All Things Taison Chatman Recruiting Thread (Class of 2023, Totino-Grace HS, Gophers Offered)

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MennoSota said:
You go to ohio and you're dead to me. :horse:
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You go to OSU you might get treated like George Washington III.

Ben will treat him like family. OSU is fools gold. Holtman will take that amazing class ando nothing.
 

atsgopher said:
You go to OSU you might get treated like George Washington III.

Ben will treat him like family. OSU is fools gold. Holtman will take that amazing class ando nothing.
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OSU makes tournament every year under Holtmann so not sure your definition of they will do nothing!
 




Since it's always difficult to determine mood of a statement being written, there are these things called emoji's that often ascertain the spirit of what's being said. I've found they really help to reduce misunderstandings. :)
 






Bob_Loblaw said:
All of the decisions seem to have benefitted Chatman (his pops too, no doubt), but that's really not how the pimp and hoe game works. Things look to be going pretty well for Chatman, that's not usual for someone who is being pimped.
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Bishop Don Juan’s a Gopher Fan?
 






salzie said:
Said barn burner isn't here to blame ben and spin it to just win
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BannedBurner has taken up gardening and is trying to figure out a way to blame the Sun for his failure to plant seeds. It’s an epic battle and Les has a trophy waiting for him.
 





gophereric30 said:
Let's just end this thread. No reason to post anymore. He hasn't even been interested in us for awhile and maybe since then we have moved on. No more news here.
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When he's not on the path to the nba and Holtman is fired for never reaching the sweet 16, we'll revive this thread in less that two full years at Chatman comes home
 




Marcus Fuller in the Strib has been pretty consistent in his coverage. according to him, once the Gophers got a commit from Christie, they changed their focus and made Evans and Winter the top priorities in recruiting.

hey - Ben & Co. may turn out to be wrong, but apparently they believe that Christie and Chatman are both combo guards, and once the Gophers got Christie, they didn't see Chatman as a priority.

Now, I still would like to see a true PG in the mix. depending on if there are any openings on the roster, I wouldn't mind a PG in the portal.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Marcus Fuller in the Strib has been pretty consistent in his coverage. according to him, once the Gophers got a commit from Christie, they changed their focus and made Evans and Winter the top priorities in recruiting.

hey - Ben & Co. may turn out to be wrong, but apparently they believe that Christie and Chatman are both combo guards, and once the Gophers got Christie, they didn't see Chatman as a priority.

Now, I still would like to see a true PG in the mix. depending on if there are any openings on the roster, I wouldn't mind a PG in the portal.
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Seems logical to me. It also pleases me that Ben isn't going to die on the 'local' sword even if the only reason he was hired was to recruit local preps! BB would have enjoyed the 'discussion' on this subject!

But seriously, Johnson and company have made it clear that they will go anywhere to find talent. They've already targeted, signed, or got commitments from quality players from California, Colorado, and Illinois.

Recruiting the local scene and building relationships with local preps can be an important goal but it comes down to fit and whether the feelings are mutual. If the local isn't interested after investing the time and energy in them, at some point you have to ask someone else to dance.
 

ecoperson said:
Seems logical to me. It also pleases me that Ben isn't going to die on the 'local' sword even if the only reason he was hired was to recruit local preps! BB would have enjoyed the 'discussion' on this subject!

But seriously, Johnson and company have made it clear that they will go anywhere to find talent. They've already targeted, signed, or got commitments from quality players from California, Colorado, and Illinois.

Recruiting the local scene and building relationships with local preps can be an important goal but it comes down to fit and whether the feelings are mutual. If the local isn't interested after investing the time and energy in them, at some point you have to ask someone else to dance.
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I would agree 100% with this, and after watching both Chatman and Carrington play last year a number of times, it was clear that Chatman was a superior talent. The kid has a lot of skills. But when I watched the way they led their teams there was a significant difference.

Carrington was the first on the floor, always encouraging and respectful to his teammates, listening (or at least pretending to listen) to his HS coach, and showing positive energy throughout. I saw very little of that from Chatman. At times he was disrespectful of his coach outwardly (I don't have knowledge of his coach's competence, but that shouldn't matter) and occasionally chastised teammates. He didn't show any evidence of being a good teammate and showing the kind of leadership skills most teams would want.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Gopher uniform. His talent is undeniable. But there are more things than talent that bring value to a team. I think Ben may have moved on from Chatman for more reasons than the recruitment of Christie.
 

Formerswish said:
I would agree 100% with this, and after watching both Chatman and Carrington play last year a number of times, it was clear that Chatman was a superior talent. The kid has a lot of skills. But when I watched the way they led their teams there was a significant difference.

Carrington was the first on the floor, always encouraging and respectful to his teammates, listening (or at least pretending to listen) to his HS coach, and showing positive energy throughout. I saw very little of that from Chatman. At times he was disrespectful of his coach outwardly (I don't have knowledge of his coach's competence, but that shouldn't matter) and occasionally chastised teammates. He didn't show any evidence of being a good teammate and showing the kind of leadership skills most teams would want.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Gopher uniform. His talent is undeniable. But there are more things than talent that bring value to a team. I think Ben may have moved on from Chatman for more reasons than the recruitment of Christie.
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I'm really curious about your post. I'm not bemoaning the loss of Chatman. I don't know anything about him because every year I get farther and farther away from the high school hoops scene. (I was never close to an insider. I live near Hopkins so I used to watch them practice and play, including their opponents, obviously.)

