All Things Gophers Basketball Class of 2022 Recruiting Thread

Richard did not value character first, he thought flashy first on Washington. He could not get a team conditioned, he could not coach defense.

? Did I miss something about Pitino recruiting poor character players? Who cares that Washington was flashy. Everyone was excited about Washington.
 


? Did I miss something about Pitino recruiting poor character players? Who cares that Washington was flashy. Everyone was excited about Washington.
Tragically, some people (wi fans) assume a kid is of poor character if he is not white. Pitino’s kids were good kids. Pitino was lazy in almost all aspects of college basketball. We have had a string of clock watching coaches who have bags packed for Hawaii in Feb.
 

I have been consistent in my criticism of Davison. I would not compare his on court over the line behavior with sex predators, criminals and terrible transcripts . Not to mention the poor conditioning, the poor evals, the poor defense and that horrible W-L record. Our problems are not solved by tearing down someone else. Our problem is solved by hiring a coach who does value character first, who creates a culture, builds a identity, plays defense.
I said Gard. Not BADGER.
 



I said Gard. Not BADGER.
Think Gard should have given him a lengthy suspension on the very first incident. But recruiting him did not involve a character issue. He checked all the boxes for every coach recruiting him.
 

? Did I miss something about Pitino recruiting poor character players? Who cares that Washington was flashy. Everyone was excited about Washington.
You missed several bad characters before they even got here. Washington was not one of them but not everyone was excited about Washington coming here. Flashy is fine but not flashy first. His substance as a player lacked. Senior Pitino did not even want him here much less on his own team later on. I had seen fundamentally sound players take Washington completely apart.
 


You missed several bad characters before they even got here. Washington was not one of them but not everyone was excited about Washington coming here. Flashy is fine but not flashy first. His substance as a player lacked. Senior Pitino did not even want him here much less on his own team later on. I had seen fundamentally sound players take Washington completely apart.
? Did I miss something about Pitino recruiting poor character players? Who cares that Washington was flashy. Everyone was excited about Washington.
Reggie Lynch, Kevin Dorsey, Daquein McNeil, Zach Lofton all either were kicked off the team (I believe Dorsey was encouraged to transfer) or arrested and left. Not sure if I'm missing anybody. And I honestly don't know how this compares to other peer teams in the B10. I would guess worse, but I don't really follow them.

I honestly had totally forgotten about the Nate Mason/Dorsey/McNeil sex tape. I'm glad Mason was able to bounce back and mature from that.
 



Reggie Lynch, Kevin Dorsey, Daquein McNeil, Zach Lofton all either were kicked off the team (I believe Dorsey was encouraged to transfer) or arrested and left. Not sure if I'm missing anybody. And I honestly don't know how this compares to other peer teams in the B10. I would guess worse, but I don't really follow them.

I honestly had totally forgotten about the Nate Mason/Dorsey/McNeil sex tape. I'm glad Mason was able to bounce back and mature from that.

The post I responded to said that Richard did not value character first. Was their character issues present with those four players at the time of recruitment?
 


The post I responded to said that Richard did not value character first. Was their character issues present with those four players at the time of recruitment?
Yes. Lynch’s was unsubstantiated, but McNeil, Lofton, and Dorsey were either very immature or questionable and many passed on them recruiting wise. Same with Carlos Morris.
 

Yes. Lynch’s was unsubstantiated, but McNeil, Lofton, and Dorsey were either very immature or questionable and many passed on them recruiting wise. Same with Carlos Morris.
IMO McNeil is the only one for whom Pitino should get a pass, due to McNeil’s very unsettled and unfortunate teenage years. However, he should have had a stronger support system in place here (of course with retrospect, but that type of battery doesn’t come out of the blue).
 



You forgot recruit. Time will tell which card is missing in the house of cards known as Gopher basketball. Any card missing and that house collapse.
What makes you think there's a card missing?
 

Better get him wide open...that is a low release point.
That was my first thought in watching his highlights... Wow, seems like he's nearly shooting from his chest. Then I thought, I'm not an evaluator so what do I know... and I'm not tearing down this guy as I'm excited for anyone who wants to wear the Maroon and Gold to be a Gopher, it just made me wonder how he can get his shot off in the B1G
 
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That is what you would expect from a coach that values shooting over just athletes…. He has been saying this all along.
IMHO, anyone can learn to shoot. It takes practice, practice and more practice. Any player that plays in a high major conference has certainly had enough practice time to learn and if they haven't IMHO, I think it's a reflection of lack of discipline more than anything. That being said, some aren't athletic enough to get open but there is no excuse for shooting under 75% at the free-throw line.
 

