All Things Gophers Basketball 2017 Recruiting Thread

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Otis said:
Not to be too cynical but, what happens if Syracuse offers to Washington?
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It doesn't retroactively change the wisdom of the decision to accept his commitment.
 

Biggsohnasty said:
Don't buy the "Wright was set on committing to MN" line. Don't care where it came from. If the kid wanted to be here, he'd be here.

I've said from the start I think all the local kids romanticize about the idea of playing at home in front of the hometown crowd and they like getting recruited by the home team. But in the end, the program isn't good enough and they don't like it enough to want to stay here and try to change the culture.

Can't blame them for that. That whole deal is a massive uphill battle and likely a losing one. Sure there are a few that go for it, but if I had a choice between playing at Dayton for a good coach with tournament success or playing in a tougher conference for a team that's been to the tournament once since I was in middle school, I'd choose the former.
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I don't buy this at all anymore. I think a big misconception is kids romanticize about playing at home and the fan base will treat them like hometown heroes once they arrive. Tell that to Joey King. This was a guy that worked as hard as anybody on the team and was blasted constantly/mercilessly/pathetically by a large number of posters on this site, some of your hardcore basketball fans. I think the Michael Hurts' of the world are far outnumbered by kids that don't necessarily feel a connection to the local school. These kids travel continuously in the summer and get much more exposure to other parts of the country. They don't and shouldn't need to feel an obligation to play at home, in my opinion. Nor should a coach get blasted for signing other kids.
 

Two things would get us more local kids.

1) Winning. Everyone wants to play for a winner.
2) Behaving. Staying out of the news for off court misbehaviors.

Last season failed on those two accounts, so the abandonment by recruits should not be surprising.

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MadtownGopher said:
I'd love it.

2017-2018
PG: Nate mason (SR) / Isaiah Washington (FR)
SG: Dupree McBrayer (JR) / Ahmad Gilbert (SR)
SF: Amir Coffey (SO) / Davonte Fitzgerald (SR) / Michael Hurt (SO)
PF: Jordan Murphy (JR) / Eric Curry (SO) / Hasahn French (FR)
C: Reggie Lynch (SR) / Bakary Konate (SR) / Gaston Diedhiou (SR)

ETA: I could see Curry + French being the main backups in the front court (beating out Konate and Diedhiou) and Hurt beating out Fitzgerald at back up SF.
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This breakdown makes me feel more that we need to be recruiting another guard. French wouldn't be getting minutes, significant minutes, for a very long time. Need to see if we can land a 2 guard.

Flip side is that French can be more of a 3 and Coffey a 2. Still very shallow in depth from a guard/wing mind set IF Pitino isn't changing course to a much longer, bigger roster.
 

Ewert86PC said:
Two things would get us more local kids.

1) Winning. Everyone wants to play for a winner.
2) Behaving. Staying out of the news for off court misbehaviors.

Last season failed on those two accounts, so the abandonment by recruits should not be surprising.

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That applies to all recruits, not just in-state, and we just picked up one of our best out of state commits in about a decade. I also think that behavior really isn't as important as on-court success for convincing good recruits to come to your school. Michigan State has had their fair share of behavior problems during their run of conference titles and Final Fours, and they just got 3 top 30 recruits in their 2016 class. And if winning were everything, no one would ever want to play for Penn State, Northwestern, Nebraska, or Rutgers, yet they've all landed a 4 star recruit or two in the last 2-3 recruiting cycles. St. John's has an out of state 4 star commit coming off an 8 win season. Hell, we got Coffey and Curry after a season in which we didn't make the NIT. Theo John just committed to a school which just lost a first round NBA draft pick off a team that finished in the bottom half of its conference and didn't play in the postseason. Pitino and Wojciechowski have nearly identical win percentages as head coaches at their current schools.