For decades gopher coaches have been criticized for not signing the top local talent. Often the rap has been that they are lazy (Monson, Tubby, Pitino come to mind). I think it's more that the local hoops scene is a gossip laced, incestuous cesspool that no college coach who has the misfortune of being around it all the time (Monson, Tubby, Pitino) can possibly recruit well.

Coaches from good schools who aren't immersed in the crap come in from the outside, particularly Wisconsin, Duke and Gonzaga, and they look super good to the kids and their folks. They also probably have more money to offer. It's a super easy sale for them.

I'm not sure I buy the "gopher coaches are lazy" thing anymore. This is a messy local scene. Ben's probably smart to be the good guy in some other community's messy local scene.
 

Formerswish said:
I would agree 100% with this, and after watching both Chatman and Carrington play last year a number of times, it was clear that Chatman was a superior talent. The kid has a lot of skills. But when I watched the way they led their teams there was a significant difference.

Carrington was the first on the floor, always encouraging and respectful to his teammates, listening (or at least pretending to listen) to his HS coach, and showing positive energy throughout. I saw very little of that from Chatman. At times he was disrespectful of his coach outwardly (I don't have knowledge of his coach's competence, but that shouldn't matter) and occasionally chastised teammates. He didn't show any evidence of being a good teammate and showing the kind of leadership skills most teams would want.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Gopher uniform. His talent is undeniable. But there are more things than talent that bring value to a team. I think Ben may have moved on from Chatman for more reasons than the recruitment of Christie.
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Also looks like they identified multiple guys who met the need and took the first one who would commit. No futzing around waiting for a possible but not likely commit. Allows them to fill a spot and move on. Looks like moving on may have helped lock in on Evans.
 

jamiche said:
I'm really curious about your post. I'm not bemoaning the loss of Chatman. I don't know anything about him because every year I get farther and farther away from the high school hoops scene. (I was never close to an insider. I live near Hopkins so I used to watch them practice and play, including their opponents, obviously.)

For decades gopher coaches have been criticized for not signing the top local talent. Often the rap has been that they are lazy (Monson, Tubby, Pitino come to mind). I think it's more that the local hoops scene is a gossip laced, incestuous cesspool that no college coach who has the misfortune of being around it all the time (Monson, Tubby, Pitino) can possibly recruit well.

Coaches from good schools who aren't immersed in the crap come in from the outside, particularly Wisconsin, Duke and Gonzaga, and they look super good to the kids and their folks. They also probably have more money to offer. It's a super easy sale for them.

I'm not sure I buy the "gopher coaches are lazy" thing anymore. This is a messy local scene. Ben's probably smart to be the good guy in some other community's messy local scene.
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I don’t disagree with some of your assessment of this basketball scene. There are a lot of selfish primadona guys here just like everywhere else. The problem with the last two hires is they weren’t interested in grinding on the recruiting trail. Ben’s a little different in that light and for now is well liked here (has been for a long time). Maybe lazy isn’t the fair term, but they did get out worked by other staffs in their own state. That isn’t happening now at least. We will see if it makes a difference or not.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
I don’t disagree with some of your assessment of this basketball scene. There are a lot of selfish primadona guys here just like everywhere else. The problem with the last two hires is they weren’t interested in grinding on the recruiting trail. Ben’s a little different in that light and for now is well liked here (has been for a long time). Maybe lazy isn’t the fair term, but they did get out worked by other staffs in their own state. That isn’t happening now at least. We will see if it makes a difference or not.
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I agree that getting outworked is what happened with the 2 previous coaches as well. It takes a certain kind of person to recruit these athletes today. The time commitment and the emotional commitment is enormous, and I believe there are a lot of coaches who just aren't willing to make that sacrifice. And that's pretty easy to understand. What Johnson has shown so far is an ability to spot talent early on (Christie, Evans, and maybe Henley if he pans out) and to recruit guys that will fit well into his system. And of course, he's willing to do the work necessary and spend the time needed. I think in 2 years we'll all be pretty happy that this hire happened.
 

Gopherfan84 said:
I don’t disagree with some of your assessment of this basketball scene. There are a lot of selfish primadona guys here just like everywhere else. The problem with the last two hires is they weren’t interested in grinding on the recruiting trail. Ben’s a little different in that light and for now is well liked here (has been for a long time). Maybe lazy isn’t the fair term, but they did get out worked by other staffs in their own state. That isn’t happening now at least. We will see if it makes a difference or not.
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I haven't met the last three gopher coaches and my only information on the recruiting scene is what I read here. Recruiting is obviously a grind and spending years showering pretend love on 14-17 year olds is absurd but coaches and their staffs get paid a lot of money to do it. Maybe the last three coaches didn't shower enough love often enough on the local 14-17 year olds. While the Twin Cities produces more hoops talent than it used to, it's still a small AAU and high school community. If three or four folks in positions of power and influence decide they don't like a gopher coach, that coach is screwed. I wonder if that's what happened to Monson, Tubby and Pitino.

From what I read on here, Ben seems to be well liked locally. That should make a difference.
 

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