Amelia blog: Tubby Smith: Decision on Wally Ellenson redshirt coming soon

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GophersOnTheRise said:
Makes classes unbalanced though which effects the scholarship situation and recruiting.
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So, in other words, burn his red shirt so we have a sophomore on the roster, instead of red shirting him and have him for 4 more years instead of 3? SMHGC here. (Shaking My Head Getting Concussed)
 

I don't really like the idea of red shirting guards. Four years is a long way down the road. The NCAA rule that allows players to transfer after they graduate can come to play in this decision as well. If Wally doesn't like where he is at after his red-shirt JR year he could transfer out without having to sit out to a school with a different grad program than what is offered at the U. Not speculating anything at all. Just my two cents.
 

Dr.Don said:
Pewter, then I have a question for you. Should we take off his redshirt this year so we have him as a sophomore next year, or redshirt him this year and have him next year as a red shirt freshman? It's still the same guy.
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Same guy yes, but giving him game experience this season would probably make him better next season, but that would also leave the potential of having five freshmen next year (R-Fr Buggs, Ellenson, Fr Foster, Ellis, third 2013 recruit).

At the same time, if Tubby plays him this year, he will have very little game experience before we start trying to tackle our beast of a conference this season, and he will only be playing for about two thirds of this season, or less if he gets injured again.

I can see what you mean, that it probably won't have a great effect on next year if he redshirts or not. Game experience this year will help him next year, but you also have to wonder how much playing time is available for him right now, and if having him on the court helps the team. I haven't seen any of our guards play so horribly that I absolutely want them out so that Wally can go in. As eager as I am to watch him and Buggs play, I'm leaning toward thinking that redshirting might be the better option right now.
 

Cayman said:
Same guy yes, but giving him game experience this season would probably make him better next season, but that would also leave the potential of having five freshmen next year (R-Fr Buggs, Ellenson, Fr Foster, Ellis, third 2013 recruit).

At the same time, if Tubby plays him this year, he will have very little game experience before we start trying to tackle our beast of a conference this season, and he will only be playing for about two thirds of this season, or less if he gets injured again.

I can see what you mean, that it probably won't have a great effect on next year if he redshirts or not. Game experience this year will help him next year, but you also have to wonder how much playing time is available for him right now, and if having him on the court helps the team. I haven't seen any of our guards play so horribly that I absolutely want them out so that Wally can go in. As eager as I am to watch him and Buggs play, I'm leaning toward thinking that redshirting might be the better option right now.
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Thank you, Cayman. I agree.
 

Dr.Don said:
So, in other words, burn his red shirt so we have a sophomore on the roster, instead of red shirting him and have him for 4 more years instead of 3? SMHGC here. (Shaking My Head Getting Concussed)
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Not my reasoning for wanting him to burn his redshirt, just explaining what other person meant. I want him to burn his red shirt if Tubby thinks he can make this team better. If he can make the team better and help us win more games and get further during March Madness, then why not do it?
 


If Ellenson does play, I think that will be the end of the Oto Osienicks era...I'd like to think Ellenson could give us better than 1 for 14 on 3-pointers.
 

Moses87 said:
If Ellenson does play, I think that will be the end of the Oto Osienicks era...I'd like to think Ellenson could give us better than 1 for 14 on 3-pointers.
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Exactly. I like Oto, but I think Wally could probably outplay him and give us a better second unit if Tubby keeps using the mass substitutions.
 






I've never seen video on Ellenson...Does any exist? How tall is he??? Is he a legit athlete?
 

has nothing to do with race, wally would be a wing in the second unit, currently occupied by Oto
 

Moses87 said:
I've never seen video on Ellenson...Does any exist? How tall is he??? Is he a legit athlete?
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He is very athletic in my opinion. He can jump with the best of them. Personally, I hope he plays this year. I think he would have to be pretty bad to not be an improvement over Oto.
 



Moses87 said:
I've never seen video on Ellenson...Does any exist? How tall is he??? Is he a legit athlete?
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I saw Wally play HS ball the past two years. He has a good shot, but not as dead on as Hoff. He would certainly be a step up in that area though compared to the other players coming off the bench.

As far as being an athlete, he is probably the second best athlete on the team after Rodney. He can absolutely jump out of the gym. Set the national HS high jump record at 7'1".

I am not sure why everyone is thinking he would be the replacement for Oto. Oto is 6'8" and Wally is 6'4". Not sure if they would be entering the game for the same purpose. In my opinion, the player on the team Wally most resembles is Joe.

if he can get enough minutes in to make a difference then perhaps she should play, but the minutes for guards are pretty tight.
 

Prep Insider said:
I am not really into name calling. At my age I don't think anyone would ever call me a rookie!

I dont know Wally, the Ellensons, or Henry. For all I know Wally wants to get red shirted. All I was saying is that the Gophers are in a unique situation, as they are recruiting the younger brother of one of their players. I just don't want any hard feelings, as I feel Henry will be a Gopher, but I know that Wally's experience will be the deciding factor.