I think the view of "Team X lost a lot of games, why would literally any recruit ever want to play there?" is a little overly simplistic. On the other end, Wisconsin has been very successful for the last 15 years or so, but they still struggle to land the truly elite talent in their own state.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
This breakdown makes me feel more that we need to be recruiting another guard. French wouldn't be getting minutes, significant minutes, for a very long time. Need to see if we can land a 2 guard.

Flip side is that French can be more of a 3 and Coffey a 2. Still very shallow in depth from a guard/wing mind set IF Pitino isn't changing course to a much longer, bigger roster.
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I think I'd take French now and look for a guard in the spring. Next year, after a winning season this year :) , we will be in position to get Oturo and Thompson. With Curry able to play the 4 or 5 and Oturo we would have the start of a nice front court led by Murphy. The we get the younger Hurt the next year....
 

You can play the too simplistic card for winning, but winning solves a lot of problems. Or to put it another way, losing a lot makes the hole that you have to climb seem that much deeper.

Behaving properly, or to put it in a negative perspective, not getting busted for your sh*t, is just as big. College kids make mistakes, but they need to be held accountable for their actions. They don't want to be boring squares, er, sticks in the mud, er, uncool, er, snitches, er whatever, BUT when they get plastered across the news and people react in disgust, that harms a program just as much as having a century worst losing record.

Both of those put a coach on the hot seat and who wants to play for a coach that looks like he won't be around long. Contract shenanigans don't reinforce security to players.

The recruiting problems should not be surprising given how much this program and university have pumped out news stories that leave bitter tastes in the mouths/minds of people.

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Ewert86PC said:
The recruiting problems
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problems? I like last years class and the one commit so far this year, with only one scholarship remaining.

Not to say RP still isn't on a steep learning curve, but I think he's learning quickly with respect to recruiting players to UMinn
 

Ewert86PC said:
You can play the too simplistic card for winning, but winning solves a lot of problems. Or to put it another way, losing a lot makes the hole that you have to climb seem that much deeper.

Behaving properly, or to put it in a negative perspective, not getting busted for your sh*t, is just as big. College kids make mistakes, but they need to be held accountable for their actions. They don't want to be boring squares, er, sticks in the mud, er, uncool, er, snitches, er whatever, BUT when they get plastered across the news and people react in disgust, that harms a program just as much as having a century worst losing record.

Both of those put a coach on the hot seat and who wants to play for a coach that looks like he won't be around long. Contract shenanigans don't reinforce security to players.

The recruiting problems should not be surprising given how much this program and university have pumped out news stories that leave bitter tastes in the mouths/minds of people.

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What recruiting problems?
 

Ewert is having conversations with himself all over this board. Leave him alone.
 

Ewert86PC said:
Two things would get us more local kids.

1) Winning. Everyone wants to play for a winner.
2) Behaving. Staying out of the news for off court misbehaviors.

Last season failed on those two accounts, so the abandonment by recruits should not be surprising.

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As already stated, this could apply to all recruits.

What's most important can be different for each recruit. Things like:
- winning
- the coach
- playing style
- school location
- chance to play right away
- academics

There are probably more. For each recruit, the most important thing(s) may be different.
 



bga1 said:
I think I'd take French now and look for a guard in the spring. Next year, after a winning season this year :) , we will be in position to get Oturo and Thompson. With Curry able to play the 4 or 5 and Oturo we would have the start of a nice front court led by Murphy. The we get the younger Hurt the next year....
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I'm not comfortable with the assumption we will automatically have an opening for a 3rd scholly. I know that's the trend, but I gotta think if gaston was going to leave it would have been this year already. He literally has no playing time in his future. To me, he looks like a 4 year gpa helper.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
This breakdown makes me feel more that we need to be recruiting another guard. French wouldn't be getting minutes, significant minutes, for a very long time. Need to see if we can land a 2 guard.

