"GOPHER BASKETBALL
Basketball recruiting seems to be moving incredibly slow. Compared to many other Big Ten schools it is moving slow, but compared to the past few years under Tubby Smith things are right on schedule. There are some schools who are finished with 2013 recruiting and can get a head start on 2014. Then there are schools like Minnesota who do not have anyone yet for 2013. As mentioned this is the pace at which Tubby tends to move when it comes to recruiting.
Class of 2009 - Royce White was in April, nobody else till September
Class of 2010 - first recruit to commit was in September
Class of 2011 - first commit was Joe Coleman in September
Class of 2012 - first commit was Wally Ellenson in August
So I don't think we should expect to see a verbal commitment anytime before August.
First we need to look at our needs and available scholarships. We are graduating four seniors and three of them are forwards. So what are our immediate needs? FORWARD. But, it can't be that simple though. First of all you cannot be recruiting for what you need next year unless you are recruiting 5-star, one-and-done kids who will significantly contribute right away. You should really be recruiting to be replacing your junior class. The following year we are losing a backup point guard and a starting SG/SF. Point guard is going to be a major area of concern, specifically depth, starting next fall. But of course it can't be that easy! We are working hard at landing arguably the top 2014 point guard in the country, Tyus Jones. Is landing a good point in this class going to dissuade Jones from coming here?
Before I get too far into hypotheticals here, let's just take a look at some of the guys we are offering and appear to be in the running to land. But lastly it should be pointed out that we have four scholarships to use this year and just two for next year. It is entirely possible that we only use three now and bank one for the following year when there is a very talented group of local kids we will want to secure.
Remember the Skyline-4 for football back in 2008? I'm starting to get hopeful for a Chicago De La Salle-2 (or 3) to sign with Tubby in the class of 2013. This Chicago basketball school has three players who will be playing for BCS level schools in 2013 and Minnesota is pursuing all three of them.
SF/SG - Alvin Ellis - 6-5, 185 and he has been described as a natural scorer. In a late-round playoff game he notched 42 points, including 19 in the 4th quarter. Other offers include Tennessee, Northwestern, Kansas State and Wichita St. I think of the kids we have offered, who have not yet committed, Ellis might be at the top of my personal list. He has good size and can score in multiple ways.
PF - Alex Foster - this is a position of need. After Mbakwe and Rodney Williams graduate we will have the likes of Mo Walker, Eliason and Buggs in the middle but that depth will quickly evaporate and a guy like Foster will be much needed in what would be his SO (or redshirt FR) season. Foster is long, athletic, runs the floor well and is an aggressive rebounder. His shot is developing, but much like Mbakwe, you don't necessarily have to be a great shooter at this position. He has other offers from Wisconsin, Tennessee, Harvard and Nebraska.
PF - Gavin Schilling - 6-9, 205 and has offers from Illinois, Oregon St, USC, Vandy and others. Based on reports I've read, Schilling sounds like a skilled and smart player who can score with his back to or facing the basket.
This three-some led their team to a 17-7 record. All three have Gopher scholarship offers and I'd love to see us land Ellis paired with one of the power forwards. That would be a great start to the 2013 class and we then land a scoring guard to finish with three in this class (banking an extra one for next year). Here are some other names we have offered.
PG/SG - Juwan Parker - this is the four-star point who is one of the top 100 seniors in the class. Parker is a PG/SG from Tulsa who has offers from Oklahoma, OK State, Baylor, Georgia, Mississippi, Miss St, Memphis, Vandy and others. The kid averaged a double-double (16.4 pts and 10.8 reb) as a sophomore and then 20.7 and 9.5 as a junior. Parker has visited and at one point said Minnesota was one of his favorites, but it looks as though Memphis is the school to beat. I'd be thrilled to land Parker, but I'm not holding my breath.
PF - Kyle Washington - local kid who went out east to play a year of prep school hoops. Washington has picked up a lot of interest over the past year and has offers from Florida, Baylor, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and a number of other BCS schools. He would certainly fill a position of need and he is a local product so it would be great to sign him. He will take the summer to visit a number of schools and make his decision this fall. He is a top 150 caliber player who has a pretty high ceiling. Landing Washington along with one or two (or three) of the De La Salle kids would make this class VERY heaving on forwards but I really like Washington (who may end up being a center) and we'd be crazy to tell him we don't want him.
PF - Vitto Brown - most reports are that Brown excels defensively and is growing offensively. He is a strong presence in the paint who defends, rebounds and is an efficient scorer. He is 6-7, 205 with long arms. Currently holds offers from Kansas St and a handful of mid-majors.
SG - Sterling Brown - aggressive wing player who would need to improve ball-handling and shooting a bit. Nebraska, DePaul and Illinois have also offered.
PG/SG - Kevin Johnson - has offers from DePaul, Cincy, Seton Hall and a few others. His high school coach has a relationship with Tubby and the Gophers have been recruiting Johnson for about a year now. Seems to have strong and solid build with good athleticism. This prospect is slowly becoming one of my favorites.
PF/C - Maverick Morgan -a three-star, 6-10, PF out of Ohio. Morgan's other BCS level offers include USC, Iowa St, Rutgers, Vandy, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. The Gophers were spending time recruiting Morgan for much of last season so we are a new name on his radar. ESPN ranks him as the #16 center in the 2013 class who can score over either shoulder.
It is pretty obvious that we are targeting forwards with this class. What is not very clear is how many scholarships we plan to use. Based on their track record I would bet that we will use all four scholarships and figure out 2014 in 2014. I have some very high hopes for the class of 2014 so I personally hope that we end up having three scholarships available next year, but I'm not paid the big bucks to make those decisions.
