more insightful to look state by state each year to see how our “peers” and/or neighbors fare when looking at where the top 5 (or so) players go. I even look at hotbeds of recruiting, and the results are...interesting. I’m not inclined to do the research and post all that with formatting, etc. But it’s pretty easy to noodle around by going to https://247sports.com/Season/2021-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool and select the year, and use the drop down to select the state you want to research. Interesting example is Virginia...see how many 4 or 5 star recruits they put out and where they end up.
 



I think something that might be a part of the struggles is that the U is in Minneapolis and the vast majority of top MN recruits are metro natives. Staying home is really staying home compared to other states where the college is more off in a college town and a different feel (eg. Champaign vs Chicago, Ann Arbor/East Lansing vs Detroit, Bloomington vs Indianapolis)

Obviously not everyone feels this way but I think a lot of college kids want a bit of a new experience at school, and the Gophers program isn't near the level where playing for them overcomes that.
 

adchester said:
I think something that might be a part of the struggles is that the U is in Minneapolis and the vast majority of top MN recruits are metro natives. Staying home is really staying home compared to other states where the college is more off in a college town and a different feel (eg. Champaign vs Chicago, Ann Arbor/East Lansing vs Detroit, Bloomington vs Indianapolis)

Obviously not everyone feels this way but I think a lot of college kids want a bit of a new experience at school, and the Gophers program isn't near the level where playing for them overcomes that.
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This is very true. You can be from Texas and never have been to Austin in your life prior to being recruited. If you're from Minnesota, you likely live within 1 hour of Minneapolis.
 

GameDay said:
I just find it weird that top guys refuse to come here because they don't think they can compete for a final four run or make the NBA as a Gopher. That's just lazy to me. The last "top" MN guys to stay home weren't even 5-stars and both are currently playing for the Clippers. I was talking to some friends from out of state who find it perplexing why no top Minnesota guys stay home, as that isn't the case in their respective states.

With Suggs: He'd be a top 5 NBA draft pick no matter where he went. If he came here we'd be looking at 1) the top backcourt in the country by far. 2) Top 10 team who is in the final four conversation. Lastly, he'd be a hometown hero.

Hurt: For one, if he stayed home he'd be on a better team than the one he's currently on at Duke. He'd also be a 1st round draft pick. Make up one of the best frontcourt duos in the country. Again... hometown hero.

Dawson Garcia: He'd be on a way better team than Marquette and be in a much better conference to help develop him for the NBA. Again... hometown hero.

Chet: He can go anywhere he wants and he'll be the #1 pick next year easy. I know he won't, but it'd finally be cool if someone like that owned this state and said, you know what, I'm going to put my hometown university on the map. They'd probably get more credibility for that on a national level anyway.
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I don’t think they don’t come here because they think they won’t be NBA players here, they just chose teams with more tradition that they feel will be more competitive and will win more games.
 

Unregistered User said:
To me, it’s more insightful to look state by state each year to see how our “peers” and/or neighbors fare when looking at where the top 5 (or so) players go. I even look at hotbeds of recruiting, and the results are...interesting. I’m not inclined to do the research and post all that with formatting, etc. But it’s pretty easy to noodle around by going to https://247sports.com/Season/2021-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool and select the year, and use the drop down to select the state you want to research. Interesting example is Virginia...see how many 4 or 5 star recruits they put out and where they end up.
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Exactly, they do not go to UVA. They go to Duke, Carolina, Kentucky. Hell, he has more Carolina kids on scholarship than Virginia kids. The Virginia kids are walkons. Early on he took Harris from the state of Washington, 3 star way under rated now rocking 18 million a year in the NBA, Brogdon from Georgia, no elite offers. Rookie of the year in the NBA 20 million a year, and the list goes on. You find your guys from all over the country, all over the world. You have to have a keen eye. Klay Thompson for god sakes with no big time offers ! Aron Baynes ! Find guys that really want to play for you and your culture. We are doing it now. If they are from here great but truthfully i could care less and actually like teams made up from all over, cooler college experience. Of course i am not from here and have lived in several states and countries and i am not border heavy. Suppose i am biased to my own experiences and believe in kids going away to school.Kids have always done that but especially since ESPN started branding schools in 1979. I see a ton of kids here in high schools wearing tons of college gear from out of state and very successful programs. Kids pick for all sorts of reasons, one is branding. I knew a football player from Minnesota that when i asked him how his visit to USC went and he said he was going there because on his visit he saw the USC song girls do "Tusk " at a pep rally and it changed his life. Of course it would change anyones life !
 