The last time we tried to recruit the younger brother of one of our players, it didn't go so well.
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Someone posted on here that Wally's mom tweeted how much they like Tubby. I know things can change quickly in the world of sports, but I know Wally's dad is also very pleased with Tubby and how thing have gone with his boys. Sure it is early, but Henry will have plenty of schools after him, I hope Tubby gets him too.
 

I am all for Ellenson playing if he can knock down the 3 (He doesn't have to be Hoffarber, if he's Abu-Shamala from beyond the arc he'd be helpful). It will be interesting to see which way this goes, but it does seem like signs point to a redshirt.
 

XMan said:
I saw Wally play HS ball the past two years. He has a good shot, but not as dead on as Hoff. He would certainly be a step up in that area though compared to the other players coming off the bench.

As far as being an athlete, he is probably the second best athlete on the team after Rodney. He can absolutely jump out of the gym. Set the national HS high jump record at 7'1".

I am not sure why everyone is thinking he would be the replacement for Oto. Oto is 6'8" and Wally is 6'4". Not sure if they would be entering the game for the same purpose. In my opinion, the player on the team Wally most resembles is Joe.

if he can get enough minutes in to make a difference then perhaps she should play, but the minutes for guards are pretty tight.
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Why not? The second unit could be Mav, Welch, Wally, Mbakwe, and Mo. Stick him in at the three in place of Oto.
 







XMan said:
I saw Wally play HS ball the past two years. He has a good shot, but not as dead on as Hoff. He would certainly be a step up in that area though compared to the other players coming off the bench.

As far as being an athlete, he is probably the second best athlete on the team after Rodney. He can absolutely jump out of the gym. Set the national HS high jump record at 7'1".

I am not sure why everyone is thinking he would be the replacement for Oto. Oto is 6'8" and Wally is 6'4". Not sure if they would be entering the game for the same purpose. In my opinion, the player on the team Wally most resembles is Joe.

if he can get enough minutes in to make a difference then perhaps she should play, but the minutes for guards are pretty tight.
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Sorry, I just couldn't let this one go...

Not even close to the national record. Second all-time in the state of Wisconsin behind ex-badger David Greenwood (7'1.75"). National record of 7'7" by Andra Manson in 2002.

Oh, by the way, Wally is a freak athlete and an incredible high jumper. Maybe he can redshirt and focus on HJ for this season. That would be good for the track team; I'll run it by Tubby. ;)

At the end of one of the videos they have a slow motion clip of him with his head 4 or 5 inches from hitting the rim. WOW! His athleticism is undeniable, but we don't see what he does in practices, meaning does he handle the ball well, is he turning it over a lot, is he shooting well, etc. I would say that if he is taking care of the ball, can put it on the floor and handle it under pressure with both hands (see Joe Coleman) and can shoot it at a nice percentage, then we'll see him on the floor tonight, assuming he's healthy. Otherwise, maybe a year of developing those skills would be good for him and the team in the short and long term. Many times when a kid comes out of high school and was a much better athlete than 99% of the competition, his skill set is below where we would hope. This happens mostly because they player never really needed those skills to be successful in the past.

My guess is that this broken hand will be a blessing for Wally and the Gophers in the long run. I he does redshirt, which I think he will, he trades a season as an 18/19 year old for a season as a 22/23 year old. Huge difference for him and the success of the team.
 

The Slam Dunk video listed Wally at 6-6...Is he 6-6 or merely 6-4? What here his HS numbers and competiton like?
 

I thought I read he had a growth spurt last year and was closer to 6'6" also. That's a good sized wing and an excellent sized 2 guard.
 

Rivals says 6'6, Scout says 6'5, and GopherSports.com has him at 6'4. So who knows.
 

Just saw 2 swishes from Ellenson on three pointers from the Midnite Madness clip...I like him better than Oto already...lol

Seriously, he has a nice release and I like his athleticism. I think he(hope) he could be a nice contributor come Feb and March...I say play him and give Oto a permanent seat next to the manager and towel boys.
 

Moses87 said:
Just saw 2 swishes from Ellenson on three pointers from the Midnite Madness clip...I like him better than Oto already...lol

Seriously, he has a nice release and I like his athleticism. I think he(hope) he could be a nice contributor come Feb and March...I say play him and give Oto a permanent seat next to the manager and towel boys.
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So speaketh a guy who carried stones down from the mountain. :)
 

Problem is the minutes start to dry up for that second unit as the Big Ten Season starts. I think we will see a rotation closer to what we saw in the Bahamas for the Big Ten Season with Andre, Rodney, Austin & Joe C. all going for 28 plus per game and a solid rotation up front with EE, Mbakwe, Ingram & Mo. With Welch & Mav rotating at 1 & 2 and Ingram & Oto at 3/4 and Rodney playing 3/4, where are the minutes for this kid?

Why burn his redshirt to play 4 mins per game? Just doesn't make sense. Regarding scholarship distribution...are you kidding. With as many kids as we have had leave the program...what are the chances we see no early defections? Having 4 Fr next year not a problem...save the remaining scholly for 2014 (Best MN class ever) unless a STUD PF is available in the spring signing period (unlikely).

If Wally hadn't broke his hand and had been playing all season...then it is a different story...but he just wont get the playing time to make an impact going forward...IMO.
 

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