Flip side is that French can be more of a 3 and Coffey a 2. Still very shallow in depth from a guard/wing mind set IF Pitino isn't changing course to a much longer, bigger roster.
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Coffey can play three positions, same with McBreyer, Mason can be a combo guard, Gilbert, Hurt and Fitz are three's and stretch four types. Curry can play the four and the five. Murphy can play the four and play the five in a pinch, but would not be ideal. I think as Murphy improves his skill set he could even play some minutes at the three as an upperclassmen. Lynch, Gas and Konate are pure fives. I think Washington is a classic NYC PG and French looks alot like Murphy, the four would be a good spot for him, maybe he can play the five in a pinch, maybe some minutes at the three as he matures. His handles aren't bad in the highlights, looked like a guard at times when driving
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Ewert is having conversations with himself all over this board. Leave him alone.
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We should consider redshirting him just for roster balance. He would be 25 or 26 years old his fifth year, gotta think he could give ten minutes a game by then
 

DeathClutch said:
What recruiting problems?
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Going Zero for six (or two, if you are an apologist) on their targeted in-state recruits.

Why do we have to be lulled by saying "Well we got so-and-so, he is a better recruit." This is an ongoing rationalization, not just a Washington vs McKnight thing. Thirty years ago, Grandpa Sports was touting how lucky we were to have Randy Beer when his wish of recruiting Patrick Ewing disipated. This is an acceptance of not achieving program goals.

Whether true or not, rationalizing losing a recruit by saying we have a better recruit committed from the same class, is not true because that recruit hasn't set foot on the floor to play for us. It is sour grapes. We know what obstacles can arise between commitment to the school and playing for the school.

We don't want to admit that there is no plan involved on our part in recruiting and we really are scrambling around finding whomever we can to play for us. How many four-star high school recruits do not live up to their hype in college? Enough to know that the "four-star" label is just a best efforts assessment.

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bemidjigopher said:
We should consider redshirting him just for roster balance. He would be 25 or 26 years old his fifth year, gotta think he could give ten minutes a game by then
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Well, if I am going to be a red shirt, I am good with that, because you guys shoot like stormtroopers.

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Ewert86PC said:
Going Zero for six (or two, if you are an apologist) on their targeted in-state recruits.

Why do we have to be lulled by saying "Well we got so-and-so, he is a better recruit." This is an ongoing rationalization, not just a Washington vs McKnight thing. Thirty years ago, Grandpa Sports was touting how lucky we were to have Randy Beer when his wish of recruiting Patrick Ewing disipated. This is an acceptance of not achieving program goals.

Whether true or not, rationalizing losing a recruit by saying we have a better recruit committed from the same class, is not true because that recruit hasn't set foot on the floor to play for us. It is sour grapes. We know what obstacles can arise between commitment to the school and playing for the school.

We don't want to admit that there is no plan involved on our part in recruiting and we really are scrambling around finding whomever we can to play for us. How many four-star high school recruits do not live up to their hype in college? Enough to know that the "four-star" label is just a best efforts assessment.

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Serious question for you: with 2 open scholarships, who do you wish we had to fill those?
 


Ewert86PC said:
Whether true or not, rationalizing losing a recruit by saying we have a better recruit committed from the same class, is not true because that recruit hasn't set foot on the floor to play for us. It is sour grapes. We know what obstacles can arise between commitment to the school and playing for the school. We don't want to admit that there is no plan involved on our part in recruiting and we really are scrambling around finding whomever we can to play for us. How many four-star high school recruits do not live up to their hype in college? Enough to know that the "four-star" label is just a best efforts assessment. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
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This makes no sense. Experts who have a job to evaluate high school players have the opinion that Washington is better than Wright. You say the 4 star hasn't set foot on the court and hasn't proved himself, yet you imply that the 3 star recruit was the true miss, yet EVERYONE has him rated less, and also has not set foot on the floor to prove his worth. And I would guess more 4 star players have success than 3 star guys. And how do you figure the coaching staff has no plan? They landed their #1 target at PG. a kid they have been recruiting for years. And they have been recruiting French for a long time in the event options #1 and #2 didn't commit. Sounds like a pretty good plan to me. Show me where they are scrambling. But of course, none of this reflects your narrative. And
 

Ewert86PC said:
Going Zero for six (or two, if you are an apologist) on their targeted in-state recruits.

