All Things Class of 2020 Recruiting Thread

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GopherBlood666 said:

Anyone know anything about this guy? Don't remember any reports about offering...
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Very interesting. Looks like he is a 6'8 guard from Germany. Found his highlights and looks like he can hit some outside shots, very long, can handle the ball a bit and pass. Maybe we are cultivating the German market post-Ihnen

https://youtu.be/SW47sTjGt08

I'd be good with taking another kid with great size, athleticism and upside if we can't get Garcia or Walton this fall.
 

WriterGoph said:
Very interesting. Looks like he is a 6'8 guard from Germany. Found his highlights and looks like he can hit some outside shots, very long, can handle the ball a bit and pass. Maybe we are cultivating the German market post-Ihnen

https://youtu.be/SW47sTjGt08

I'd be good with taking another kid with great size, athleticism and upside if we can't get Garcia or Walton this fall.
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Very intriguing. Yes, a German pipeline would be nice. It's been effective in Ann Arbor.
 

Kind of an odd release on his jumper - his legs go forward and his upper body goes backward.
 


This Dwayne Koroma kid doesn't look bad. Obviously DG is who we want but I'll take an athletic 6'8" forward who has a serviceable jumper as a consolation prize.

Would be fun to watch him play with Ihnen.
 


Parcival said:
This Dwayne Koroma kid doesn't look bad. Obviously DG is who we want but I'll take an athletic 6'8" forward who has a serviceable jumper as a consolation prize.

Would be fun to watch him play with Ihnen.
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That stroke reminds me of Vince Grier........
 



Is there something going on with Minnesota High school kids and the U when it comes to basketball? Is it AAU? Pitino?
What is the % of the 4* and 5* kids in the past 10 years that have stayed home?
It sure seems like the % is so low that something is up, and/or something they dont like. I have no problem if we can get better kids from out of state, but when we seem to swing and miss on a ton of home talent, something seems wrong.
 
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nooram said:
Jamari Sibley
https://www.zagsblog.com/2019/10/28/oak-hill-big-man-jamari-sibley-closing-in-on-decision/
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Ranked the No. 19 power forward in 2020 by 247Sports.com, Sibley has visited Minnesota (Sept. 13), Iowa (Sept. 27) and Georgetown (Oct. 4). He broke down his three options.

Minnesota: “Minnesota was great. They have a great coaching staff great academics and facilities.”

Iowa: “Iowa has been recruiting me the longest and always loved what I bring to a team and how I’ll fit with their program. And the coaches all are great and the academics and the fan support are really good down in Iowa [because they] have no pro teams.”

Georgetown: “Georgetown is not [as] huge with fans as the two other schools but it’s a great environment to focus and work on academics and basketball. And the coaching staff also has been on me for a while now and they are great.”

Go Gophers!!
 

wiscsucks said:
Is there something going on with Minnesota High school kids and the U when it comes to basketball? Is it AAU? Pitino?
What is the % of the 4* and 5* kids in the past 10 years that have stayed home?
It sure seems like the % is so low that something is up, and/or something they dont like. I have no problem if we can get better kids from out of state, but when we seem to swing and miss on a ton of home talent, something seems wrong.
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They want out of the state, simple as that. They want to go somewhere else, for a change.

This is not a new thing and happens all over the country. Kids don’t want to stay where they grew up, see the same people that they’ve seen he last 10 years etc.
 

MnplsGopher said:
They want out of the state, simple as that. They want to go somewhere else, for a change.

This is not a new thing and happens all over the country. Kids don’t want to stay where they grew up, see the same people that they’ve seen he last 10 years etc.
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I guess. Just seems like we should have been able to get a few more kids just by default. Sure feels like MN kids in both football and basketball dont have much for home state pride, but what do I know, I have never been in there position.
 

MnplsGopher said:
They want out of the state, simple as that. They want to go somewhere else, for a change.

