All Things Gophers Basketball Class of 2022 Recruiting Thread

I like Payne a lot. Physically not worried about him. If he’s good enough to earn 30 then great he’s continued his amazing rise. I’m saying what I’m expecting and I think it’s fair. He’s still got things to learn on the defensive end and with offensive spacing imo
I think you're right, he'll have a ton to learn, I just believe he'll learn and develop quickly. I haven't seen that combination of quick feet and great hands from a big too often around here. I'm excited to see how he fares next year, we'll see how it plays out. And the team may even have some depth on the front line next year, after having almost none last year. That will make a difference.
 


Why would I say the persons name? Why would I lie? Why would this person lie? I don’t know if it was behavioral. Hard to believe it was academic only been there a short time. Asked to leave and Gophers were not happy that’s what I got.
 

Why would I say the persons name? Why would I lie? Why would this person lie? I don’t know if it was behavioral. Hard to believe it was academic only been there a short time. Asked to leave and Gophers were not happy that’s what I got.
So my person lied? I heard mutual and it was over the role/fitting in with the team. Didn’t the Gophers help him get with Compass since Kaffey knows the Ben and Thor? Probably some semantics because like you said he wasn’t there long so it’s hard to believe it’s academic.
 

I didn’t know you had a person… don’t care. Don’t know you. I don’t think you are liar. Mutual separation sounds like a convenient response. I heard the Gophers helped get him to Compass but were not pleased. All I know. My source is a coach who would know.
 


A quick lookup of their roster shows how right you are. 9 DI players on this year's roster, 8 of them to big time power conference schools, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, Auburn, TT among them.

Good information! Although I watched part of a game they played against another national prep and was very impressed, I didn't look up the people on their roster until reading your message. I went to the Rivals database and looked up their seniors and juniors.

They have 7 seniors: 5 are listed as 4 stars and 2 are listed as 3 stars (Ola-Joseph is one of those).

They have 2 juniors: 1 is listed as a 5 star and 1 is listed as a 4 star

They do have 1 soph who hasn't been rated yet.

So, of their top 9 players, one is a 5 star, six are 4 stars, and two are 3 stars. Obviously this roster isn't anything remotely close to a roster that you might find at even a very good regular high school team.
 

why people keep forgetting about Henley?

I think it's more of a case of unfamiliarity. I don't watch high school basketball so I don't know any less about Henley than I do about our Minnesota recruits but a lot of people on this board seem to be pretty immersed in Minnesota high school basketball.
 


I didn’t know you had a person… don’t care. Don’t know you. I don’t think you are liar. Mutual separation sounds like a convenient response. I heard the Gophers helped get him to Compass but were not pleased. All I know. My source is a coach who would know.
Well Roland I appreciate your contributions because I know you are connected and I get the idea of it being convenient response. Just don't think it was all one sided like you are saying when you use the word "bounced". My source is also plenty connected to the situation as well. The rumor will will swirl lol.
 



From an older STrib article:

The 6-7, 215-pound senior has been projected by some recruiting services as a power forward in college, but Ola-Joseph made very clear that his best position will be on the wing for the Gophers.

A big reason he's transferring to Prolific Prep is to be able to continue to showcase and expand his perimeter game.

"A lot of these articles are labeling me as a [power forward]," he said. "I'm not. I'm going to show a little bit more versatility and shoot the ball more. I'm an aggressive basketball player. I got a lot to prove. I'm going to this prep year with a chip on my shoulder. I'm going to show my versatility to shoot the ball very well, [handle the ball] very well, and also be aggressive."



Perhaps that speaks to his "plan" and Prolific's "plan for him" didn't quite match up.
 

The. You haven’t really seen them play. They are each ready to contribute.
I have seen all 3 play since they were freshmen. The out of state kid is an unknown for me but I have seen and coached versus all 3. Braeden is a good shooter but not great, also a shaky ball handler. I think he will have a nice career but not year 1. Payne is physically ready but he will be up and down like a lot of young bigs in the big ten. JOJ has the athleticism but skill level isn't ready. I expect to see more transfers play than younger guys, but I do see younger guys getting developmental min 10-15
 

Thanks, GopherPlaya. The frosh are going to have to earn minutes unless our transfer haul is less than desired. A program is only as good as its bench. You need to always have athletes pushing one another to get into the starting lineup and then fight to stay there.
 

