All Things Grayson Grove Recruitment Thread (Class of 2024, Alexandria, MN; 6-8, 190lb; Gophers Commit!

[Zeppelin Gopher]

Curious Zep. Did you read his review?

Yes sir I did. If he had an editor, or at least had someone proof read his posts, it would help greatly.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Yes sir I did. If he had an editor, or at least had someone proof read his posts, it would help greatly.

For sure. But he does stay on top of things like no one else I know of. It will interesting to read about Asuma & Grove's progression as they finish out their HS careers. Especially the D side.

 

[eker0016]

RJ works his tail off and we're lucky to have someone like him covering MN grassroots basketball. What a needless negative comment, sheesh.

I'm kinda surprised there is not much Gopher basketball podcast content out there. Ryan James and Luke Buer record a couple podcasts per season but it feels like they could probably 4x their content output. I enjoy them when they come out. I don't mind listening to James but without trying to sound petty I really don't like reading his written content.

I tried listening to the Locked On podcast last year and was not impressed.

Are there any other interesting sources of Gopher news/analysis besides the Gopherhole?

 

[SoMpls]

It's nothing very useful. RJ is a terrible writer and his analysis is meh

What do you expect from a former manager

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Until that last post at least!! Cmon man.

Broken clock .

 

[bga1]

For sure. But he does stay on top of things like no one else I know of. It will interesting to read about Asuma & Grove's progression as they finish out their HS careers. Especially the D side.

Can you say if RJs opinion of their play was generally positive?

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

Can you say if RJs opinion of their play was generally positive?

That’s what I was interested in

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

 

[Tigger]

I also watched TT. He was way overrated. Had an attitude. I watched him elbow a kid in the throat and then act all innocent when he got called on it.

If I got to choose, I would pick Grayson first for every pick up game. Grayson has way more upside.

 

[Tigger]

I have watched Grove a lot the last two years and will watch him a lot next year. Although I have missed a game here and there, I have never seen him outplayed by the opposing big man.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I have watched Grove a lot the last two years and will watch him a lot next year. Although I have missed a game here and there, I have never seen him outplayed by the opposing big man.

Yep, if you watch the highlights of his games on YouTube, he is always getting the better of the big names he is playing against. He isn't the most fluid athlete on the planet but it sounds weird to say but he's almost deceptively fluid. He had no trouble finding his positions and maneuvering around Kapke.

In the game against Holy Family, it wasn't even close. This game was a really good test IMO, because they were similar teams. They were good HS teams with a legit D1 post player. It really came down to the Kapke vs. Grove, and Grove really outplayed him.

In the Totino Game, it's hard to evaluate because Chatman and Grove play such different positions, but Grove was as good as anyone on the floor that game. Totino had tons of talent and eventually just wore down Alex, but Alexandria could have won that game and Grove was a big part of that. In the second half, they started trapping and taking over, but Grove was better than Bath (Drake), and Isaiah Johnson (another guy I'd be happy if we offered).

There are a number of other games and you can find bits and pieces of most of them online. Long story longer, he has been really good against good players.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

I also watched TT. He was way overrated. Had an attitude. I watched him elbow a kid in the throat and then act all innocent when he got called on it.

If I got to choose, I would pick Grayson first for every pick up game. Grayson has way more upside.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

I have watched Grove a lot the last two years and will watch him a lot next year. Although I have missed a game here and there, I have never seen him outplayed by the opposing big man.

 

[howeda7]

I also watched TT. He was way overrated. Had an attitude. I watched him elbow a kid in the throat and then act all innocent when he got called on it.

In his defense, maybe Greg Gard was there that day. Do you know a better way to get Wisconsin's attention?

 

[Holy Man]

In his defense, maybe Greg Gard was there that day. Do you know a better way to get Wisconsin's attention?

Maybe a slug near the family jewels would gain more positive attention from Madison.

 

[BleedGopher]

Go Gophers!!

 

[Holy Man]

Go Gophers!!

This report is a little different than most of what I read here. College ready frame isn’t something that has been tossed out to this point.

 

[Blackhammer]

This report is a little different than most of what I read here. College ready frame isn’t something that has been tossed out to this point.

The experts here seem to think redshirt even though he has 18 months until college basketball starts for him.. Nice to see a positive scouting report.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Would have been nice to see some highlights like there is in the Asuma thread.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

This kid is a zero-star recruit? Even TT was a 3 star and we see how that turned out.

Stars don’t matter

 

[bga1]

Just a thought on Ben's freshmen recruits in his first three classes:

Payne
Carrington
Joseph
Henley
Evans
Christie
Betts
Asuma
Grove

These are all solid gets by Ben- really not bad at all. Obviously Evans got taken due to a ridiculous NIL deal but that's 9 pretty good recruits in his first three classes so far. In this era, you have to get them to campus, pay them, get them to stay and then develop them. Just looking at who he has attracted so far, it gives me hope. Now we will see how he can develop kids into a team.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Would have been nice to see some highlights like there is in the Asuma thread.

I've seen his highlights and posted my thoughts in other threads. My take is that he is legit, has good skills, is a gamer, plays the game well, and will benefit from another year of AAU and HS. People that think he is another TT haven't done their homework. He has the frame to easily add 10-15 pounds of muscle. Some suggest a RS but that may not be needed if he has a good HS year. At this point, I would by Grove stock!