GameDay said:
I just find it weird that top guys refuse to come here because they don't think they can compete for a final four run or make the NBA as a Gopher. That's just lazy to me. The last "top" MN guys to stay home weren't even 5-stars and both are currently playing for the Clippers. I was talking to some friends from out of state who find it perplexing why no top Minnesota guys stay home, as that isn't the case in their respective states.

With Suggs: He'd be a top 5 NBA draft pick no matter where he went. If he came here we'd be looking at 1) the top backcourt in the country by far. 2) Top 10 team who is in the final four conversation. Lastly, he'd be a hometown hero.

Hurt: For one, if he stayed home he'd be on a better team than the one he's currently on at Duke. He'd also be a 1st round draft pick. Make up one of the best frontcourt duos in the country. Again... hometown hero.

Dawson Garcia: He'd be on a way better team than Marquette and be in a much better conference to help develop him for the NBA. Again... hometown hero.

Chet: He can go anywhere he wants and he'll be the #1 pick next year easy. I know he won't, but it'd finally be cool if someone like that owned this state and said, you know what, I'm going to put my hometown university on the map. They'd probably get more credibility for that on a national level anyway.
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NO WAY is Chet the number 1 pick next year.
 


bonin21 said:
Is this your way to feel better about him not coming here? He could easily go 1
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Lol, I never let my perspective on a prospect cloud my judgement. I am on record as stating I want nothing to do with his game here at MN, especially in BIG play. I could care less about him coming here. I AM salty about Suggs not coming though, and he is the best prospect I have seen thus far and I stated as such before and AFTER he elected to not come here......
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Here's how many of the top 10 players in the last 14 years stayed in their home states (this is to the best of my ability, sorry for errors, rankings per ESPN, prep schools make this challenging)
2007: 3 (Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, Nick Calathes)
2008: 3 (Jrue Holiday, BJ Mullens, JaMychal Green, Demar Derozan)
2009: 2 (Derrick Favors, Kenny Boynton Jr)
2010: 2 (Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones)
2011: 2 (Andre Drummon, Adonis Thomas)
2012: 2 (Isaiah Austin, Cameron Ridley)
2013: 1 (Kasey Hill)
2014: 2 (Myles Turner, Theo Pinson)
2015: 6 (Skal Labissiere, Brandon Ingram, Henry Ellenson, Ivan Rabb, Caleb Swanigan, Malik Newman)
2016: 3 (Harry Giles, Lonzo Ball, Miles Bridges)
2017: 1 (Deandre Ayton $$$$$$)
2018: 2 (Romeo Langford, Jalen Smith)
2019: 4 (James Wiseman $$$, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Nico Mannion)
2020: 3 (Evan Mobley, Greg Brown, Scottie Barnes)

36/140, 25.7% "stayed home". If I have time tomorrow I may look at top 20 and update this post.

So if Minnesota has 4 top 10 kids, in theory, they should get 1. We have had 2 in the past 14 years per ESPN (Tyus was 4, Suggs was 5). Hurt was 11, Tre 17. So landing Chet would put us ahead of average.
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Kevin Love grew up and played in Lake Oswego, OR and then went to UCLA.
 

Oregon Gopher said:
Kevin Love grew up and played in Lake Oswego, OR and then went to UCLA.
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Like I said, there would be mistakes. Looking at 14 years of data and prep schools and all that. also, he was born in California. Attended college in California.
 
