All Things Class of 2015 Recruiting - Class Finally Complete? Nope Chris Obekpa visit

[gopherhoopsguy]

Where is this Dovich kid from? Sounds pretty excited to have a gopher offer!

 

[MN1nAZ]

Where is this Dovich kid from? Sounds pretty excited to have a gopher offer!

He's a 2015 Hopkins footballer.

 

[BleedGopher]

per Shama:

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino has been on the job for about 14 months and has yet to gain a recruiting commitment from a big name Minnesota high school recruit, but that’s likely to change with his 2015 class. Look for top 100 recruits Jarvis Johnson from DeLaSalle and Alex Illikainen from Grand Rapids to listen hard to Pitino, with either or both likely to become Gophers. Pitino probably realizes the chances of chasing Big Ten titles without one or two star contributors from Minnesota high schools are minimal.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!

 

[die hard gopher]

He's a 2015 Hopkins footballer.

Chaska, not Hopkins.

 

[BleedGopher]

I really want this kid!!

Per the STrib: 2015 JUCO target Akolda Manyang is growing on and off the court

"His basketball skills have improved, his work ethic has improved," Wardenburg said. "He's a tireless worker in the gym, in the weight room. And then off the floor, we've seen some great improvement. He's making excellent choices ... his academics have improved. It's been an excellent move for him."

Minnesota's new staff has watched Manyang, who has been rehabbing a torn MCL sustained in March, on a couple different occasions, including Pitino making a trip in the midst of the Gophers' NIT run.

"They've done a good job," Wardenburg said of Minnesota's recruiting efforts. "Akolda knows they are very interested in him."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/260284911.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[RichardWhat's Happening?]

5/22/2014: Chris Clarke unofficially visits Minnesota Golden Gophers

6'5" 170 lb. 3-star SG per 247sports
http://247sports.com/Player/Chris-Clarke-31927

Looks like another long and athletic wing. Granted the video below is over a year old, but it doesn't look like he has the prettiest of jump shots. Intriguing recruit nonetheless.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wfmiNo0EqnU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[MadtownGopher]

Hopefully we have a bunch of unofficials this weekend since the AAU tourney is going on.

 

[It's a Pig Man!]

5/22/2014: Chris Clarke unofficially visits Minnesota Golden Gophers

6'5" 170 lb. 3-star SG per 247sports
http://247sports.com/Player/Chris-Clarke-31927

Looks like another long and athletic wing. Granted the video below is over a year old, but it doesn't look like he has the prettiest of jump shots. Intriguing recruit nonetheless.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wfmiNo0EqnU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Apparently Clarke couldn't actually unofficially visit because we are in a dead period right now. Coaches can't have any contact.

 

[DeathClutch]

Apparently Clarke couldn't actually unofficially visit because we are in a dead period right now. Coaches can't have any contact.

He can still visit the campus and whatnot. Whether or not it is officially considered an unofficial visit, I don't know. It's to bad the dead period had to happen during our EYBL stop. But in reality these kids are pretty busy during the weekend EYBL stops anyways.

 

[die hard gopher]

He can still visit the campus and whatnot. Whether or not it is officially considered an unofficial visit, I don't know. It's to bad the dead period had to happen during our EYBL stop. But in reality these kids are pretty busy during the weekend EYBL stops anyways.

I think any contact with the campus whatsoever is considered an unofficial. Jashon Cornell, the football player went to a gopher basketball game without any contact with the football coaches or players whatsoever, just as a normal fan and it was considered an unofficial on his 247 timeline.

 

[WindyCityGopher]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Just confirmed from De Pere coach Brian Winchester that Brevin Pritzl has verbally committed to play for Bo Ryan and Wisconsin. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Badgers&src=hash">#Badgers</a></p>— Doug Ritchay (@dougritchay) <a href="https://twitter.com/dougritchay/statuses/469669421603368960">May 23, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[WindyCityGopher]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Just confirmed from De Pere coach Brian Winchester that Brevin Pritzl has verbally committed to play for Bo Ryan and Wisconsin. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Badgers&src=hash">#Badgers</a></p>— Doug Ritchay (@dougritchay) <a href="https://twitter.com/dougritchay/statuses/469669421603368960">May 23, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[MadtownGopher]

 

[USTHoops]

Henry Ellenson got an offer from Roy Williams recently.

 

[GoldenGopherFan]

My 2015 top 5 wish list goes 1.Trier 2.Whitt 3: Illikainen 4: Manyang 5: Jarvis (Jarvis and Manyang are really a tie for me). I imagine we have 0% chance at Chieck Diallo correct?

 

[USTHoops]

My 2015 top 5 wish list goes 1.Trier 2.Whitt 3: Illikainen 4: Manyang 5: Jarvis (Jarvis and Manyang are really a tie for me). I imagine we have 0% chance at Chieck Diallo correct?

So 2PG, a SG, and 2 bigs? Still doesn't fill our hole at the wing

 

[MadtownGopher]

So 2PG, a SG, and 2 bigs? Still doesn't fill our hole at the wing

Pretty sure we'd be able to get by with that haul.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[GoldenGopherFan]

Maybe it is just by need but Pitino talks like Mcneil is a sf, if so than we have our 3 set. I imagine Trier could play the 3 out of need. (I would die if we got Trier)

 

[GoldenGopherFan]

So 2PG, a SG, and 2 bigs? Still doesn't fill our hole at the wing

I thats probably not the ideal class but those are the 5 I want most. It would be awesome to get any of those guys.

 

[RichardWhat's Happening?]