Why do we have to be lulled by saying "Well we got so-and-so, he is a better recruit." This is an ongoing rationalization, not just a Washington vs McKnight thing. Thirty years ago, Grandpa Sports was touting how lucky we were to have Randy Beer when his wish of recruiting Patrick Ewing disipated. This is an acceptance of not achieving program goals.

Whether true or not, rationalizing losing a recruit by saying we have a better recruit committed from the same class, is not true because that recruit hasn't set foot on the floor to play for us. It is sour grapes. We know what obstacles can arise between commitment to the school and playing for the school.

We don't want to admit that there is no plan involved on our part in recruiting and we really are scrambling around finding whomever we can to play for us. How many four-star high school recruits do not live up to their hype in college? Enough to know that the "four-star" label is just a best efforts assessment.

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What the hell are you talking about? Isaiah Washington was always "the plan." Pitino offered him his Freshman year. Yes we missed out on Theo, but Pitino and Kimani got on a plane yesterday and went out to visit Hasahn French. I would say that is a good "plan."
 

Ewert86PC said:
Jericho Sims and Gary Trent, Jr.

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Trent has offers from Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, Arizona, UCLA, and a bunch of others and is a top 15 recruit nationally. You're probably going to be frequently disappointed if it's your expectation that local 5-stars always stay home. Sims I'll agree with, he was a top priority for us and we got beaten by Texas. Washington is about the best guard recruit we could have reasonably expected to get. The staff identified him early, were the first to offer, recruited him for years, and got the commitment. But some lower rated local recruits left, so the class is a failure. /s
 


Cayman said:
Trent has offers from Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, Arizona, UCLA, and a bunch of others and is a top 15 recruit nationally. You're probably going to be frequently disappointed if it's your expectation that local 5-stars always stay home. Sims I'll agree with, he was a top priority for us and we got beaten by Texas. Washington is about the best guard recruit we could have reasonably expected to get. The staff identified him early, were the first to offer, recruited him for years, and got the commitment. But some lower rated local recruits left, so the class is a failure. /s
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Well, I think we should always target and go after in state five-star recruits hard. It is easier to be disappointed when you lose a five-star recruit, than it is to lose a four-star or three-star recruit that you are pursuing. If you can't land four-star recruits that means you are viewed as a three-star or lower program. I will let you figure out what it means when three-star recruits say "no" to your program.

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Ewert86PC said:
Well, I think we should always target and go after in state five-star recruits hard. It is easier to be disappointed when you lose a five-star recruit, than it is to lose a four-star or three-star recruit that you are pursuing. If you can't land four-star recruits that means you are viewed as a three-star or lower program. I will let you figure out what it means when three-star recruits say "no" to your program.

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BUT WE JUST ****ING DID THAT
 

Cayman said:
BUT WE JUST ****ING DID THAT
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One and he was the contingency plan when we got snubbed by a five-star legacy recruit.

To be honest, not being able to recruit highly rated children of former Gopher MBB players is more damning of this program than anything.

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Ewert86PC said:
One and he was the contingency plan when we got snubbed by a five-star legacy recruit. To be honest, not being able to recruit highly rated children of former Gopher MBB players is more damning of this program than anything. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
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Amir Coffey doesn't count.
 

Ewert86PC said:
One and he was the contingency plan when we got snubbed by a five-star legacy recruit.

To be honest, not being able to recruit highly rated children of former Gopher MBB players is more damning of this program than anything.

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Are you talking about Sims? Hard to know what you're talking about when you get facts wrong. If so:

A: He is a four-star recruit

B. How could Washington be a contingency to Jericho when they don't even play the same position?
 


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