I have seen all 3 play since they were freshmen. The out of state kid is an unknown for me but I have seen and coached versus all 3. Braeden is a good shooter but not great, also a shaky ball handler. I think he will have a nice career but not year 1. Payne is physically ready but he will be up and down like a lot of young bigs in the big ten. JOJ has the athleticism but skill level isn't ready. I expect to see more transfers play than younger guys, but I do see younger guys getting developmental min 10-15
I really think Carrington's ball handling has and will continue to come a long ways. He played point for PC quite a bit this year. He will be a fun one to watch and what I trust about this staff is that they will not rush guys if they are not ready (Treyton Thompson as an example).
 




I really think Carrington's ball handling has and will continue to come a long ways. He played point for PC quite a bit this year. He will be a fun one to watch and what I trust about this staff is that they will not rush guys if they are not ready (Treyton Thompson as an example).
He was solid at points but against teams who pressure (Osseo & DeLaSalle), he struggled. I think he will be a lot more similar to Gabe K but he may develop into a Payton W type PG. Like I said I like Braeden long-term and to be honest I have been impressed with how far he has come along since his days with Gain Elite when he was 14. The kid really has a solid work ethic. I just don't see him ready to give PG minutes but do think he can contribute 10-15 min at the 2 spot
 

From an older STrib article:

The 6-7, 215-pound senior has been projected by some recruiting services as a power forward in college, but Ola-Joseph made very clear that his best position will be on the wing for the Gophers.

A big reason he's transferring to Prolific Prep is to be able to continue to showcase and expand his perimeter game.

"A lot of these articles are labeling me as a [power forward]," he said. "I'm not. I'm going to show a little bit more versatility and shoot the ball more. I'm an aggressive basketball player. I got a lot to prove. I'm going to this prep year with a chip on my shoulder. I'm going to show my versatility to shoot the ball very well, [handle the ball] very well, and also be aggressive."



Perhaps that speaks to his "plan" and Prolific's "plan for him" didn't quite match up.
how did his plan work out at compass?
 


I have seen all 3 play since they were freshmen. The out of state kid is an unknown for me but I have seen and coached versus all 3. Braeden is a good shooter but not great, also a shaky ball handler. I think he will have a nice career but not year 1. Payne is physically ready but he will be up and down like a lot of young bigs in the big ten. JOJ has the athleticism but skill level isn't ready. I expect to see more transfers play than younger guys, but I do see younger guys getting developmental min 10-15
Do you think Ben will really give them "developmental minutes"? He didn't really give "developmental minutes" to TT, despite our dearth of talent at the 5. I find it interesting that people say TT wasn't ready, thus didn't get many minutes, but then people believe that the next group of freshmen will get "developmental minutes" which implies learning on the job. Assuming your assessment is accurate, that all of the freshmen (except potentially Payne) have holes in their game, and based on BJ's track record, I don't see him giving minutes unless he has no other choice.
 

Do you think Ben will really give them "developmental minutes"? He didn't really give "developmental minutes" to TT, despite our dearth of talent at the 5. I find it interesting that people say TT wasn't ready, thus didn't get many minutes, but then people believe that the next group of freshmen will get "developmental minutes" which implies learning on the job. Assuming your assessment is accurate, that all of the freshmen (except potentially Payne) have holes in their game, and based on BJ's track record, I don't see him giving minutes unless he has no other choice.
Logic.
 

Do you think Ben will really give them "developmental minutes"? He didn't really give "developmental minutes" to TT, despite our dearth of talent at the 5. I find it interesting that people say TT wasn't ready, thus didn't get many minutes, but then people believe that the next group of freshmen will get "developmental minutes" which implies learning on the job. Assuming your assessment is accurate, that all of the freshmen (except potentially Payne) have holes in their game, and based on BJ's track record, I don't see him giving minutes unless he has no other choice.
No he won't give developmental minutes, people have the new guys playing big minutes without a mention of Thiam. I'm guessing portal and existing players will see more court time.
 

Why would I say the persons name? Why would I lie? Why would this person lie? I don’t know if it was behavioral. Hard to believe it was academic only been there a short time. Asked to leave and Gophers were not happy that’s what I got.
I said DON'T give away your source and must admit that I was being cute in my remark. I imagine that JOJ has some right to privacy.
 