"
http://brainerddispatch.com/aggregator/sources/15
Basketball recruiting seems to be moving incredibly slow. Compared to many other Big Ten schools it is moving slow, but compared to the past few years under Tubby Smith things are right on schedule. There are some schools who are finished with 2013 recruiting and can get a head start on 2014. Then there are schools like Minnesota who do not have anyone yet for 2013. As mentioned this is the pace at which Tubby tends to move when it comes to recruiting.
Class of 2009 - Royce White was in April, nobody else till September
Class of 2010 - first recruit to commit was in September
Class of 2011 - first commit was Joe Coleman in September
Class of 2012 - first commit was Wally Ellenson in August
So I don't think we should expect to see a verbal commitment anytime before August.
First we need to look at our needs and available scholarships. We are graduating four seniors and three of them are forwards. So what are our immediate needs? FORWARD. But, it can't be that simple though. First of all you cannot be recruiting for what you need next year unless you are recruiting 5-star, one-and-done kids who will significantly contribute right away. You should really be recruiting to be replacing your junior class. The following year we are losing a backup point guard and a starting SG/SF. Point guard is going to be a major area of concern, specifically depth, starting next fall. But of course it can't be that easy! We are working hard at landing arguably the top 2014 point guard in the country, Tyus Jones. Is landing a good point in this class going to dissuade Jones from coming here?
Before I get too far into hypotheticals here, let's just take a look at some of the guys we are offering and appear to be in the running to land. But lastly it should be pointed out that we have four scholarships to use this year and just two for next year. It is entirely possible that we only use three now and bank one for the following year when there is a very talented group of local kids we will want to secure.
Remember the Skyline-4 for football back in 2008? I'm starting to get hopeful for a Chicago De La Salle-2 (or 3) to sign with Tubby in the class of 2013. This Chicago basketball school has three players who will be playing for BCS level schools in 2013 and Minnesota is pursuing all three of them.
SF/SG - Alvin Ellis - 6-5, 185 and he has been described as a natural scorer. In a late-round playoff game he notched 42 points, including 19 in the 4th quarter. Other offers include Tennessee, Northwestern, Kansas State and Wichita St. I think of the kids we have offered, who have not yet committed, Ellis might be at the top of my personal list. He has good size and can score in multiple ways.
PF - Alex Foster - this is a position of need. After Mbakwe and Rodney Williams graduate we will have the likes of Mo Walker, Eliason and Buggs in the middle but that depth will quickly evaporate and a guy like Foster will be much needed in what would be his SO (or redshirt FR) season. Foster is long, athletic, runs the floor well and is an aggressive rebounder. His shot is developing, but much like Mbakwe, you don't necessarily have to be a great shooter at this position. He has other offers from Wisconsin, Tennessee, Harvard and Nebraska.
PF - Gavin Schilling - 6-9, 205 and has offers from Illinois, Oregon St, USC, Vandy and others. Based on reports I've read, Schilling sounds like a skilled and smart player who can score with his back to or facing the basket.
This three-some led their team to a 17-7 record. All three have Gopher scholarship offers and I'd love to see us land Ellis paired with one of the power forwards. That would be a great start to the 2013 class and we then land a scoring guard to finish with three in this class (banking an extra one for next year). Here are some other names we have offered.
PG/SG - Juwan Parker - this is the four-star point who is one of the top 100 seniors in the class. Parker is a PG/SG from Tulsa who has offers from Oklahoma, OK State, Baylor, Georgia, Mississippi, Miss St, Memphis, Vandy and others. The kid averaged a double-double (16.4 pts and 10.8 reb) as a sophomore and then 20.7 and 9.5 as a junior. Parker has visited and at one point said Minnesota was one of his favorites, but it looks as though Memphis is the school to beat. I'd be thrilled to land Parker, but I'm not holding my breath.
PF - Kyle Washington - local kid who went out east to play a year of prep school hoops. Washington has picked up a lot of interest over the past year and has offers from Florida, Baylor, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and a number of other BCS schools. He would certainly fill a position of need and he is a local product so it would be great to sign him. He will take the summer to visit a number of schools and make his decision this fall. He is a top 150 caliber player who has a pretty high ceiling. Landing Washington along with one or two (or three) of the De La Salle kids would make this class VERY heaving on forwards but I really like Washington (who may end up being a center) and we'd be crazy to tell him we don't want him.
PF - Vitto Brown - most reports are that Brown excels defensively and is growing offensively. He is a strong presence in the paint who defends, rebounds and is an efficient scorer. He is 6-7, 205 with long arms. Currently holds offers from Kansas St and a handful of mid-majors.
SG - Sterling Brown - aggressive wing player who would need to improve ball-handling and shooting a bit. Nebraska, DePaul and Illinois have also offered.
PG/SG - Kevin Johnson - has offers from DePaul, Cincy, Seton Hall and a few others. His high school coach has a relationship with Tubby and the Gophers have been recruiting Johnson for about a year now. Seems to have strong and solid build with good athleticism. This prospect is slowly becoming one of my favorites.
PF/C - Maverick Morgan -a three-star, 6-10, PF out of Ohio. Morgan's other BCS level offers include USC, Iowa St, Rutgers, Vandy, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. The Gophers were spending time recruiting Morgan for much of last season so we are a new name on his radar. ESPN ranks him as the #16 center in the 2013 class who can score over either shoulder.
It is pretty obvious that we are targeting forwards with this class. What is not very clear is how many scholarships we plan to use. Based on their track record I would bet that we will use all four scholarships and figure out 2014 in 2014. I have some very high hopes for the class of 2014 so I personally hope that we end up having three scholarships available next year, but I'm not paid the big bucks to make those decisions.
"
http://brainerddispatch.com/aggregator/sources/15
