All Things Kerwin Walton Recruitment Thread (Class of 2020)

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per Shama:

Hopkins coach Ken Novak told Sports Headliners Monday morning coveted Royals shooting guard Kerwin Walton might choose the University of Minnesota as his college destination later this month.

Novak said Walton is likely to announce a decision in late April after selecting from a final list of Arizona, Creighton, Minnesota, North Carolina and Vanderbilt. Walton’s Hopkins teammate of a year ago, Zeke Nnaji, had a breakout freshman season at Arizona and is declaring for the NBA Draft. Creighton was the first program to offer Walton a scholarship and with all its key players returning will be a preseason top five team next fall. North Carolina is one of college basketball’s “blue bloods” and coach Roy Williams has personally been recruiting Walton. Vandy coach Jerry Stackhouse, who was an accomplished NBA shooting guard, has also made a favorable impression on Walton.

An indication of Walton’s interest in the Gophers was his attendance at multiple Minnesota home games this past season. Hopkins has a rich basketball tradition and former Royals who played for the Gophers (including Kris Humphries and Blake Hoffarber) are encouraging Walton to play at the U, per Novak.

“He is really up in the air (regarding a decision),” the coach said. “I really don’t think he knows yet.”

Novak talks regularly to Walton and is helping him sort through things. “Everybody (all five schools) has got some positives,” Novak said.

Ultimately the coach believes the college choice will be a family decision involving Walton and his parents. Since Walton is close to his mom and dad, the hometown Gophers might have an edge over rival schools because the Minnesota-based family could watch all his home games at Williams Arena.


Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Shama:

Hopkins coach Ken Novak told Sports Headliners Monday morning coveted Royals shooting guard Kerwin Walton might choose the University of Minnesota as his college destination later this month.

Novak said Walton is likely to announce a decision in late April after selecting from a final list of Arizona, Creighton, Minnesota, North Carolina and Vanderbilt. Walton’s Hopkins teammate of a year ago, Zeke Nnaji, had a breakout freshman season at Arizona and is declaring for the NBA Draft. Creighton was the first program to offer Walton a scholarship and with all its key players returning will be a preseason top five team next fall. North Carolina is one of college basketball’s “blue bloods” and coach Roy Williams has personally been recruiting Walton. Vandy coach Jerry Stackhouse, who was an accomplished NBA shooting guard, has also made a favorable impression on Walton.

An indication of Walton’s interest in the Gophers was his attendance at multiple Minnesota home games this past season. Hopkins has a rich basketball tradition and former Royals who played for the Gophers (including Kris Humphries and Blake Hoffarber) are encouraging Walton to play at the U, per Novak.

“He is really up in the air (regarding a decision),” the coach said. “I really don’t think he knows yet.”

Novak talks regularly to Walton and is helping him sort through things. “Everybody (all five schools) has got some positives,” Novak said.

Ultimately the coach believes the college choice will be a family decision involving Walton and his parents. Since Walton is close to his mom and dad, the hometown Gophers might have an edge over rival schools because the Minnesota-based family could watch all his home games at Williams Arena.


Go Gophers!!
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At least he didn't use an anonymous source this time
 


Just Gopher It!! said:
Did he improve that much in you opinion from HS or was it a big miss by everyone? I think about Decker when asking these type of questions based on how he ended up a Gopher.
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Personally he seemed like a really good NSIC player/ low D1 kid in hs and that SDSU was a great fit. I will say he seemed under recruited by the end of his senior year, but I never thought of him as a U of MN kid especially with that graduating class. His big change came after his Freshman year of college. It's really hard to know what a kid will do once they are in college under a college strength and basketball training program. Some flourish and others fall flat. I think he was an incredibly hard worker and he just got better.
 

The Gophers have pretty good returning roster to which KW can immediately contribute. The coaching is solid, IMO. They are putting early entry players into the league. They play in the best conference in the country. They play in a classic arena with excellent training facilities. The U is a respected educational institution. His family can watch his games. The weather totally bites. Choose Minnesota KW.
 