This is not a new thing and happens all over the country. Kids don’t want to stay where they grew up, see the same people that they’ve seen he last 10 years etc.
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I will argue that MN D1 AAU program pushes kids away from MN. I think our medias negative perception do us no favors as well. The biggest issue will continue to be however that we don't win enough. Win more and more kids will stay. Some will always just want to go as well.
 



manderson1984 said:
. ... The biggest issue will continue to be, however, that we don't win enough. Win more and more kids will stay. Some will always just want to go, as well.
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Yep.

Not going to start getting more of the significant local kids until the program is to the point it's consistently a "top 5'ish-not-simply-hanging-around-.500" Big Ten program. Pitino knows that, he said as much yesterday afternoon during his interview with Dan Barreiro. Said the goal is to get the program (also football) to the point where people know you're going to be good every year, not just on occasion. That's what Gopher program is fighting with local kids, I think, more than anything.
 

manderson1984 said:
I will argue that MN D1 AAU program pushes kids away from MN. I think our medias negative perception do us no favors as well. The biggest issue will continue to be however that we don't win enough. Win more and more kids will stay. Some will always just want to go as well.
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I have seen rumors about the AAU program from others and why I asked. I just dont get why with so much in state talent that some have not banded together to stay, we then would be that winning program. Sorry back to 2020 Recruiting. :)
 

Top kids from NC don’t automatically pick UNC or Duke. Some still want out.
 

wiscsucks said:
I have seen rumors about the AAU program from others and why I asked. I just dont get why with so much in state talent that some have not banded together to stay, we then would be that winning program. Sorry back to 2020 Recruiting. :)
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Groups have chosen too. We've had plenty of local kids. We Our last recruiting class was all MN kids. We got the top MN kids in 2015 and 2016. 2020 looks like we may not get any MN kids. Would love Walton and always been so high on him. Obviously would've loved Garcia too, but I trust Pitino to finish out the class appropriately.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Yep.

Not going to start getting more of the significant local kids until the program is to the point it's consistently a "top 5'ish-not-simply-hanging-around-.500" Big Ten program. Pitino knows that, he said as much yesterday afternoon during his interview with Dan Barreiro. Said the goal is to get the program (also football) to the point where people know you're going to be good every year, not just on occasion. That's what Gopher program is fighting with local kids, I think, more than anything.
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It will take someone willing to "take a risk" to make it happen, though. I remember Gary Williams at Maryland struggling with local guys in DC and Baltimore for years, and then they broke through with Joe Smith, got better and the gates opened for talent to win a national championship. Williams was always grateful that he took a chance on Maryland. We need one of the local five stars here to do that too.
 


Keyser Söze said:
https://247sports.com/college/minnesota/Season/2018-Basketball/Commits/
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I get that it has happened and I get players leave for various other reasons, I didnt want to write 20 paragraphs (I have enough problems with punctuation as it is.) :) I was more speaking of a 5* banding together with another 4* or at least several 4* guys. I don't know what it is, but lt seems by now the percentages should have fallen in our favor to land a homestate 5* just by default and they haven't.
 

wiscsucks said:
I get that it has happened and I get players leave for various other reasons, I didnt want to write 20 paragraphs (I have enough problems with punctuation as it is.) :) I was more speaking of a 5* banding together with another 4* or at least several 4* guys. I don't know what it is, but lt seems by now the percentages should have fallen in our favor to land a homestate 5* just by default and they haven't.
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They do not fall in place in other states either. Check out the rosters for UVA, Nova, usually Duke,UNC and always Kansas. They seldom stay home. The state of Virginia produces more in state talent then Minnesota and UVA almost never gets them to stay home. They pick Duke, UNC, Kentucky. There are only 25 5 stars on a recruiting site. 15 go to the blue bloods, 10 do not work out. The key is identifying guys from anywhere that are rated 3-4 stars or even less that you have evaluated as better than some recruiting site and that fit what you do on and off the court. Would love Garcia but not anymore than i would if he came from somewhere else. Then it still becomes what you get out of them as individuals and as a team. That is what we are up against. Generations of players have now grown up with tons of successful programs getting huge national exposure. This kids are smart. They love legendary programs and coaches, they love a brand, they love programs that get guys to the NBA. They have all traveled all over and see what other places look and feel like.
 

