All Things Malik Rucker Thread

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Saskatchewan Gopher said:
Blood is thicker than water.
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His cousin played at Iowa State and his dad and brother played at Nebraska. So his family had no ties to Iowa so don't think you can blame it on family ties.
 

GopherGod said:
His cousin played at Iowa State and his dad and brother played at Nebraska. So his family had no ties to Iowa so don't think you can blame it on family ties.
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I think the argument is that his family had specifically mentioned feeling slighted by the U for not getting offers.
 

Iowa....Who has Floyd? They don't even have a RB. LOL
 

This is the same Malik Rucker that was talking about how great Wisconsin was a few weeks back, right?

I'm not worried about this reported commitment. I'd say he's got as good of shot at going to Iowa as Wisconsin or Minnesota right now. I don't care what he told Rivals.
 

A few comments:

1. Stating that it's the staff's fault for not offering sooner is stupid. They offered him February of his junior year, and were his 3rd or 4th offer overall. Offering a player in February is early by pretty much any standard. I have no proof that this didn't play a role, and you have no evidence that it did.
2. Don't compare this situation to Andre McDonald. McDonald committed to Gophers in February of his junior year. Different situations.
3. The idea that his family was pissed at the U because uncle John Doe didn't receive an offer from Cal Stoll or whoever was the coach at the time is stupid. Did Iowa offer his uncle? If not, should he be pissed at them as well. Whatever some Gopher coach did or didn't do back in the 70s should have no bearing. If it did, it speaks a lot to his lack of character.
4. We still have only 1 commit. I raised this concern a month ago. Out of the top 5 players in the state (Onwualu, Brookins, Rucker, Cottrell, Wipson), 3 are going elsewhere and it's only June. Anyone still not concerned?
 


I am concerned that we lost Rucker to Iowa, but I do believe "its never over 'til its over". I have a bit of confusion over the way this recruiting cycle is working out. Last year, granted it was a banner crop of in-state talent, Kill seemed to attack the in-state kids early and with reckless abandon. This year, not so much. I know we have a reduced number of scholarships, but I feel like Kill must have an idea of the way things will play out. I am sure he does not love that James Onwualu is set to go to ND and Rucker to Iowa, but he did not even offer Cottrell (who only shows a BC offer anyway). Lets say that we can get Rucker to switch eventually (just saying, no idea if that will happen), sign Brookins, and sign Rhodes and Wipson; would that really be a failure. This is a weak class. Onwualu bought into the ND tradition (perfectly understandable) and Cottrell went where he was wanted. I am not ready to call this a loss yet. I think we will sign a higher percentage of players with other BCS offers this year than last.
 

Did it ever occur to anyone that Rucker made his decision on what he felt was best for him?
 

I've had enough! Kill and his staff aren't perfect and haven't been able to turn us into a juggernaut on the field and in recruiting in just over a year. They suck.
 




Bob_Loblaw said:
I think the argument is that his family had specifically mentioned feeling slighted by the U for not getting offers.
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I have heard this mentioned but haven't seen any quotes from his family feeling slighted by the U. Do you have any linked articles with their quotes?
 

Curseislifted33 said:
I've had enough! Kill and his staff aren't perfect and haven't been able to turn us into a juggernaut on the field and in recruiting in just over a year. They suck.
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The problem with your tongue in cheek sarcasm here is that there are several instant gratification needed GopherHolers who are serious about what you said.
 

Gopher07 said:
This rustles my jimmies.
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there-is-no-need-to-be-upset.png
 

Dr.Don said:
Did it ever occur to anyone that Rucker made his decision on what he felt was best for him?
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No way Doc....seriously...no way! Iowa..come on man - Must have bought his daddy a new truck!
 



This is huge loss in my opinion.

Quite some time ago I stated on his site that we really needed Rucker and I got no backup. No one agreed. Granted, that means little, but I have seen very little else on this site that would suggest why so many of you should have angst about Rucker going to Iowa. At best most of you seemed ambivalent.