Creighton and Arizona still scare me the most now that it seems UNC is full. I just don't seem him picking here, but I do think the Covid stuff brings some different things to that table. I do really believe that Kerwin doesn't know yet too.
 


manderson1984 said:
Creighton and Arizona still scare me the most now that it seems UNC is full. I just don't seem him picking here, but I do think the Covid stuff brings some different things to that table. I do really believe that Kerwin doesn't know yet too.
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I was under the impression Creighton is already pretty stacked at guard?
 

WriterGoph said:
I was under the impression Creighton is already pretty stacked at guard?
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They are. I tend to think if he picks Creighton, it will have been because Tyshon Alexander declared to go pro. He hasn't done so yet and would likely be in that group of guys that might get drafted late if at all.

If he elects to stay, Creighton is ranked in the top-five on every preseason list because of their guard rotation.
 



Biggsohnasty said:
They are. I tend to think if he picks Creighton, it will have been because Tyshon Alexander declared to go pro. He hasn't done so yet and would likely be in that group of guys that might get drafted late if at all.

If he elects to stay, Creighton is ranked in the top-five on every preseason list because of their guard rotation.
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Yeah I thought they had two transfers and one go to the draft so they'd have more room.
 

It's very interesting that Duke shooting guard Alex O'Connell has now committed to Creighton.

That helps Minnesota, I would think. But I continue my bewilderment at how long Walton is taking to make a decision. The choice will be out of his hands after awhile.
 

Urbandale said:
It's very interesting that Duke shooting guard Alex O'Connell has now committed to Creighton.

That helps Minnesota, I would think. But I continue my bewilderment at how long Walton is taking to make a decision. The choice will be out of his hands after awhile.
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You beat me to it. I think this might take Creighton off the board. Creighton has no shortage of guards in their backcourt, especially if O'Connell can play right away.
 

gopherguy15 said:
You beat me to it. I think this might take Creighton off the board. Creighton has no shortage of guards in their backcourt, especially if O'Connell can play right away.
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It feels like we're slowly gaining momentum here with Walton. Feels that way. Maybe the longer the wait, the better, if we don't grab one of these transfers first.
 




BleedGopher said:
per Shama:

Hopkins coach Ken Novak told Sports Headliners Monday morning coveted Royals shooting guard Kerwin Walton might choose the University of Minnesota as his college destination later this month.

Novak said Walton is likely to announce a decision in late April after selecting from a final list of Arizona, Creighton, Minnesota, North Carolina and Vanderbilt. Walton’s Hopkins teammate of a year ago, Zeke Nnaji, had a breakout freshman season at Arizona and is declaring for the NBA Draft. Creighton was the first program to offer Walton a scholarship and with all its key players returning will be a preseason top five team next fall. North Carolina is one of college basketball’s “blue bloods” and coach Roy Williams has personally been recruiting Walton. Vandy coach Jerry Stackhouse, who was an accomplished NBA shooting guard, has also made a favorable impression on Walton.

An indication of Walton’s interest in the Gophers was his attendance at multiple Minnesota home games this past season. Hopkins has a rich basketball tradition and former Royals who played for the Gophers (including Kris Humphries and Blake Hoffarber) are encouraging Walton to play at the U, per Novak.

“He is really up in the air (regarding a decision),” the coach said. “I really don’t think he knows yet.”

Novak talks regularly to Walton and is helping him sort through things. “Everybody (all five schools) has got some positives,” Novak said.

Ultimately the coach believes the college choice will be a family decision involving Walton and his parents. Since Walton is close to his mom and dad, the hometown Gophers might have an edge over rival schools because the Minnesota-based family could watch all his home games at Williams Arena.


Go Gophers!!
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Wow....make me feel better.

It's gonna suck to wait that long
 

manderson1984 said:
Personally he seemed like a really good NSIC player/ low D1 kid in hs and that SDSU was a great fit. I will say he seemed under recruited by the end of his senior year, but I never thought of him as a U of MN kid especially with that graduating class. His big change came after his Freshman year of college. It's really hard to know what a kid will do once they are in college under a college strength and basketball training program. Some flourish and others fall flat. I think he was an incredibly hard worker and he just got better.
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Great info - appreciated. Love guys that maximize their abilities; many don't
 

It's coming up on mid-April. At what point can we expect Walton to make a decision?

