All Things Isaiah Whitehead Thread UPDATED 9/18: Whitehead to Seton Hall

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Bad Gopher said:
That sounds like the attitude a lot of people seem to have about coming to work or compete here. It's a safe place where coaches can semi retire and veteran free agent players can earn a nice paycheck while playing out the last years of their career in relative peace, without a lot of expectations. They don't win a lot in Minnesota, so they'll be happy with mailed-in effort.

Not saying that's where Whitehead is coming from - indeed, I'm sure it's not. Just wondering how losing and low expectations have gotten so ingrained in our culture here. It wasn't always like that.
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All we ask in Lake Woebegon is that you be above average. (Unless you're percieved to make too much money, then we'll rip to you shreds Joe Mauer.) :cool:
 

Bad Gopher said:
That sounds like the attitude a lot of people seem to have about coming to work or compete here. It's a safe place where coaches can semi retire and veteran free agent players can earn a nice paycheck while playing out the last years of their career in relative peace, without a lot of expectations. They don't win a lot in Minnesota, so they'll be happy with mailed-in effort.

Not saying that's where Whitehead is coming from - indeed, I'm sure it's not. Just wondering how losing and low expectations have gotten so ingrained in our culture here. It wasn't always like that.
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That's part of Pitino's pitch for sure. Nairn has said similar things and I think that's part of the way Pitino is looking to differentiate himself from the schools he's competing with. Whitehead is talking about what Pitino has told him in that quote, and given some things Nairn has said I feel pretty certain in saying that's basically straight out of Pitino's mouth.
 

IndianaBanners said:
That's part of Pitino's pitch for sure. Nairn has said similar things and I think that's part of the way Pitino is looking to differentiate himself from the schools he's competing with. Whitehead is talking about what Pitino has told him in that quote, and given some things Nairn has said I feel pretty certain in saying that's basically straight out of Pitino's mouth.
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Yeah, his pitch seems to be: You can play on the B1G stage while also getting the 'Minnesota Nice' treatment from the fan base and local community. No cut throat blue blood fans that will expect the world from you as soon as you hit campus.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Not happy <a href="https://twitter.com/NDkendrick">@NDkendrick</a> beat me to my change back to Minnesota n <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Crystalball&src=hash">#Crystalball</a> 4 Isaiah Whitehead. <a href="http://t.co/Ie5f2gMejI">http://t.co/Ie5f2gMejI</a></p>— Jerry Meyer (@jerrymeyer247) <a href="https://twitter.com/jerrymeyer247/statuses/377847663771017216">September 11, 2013</a></blockquote>
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One last FWIW (for now)
 

PhillyGopher said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Not happy <a href="https://twitter.com/NDkendrick">@NDkendrick</a> beat me to my change back to Minnesota n <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Crystalball&src=hash">#Crystalball</a> 4 Isaiah Whitehead. <a href="http://t.co/Ie5f2gMejI">http://t.co/Ie5f2gMejI</a></p>— Jerry Meyer (@jerrymeyer247) <a href="https://twitter.com/jerrymeyer247/statuses/377847663771017216">September 11, 2013</a></blockquote>
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One last FWIW (for now)
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5 in the past few hours? Probably just people piggy-backing onto Meyer's report. Hopefully it's because of something more substantial than that.
 


Pretty lame they all just change the prediction, my crystal ball says none of them know a damn thing!
 

Kind of odd, on 247's crystal ball just yesterday an Indiana guy predicted Whitehead to Louisville, and his is the only Louisville prediction. Also just a few days before that a Louisville guy predicted him to go to Indiana. Exciting to see all those predictions switch to us in the last few hours though. Go Pitino!
 

Cayman said:
Kind of odd, on 247's crystal ball just yesterday an Indiana guy predicted Whitehead to Louisville, and his is the only Louisville prediction. Also just a few days before that a Louisville guy predicted him to go to Indiana. Exciting to see all those predictions switch to us in the last few hours though. Go Pitino!
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It's more interesting than that, actually. I noticed the change yesterday... ND Kendrick, the first to switch to UM today, switched his prediction to Louisville yesterday. Zach Ostermann, the IU guy you mentioned, switched his to Louisville as well, basically owing to how much respect he has for ND Kendrick and the strength of ND Kendrick's connections. Now, ND is the first to switch to UM and got a lot of predictions to follow his lead.

Kendrick is mostly a midwest guy... so is he plugged in to the coaches at these respective schools or Whitehead's camp? And are those coaches accurate in their perceived strength as far as this recruitment, if he's gleaning info from coaches and assistants? Who knows, really.

All that is clear, to me, is that IW15 appreciates the attention quite a bit and likes that no one knows where he's going. As tight-lipped as he's been, and as open as he has been about appreciating that no one knows where he's leaning per his twitter, I think he may actually have everyone guessing right up until he commits somewhere. No one seems to have much info on his thoughts or even what he's looking for in a program.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Here at Blair Academy where Minnesota's Richard Pitino & Dan McHale are watching 2014 wing Marial Shayok. Pitino will see <a href="https://twitter.com/Isaiah_W15">@Isaiah_W15</a> later</p>— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamZagoria/statuses/377873924522246144">September 11, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Go Gophers!!
 