I, on the other hand, have considerable angst. I think he will be one of the top DBs in the B1G by the time he is a Jr/Sr and it is likely that he will not be wearing maroon.
 

Sumtimegophs said:
This is huge loss in my opinion.

Quite some time ago I stated on his site that we really needed Rucker and I got no backup. No one agreed. Granted, that means little, but I have seen very little else on this site that would suggest why so many of you should have angst about Rucker going to Iowa. At best most of you seemed ambivalent.

I, on the other hand, have considerable angst. I think he will be one of the top DBs in the B1G by the time he is a Jr/Sr and it is likely that he will not be wearing maroon.
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So what should we do about it?
 

Dr.Don said:
Did it ever occur to anyone that Rucker made his decision on what he felt was best for him?
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Hopefully everyone is making decisions that they feel are best for themselves. That doesn't mean we can't discuss it and its impact on the Gophers.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm not saying Kill has to offer every in-state kid early, but if this class doesn't end up including Rucker or Cottrell, I don't think that's a good sign. These are both talented Big 10 caliber football players. It isn't a very deep in-state class this season for us to be losing out on these kids of recruits.

Oh well, I liked what Kill did the last couple of years, so this isn't a Kill bashing post.
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SportsFan24 nailed this some time back. The gist of it being that the U refused to give city conf. players a sniff for so long that many of those players, now grown up with High School aged kids of their own will not be pushing them to the U & perhaps will even push them to go elsewhere. So...If Kill wants to capture those kids now, he's going to have to get in first & really show them the U wants them bad or else.
 

GopherGod said:
I have heard this mentioned but haven't seen any quotes from his family feeling slighted by the U. Do you have any linked articles with their quotes?
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SportsFan24 (Kim Royston's Dad) posted at GopherIllustrated (thus no one can link the post here at GH) specifically about this. He sometimes posts here as well, so maybe he'll clarify but he basically said (from memory) that in his day (Mid-1980's) a lot of D1 athletes were coming out of places like his HS Mpls North & other city schools & that that the U simply wouldn't offer them if they weren't from the burbs. That led to a number of former players, who's kid's are now recruits holding a grudge & steering their kids away from the U. In order to path this over Kill needs to a) understand the history & b) get in early on these kids & let them know the U of 2012 REALLY wants them.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
SportsFan24 (Kim Royston's Dad) posted at GopherIllustrated (thus no one can link the post here at GH) specifically about this. He sometimes posts here as well, so maybe he'll clarify but he basically said (from memory) that in his day (Mid-1980's) a lot of D1 athletes were coming out of places like his HS Mpls North & other city schools & that that the U simply wouldn't offer them if they weren't from the burbs. That led to a number of former players, who's kid's are now recruits holding a grudge & steering their kids away from the U. In order to path this over Kill needs to a) understand the history & b) get in early on these kids & let them know the U of 2012 REALLY wants them.
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So nothing specific to the Rucker family, just speculation that his family had some perceived slight.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
SportsFan24 (Kim Royston's Dad) posted at GopherIllustrated (thus no one can link the post here at GH) specifically about this. He sometimes posts here as well, so maybe he'll clarify but he basically said (from memory) that in his day (Mid-1980's) a lot of D1 athletes were coming out of places like his HS Mpls North & other city schools & that that the U simply wouldn't offer them if they weren't from the burbs. That led to a number of former players, who's kid's are now recruits holding a grudge & steering their kids away from the U. In order to path this over Kill needs to a) understand the history & b) get in early on these kids & let them know the U of 2012 REALLY wants them.
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I'm sorry, but if this is true it's incredibly stupid. Get over it. It was a completely different regime and era.
 

positively4thstreet said:
I'm sorry, but if this is true it's incredibly stupid. Get over it. It was a completely different regime and era.
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Agreed, if you are that upset at the Univeristy of something so petty and just speculation than you have issues.

Good go elsewhere and so will the University of Minnesota.
 

Purple Gator said:
Agreed, if you are that upset at the Univeristy of something so petty and just speculation than you have issues.

