All Things Race Thompson Recruitment Thread - Class of 2018, Gophers Have Offered

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per KSTP:

The Gophers men's basketball team recently made a scholarship offer to Armstrong sophomore Race Thompson. He's a 6-foot-7 forward with a 7-foot wingspan, and has guard skills. He also has an offer from North Dakota, and is receiving interest from Wisconsin, Marquette, and Iowa. Undoubtedly, many more offers will come in the next 12-18 months.

Thompson has great genetics. Dad Darrell is the Gophers' all-time leading rusher and was a first round pick of the Packers, while mom Stephanie played volleyball at Iowa. Sisters Dominque (played at Wisconsin) and Indigo (currently at VCU) are volleyball players and older brother True (senior at Armstrong) has a preferred walk-on offer from the Gophers football team as a receiver.

http://kstp.com/news/stories/s4024717.shtml

Go Gophers!!
 

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Saw Marcus tweet that Marquette offered Race.
 


per Shama:

Race Thompson, who will be a junior this fall at Armstrong, is an outstanding 6-8 basketball player who has received scholarship offers from multiple schools including Minnesota and Marquette, according to his dad.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 


Race apparently absolutely killed it today in a 74-61 loss Compton Magic. 20 PTS, 7 REB, 4/5 3PT. Very active on all ends of the floor. Should be a special player, and obviously other schools are going to come calling quickly. This would be huge get for the Gophers should they be able to keep him in state for college.
 

GameDay said:
Race apparently absolutely killed it today in a 74-61 loss Compton Magic. 20 PTS, 7 REB, 4/5 3PT. Very active on all ends of the floor. Should be a special player, and obviously other schools are going to come calling quickly. This would be huge get for the Gophers should they be able to keep him in state for college.
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Considering Darrell's relationship to the U over the years, landing Race Thompson should be a layup for the Gophers.
 



Darrel's daughter plays volleyball at Wisconsin though, did his other son end up walking on to the football team?
 



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As for Race, his game sounds a lot like Royce White's from the descriptions on Twitter from Ryan James and others. I am glad the Gophers got an offer out early to him and it would be a major letdown to lose a talented kid with such strong family ties to the University.
 



per Shooter:

Robbinsdale Armstrong’s Race Thompson, 6-foot-8 youngest son of former Gophers star running back Darrell Thompson, was offered a basketball tender by Iowa State last week.

The Gophers also have offered Thompson.

The younger Thompson’s first name?

“My wife (Stephanie) stumbled across the name somewhere — I think it was kind of a random background character in one of the cartoons our kids watched — and she liked the name,” Darrell said. “And I thought it was kind of simple and clean and a good name, and he fits the name perfectly now.”

Race, who weighs about 220 pounds and is fleet afoot, will be a junior this fall at Armstrong.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/07/23/charley-walters-last-season-as-a-viking-for-adrian-peterson/

Go Gophers!!
 

There is a big profile on Darrell Thompson in today's STrib, including:

A four-star forward in the 2018 class, the Armstrong junior has scholarship offers from Iowa State, Marquette and Arizona State. But being offered by Gophers coach Richard Pitino this year was a big deal, he said.

“I grew up watching everything Gophers,” Race said. “Honestly, when I get recruited by the Gophers, I try to forget that my dad went there. Because when I go somewhere to school, I want to go somewhere I feel like home. I feel like I probably would feel at home with the Gophers, but I kind of just want to make the right decision and go where my heart tells me to go.”

Three of Thompson’s kids have left the state for college. Dominique, who played volleyball professionally in Denmark last year, was an outside hitter at Wisconsin. Indigo, a setter, has three years of eligibility remaining after transferring from Virginia Commonwealth to San Diego State. True, a 6-5 wide receiver, is a freshman at Iowa Western Community College.

With all of his kids, Thompson never wanted to put pressure on them to live up to his accomplishments becoming a Gophers star and playing in the NFL. He only wanted to teach them to be humble, to be mentors one day, acts that have given Thompson a new legacy.

“It helped me become the person I am,” Race said. “Now if I see someone who needs help with anything, I’ll ask them what I can do. His personality kind of rubbed off on me.”

http://www.startribune.com/darrell-thompson-never-slowed-down-after-football-career/390817721/

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Shooter:

The younger Thompson’s first name?

“My wife (Stephanie) stumbled across the name somewhere — I think it was kind of a random background character in one of the cartoons our kids watched — and she liked the name,” Darrell said. “And I thought it was kind of simple and clean and a good name, and he fits the name perfectly now.”

Race, who weighs about 220 pounds and is fleet afoot, will be a junior this fall at Armstrong.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/07/23/charley-walters-last-season-as-a-viking-for-adrian-peterson/

Go Gophers!!
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I missed this before. So this means that Darrell Thompson's kid is named after Race Bannon from Johnny Quest. That's hilarious. Could have been worse - they could have named him Hadji or Bandit.....
 