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UpAndUnder43 said:
This is very true. You can be from Texas and never have been to Austin in your life prior to being recruited. If you're from Minnesota, you likely live within 1 hour of Minneapolis.
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Yep this was another point I would make. How many of that 25% who stayed home had 94857394584 schools to choose from because they were from California, Florida, New York, etc. I wonder how many top 50 or so kids stay home if they are from states like WI, IA, NE, etc. I'd be willing to bet that most from MI, IL, OH, MO, etc. go elsewhere as well.

This is far from just a gopher problem.
 


I don't really see where Holmgren would fit on the roster next year.

PG: Mashburn
SG: Gabe "Bricks" Kalesheur
SF: Both Gach
PF: Isiah Ihnen
C: Robbins

Bench: Tre, Mutaf(who may beat out Gabe according to some of you), Mitchell, Freeman

And that's not even counting our two recruits who are both over 6'9".

So, as you can see, there is no room at the inn for Chet.

;)
 

bonin21 said:
Missing on Suggs and Holmgren is not the problem in itself.

Only getting 2 for the last 18 Minnesota 4+ star recruits about to be 2 for 19 is the problem and it's unacceptable.
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I would love to have more Minnesota recruits, but if we can assemble rosters like we have this year.... who the F cares...

It will get better as we win more.
 

alchemy2u said:
I would love to have more Minnesota recruits, but if we can assemble rosters like we have this year.... who the F cares...

It will get better as we win more.
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A lot of people care haha.

I feel like 90% of this board is about missing on local high end recruits and ignoring that our team is currently ranked top 20 in the country with a real shot to have something special.
 

Otis said:
I don't really see where Holmgren would fit on the roster next year.

PG: Mashburn
SG: Gabe "Bricks" Kalesheur
SF: Both Gach
PF: Isiah Ihnen
C: Robbins

Bench: Tre, Mutaf(who may beat out Gabe according to some of you), Mitchell, Freeman

And that's not even counting our two recruits who are both over 6'9".

So, as you can see, there is no room at the inn for Chet.

;)
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You are forgetting Treyton Thompson and the other forward from sunrise that committed, obviously still room for chet but he doesn't want to bang which means he probably won't play in the big 10
 

tmvander said:
A lot of people care haha.

I feel like 90% of this board is about missing on local high end recruits and ignoring that our team is currently ranked top 20 in the country with a real shot to have something special.
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yeah but if we had more minnesotans then it'd be more like we're the ones winning so it's better. /s
 


As to where Holmgren would fit on the Roster-

SG or SF. Let him roam the floor - and then run some pick-and-roll action with Robbins.

He is such a unique player that other teams simply will not be able to match up with him.

Seriously, I don't expect him to choose MN.

but it's fun to dream about.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
As to where Holmgren would fit on the Roster-

SG or SF. Let him roam the floor - and then run some pick-and-roll action with Robbins.

He is such a unique player that other teams simply will not be able to match up with him.

Seriously, I don't expect him to choose MN.

but it's fun to dream about.
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Lol!

2021-2022 Gopher Starting Lineup

PG: Both Gach 6'7" - (bump up for the program!)
SG: Chet Holmgren 7'1" - (How tall is he?)
SF: Isiah Ihnen 6'9"
PF: Treyton Thompson 6'11"
C: Liam Robbins 7'

Team Motto: "We are playing zone, shoot over us, don't expect any second shots."

or

"We are long but we are slow!"
 

Otis said:
Lol!

2021-2022 Gopher Starting Lineup

PG: Both Gach 6'7" - (bump up for the program!)
SG: Chet Holmgren 7'1" - (How tall is he?)
SF: Isiah Ihnen 6'9"
PF: Treyton Thompson 6'11"
C: Liam Robbins 7'

Team Motto: "We are playing zone, shoot over us, don't expect any second shots."

or

"We are long but we are slow!"
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This would be a mighty interesting experiment!
 


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