All Things Gophers Basketball Class of 2022 Recruiting Thread



Its rough watching several marginal transfer players reject the chance to showcase their assumed talents playing for the Gophers & the media exposure of the Big Ten.. Thus far, Minnesota recruiting for 2022 with high school players instate or otherwise has produced not a whisper of high consideration by a valued player, while several colleges including mid-majors have already added several players to their 2022 roster...What is the reason with the negative, as of today response playing for Minnesota ? One would think playing for a team with so many departures would equal instant & lengthy playing time involving possibly the top league of college basketball..
 





Its rough watching several marginal transfer players reject the chance to showcase their assumed talents playing for the Gophers & the media exposure of the Big Ten.. Thus far, Minnesota recruiting for 2022 with high school players instate or otherwise has produced not a whisper of high consideration by a valued player, while several colleges including mid-majors have already added several players to their 2022 roster...What is the reason with the negative, as of today response playing for Minnesota ? One would think playing for a team with so many departures would equal instant & lengthy playing time involving possibly the top league of college basketball..
Deep breaths....the 2022 cycle is just getting going. Johnson is new and recruits have not had a chance to see how the team will play with him as coach so they are not just going to dive at the chance to join a system that may or may not match their style of play.
 

With the fact that as of today, MN will only have 4 players returning in 2022, how many freshman would you add in 2022? I know there has been talk of adding 4 freshman in 2022 (hopefully MN kids), but with the way the transfer portal is going, I wonder if you see MN going after a number more like 5-6 freshman. It might be a disaster for the first few years and you might not see Ben taste success until year 4, but the 2022 class might be deep enough to do it.
 

With the fact that as of today, MN will only have 4 players returning in 2022, how many freshman would you add in 2022? I know there has been talk of adding 4 freshman in 2022 (hopefully MN kids), but with the way the transfer portal is going, I wonder if you see MN going after a number more like 5-6 freshman. It might be a disaster for the first few years and you might not see Ben taste success until year 4, but the 2022 class might be deep enough to do it.
4?
 



Deep breaths....the 2022 cycle is just getting going. Johnson is new and recruits have not had a chance to see how the team will play with him as coach so they are not just going to dive at the chance to join a system that may or may not match their style of play.
But won't many of them commit in November before we've played a game?
 



BJ may want to reach out. Fast riser.

 
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If you are a 4 or 5 star kid, you think you are superman. You wanna join the big name programs.
In either football or basketball we haven't seen too many guys say I wanna be the man and lead the Gophers to the playoffs.
History says I'm pessimistic they will choose the Gophers.
Basketball guys to Duke, Marquette, AZ and Stanford etc
Football Notre Dame, Alabama, Nebraska, Wisconsin, etc
 

If you are a 4 or 5 star kid, you think you are superman. You wanna join the big name programs.
In either football or basketball we haven't seen too many guys say I wanna be the man and lead the Gophers to the playoffs.
History says I'm pessimistic they will choose the Gophers.
Basketball guys to Duke, Marquette, AZ and Stanford etc
Football Notre Dame, Alabama, Nebraska, Wisconsin, etc

That's definitely the history of the last 8 years....
 


If you are a 4 or 5 star kid, you think you are superman. You wanna join the big name programs.
In either football or basketball we haven't seen too many guys say I wanna be the man and lead the Gophers to the playoffs.
History says I'm pessimistic they will choose the Gophers.
Basketball guys to Duke, Marquette, AZ and Stanford etc
Football Notre Dame, Alabama, Nebraska, Wisconsin, etc
With the fact that as of today, MN will only have 4 players returning in 2022, how many freshman would you add in 2022? I know there has been talk of adding 4 freshman in 2022 (hopefully MN kids), but with the way the transfer portal is going, I wonder if you see MN going after a number more like 5-6 freshman. It might be a disaster for the first few years and you might not see Ben taste success until year 4, but the 2022 class might be deep enough to do it.

Is the dumbing down of expectations already happening?

I thought the main consensus was, we don't expect Ben to land the 5 star kids right away if ever, but he can get those 4 stars.

Now some are saying we wont get that and it will take 4 years to see whatever individuals definition of success is?

If he isn't in the tourney by year 3 or at least went far in the NIT, he's in the hot seat in my opinion, people will initially pay to come see anything year 1 because of covid, but if we are not improving in the W's and improving statistically every game like Ben mentioned, he's in trouble.

Why year 3? Because beyond that, we are back to Pitino like results and if the seats aren't being filled, I'm sure Ben buyout is pretty cheap. They'd have to extend him at year 3, otherwise recruiting is going to be harder (5 year contract), so year 3 he has to be in the tourney.

Edit:

Richard Pitino year 1: NIT champions
Richard Pitino year 4: NCAA Tourney
 


Perhaps. We did get a commitment from Amir Coffey prior to the unfolding of Pitino's horrific 2015-16 season.
"So, we're either going to play you out of position at PG OR we will have you play wing. I know you're an active player, but you just have to stand on the perimeter while the PG dribbles. You in?"

You think that's a tough sell to Richard(Coffey)?
 

Why year 3? Because beyond that, we are back to Pitino like results and if the seats aren't being filled, I'm sure Ben buyout is pretty cheap. They'd have to extend him at year 3, otherwise recruiting is going to be harder (5 year contract), so year 3 he has to be in the tourney.