Good go elsewhere and so will the University of Minnesota.
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I highly doubt this supposed slight from 30 years is why Malik didn't pick the gophers. But for some it is easier to blame losing a recruit on something likely fabricated rather than a possible failure of the current gopher coaching regime.
 

GopherGod said:
I highly doubt this supposed slight from 30 years is why Malik didn't pick the gophers. But for some it is easier to blame losing a recruit on something likely fabricated rather than a possible failure of the current gopher coaching regime.
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It appears that you are discounting his "fabricated" theory with one of your own (i.e. blaming the current Gopher coaching regime). Malik may have simply wanted to get away for college, it's been known to happen you know.
 

mkAz said:
It appears that you are discounting his "fabricated" theory with one of your own (i.e. blaming the current Gopher coaching regime). Malik may have simply wanted to get away for college, it's been known to happen you know.
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I simply asked for proof of his family feeling slighted, as his reason for not coming here and none was presented. He may very well have wanted to simply go away or it may have been a failure of Kill and his staff also. Some others were presenting the slighted theory as if it was fact and the only possible or most likely reason, that is the difference.
 

GopherGod said:
I simply asked for proof of his family feeling slighted, as his reason for not coming here and none was presented. He may very well have wanted to simply go away or it may have been a failure of Kill and his staff also. Some others were presenting the slighted theory as if it was fact and the only possible or most likely reason, that is the difference.
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In the past sportsfan24 has specifically mentioned how the U slighted the inner city players when it came to giving them serious looks for scholarships, during his youth that is. If you want to pretend that me and many others on this site are making false accusations about that, than go ahead and believe that. Based off his comments, himslelf, some of his family members, and those who were athletically gifted enough to be D1 prospects; a portion of these individuals do hold grudges against the U. Once again if you want to pretend the past actions have no bearing on current events, than go ahead, but you are just being plain ignorant if thats the case. I dont agree with 30 year grudges, but they happen.

And you want proof? Im not a reporter, I dont have the numbers of the whole Rucker family and their friends.
 

victor04 said:
In the past sportsfan24 has specifically mentioned how the U slighted the inner city players when it came to giving them serious looks for scholarships, during his youth that is. If you want to pretend that me and many others on this site are making false accusations about that, than go ahead and believe that. Based off his comments, himslelf, some of his family members, and those who were athletically gifted enough to be D1 prospects; a portion of these individuals do hold grudges against the U. Once again if you want to pretend the past actions have no bearing on current events, than go ahead, but you are just being plain ignorant if thats the case. I dont agree with 30 year grudges, but they happen.

And you want proof? Im not a reporter, I dont have the numbers of the whole Rucker family and their friends.
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What Sportsfan24 felt has nothing to do with what the Rucker family felt or experienced, unless he is specifically speaking for them. I just simply asked for proof that the Rucker family felt slighted by the U, because people were presenting it as fact so just wanted to see proof of it. Do people even know for sure whether or not Malik's dad received an offer from the U back in the day? If the family was supposedly so upset at the U then why even allow Malik to come to practices and other events at the U as he did.
 


sonnygarcia said:
Doubt we ever had a chance. Sounds like his dad and buddies all hate the U cause they never got looks back in the day. I don't think he ever grew up liking MN.
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Not sure that's the case. This is a direct quote from him three months ago when asked what a Minnesota offer would mean to him:


"It would mean a lot because I grew up being a Gopher fan."
 


Name ten Minneapolis city conference football players who went D1 in all of the eighties. May have been a few way back when Mpls Central was open. For the most part the city conference has had very few players. We are losing quiet a few city kids who play in the burbs or at private school. This blaming past recruiting on not getting these kids because of grudges is just hot air. Kids want to go to winners plain and simple. I'm a little disappointed the stadium didn't gives a little boost. I think we have the right coach to build this thing and I think he will look under every bush for players be it the inner city,Iron Range or nine man football schools. We offered the Jones kid from Washburn already and I think this staff will do all they can to keep the best kids.
 

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