builtbadgers said:
They do not fall in place in other states either. Check out the rosters for UVA, Nova, usually Duke,UNC and always Kansas. They seldom stay home. The state of Virginia produces more in state talent then Minnesota and UVA almost never gets them to stay home. They pick Duke, UNC, Kentucky. There are only 25 5 stars on a recruiting site. 15 go to the blue bloods, 10 do not work out. The key is identifying guys from anywhere that are rated 3-4 stars or even less that you have evaluated as better than some recruiting site and that fit what you do on and off the court. Would love Garcia but not anymore than i would if he came from somewhere else. Then it still becomes what you get out of them as individuals and as a team. That is what we are up against. Generations of players have now grown up with tons of successful programs getting huge national exposure. This kids are smart. They love legendary programs and coaches, they love a brand, they love programs that get guys to the NBA. They have all traveled all over and see what other places look and feel like.
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You guys and your facts and logical are making me see the light. I guess perception is not always reality. Still wish the home state pride prevailed. Thanks
 
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wiscsucks said:
You guys and your facts and logical are making me see the light. I guess perception is not always reality. Still wish the home state pride prevailed. Thanks
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Well, the good news is every once in awhile a local kid will have grown up a Gopher fan and it will be his dream school. I have grandchildren in Minneapolis and they do not have a single friend that played AAU with that is a Gopher fan. They all grew up watching Duke, MSU, KU, UK etc... That is why no one beats them by getting their guys,playing their style. You find your guys no matter where they are from and create your own culture. And then that magical teaching ability that is rare.
 

I think built is right.

No one cares if the Twolves players did not grow up in or go to college in Minnesota. If they win, fans cheer for them and love the star players.
 

I do find it still odd that since Ben Johnson left, Pitino has struggled with the local kids. 2019 and 2020 Class we are 0-??.
 

wiscsucks said:
I do find it still odd that since Ben Johnson left, Pitino has struggled with the local kids. 2019 and 2020 Class we are 0-??.
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Had a good "relationship" ($ ?) with the AAU coaches/ whoever "handles" these players?

Sorry - not sorry. It is known, that is how the system works behind closed doors. Maybe not every case or even a majority, but some.
 

MnplsGopher said:
Had a good "relationship" ($ ?) with the AAU coaches/ whoever "handles" these players?

Sorry - not sorry. It is known, that is how the system works behind closed doors. Maybe not every case or even a majority, but some.
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Unless you have evidence, this is just speculation based on your assumptions. We all know it happens in some scenarios, but to assume Ben Johnson/MN Gophers were paying people under the table without any legit proof or even rumors is false accusation. Why do that? I mean, there would at least be some rumors floating out there if true, that kind of thing does tend to get exposed.
 

GopherPete said:
Unless you have evidence, this is just speculation based on your assumptions. We all know it happens in some scenarios, but to assume Ben Johnson/MN Gophers were paying people under the table without any legit proof or even rumors is false accusation. Why do that? I mean, there would at least be some rumors floating out there if true, that kind of thing does tend to get exposed.
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I've heard of no rumors about Ben Johnson or anyone associated with the Gophers program having "financial relationships" with the local AAU coaches. It was a complete wild guess, pulled out of my rear end.

Just based on my "bitterness" we'll call it, about what is widely known to go on at some programs, regarding this type of thing. Some do get caught, from time to time, but I imagine the most of it largely goes unpunished.
 

wiscsucks said:
I do find it still odd that since Ben Johnson left, Pitino has struggled with the local kids. 2019 and 2020 Class we are 0-??.
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Which assistant is focusing on the local region?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

MnplsGopher said:
Had a good "relationship" ($ ?) with the AAU coaches/ whoever "handles" these players?

Sorry - not sorry. It is known, that is how the system works behind closed doors. Maybe not every case or even a majority, but some.
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Has more to do with Pulley not being good currently. That’s where Ben had a solid relationships. Since D1 and the UA group has grown they like to send kids elsewhere. Bens ability to recruit MN was overrated anyhow imo. Rob and Kyle do just as good. Having Ben on staff wouldn’t have gotten us any of the kids in 19 or 20.
 

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