Edit:

Richard Pitino year 1: NIT champions
Richard Pitino year 4: NCAA Tourney

I don't see him getting canned after three years unless his results are really terrible. Not making the NCAA tournament by itself wouldn't be bad enough. Three losing seasons in a row with an overall winning percentage below .400 could be.
 

"So, we're either going to play you out of position at PG OR we will have you play wing. I know you're an active player, but you just have to stand on the perimeter while the PG dribbles. You in?"

You think that's a tough sell to Richard(Coffey)?

Well, one talent Pitino had was talking. He could be counted on to present a potential that was more appealing than the actual.
 

I don't see him getting canned after three years unless his results are really terrible. Not making the NCAA tournament by itself wouldn't be bad enough. Three losing seasons in a row with an overall winning percentage below .400 could be.

I don't see that either, but if he doesn't at least make a run in the NIT by then, I think hot seat. I honestly highly doubt that happens, but those saying we wont see success till year 4, I don't see that panning out well.

By year 3 we need have seen something that makes us excited, otherwise his extension will only be 1 year and that will make recruiting harder, or they extended him 2 year but lower his buyout.
 

Is the dumbing down of expectations already happening?

I thought the main consensus was, we don't expect Ben to land the 5 star kids right away if ever, but he can get those 4 stars.

Now some are saying we wont get that and it will take 4 years to see whatever individuals definition of success is?

If he isn't in the tourney by year 3 or at least went far in the NIT, he's in the hot seat in my opinion, people will initially pay to come see anything year 1 because of covid, but if we are not improving in the W's and improving statistically every game like Ben mentioned, he's in trouble.

Why year 3? Because beyond that, we are back to Pitino like results and if the seats aren't being filled, I'm sure Ben buyout is pretty cheap. They'd have to extend him at year 3, otherwise recruiting is going to be harder (5 year contract), so year 3 he has to be in the tourney.

Edit:

Richard Pitino year 1: NIT champions
Richard Pitino year 4: NCAA Tourney

I'm with ya here. Lets actually see who he has committed in Sept/Oct. I think with the way this staff will recruit, they will lock kids down earlier than our former coach. Seems like his recruiting is more targeted. I say three years for this primary reason. We will have 6-8 1 year guys on the roster this year that we will be replacing next year. Next year we will likely have 4-6 freshman plus transfers. Year 3 is when we will have 6-7 kids hopefully that have been identified by this staff and fit the identity. They will have been in the program hopefully two-three years and have some continuity as well. That's why I say year 3 is the one where we need to see the train moving forward at a real real good speed. If it's not happening then, the seat should honestly warm up like you said.
 

Is the dumbing down of expectations already happening?

I thought the main consensus was, we don't expect Ben to land the 5 star kids right away if ever, but he can get those 4 stars.

Now some are saying we wont get that and it will take 4 years to see whatever individuals definition of success is?

If he isn't in the tourney by year 3 or at least went far in the NIT, he's in the hot seat in my opinion, people will initially pay to come see anything year 1 because of covid, but if we are not improving in the W's and improving statistically every game like Ben mentioned, he's in trouble.

Why year 3? Because beyond that, we are back to Pitino like results and if the seats aren't being filled, I'm sure Ben buyout is pretty cheap. They'd have to extend him at year 3, otherwise recruiting is going to be harder (5 year contract), so year 3 he has to be in the tourney.

Edit:

Richard Pitino year 1: NIT champions
Richard Pitino year 4: NCAA Tourney
Year 3 is a good time to expect to see some tangible proof that things are moving in the right direction. By that point we should have a very good read on the kind of talent he is going to be able to recruit and on the court we should be getting a good read on how the team is competing.

I struggle with the definitive statements of things like....by year 3 he has to do X or if we don't accomplish X by this point then he should be fired. There are too many variables that can come into play to be able to project where exactly we should be a few years down the line.

If things are moving in the right direction for the program it will be pretty obvious. But the exact form it will take is tough to say for sure at this point just a short time into Johnson's time here.
 



Saw a tweet on Cam Heide, the Wayzata kid. He was quoted as saying that Johnson was texting him almost daily and he has enjoyed his opportunities to talk with the coaches.
Not to be completely annoying, but when was the last time a recruit said he had a horrible time chatting with a coach or on a visit?
The good news is that we know Ben is on it for high priority local recruits. Would love to see Tre be first commit but Cam would be huge for momentum on the recruiting front.
 


Year 3 is a good time to expect to see some tangible proof that things are moving in the right direction. By that point we should have a very good read on the kind of talent he is going to be able to recruit and on the court we should be getting a good read on how the team is competing.

I struggle with the definitive statements of things like....by year 3 he has to do X or if we don't accomplish X by this point then he should be fired. There are too many variables that can come into play to be able to project where exactly we should be a few years down the line.

If things are moving in the right direction for the program it will be pretty obvious. But the exact form it will take is tough to say for sure at this point just a short time into Johnson's time here.

Yeah, there are two things at play here. What each individual fan wants as success by year 3 and what Mark Coyle told Ben his expectations are each year going towards year 3.

So we can guess all we want, but there is an objective goal that Mark has set for Ben, if there isn't I don't think he'd be an AD.
 





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