All Things Gophers Basketball 2017 Recruiting Thread

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bemidjigopher said:
One never knows, those guys all scramble to change their predictions in the we hours before a commitment, it's why they are rarely wrong. Syracuse hasn't offered him yet, which means they must feel good about their chances or PG isn't a priority. I'll be nervous though if they do offer, same with if Sims gets a UNC offer
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Washington was quoted as saying Syracuse was his dream offer/school a few weeks ago, so concern is warranted if the 'Cuse pull the trigger on an offer. The Sims/UNC stuff has me nervous as I'd really love to land him. Ryan James reported recently that Jericho is visiting Texas the weekend of August 25. So hopefully we can get past that weekend without a commitment to the Longhorns.
 

EG#9 said:
Washington was quoted as saying Syracuse was his dream offer/school a few weeks ago, so concern is warranted if the 'Cuse pull the trigger on an offer. The Sims/UNC stuff has me nervous as I'd really love to land him. Ryan James reported recently that Jericho is visiting Texas the weekend of August 25. So hopefully we can get past that weekend without a commitment to the Longhorns.
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Ya I read about the dream school quote, which is why an offer would worry me, but it also sounds we've been recruiting him hard since Pitino took over, probably because the Kimani Young connection. I guess for me I'm not going to worry about a school until they offer, but you're right if they offer it's probably over for us. I feel good about Sims, just a gut feeling, being a legacy helps. Hopefully UNC will go on probation that that makes them less attractive. reading about Sims and his story, it seems like there's a lot character between him and his family, education is important and I think showing Sims that one paragraph Rosa Parks essay that got a player an A would be enough to make them say thanks, but no thanks.
 

Kansas has offered 2017 forward Jericho Sims, per his coach. Played for @adidasD1MN. -- @jeffborzello
via http://cbssportsapp.com


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sal said:
Kansas has offered 2017 forward Jericho Sims, per his coach. Played for @adidasD1MN. -- @jeffborzello
via http://cbssportsapp.com


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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****. Not really confident about him with all this blueblood interest lately. Hopefully we can get Wright and John locked up here in the next few weeks.
 

DeathClutch said:
****. Not really confident about him with all this blueblood interest lately. Hopefully we can get Wright and John locked up here in the next few weeks.
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I don't follow recruiting as closely as a lot on the board, but if we ever had a shot for a guy the blue bloods are looking at, it would be Jericho. We had early interest. He is a legacy player. His family clearly makes decisions in the interests of their kids that go well beyond sports. His persona suggests pretty humble and not rehearsed since he was in 6th grade. I hope he comes here. I am super curious to see how a Cristo Rey grad does in the B1G. I still think we have a good shot at keeping him here if Pitino and crew can convince the family he will get an outstanding education and be challenged on the court. In the larger scheme of things, it is always important to keep the in demand players at home.

Also curious to see where he is on the blue bloods list in terms of first choice, second choice, etc. I'm sure he and his family will get a good sense of that in the recruiting process.
 


I think Sims only has plans to visit Minnesota and Texas so far, but that was before this recent Kansas offer.
 



Holy Man said:
I don't follow recruiting as closely as a lot on the board, but if we ever had a shot for a guy the blue bloods are looking at, it would be Jericho. We had early interest. He is a legacy player. His family clearly makes decisions in the interests of their kids that go well beyond sports. His persona suggests pretty humble and not rehearsed since he was in 6th grade. I hope he comes here. I am super curious to see how a Cristo Rey grad does in the B1G. I still think we have a good shot at keeping him here if Pitino and crew can convince the family he will get an outstanding education and be challenged on the court. In the larger scheme of things, it is always important to keep the in demand players at home.

Also curious to see where he is on the blue bloods list in terms of first choice, second choice, etc. I'm sure he and his family will get a good sense of that in the recruiting process.
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Totally agree. Basically every built-in advantage is there. This will be an interesting test to see if we can get a hometown guy even if he has offers from some top 10 programs. Really impressive offer list. I was very optimistic about getting Sims, but I don't know what to think now. Curious as to what the blue bloods tell him about playing time as I'm sure that question will come up.
 



For what its worth, this is why we have Pitino at the helm. He acknowledges that recruiting is the foundation for success and these kids have grown up in his backyard the last several years. Its time to see him continue to demonstrate his ability to land the top guys a la Coffey and Jarvis Johnson. Time to show you can run with the big boys. Hopefully like others have said Pitino lands 2 of these in-state kids. Besides Theo John, I'm not optimistic but he's surprised me before. Go get em Ricky!
 

So FWIW there has been a lot of movement on 247's crystal ball away from Minnesota and towards Dayton for McKinley Wright. 247's main basketball guy Jerry Meyer and the Gopher guy Kyle Goblirsch are among those who have changed to Dayton in the past 24 hours.
 

