All Things Gophers Basketball Class of 2022 Recruiting Thread

This is where Pitino, and other coaches, make a mistake. If Pitino would have taken Wright, for example, instead of looking at what he thought was a better player in Jelly, Wright would have attracted other players instead of the alienation it created with the basketball community. Wright was very popular among coaches and players. Coaches need to think strategically sometime and take a player who may not be quite as good as another player because of what they bring in. Izzo has been amazing with this over the years.
It's sort of a no-win situation because they will be alienated the next time, and the next time,...Coaches are going to miss out on instate players. This was a bottom dweller B1G team last year.
 

Yep. There is a domino effect with local recruits. It's actually a domino effect that can last for a long time.
Some of that crap is on our local coaches too. They hated Tubby by the end of his tenure, hated Monson, hated Pitino (Rightfully so on this one imo) so you can't be happy all the time. If Jelly was a hit and could actually play, or if Wright had floundered, honestly it wouldn't have mattered as much. We got 3 MN kids the next year. It does compound when you don't try hard and then pull that crap while Wright had a great college career. Pitino to his credit had learned as he was working hard on Holloman too from my understanding.

My main point is the local coaches got their guy, they better be decent to him and respect him. He will tell some of them no soon cause of how loaded the 2022 class is. I do trust Ben's evals to work out better and trust the staff he's brought in to eval. I was not a huge Wright or McHale eval guy and it seems Pitino trusted their evals the most. Ben has assistants on his staff that eval better imo.
 

After seeing King commit to ISU I thought I would read about their recruiting process. It sounded like their philosophy was to not to spend much time and effort trying to recruit 5 star. Instead of trying to hit a home run, hit the “doubles and triples” that will give them success. Perhaps Johnson should follow the same process.
What makes you think he's going after 5 stars? He apparently didn't call Chet for a couple days after he got the job. He called all the 2022 guys (none are 5 stars right now). You are 100% right though, on identifying and spending times on recruits who fit what we do (I don't fully know what that is yet since we haven't played). It's what Painter and Gard do as well.
 

Some of that crap is on our local coaches too. They hated Tubby by the end of his tenure, hated Monson, hated Pitino (Rightfully so on this one imo) so you can't be happy all the time. If Jelly was a hit and could actually play, or if Wright had floundered, honestly it wouldn't have mattered as much. We got 3 MN kids the next year. It does compound when you don't try hard and then pull that crap while Wright had a great college career. Pitino to his credit had learned as he was working hard on Holloman too from my understanding.

My main point is the local coaches got their guy, they better be decent to him and respect him. He will tell some of them no soon cause of how loaded the 2022 class is. I do trust Ben's evals to work out better and trust the staff he's brought in to eval. I was not a huge Wright or McHale eval guy and it seems Pitino trusted their evals the most. Ben has assistants on his staff that eval better imo.

You're 100% right.

I think sometimes on here when I have questioned when we will start to land recruits and my skepticism with being able to land more and more local recruits it gets interpreted as me ripping Ben. I'm not ripping Ben for that, I'm ripping these local coaches and players that act like that would have made a difference.

I hope these local basketball types start putting their money where their mouths are or just shut the hell up about Gopher basketball. I hope Ben is able to convince more of the 4 star type of kids to stay home and I hope instead of reading tweets about how much they like Ben, we'll start seeing commitments from these types.
 



You're 100% right.

I think sometimes on here when I have questioned when we will start to land recruits and my skepticism with being able to land more and more local recruits it gets interpreted as me ripping Ben. I'm not ripping Ben for that, I'm ripping these local coaches and players that act like that would have made a difference.

I hope these local basketball types start putting their money where their mouths are or just shut the hell up about Gopher basketball. I hope Ben is able to convince more of the 4 star type of kids to stay home and I hope instead of reading tweets about how much they like Ben, we'll start seeing commitments from these types.
Agree. If the local youth coaches always end up turning their backs on the Gophers, than it shows that part of the problem is with the local coaches. It makes you think that some of the local youth coaches are acting like some sort of prima-donnas.
 

Agree. If the local youth coaches always end up turning their backs on the Gophers, than it shows that part of the problem is with the local coaches. It makes you think that some of the local youth coaches are acting like some sort of prima-donnas.

Yeah and that the only thing that will bring them in is winning.
 

Yeah and that the only thing that will bring them in is winning.
Such is this experiment with BJ. Do instate relationships matter carry that much water? My perception is that “staying in state” is meaningless to this generation. It has been and will continue to be about personal fit. Being part of a system that is antagonistic to the home state coach just provides a built in rationale for following their dreams.

Hopefully, this can end the argument one way or another. If I’m allowed to be petty and fast forward a few seasons, I hope this checks the egos of the AAU system and dads of local recruits who throw the current coach under the bus in the media and in their circles. To steal from the kids, it’s childish “AF” to speak poorly in the public sphere when the coach cannot comment on recruiting.
 