Awesome article. I had no idea Thompson was so involved in the community. Love reading pieces like this.
 

per Marcus blog:

Gophers coach Richard Pitino and assistant Ben Johnson followed Thompson around the AAU scene this summer playing for D1 Minnesota 16s. A 41-point performance in July in Las Vegas came in front of several major conference coaches. Arizona State, Northwestern and Creighton offered him soon after the game, joining Marquette, Iowa State, Kansas State and Nebraska.

Thompson attributes his breakout summer to improving strength and toughness inside. He was already a bouncy forward who could stretch defenses from three-point range and take opponents off the dribble.

“I used to want to not be physical,” he said. “But this summer, I definitely got more physical. I became more of a leader. I was more of a quiet person on the court. But when I’m a leader I think it helps out my team. I don’t want to be a one-dimensional player. So I’ll mix it up in the game. I’ll post somebody up and make a strong move. But on the next play, I’ll shoot a three. Next play, I’ll try to drive and take somebody off the dribble and score on the fastbreak. I try to change up my game a lot, so people can’t predict what I do next.”

In-state in 2018, Pitino has offers to Thompson, Apple Valley point guard Tre Jones, DeLaSalle shooting guard Gabe Kalescheur and Cretin-Derham Hall center Daniel Oturu.

Thompson might have the most potential of any Minnesota player in the junior class. He'll face presssure soon from local fans to follow his dad to the U. But he won't be influenced by that, just like he decided football wasn't for him this year.

“There’s no internal pressure for my kids to go to the University of Minnesota,” Darrell Thompson said. “(The Gophers) have to want my kid. If they want my kid and my kid wants them, then they should go to the U of M. But there’s no pressure to go there.”

http://www.startribune.com/son-of-g...ce-thompson-emerging-as-hoops-star/391084151/

Go Gophers!!
 

Bleed, you left out the best part of the article. I think we're in excellent position to secure another talented in-state kid here.

“Honestly, when I get recruited by the Gophers, I try to forget that my dad went there,” Race Thompson said. “I feel like I probably would feel at home with the Gophers, but I kind of just want to make the right decision and go where my heart tells me to go. When I narrow it down, we’ll just see where it ends up.”

Thompson pays attention to current Gophers players, especially freshmen Amir Coffey and Michael Hurt from Minnesota.

“They’re going to play right away; they’re going to help the team get better,” he said. “It’s cool to think they’re from Minnesota. I always keep that in mind.”
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

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per Shama:

True’s brother Race Thompson, who will be a junior this fall at Armstrong, is an outstanding 6-8 basketball player being recruited by the Gophers, and he attended the Minnesota-Oregon State game Thursday evening. He has received scholarship offers from multiple schools including Minnesota and Marquette.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 

per STrib:

Race Thompson is watching how well local players are doing with the home state program.

Thompson’s father, Darrell, was a star running back at the U, and Race grew up watching games at Williams Arena.

The Gophers hope growing up with program ties convinces Thompson to stay home, like Coffey. But Coffey making an early impact could be more influential on the next wave of top players in the state.

“I think that helps Minnesota recruiting with big-name hometown kids going to the U,” said Thompson, a 6-8 junior forward from Armstrong. “Just because everybody knows who they are. They’re going to play right away. So they’re going to help the team get better. I always keep that in mind.”

http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-basketball-talent-boom-bypassing-gophers-so-far/393491051/

Go Gophers!!
 


I like the name Race. It reminds me of Race Bannon, the savvy bodyguard in the Jonny Quest show. You didn't mess with Race Bannon and I bet Race Thompson could be a recruit who plays intense.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

Ewert86PC said:
I like the name Race. It reminds me of Race Bannon, the savvy bodyguard in the Jonny Quest show. You didn't mess with Race Bannon and I bet Race Thompson could be a recruit who plays intense.

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That's literally where they got the idea for his name. Gotta love it! Race Bannon is one of the all time coolest cartoon characters.
 

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Julius Kim ‏@JKim97 8h8 hours ago
Wisconsin will be in next week to see 2018 four-star forward Race Thompson, he tells @Phenom_Hoops.
 

per Shooter:

Race Thompson, 6-8, 220-pound son of former Gophers running back star Darrell Thompson, this weekend is making unofficial basketball recruiting trips to Nebraska and Creighton. Race, a junior at Armstrong, already has been offered tenders by the Gophers, Nebraska, Creighton, Kansas State, Iowa State, Arizona State and Marquette. At this juncture, there is no favorite.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/11/1...ns-paul-molitor-open-to-using-more-analytics/

Go Gophers!!
 

Damn Darrel Thompson's kid can NOT go to Wisconsin. That would just be wrong.
 

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