UNC disagrees lol
Ha! I didn't say that the bench necessarily had to play in games. But a good program needs good players on the bench to push the starters. UNC had a number of bench players that could have stepped into the starting role if needed.
 

Do you think Ben will really give them "developmental minutes"? He didn't really give "developmental minutes" to TT, despite our dearth of talent at the 5. I find it interesting that people say TT wasn't ready, thus didn't get many minutes, but then people believe that the next group of freshmen will get "developmental minutes" which implies learning on the job. Assuming your assessment is accurate, that all of the freshmen (except potentially Payne) have holes in their game, and based on BJ's track record, I don't see him giving minutes unless he has no other choice.
One player in one year does not show us a pattern. Let's see how Johnson and staff handle the roster in 2022 now that they will have 4 new high school players. HS players will not commit if the U doesn't give them some run and an opportunity to improve.
 

Do you think Ben will really give them "developmental minutes"? He didn't really give "developmental minutes" to TT, despite our dearth of talent at the 5. I find it interesting that people say TT wasn't ready, thus didn't get many minutes, but then people believe that the next group of freshmen will get "developmental minutes" which implies learning on the job. Assuming your assessment is accurate, that all of the freshmen (except potentially Payne) have holes in their game, and based on BJ's track record, I don't see him giving minutes unless he has no other choice.
I was saying more that the development minutes will be best case. As far as TT, Payne is a lot further along than TT was last year. TT has always wanted to be a perimeter guy. Payne is more of a bruiser/physical player. Other than TT we didn't have anyone who would need development minutes so that's probably why we didn't see much of it.
 

He was solid at points but against teams who pressure (Osseo & DeLaSalle), he struggled. I think he will be a lot more similar to Gabe K but he may develop into a Payton W type PG. Like I said I like Braeden long-term and to be honest I have been impressed with how far he has come along since his days with Gain Elite when he was 14. The kid really has a solid work ethic. I just don't see him ready to give PG minutes but do think he can contribute 10-15 min at the 2 spot
Payton did an outstanding job last year as PG. Although at times I thought he ran out of gas. Get a good PG out of the portal and give Braeden as many minutes he can handle as a back up 1 and 2.
 

One player in one year does not show us a pattern. Let's see how Johnson and staff handle the roster in 2022 now that they will have 4 new high school players. HS players will not commit if the U doesn't give them some run and an opportunity to improve.
If we are recruiting high school kids to be ready year 1 then we wont get new kids anyway because we won't win playing younger guys more minutes than vets. Teams with 5 stars struggle to win playing that style.
 

Why would I say the persons name? Why would I lie? Why would this person lie? I don’t know if it was behavioral. Hard to believe it was academic only been there a short time. Asked to leave and Gophers were not happy that’s what I got.
My biggest concern with JOJ is he will have people in his ear convincing him that he is something he is not (SF). He is PF in a SF body. Similar to Jordan Murphy. If he embraced the undersized 4 role, then he will be successful
 

Do you think Ben will really give them "developmental minutes"? He didn't really give "developmental minutes" to TT, despite our dearth of talent at the 5. I find it interesting that people say TT wasn't ready, thus didn't get many minutes, but then people believe that the next group of freshmen will get "developmental minutes" which implies learning on the job. Assuming your assessment is accurate, that all of the freshmen (except potentially Payne) have holes in their game, and based on BJ's track record, I don't see him giving minutes unless he has no other choice.
Developmental minutes happen everyday in practice. You earn your minutes in a game with the abilities you display in practice. If last years freshmen couldn't earn minutes in practice against last years seniors, do you really think they deserved playing time in a game?
Did you just want to see them to cure your itch or do you really think playing time would have bolstered their confidence?
Honestly, Thiam could barely dribble and run at the same time in the limited minutes he played. Do you really think him getting his ass handed to him for more minutes would have helped him?
 

One player in one year does not show us a pattern. Let's see how Johnson and staff handle the roster in 2022 now that they will have 4 new high school players. HS players will not commit if the U doesn't give them some run and an opportunity to improve.
The opportunity to improve comes in the off-season and practice. He will always play the guys who have best chance to win when the season starts. Games are not development time.
 





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