Such is this experiment with BJ. Do instate relationships matter carry that much water? My perception is that “staying in state” is meaningless to this generation. It has been and will continue to be about personal fit. Being part of a system that is antagonistic to the home state coach just provides a built in rationale for following their dreams.

Hopefully, this can end the argument one way or another. If I’m allowed to be petty and fast forward a few seasons, I hope this checks the egos of the AAU system and dads of local recruits who throw the current coach under the bus in the media and in their circles. To steal from the kids, it’s childish “AF” to speak poorly in the public sphere when the coach cannot comment on recruiting.
Great post. Most kids are not getting shoe money and their AAU coach often plays zero role in what school they pick. I know the most accomplished AAU coach in history loves a certain head coach and has never sent him a player. Kids pick schools for many reasons. Who the head coach is, what is the campus like, opportunity, cool factor, playing style, climate, girls and on and on. Someone name one local AAU coach who steered players away from here.
 

It's sort of a no-win situation because they will be alienated the next time, and the next time,...Coaches are going to miss out on instate players. This was a bottom dweller B1G team last year.
That’s what I have been saying all along. People want to blame the head coach for a fractured relationship, but sometimes/often the AAU system is simply not realistic about their players. That said, Wright was an easy one that Pitino should have seen.
 

You're 100% right.

I think sometimes on here when I have questioned when we will start to land recruits and my skepticism with being able to land more and more local recruits it gets interpreted as me ripping Ben. I'm not ripping Ben for that, I'm ripping these local coaches and players that act like that would have made a difference.

I hope these local basketball types start putting their money where their mouths are or just shut the hell up about Gopher basketball. I hope Ben is able to convince more of the 4 star type of kids to stay home and I hope instead of reading tweets about how much they like Ben, we'll start seeing commitments from these types.
Frankly, at this point I don't care where the players come from as long as they fit into BJ's plans. He focuses on players that can shoot (and play Defense) rather than athleticism.

Down the road if he indeed is winning, there is something there that will interest local kids to stay home. But, not all of them. Some prefer to go to NBA mill schools. These guys know they've got a bright NBA future and want to shine on their one and dones.
 

Frankly, at this point I don't care where the players come from as long as they fit into BJ's plans. He focuses on players that can shoot (and play Defense) rather than athleticism.

Down the road if he indeed is winning, there is something there that will interest local kids to stay home. But, not all of them. Some prefer to go to NBA mill schools. These guys know they've got a bright NBA future and want to shine on their one and dones.
While I do agree with this, it would put our decision making during the hiring process a bit into question. I think Ben's leash is shorter if he doesn't land local kids. In some ways, that's not fair to Ben. He didn't sell himself as the local recruiting guru, he's just a basketball guy.

Whether it's fair or not, if we are struggling three years from now and we strike out on all of the top MN kids, I think Ben struggles to keep his job. Two years from now if we are struggling and have made something of a splash in local recruiting, I think he's completely safe.

But you're right, at the end of the day it's about winning and playing good basketball. Those things are way more important than the local angle. I just am not sure he gets much of a leash to build that without improving local recruiting.
 



While I do agree with this, it would put our decision making during the hiring process a bit into question. I think Ben's leash is shorter if he doesn't land local kids. In some ways, that's not fair to Ben. He didn't sell himself as the local recruiting guru, he's just a basketball guy.

Whether it's fair or not, if we are struggling three years from now and we strike out on all of the top MN kids, I think Ben struggles to keep his job. Two years from now if we are struggling and have made something of a splash in local recruiting, I think he's completely safe.

But you're right, at the end of the day it's about winning and playing good basketball. Those things are way more important than the local angle. I just am not sure he gets much of a leash to build that without improving local recruiting.
You don’t know how he sold himself in the interviews. He may have said he will get local kids and said if he doesn’t he should be fired. Publicly he hasn’t said it but publicly he hasn’t said much. If he wins with non local kids he will keep his job. If he loses with local kids he’ll get fired. But he was done a disservice by being heralded as a local recruiter
 

per Marcus:

Johnson re-offered Holloman, Heide, Caledonia's Eli King, Byron's Ahjany Lee, Minnehaha Academy's Prince Aligbe, Totino-Grace's Demarion Watson-Saulsberry and Park Center's Braeden Carrington in Minnesota's 2022 class. King was the first Gophers in-state target to commit elsewhere since Johnson's hiring when new Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger landed him this week. Former Texas coach Shaka Smart, who inherited former five-star Prior Lake recruit and freshman Dawson Garcia, is offering Minnesota kids as well.


Go Gophers!!
 