I have been consistent in my criticism of Davison. I would not compare his on court over the line behavior with sex predators, criminals and terrible transcripts . Not to mention the poor conditioning, the poor evals, the poor defense and that horrible W-L record. Our problems are not solved by tearing down someone else. Our problem is solved by hiring a coach who does value character first, who creates a culture, builds a identity, plays defense.
Spot On!
 

? Did I miss something about Pitino recruiting poor character players? Who cares that Washington was flashy. Everyone was excited about Washington.
Please don't forget and move on. I for one cannot support a team with these kinds of players...it wasn't Washington, who wasn't a bad dude,...we had much worse.
 
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Reggie Lynch, Kevin Dorsey, Daquein McNeil, Zach Lofton all either were kicked off the team (I believe Dorsey was encouraged to transfer) or arrested and left. Not sure if I'm missing anybody. And I honestly don't know how this compares to other peer teams in the B10. I would guess worse, but I don't really follow them.

I honestly had totally forgotten about the Nate Mason/Dorsey/McNeil sex tape. I'm glad Mason was able to bounce back and mature from that.
Bet the victim didn't bounce back...
 

Yes. Lynch’s was unsubstantiated, but McNeil, Lofton, and Dorsey were either very immature or questionable and many passed on them recruiting wise. Same with Carlos Morris.
If I remember the threads, Nadine who runs this site confirmed that multiple women she talked to were raped/assaulted by Lynch and her opinion was that he was a bad dude....but I'm old so I might have misremembered
 


Please don't forget and move on. I for one cannot support a team with these kinds of players...it wasn't Washington, who wasn't a bad dude,...we had much worse.

Again....I am not talking about "forgetting" and "moving on". I just wasn't aware that Pitino was recruiting players with shady character issues. Dorsey, McNeil, Lofton....I suppose I wasn't aware about their issues prior to Minnesota. As for Lynch....obviously had plenty of issues while he was here....but was that a known issue when Pitino recruited him? The assault allegations came in April of 2016. He had already sat out his transfer year with the Gophers at that point.....so it came quite a ways after.
 



per Marcus:

With the dead period finally lifted this week after more than a year, four-star Cretin-Derham Hall point guard Tre Holloman is the first prospect to visit the Gophers on Tuesday.

Holloman, arguably Minnesota's top player in the 2022 class, told the Star Tribune he's visiting the U campus unofficially, meeting with new Gophers basketball coach Ben Johnson and staff.

The son of former Gophers player Crystal Flint, Holloman called being offered by the Gophers a "blessing."

"They're my hometown school," he said. "Just for them to show love, I'm really grateful."

One of the most sought after point guards in the country, Holloman said he scheduled an official visit with Michigan State on Thursday. He is also planning for an official visit to Marquette at the end of June.

One of the priorities for Johnson after replacing Richard Pitino is to keep the state's top players from playing elsewhere. Holloman is at the top of the Gophers' most-wanted list.

"I think they'll be recruiting their tails off," Cretin-Derham Hall coach Jerry Kline said earlier this spring. "Can't forget Ben was a huge reason early on why Daniel [Oturu] was really attracted to the U."


Go Gophers!!
 


Holloman, Lee, Carrington
This is where the rubber meets the road. This is a really good class and Johnson needs to sign at least 3-4 locals among Holloman, Lee, Carrington, Watson and Heide and then supplement nationally with perhaps a 6 frosh class + a few transfers. If he is going to get it done here- it happens this fall.
 

This is where the rubber meets the road. This is a really good class and Johnson needs to sign at least 3-4 locals among Holloman, Lee, Carrington, Watson and Heide and then supplement nationally with perhaps a 6 frosh class + a few transfers. If he is going to get it done here- it happens this fall.
Certainly won't hurt to get off to a strong start
 


This is where the rubber meets the road. This is a really good class and Johnson needs to sign at least 3-4 locals among Holloman, Lee, Carrington, Watson and Heide and then supplement nationally with perhaps a 6 frosh class + a few transfers. If he is going to get it done here- it happens this fall.
I have to agree. The momentum behind that would be huge. I like what he is doing nationally as well, but get those MN kids and that gets people excited. They don't need all 5, but have to think one joins and others follow.
 




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