Biggest Gopher Surprise Player Ever?

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brucekaupa

brucekaupa

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All the negativity on this board sucks. How about some positivity?

What's your vote for "biggest gopher surprise player ever"?

My vote (and this is going back to '75, which is about as far as I can effectively remember):

Dusty Rychart

I expected absolutely NOTHING out of Dusty when he came onto the team, and even after that breakout game, I assumed it wouldn't be long before he transferred to D2.

Wow, was I wrong.
 

brucekaupa said:
All the negativity on this board sucks. How about some positivity?

What's your vote for "biggest gopher surprise player ever"?

My vote (and this is going back to '75, which is about as far as I can effectively remember):

Dusty Rychart

I expected absolutely NOTHING out of Dusty when he came onto the team, and even after that breakout game, I assumed it wouldn't be long before he transferred to D2.

Wow, was I wrong.
Click to expand...

Him and Hagen were both a lot better than expected.

Also, on a different level - no one saw Bobby J being the B10 player of the year after his first year playing the point...
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Also, on a different level - no one saw Bobby J being the B10 player of the year after his first year playing the point...
Click to expand...

I beg to differ on that one. After seeing him in HP (before his injury), I knew he was going to be the best player on the team.
 


Brent Lawson. I couldn't believe it when Monson had him start - I thought it was charity - but he tuned out to be a strong player that year.
 


Miles Tarver and Aaron Robinson.
 



Hossea Crittaden (sp?)

Actually played meaningful minutes his sr. year.
 



Gotta be Vincent Grier for me....he was amazing...probably one of our top 15 best players ever...expected nothing from him as a juco player and yet he put up 18 points every night...led us to a surprising NCAA tourney Bid.
 

Interestingly, both Kevin Mchale and Mychal Thompson were surprises. Both were initially overshadowed by other recruits in their entering class peer group who had bigger hype coming in. And, both developed immensely under Jim Dutcher.
 

Play Hosea?

I don't remember Crittendon playing any meaningful minutes his senior year.
 




Ryan Wolf

That guy turned into a stud his senior year. No one could beat him in HORSE his senior year.
 

There is only one possible answer, Dick Garmaker. An undersized guard that came to the Gophers from Hibbing Jr. College. He became all Big Ten and All American and went on to an all pro career with the Mpls Lakers.
 

Dusty Rychart, with a bullet. I will say that the trio of Aaron Robinson, Brent Lawson, and Jeff Hagen also really surprised me, but we've had some good walkons, betimes. I could believe that Zach Puchtell would give us anything, or Travis Busch, for that matter.
 

Jeff Hagen. I'll never understand the love for Dusty Rychart. He put up decent numbers on a terrible team. His defense and passing were horrendous. He was like Tony Campbell of the early Timberwolves. I'll admit that he got much better than I thought he would be, but he was still never very good.

Hagen was an afterthought who looked lost. He got stronger, became a better shooter, a serviceable defender and a team leader. From where he started to where he ended was amazing.
 

Aliou Kane - biggest surprise on the negative side. He was a highly touted top 100 recruit who exhibited absouletly no basketball instinct nor athletic ability.

Runner up for the same reasons - Bryce Webster
 

josh087 said:
Dusty Rychart
Click to expand...

Dusty was exactly what the Gophers needed at the time. A big guy, with a nose for the ball, who didn't miss every 3' - 6' shot that came his way. Come to think of it, that's exactly what this team needs today.
 



GopherFish said:
1. Damian Johnson
2. Al Nolen
3. Vincent Grier
Click to expand...

I agree with that... haha...I would reverse the order...none of these players were even considered to be anything but throw in players...nolan a 1 star...johnson a 2 star...Grier a mediocre 3 star rating out of junior college...we made it to the NCAA with these guys as our stars.
 

Zach Puchtel. I'm not saying Zach rose to the level of other players mentioned in this thread but a walk-on from Harvard to starter was a huge surprise to me. (And GL got a big surprise when she interviewed ZP after he returned to Harvard. Plus a scoop)
 

Lil' Aaron Robinson...he along with Grier led us to a NCAA bid that came pretty much out of nowhere. He hit tons of big shots down the stretch of that season. Also caused an impromptu spring break trip to North Carolina for me.
 

figi said:
Dusty was exactly what the Gophers needed at the time. A big guy, with a nose for the ball, who didn't miss every 3' - 6' shot that came his way. Come to think of it, that's exactly what this team needs today.
Click to expand...
He had that little put back that was under-appreciated. Yes, this is exactly what we need right now.
And some rebounding a la Jason Stamper.
 

Dusty Rychart ... and it's not close. With the exception of Dick Garmaker (unfortunately I never saw this great player), any other name makes me wonder if you know anything about the game.
 

it may sound strange, but I'll go with Eric Harris... Yes, I know he was decently rated and there were expectations when he came in. Always a nice defender, but couldn't hit Williams Arena from University Ave. After two years I was convinced he would be nothing more than Conell Lewis (no offense-great defense). Then all of a sudden the kid found his stroke and became a legitimate scoring threat.

I had written him off and he completely proved me wrong.

Go Gophers!!
 

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