Blitzkrieg said:
For what its worth, this is why we have Pitino at the helm. He acknowledges that recruiting is the foundation for success and these kids have grown up in his backyard the last several years. Its time to see him continue to demonstrate his ability to land the top guys a la Coffey and Jarvis Johnson. Time to show you can run with the big boys. Hopefully like others have said Pitino lands 2 of these in-state kids. Besides Theo John, I'm not optimistic but he's surprised me before. Go get em Ricky!
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I'll keep beating this drum, but I think almost any coach would have nabbed Coffey, and I don't mean that as a slight to Pitino. Pitino nabbed a guy with a lot of built-in advantages. Good. Not a bad thing. I don't project the Coffey signing to most other recruits to say, "well Pitino got Coffey, he may nab X player from the grasp of some other team."

That being said, Sims was another one of those chips that seemed to have a fair amount of built in advantages. With this Kansas offer, I'm not sure he has a chance without extraordinary effort. If he brings in Sims, consider my mind changed a little bit.
 





Watching highlights of Isaiah Washington on the outdoor courts in NewYork makes me think I'm watching the movie Above the Rim.
 

Just get 3 great recruits, don't care where they are from. Preferably add some size and a PG this cycle.
 


Wright and John would make for a great class. Would still be bummed to miss Sims though.
 

I for one want Sims more than anyone in this class. He would be special to watch in the coming years. He seems like a kid who after a year in the college system will be an absolute program changer, and may be right away depending on how much he develops this year. Please please please get all three!
 

I just dont think will take three. Longterm we cant afford to get a rep for Creaning kids and i doubt none of our targets are willing to wait until spring
 

May be a little off topic, but I find it interesting that teams in MN with multiple high-level players aren't more dominant. CP has 2 top 150 players and didn't even make it to state. AV had a top 5 and top 50 player, and a 7' tall behemoth and lost in the semis. Maybe people closer to those types of programs can shed some light. Weak supporting cast? Poor coaching? Playing a hot team at the wrong time? Top players not playing up to their potential? Curious to hear people's thoughts.


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LM21 said:
May be a little off topic, but I find it interesting that teams in MN with multiple high-level players aren't more dominant. CP has 2 top 150 players and didn't even make it to state. AV had a top 5 and top 50 player, and a 7' tall behemoth and lost in the semis. Maybe people closer to those types of programs can shed some light. Weak supporting cast? Poor coaching? Playing a hot team at the wrong time? Top players not playing up to their potential? Curious to hear people's thoughts.


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Yeah Champlin's supporting class wasn't the greatest last season, but they wete still good and choked in sections. They'll be one of the favorites to win class 4A this year though.

As far as AV goes, they ran into a Senior laden Hopkins team led by Amir. You have to remember that Trent, while very talented, was a Junior last season, and Tre was only a Sophomore.
 

DeathClutch said:
Yeah Champlin's supporting class wasn't the greatest last season, but they wete still good and choked in sections. They'll be one of the favorites to win class 4A this year though.

As far as AV goes, they ran into a Senior laden Hopkins team led by Amir. You have to remember that Trent, while very talented, was a Junior last season, and Tre was only a Sophomore.
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Ironically, a younger AV team in 2014 beat a Champlin team with five D1 kids in the state title game. Not easy to win a state title. There are good coaches and good players in the state.
 

mnhoopboy said:
Ironically, a younger AV team in 2014 beat a Champlin team with five D1 kids in the state title game. Not easy to win a state title. There are good coaches and good players in the state.
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Agreed. Also, in a single elimination tournament, the best team does not always win. A good team can have a great day or a great run and beat the better team(s). A great team can have an off day. It happens. Add to it that we're talking about teenage kids. We all like to think we were über-focused when we were that age, but we're lying to ourselves.
 


I see Butler just had a point guard commit the other day. Wonder if that will help with Bede?
 


Highly recommend TalkGopherBuckets podcast. Episode 88 is now out and Ryan James sounds very optimistic on many topics
 

dtrain19 said:
Highly recommend TalkGopherBuckets podcast. Episode 88 is now out and Ryan James sounds very optimistic on many topics
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Thanks much dtrain! A very good interview. James is super upbeat about the coming year as well as recruiting prospects. Like a breath of fresh air after last year and all the negative posts here.
 

bemidjigopher said:
I just dont think will take three. Longterm we cant afford to get a rep for Creaning kids and i doubt none of our targets are willing to wait until spring
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Does this mean we only have two available scholarships? I was under the impression that there were three available for the 2017 class. Also, why would it matter if one was willing to wait until spring?
 

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