Agree. If the local youth coaches always end up turning their backs on the Gophers, than it shows that part of the problem is with the local coaches. It makes you think that some of the local youth coaches are acting like some sort of prima-donnas.
I think Local coaches some times have a double standard. Where they expect Minnesota's head coach to be all about Minnesota players and will be unhappy if they look out of state. While they are happy with out of state of coaches just looking at the local players. So over time the local coach gets hate as he "snubs" instate kids and the out of state coaches just make more in roads.
 

per Marcus:

Johnson re-offered Holloman, Heide, Caledonia's Eli King, Byron's Ahjany Lee, Minnehaha Academy's Prince Aligbe, Totino-Grace's Demarion Watson-Saulsberry and Park Center's Braeden Carrington in Minnesota's 2022 class. King was the first Gophers in-state target to commit elsewhere since Johnson's hiring when new Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger landed him this week. Former Texas coach Shaka Smart, who inherited former five-star Prior Lake recruit and freshman Dawson Garcia, is offering Minnesota kids as well.


Go Gophers!!
That leaves out Chase Carter, who will probably play football and Elvis Nnaji, who is still pretty raw yet.
 


Yeah and that the only thing that will bring them in is winning.
Or perhaps hiring a local coach?
I think Local coaches some times have a double standard. Where they expect Minnesota's head coach to be all about Minnesota players and will be unhappy if they look out of state. While they are happy with out of state of coaches just looking at the local players. So over time the local coach gets hate as he "snubs" instate kids and the out of state coaches just make more in roads.
The reason we want in state kids is because they are easier to convince because their families can watch them play so it's an easier sell. Pitino used to recruit as the big basketball schools like his dad...but he wasn't his dad so those 5 stars weren't impressed. He was a lazy recruiter. Ben clearly is not as he's already received 6 commitments.
 


That’s what I have been saying all along. People want to blame the head coach for a fractured relationship, but sometimes/often the AAU system is simply not realistic about their players. That said, Wright was an easy one that Pitino should have seen.
Why does everyone keep saying Wright was so great in HS? He didn’t have a ton of offers elsewhere. He committed to Dayton for goodness sakes. Yes he developed into a great player, but he wasn’t recruited like a great player.
 

Why does everyone keep saying Wright was so great in HS? He didn’t have a ton of offers elsewhere. He committed to Dayton for goodness sakes. Yes he developed into a great player, but he wasn’t recruited like a great player.
Because he was from MN and turned out to be good. At the time of recruitment nobody on this board would have chosen him (the 7th rated MN player) over top 60 in the country and Mr. basketball for NY Isaiah Washington.

We all, including the whole gopher staff, were wrong.
 

Because he was from MN and turned out to be good. At the time of recruitment nobody on this board would have chosen him (the 7th rated MN player) over top 60 in the country and Mr. basketball for NY Isaiah Washington.

We all, including the whole gopher staff, were wrong.
Jelly was definitely eye candy, and I was enthused about him signing here, not gonna lie. But I knew Wright was going to be good. I didn't see him being that good, though, which is a testament to him and how hard he must've worked.
 


Or perhaps hiring a local coach?

The reason we want in state kids is because they are easier to convince because their families can watch them play so it's an easier sell. Pitino used to recruit as the big basketball schools like his dad...but he wasn't his dad so those 5 stars weren't impressed. He was a lazy recruiter. Ben clearly is not as he's already received 6 commitments.
Pitino was lazy 10 months out of the year but he was good in the spring to be fair
 

Jelly was definitely eye candy, and I was enthused about him signing here, not gonna lie. But I knew Wright was going to be good. I didn't see him being that good, though, which is a testament to him and how hard he must've worked.
Yeah he was dynamic in high school but he had a suspect outside shot. No one knew he’d turn out this good. We also need to remember he wouldn’t have played much his freshman year either. Mason had the spot locked down. Also don’t have Marcus Carr either then. It’s all hindsight
 

Why does everyone keep saying Wright was so great in HS? He didn’t have a ton of offers elsewhere. He committed to Dayton for goodness sakes. Yes he developed into a great player, but he wasn’t recruited like a great player.
Best PG I've seen in Minnesota, I thought he was better than Jarvis, even if you took Jelly I didn't see not getting him.
 

Best PG I've seen in Minnesota, I thought he was better than Jarvis, even if you took Jelly I didn't see not getting him.

Better than Khalid and Suggs?

I agree with you too, I didn't see any reason why we wouldn't add both Wright and Jelly if we could. I was high on Wright but he turned into a more dynamic offensive player than I would have thought.
 

Better than Khalid and Suggs?

I agree with you too, I didn't see any reason why we wouldn't add both Wright and Jelly if we could. I was high on Wright but he turned into a more dynamic offensive player than I would have thought.
or the jones brothers, not getting those in any case, of the gettable ones.
 

or the jones brothers, not getting those in any case, of the gettable ones.
Gotcha.

Yeah, that makes sense.

I no longer live in the area. How would you rate Wright with Holloman?
 




Top Bottom