Arizona and Creighton, the two teams I think most would consider to be the greatest competitors for his services, have added perimeter transfers in the last few days. At some point there has to be a 'S or get off the pot' sentiment for some of these coaches. He's not a one-and-done caliber guy that coaches will wait forever one because he's program-changing. He's good, but I'd imagine these guys are getting tired of waiting.
 


This all reminds me of when Reusse promised all 1500 listeners the Reid was announcing for the u. After that Reusse lost my confidence. Someone pulled the old guy’s teat.
 



MplsGopher said:
He knows we'll hold a spot for him as long as it takes. We're his safety school.
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I agree that Minnesota as a safety school is probably what Walton is thinking. But I disagree that we'll hold a spot for him as long as it takes. If Pitino gets a transfer who he thinks can make a difference this year, and he's not at all positive that Walton is leaning his way, I think he'll pull the trigger.
 



Get your popcorn. Oh I can just see it now.

Walton drags his feet. We take Peterson (or insert some decent transfer who isn't one of us). Walton picks Vanderbilt after his options dry up.

Doogie zooms/skypes him and he's bitter because Pitino betrayed him and took somebody when he was willing to come here.

Oh the mob will eat him alive.

And if he's reading this post and becomes offended that I'd consider this possibility, pick a school already. I very much want it to be Minnesota. But at this point I'd rather take a transfer (if this hypothetical becomes a reality) than wait, lose out on transfers, lose out on Walton and take the dude who is deciding between us and Wyoming.
 

Walton by now must of graduated high school and is playing overseas. Next young man up. Go Gophers
 

Biggsohnasty said:
Get your popcorn. Oh I can just see it now.

Walton drags his feet. We take Peterson (or insert some decent transfer who isn't one of us). Walton picks Vanderbilt after his options dry up.

Doogie zooms/skypes him and he's bitter because Pitino betrayed him and took somebody when he was willing to come here.

Oh the mob will eat him alive.

And if he's reading this post and becomes offended that I'd consider this possibility, pick a school already. I very much want it to be Minnesota. But at this point I'd rather take a transfer (if this hypothetical becomes a reality) than wait, lose out on transfers, lose out on Walton and take the dude who is deciding between us and Wyoming.
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More than likely going to happen, I don't feel Pitino should wait on him if he can get a quality commit, I wouldn't take just anybody at this point though. If Carr ends up staying in the draft, you save one for Walton who goes somewhere else you are looking at 11 scholarship players, if Curry isn't able to play then it is 10 which ends up being a problem.
 

It's between the Gophers and Arizona. He's also still in contact with UNC, per RJ, but they don't have an open scholarship right now. My gut tells me he's staying home. Pitino has made Walton his top priority for a while now, and the last scholarship left for 2020 is his if he wants it. Kerwin has to do his due diligence and look at all options, and that's why he hasn't committed yet.

I think he's a Gopher 1 week from today, but a lot can change in a week.
 

NWMetroGopherFan said:
It's between the Gophers and Arizona. He's also still in contact with UNC, per RJ, but they don't have an open scholarship right now. My gut tells me he's staying home. Pitino has made Walton his top priority for a while now, and the last scholarship left for 2020 is his if he wants it. Kerwin has to do his due diligence and look at all options, and that's why he hasn't committed yet.

I think he's a Gopher 1 week from today, but a lot can change in a week.
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I would think the uncertainty of COVID-19 helps us a bit. Fingers crossed you are right!
 

NWMetroGopherFan said:
It's between the Gophers and Arizona. He's also still in contact with UNC, per RJ, but they don't have an open scholarship right now. My gut tells me he's staying home. Pitino has made Walton his top priority for a while now, and the last scholarship left for 2020 is his if he wants it. Kerwin has to do his due diligence and look at all options, and that's why he hasn't committed yet.

I think he's a Gopher 1 week from today, but a lot can change in a week.
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The point is the last scholarship is available for a couple of players, the first that commits gets it.

Walton has let this play on long enough. At first it was good because his stock rose and he got attention from a lot of good schools. But now it is dragging on and spots are filling up. The U has been there from the beginning and still has a spot for him right now. He better just grab it before it is gone. Pitino will not keep it open for him if another very good player wants it.
 

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