 

[Willwin40]

I've seen his highlights and posted my thoughts in other threads. My take is that he is legit, has good skills, is a gamer, plays the game well, and will benefit from another year of AAU and HS. People that think he is another TT haven't done their homework. He has the frame to easily add 10-15 pounds of muscle. Some suggest a RS but that may not be needed if he has a good HS year. At this point, I would by Grove stock!

 

[Willwin40]

This guy looks great in his highlights. He knows how to play bb. Another Dusty Rychart.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Just a thought on Ben's freshmen recruits in his first three classes:

Payne
Carrington
Joseph
Henley
Evans
Christie
Betts
Asuma
Grove

These are all solid gets by Ben- really not bad at all. Obviously Evans got taken due to a ridiculous NIL deal but that's 9 pretty good recruits in his first three classes so far. In this era, you have to get them to campus, pay them, get them to stay and then develop them. Just looking at who he has attracted so far, it gives me hope. Now we will see how he can develop kids into a team.

Old wins. -BJ

 

[bga1]

This guy looks great in his highlights. He knows how to play bb. Another Dusty Rychart.

Let's go big here- Kevin McHale!

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Would have been nice to see some highlights like there is in the Asuma thread.

I really recommend watching his highlights on YouTube (search Alexandira basketball or Grayson Grove or Alexandria vs. Holy Family basketball) and you'll get quite a bit.

I actually think the longer full game highlights (10-15 minutes) are really good from Fresh Coast Hoops. They aren't created to make Grove look good like Grove-specific highlights will do (like they do for every recruit). You get to see him in other people's highlights, playing defense in situations other than highlights (massive blocks/steals).

I went into watching a bunch of his highlights thinking I'd be underwhelmed (maybe just TT/Alex bias, I don't know), but he really impressed me.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

I really recommend watching his highlights on YouTube (search Alexandira basketball or Grayson Grove or Alexandria vs. Holy Family basketball) and you'll get quite a bit.

I actually think the longer full game highlights (10-15 minutes) are really good from Fresh Coast Hoops. They aren't created to make Grove look good like Grove-specific highlights will do (like they do for every recruit). You get to see him in other people's highlights, playing defense in situations other than highlights (massive blocks/steals).

I went into watching a bunch of his highlights thinking I'd be underwhelmed (maybe just TT/Alex bias, I don't know), but he really impressed me.

I watched the Holy Family game. Thought he looked good.

 

[EG#9]

Just a thought on Ben's freshmen recruits in his first three classes:

Payne
Carrington
Joseph
Henley
Evans
Christie
Betts
Asuma
Grove

These are all solid gets by Ben- really not bad at all. Obviously Evans got taken due to a ridiculous NIL deal but that's 9 pretty good recruits in his first three classes so far. In this era, you have to get them to campus, pay them, get them to stay and then develop them. Just looking at who he has attracted so far, it gives me hope. Now we will see how he can develop kids into a team.

I am not understanding how you come to this conclusion. 9 "pretty good" recruits? The majority of these recruits had little to no other high major offers. Ben has won a grand total of 1 recruiting battle in 3 years which was to land Cam Christie and even that one is a bit of a mystery. I follow the recruiting stuff as closely as anyone and Cam's recruitment was very quiet. I am just going to give Ben the benefit of the doubt here that some of Cam's better offers were commitable and he just had no interest in visiting those schools. By ratings, Cam is the only top 100 (!) kid Ben has landed as well.

Ben lost the local kids to Purdue and Michigan State in his first class. Then he lost the local kids to Ohio State and Wisconsin in his second class. He's lost guards to Tennessee and Providence, a forward to Missouri, and that's just off the top of my head.

Ben did a great job of identifying Payne. He averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds and never made a shot outside of 8 feet all year. I want to be clear Payne is a win for Ben, but the vast majority of high majors have at least one returning Freshman that their fans should feel as good about as we do about Payne. As a group of recruits the kids Ben brought in wouldn't look out of place at all as a 3 year haul for an A-10 or Mountain West team. When compared to other high majors, I'd be surprised if you could make a case for it being above the bottom 10% whether you chose to go by offers or rankings.

 

[sal]

I am not understanding how you come to this conclusion. 9 "pretty good" recruits? The majority of these recruits had little to no other high major offers. Ben has won a grand total of 1 recruiting battle in 3 years which was to land Cam Christie and even that one is a bit of a mystery. I follow the recruiting stuff as closely as anyone and Cam's recruitment was very quiet. I am just going to give Ben the benefit of the doubt here that some of Cam's better offers were commitable and he just had no interest in visiting those schools. By ratings, Cam is the only top 100 (!) kid Ben has landed as well.

Ben lost the local kids to Purdue and Michigan State in his first class. Then he lost the local kids to Ohio State and Wisconsin in his second class. He's lost guards to Tennessee and Providence, a forward to Missouri, and that's just off the top of my head.

Ben did a great job of identifying Payne. He averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds and never made a shot outside of 8 feet all year. I want to be clear Payne is a win for Ben, but the vast majority of high majors have at least one returning Freshman that their fans should feel as good about as we do about Payne. As a group of recruits the kids Ben brought in wouldn't look out of place at all as a 3 year haul for an A-10 or Mountain West team. When compared to other high majors, I'd be surprised if you could make a case for it being above the bottom 10% whether you chose to go by offers or rankings.

The “no other high major offers” is a poor measuring stick due to limited AAU exposure during Covid, multiple recruiting cycles were effected.