So 2PG, a SG, and 2 bigs? Still doesn't fill our hole at the wing

It's mind-boggling to me how much people on this site worry so much about positions. If it was me, I'd recruit the best "basketball players" and figure out the positions later. If you're a good coach, you can figure out how to use mismatches in your favor or at least be able to hide them to some extent. Obviously, you don't want to do something drastic like recruit 5 post players in one class, but if we got all five players listed above it would likely be considered the best recruiting class in Gopher history. I'm not going to care one bit if we don't get a true "wing" in your mind (Trier and Whitt are both 6'4" btw).

 

[Jigga]

So 2PG, a SG, and 2 bigs? Still doesn't fill our hole at the wing

2015= Morris sr., McNeil jr, Lofton jr, combo gaurd Mason So...

If we get 1 good freshman SG (i.e. Tier) we should be fine on the wing.

If this list came true for 2015 we would be fine. I actually see Jarvis as a combo gaurd also especially if he grows an inch.
Never seen Whitt so idk about him.

I think we would have more of an issue figuring out our PG pecking order.
As of right now my wish list is the same as GoldenGopherfan.

And possibly in 2016 get Piper from Juco have another 2 year wing or an equivalent wing recruit.

 

[Winasota Gopher]

It's mind-boggling to me how much people on this site worry so much about positions. If it was me, I'd recruit the best "basketball players" and figure out the positions later. If you're a good coach, you can figure out how to use mismatches in your favor or at least be able to hide them to some extent. Obviously, you don't want to do something drastic like recruit 5 post players in one class, but if we got all five players listed above it would likely be considered the best recruiting class in Gopher history. I'm not going to care one bit if we don't get a true "wing" in your mind (Trier and Whitt are both 6'4" btw).

Exactly, look at a team like Villinova, which basically reinvents itself year after year with regards to who is playing the slot position in his 4 out 1 in offense. Some years it's a slashing wing style player with a bit of size, and other years its a big with some rebounding ability. There were years where you could find Nova playing with 3 SG a PG and a PF.... Doesn't matter if you make buckets and cause havoc on the defensive end.

2015= Morris sr., McNeil jr, Lofton jr, combo gaurd Mason So...

If we get 1 good freshman SG (i.e. Tier) we should be fine on the wing.

If this list came true for 2015 we would be fine. I actually see Jarvis as a combo gaurd also especially if he grows an inch.
Never seen Whitt so idk about him.

I think we would have more of an issue figuring out our PG pecking order.
As of right now my wish list is the same as GoldenGopherfan.

And possibly in 2016 get Piper from Juco have another 2 year wing or an equivalent wing recruit.

I don't think Pitino would mind that one bit. Everyone would want to take the ball up, so naturally the ball would come up a lot quicker!

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

And possibly in 2016 get Piper from Juco have another 2 year wing or an equivalent wing recruit.

Do we know for sure Piper has to attend juco for 2 years and obtain his associates degree prior to transferring to any D1 school?

Some students can transfer into schools with something like 22 credits (no positive on that number) and they don't look at HS or SAT grades. That is for a typical student though, not student athlete.

 

[Jigga]

I don't think Pitino would mind that one bit. Everyone would want to take the ball up, so naturally the ball would come up a lot quicker!

Exactly Winasota. I would mind it one bit either. It's a good problem to have and a lot of our guys should be interchangeable at positions 1-3.

 

[Jigga]

Do we know for sure Piper has to attend juco for 2 years and obtain his associates degree prior to transferring to any D1 school?

Some students can transfer into schools with something like 22 credits (no positive on that number) and they don't look at HS or SAT grades. That is for a typical student though, not student athlete.

Idk for sure. Usually if someone doesn't qualify out of high school they can try to go to prep school for a year and improve enough to qualify or they have to earn a 2 year degree from Juco.

He can try to pull a zach Lofton and finish his 2 year program in 1 year, but that's not easy or everyone would do it. It takes an overload on your work load during the year and at least a summer session of classes too.

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

Idk for sure. Usually if someone doesn't qualify out of high school

That's where I get lost... did he not qualify or just didn't have the grades to get into Wash or Minn? Could have he gotten into a D1 school with low academic standards or none at all.

 

[bemidjigopher]

So 2PG, a SG, and 2 bigs? Still doesn't fill our hole at the wing

Trier can play the wing

 

[BleedGopher]

PiPress: Gophers basketball: Top Minnesota recruits wonder, 'What if ...'

The reason Johnson, Anim, Illikainen and Coffey became teammates was to win an AAU title together. But after it's over, the talk might again be about the possibility of all four playing for the Gophers.

"It's definitely something we think about," Anim said. "We joke around sometimes about what it could be like: 'Imagine what it would be like to bring a championship to the home state.' It would be great."

Illikainen admits that would "definitely be a good thing" if one of his Pulley teammates picked Minnesota first, but the school is appealing to him regardless.

Johnson said his decision wouldn't be affected "too much."

"It all depends on who is at the school already and where I fit in," he said.

Coffey still has another year on the summer circuit but said seeing Johnson, Illikainen or Anim playing at Williams Arena would be make the Gophers even more attractive.

"When we have free time on the road, we're always talking about that stuff," he said. "So it would mean a lot."

http://www.twincities.com/gophers/c...rce=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!

 

[MadtownGopher]

YES!

 

[scher215]

YES!

FWIW, Amir seemed to love the picture of the Gophers Jordan 11's floating around IG and twitter (Josh Martin did too). They do look great though, wonder if the team is getting them.