Meyer's response to someone asking him why the change to MN:

Jerry Meyer (@jerrymeyer247) tweeted at 2:25 PM on Wed, Sep 11, 2013:mad:EJ_Stevens Changed from Minnesota to Indiana when that heated up. Been hearing a lot of*&^!# intel that is pointing away from others & to Minn
 

jaymil said:
Meyer's response to someone asking him why the change to MN:

Jerry Meyer (@jerrymeyer247) tweeted at 2:25 PM on Wed, Sep 11, 2013:mad:EJ_Stevens Changed from Minnesota to Indiana when that heated up. Been hearing a lot of*&^!# intel that is pointing away from others & to Minn
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I don't speak interweb, what is "*&^!# intel"?
 





jaymil said:
Meyer's response to someone asking him why the change to MN:

Jerry Meyer (@jerrymeyer247) tweeted at 2:25 PM on Wed, Sep 11, 2013:mad:EJ_Stevens Changed from Minnesota to Indiana when that heated up. Been hearing a lot of*&^!# intel that is pointing away from others & to Minn
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I wonder if Whitehead's indecision is starting to drive away the top programs because they have other options. Could also be a reason why Seton Hall is now in play. Hope Pitino and Young give him a hell of a presentation tonight.
 




How can the recruiting experts make a prediction when the kid doesn't know where he wants to go, it sounds like Robert Johnson is making a decision next week (believed to be Indiana or NC), if he goes with Indiana it might make the Hoosiers an unlikely choice.
 





MadtownGopher said:
Whitehead also gave a shout out to that combo guard that committed to Seton Hall so that may have actually hurt our chances more than helped.
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I think it's more of a friendly gesture to a rival/friend from Brooklyn. They're in the same class and have similar games. I don't think Whitehead is concerned of earning playing time over Carrington or in the MN back court. Ultimately I think the Carrington commitment helps us, but tough to tell.
 

IndianaBanners said:
It's more interesting than that, actually. I noticed the change yesterday... ND Kendrick, the first to switch to UM today, switched his prediction to Louisville yesterday. Zach Ostermann, the IU guy you mentioned, switched his to Louisville as well, basically owing to how much respect he has for ND Kendrick and the strength of ND Kendrick's connections. Now, ND is the first to switch to UM and got a lot of predictions to follow his lead.

Kendrick is mostly a midwest guy... so is he plugged in to the coaches at these respective schools or Whitehead's camp? And are those coaches accurate in their perceived strength as far as this recruitment, if he's gleaning info from coaches and assistants? Who knows, really.

All that is clear, to me, is that IW15 appreciates the attention quite a bit and likes that no one knows where he's going. As tight-lipped as he's been, and as open as he has been about appreciating that no one knows where he's leaning per his twitter, I think he may actually have everyone guessing right up until he commits somewhere. No one seems to have much info on his thoughts or even what he's looking for in a program.
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Really hope you guys get Robert Johnson this week, and that that helps derail the Whitehead-Indiana possibility.

Those two IU decommits have the ripple-effect potential to really screw up the top of MN's recruiting board (Nairn and Whitehead).
 

@NYPost_Brazille: Also, Isaiah Whitehead will visit Minnesota unofficially weekend after this one, per source.
 

Great news! Interesting that his family would want to pay for the trip instead of making it an official.

For some Gopher fans the recruiting pitch sounds like a stab to stomach but I think it makes perfect sense. The amount of expectations at Blood Blood programs are through the roof. Harrison Barnes was under constant pressure to preform at UNC and would have had to play better than MJ to meet those expectations. If Whitehead comes to Minnesota the worst he has to deal with is Reusse and Gopher Holers in a meltdown. He can come here improve his game and play in one of the top conferences in the nation.
 

gopherpride32 said:
@NYPost_Brazille: Also, Isaiah Whitehead will visit Minnesota unofficially weekend after this one, per source.
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Hard to tell if this is good or great news. Anytime you can get a kid like Whitehead on campus it is a good thing, but when it's this late in the game you'd think it would be an official.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Hard to tell if this is good or great news. Anytime you can get a kid like Whitehead on campus it is a good thing, but when it's this late in the game you'd think it would be an official.
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I'm not sure how to feel about it. On one hand he cares enough to pay for himself to come here!!! Which is awesome.

On the other hand, does that mean he plans on using his 5 officials elsewhere? Lots of competition if that's the case.
 

scher215 said:
I'm not sure how to feel about it. On one hand he cares enough to pay for himself to come here!!! Which is awesome.

On the other hand, does that mean he plans on using his 5 officials elsewhere? Lots of competition if that's the case.
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I would say that taking any visit during school is a good sign, even if he is keeping options open for "official visits". Pitinio will still roll out the red carpet and show him the city and school and make the pitch. Also, all we are going by is some random tweet, it may turn out to be an official visit...
 

MadtownGopher said:
Hard to tell if this is good or great news. Anytime you can get a kid like Whitehead on campus it is a good thing, but when it's this late in the game you'd think it would be an official.
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He hasn't taken any officials yet, just unofficials. This is good news.
 

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