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A Profile of Richard Pitino - The Tireless Recruiter
By Chris Monter
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/244374?referrer_id=331171
Thirty-year old Richard Pitino will be announced as the next Minnesota Golden Gopher Friday at a press conference. Most local fans are already wondering what the hiring will mean to the current team, recruiting, a new practice facility and fan interest.
Pitino comes from Florida International, where he led the Panthers to an 18-14 mark in his only season. He was named a finalist for the 2013 Joe B. Hall award, presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball. It was FIU’s first winning season in 13 years and the most wins by a Panther squad since the 1999-2000 season.
Pitino inherits a Gopher program that will lose seniors Trevor Mbakwe, Rodeny Williams Jr., Andre Ingram and Julian Welch. They will add fall signee Alex Foster of Seton Academy and redshirt freshman Charles Buggs to the mix. Gopher fans are hopefully that the naming of a new head coach can convince fall signee Alvin Ellis of Chicago DeLaSalle that the up-tempo offense that Pitino is expected to utilize would be a good fit for his style. Ellis had an outstanding senior season and was viewed by many observers to be a steal for the Gophers.
Retaining Ellis would allow the Gophers to continue a Chicago pipeline that assistant coach Vince Taylor had been cultivating for the past couple of years. Ellis is good friends with junior point guard Tyler Ulis, who would be a good addition if the Gophers are unable to land local standout Tyus Jones.
The Gophers will have four scholarships available, if Ellis stay on board with Minnesota or five, if he decides to go elsewhere.
Unfortunately, most of the top prospects traditionally sign in the early signing period, forcing teams to scramble and overreach in the late signing period to find talent. Only two of ESPN’s Top 100 recruits are still available. Minnesota recent history of late signees such as Maverick Ahanmisi, Otto Osenieks, Andre Ingram, Julian Welch, Chip Armelin has not wowed anyone.
If the Gophers are unable to sign a contributor, I would rather see them bank the scholarships to try to land as many members of the “Big Three” as possible along with junior guard J.P. Macura of Lakeville North, a much-needed shooter.
The “Big Three” are, of course, Tyus Jones of Apple Valley, Rashad Vaughn from Robbinsdale Cooper and Reid Travis of Minneapolis DeLaSalle. I attended the Minnesota-Michigan State game on Decmeber 31st when the Gophers were rolling and defeated a good Spartan team at home. Leaving the game after talking to all three recruits, I thought that they had a chance to sign one, two or maybe all three players. However, after the 6-12 finish and the firing of the coaching staff, the question is whether they will be able to land any of these 2014 standouts. The trio will have plenty of opportunities from top programs across the country, but Pitino and his coaching staff will make the “Big Three” a top priority. He will meet with Jones next week and expect him to see Vaughn and Travis soon.
Keeping the top in-state talent home is a priority for the new coaching staff. Tubby Smith did a good job of getting the best players to stay home, such as Royce Williams, Royce White (briefly) and Joe Coleman.
Gopher fans might criticize the team for missing on current seniors Nate Wolters of South Dakota State and Bucknell’s Mike Muscala, who both made my Wooden Award Top 15. However, those fans would have likely howled their displeasure if the Gophers had signed them four years ago. The two players picked the right schools for them and worked hard to continue to improve themselves each year and they have made themselves into likely picks in the 2013 NBA Draft. Would the two have looked good in Maroon and Gold? Yes, but I have a hard time criticizing the former staff for missing out on those two.
There are several other talented Minnesotans in the college ranks like Trent Lockett, who played at Arizona State and Marquette and Sam Dower from Gonzaga, but again Minnesota has landed most of the local must-gets in the past six years.
Pitino and his staff will need to get most of the top local products to stay home as well as recruit the rest of the Midwest, which is sometimes easier said than done. Wisconsin natives want to play for the Badgers and top Iowa prospects, typically want to become Hawkeyes and Cyclones. Chicago is often loaded with talent, but there is plenty of competition with Illinois, Notre Dame, DePaul as well as the neighboring states. It is tough to land Indiana and Michigan products with two Big Ten schools in each state and Ohio State has traditionally landed most of the top local players.
Minnesota’s neighbor’s to the West, South Dakota and North Dakota, are not top producers of Division I talent and the juco players come from states like Iowa, Kansas, Texas and Florida and the Gophers have had a mixed record with jucos. For every Bobby Jackson and Trevor Mbakwe, there is a Kris Collins and Daniel Edozie.
Pitino has not recruited the state of Minnesota in the past, but local players Blake Hoffarber and Jon Leuer nearly picked Louisville over Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively. Pitino will need to hire assistants, who know the area. Keeping Vince Taylor, who landed both of their fall recruits, would be a wise decision to keep that Chicago pipeline going and hopefully increase their chance with local 2014 prospects.
Former Minnesota assistant and current DeLaSalle head coach Dave Thorson would be a nice addition. He preaches defense and has two outstanding prospects on his team in Reid Travis and Jarvis Johnson.
Pitino needs to reach out to the local AAU programs and assure them that Minnesota players are a priority. You can’t win with only Minnesota players, but a good mixture is a key to having success on the court and attracting the local fans as well as appeasing the Minnesota high school and AAU coaches.
Pitino landed three players in the early signing period for FIU in Daquein McNeil of Vermont Academy, Jaquan Lynch from Coney Island (NY) Thomas Jefferson and Jonathan Holton of Palm Beach College. Holton had received some recruiting interest from Minnesota before landing at Rhode Island. He has some off-the-court issues there and transferred to the Florida junior college. It is questionable whether any of the three would follow Pitino to Minnesota.
By Chris Monter
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/244374?referrer_id=331171
Thirty-year old Richard Pitino will be announced as the next Minnesota Golden Gopher Friday at a press conference. Most local fans are already wondering what the hiring will mean to the current team, recruiting, a new practice facility and fan interest.
Pitino comes from Florida International, where he led the Panthers to an 18-14 mark in his only season. He was named a finalist for the 2013 Joe B. Hall award, presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball. It was FIU’s first winning season in 13 years and the most wins by a Panther squad since the 1999-2000 season.
Pitino inherits a Gopher program that will lose seniors Trevor Mbakwe, Rodeny Williams Jr., Andre Ingram and Julian Welch. They will add fall signee Alex Foster of Seton Academy and redshirt freshman Charles Buggs to the mix. Gopher fans are hopefully that the naming of a new head coach can convince fall signee Alvin Ellis of Chicago DeLaSalle that the up-tempo offense that Pitino is expected to utilize would be a good fit for his style. Ellis had an outstanding senior season and was viewed by many observers to be a steal for the Gophers.
Retaining Ellis would allow the Gophers to continue a Chicago pipeline that assistant coach Vince Taylor had been cultivating for the past couple of years. Ellis is good friends with junior point guard Tyler Ulis, who would be a good addition if the Gophers are unable to land local standout Tyus Jones.
The Gophers will have four scholarships available, if Ellis stay on board with Minnesota or five, if he decides to go elsewhere.
Unfortunately, most of the top prospects traditionally sign in the early signing period, forcing teams to scramble and overreach in the late signing period to find talent. Only two of ESPN’s Top 100 recruits are still available. Minnesota recent history of late signees such as Maverick Ahanmisi, Otto Osenieks, Andre Ingram, Julian Welch, Chip Armelin has not wowed anyone.
If the Gophers are unable to sign a contributor, I would rather see them bank the scholarships to try to land as many members of the “Big Three” as possible along with junior guard J.P. Macura of Lakeville North, a much-needed shooter.
The “Big Three” are, of course, Tyus Jones of Apple Valley, Rashad Vaughn from Robbinsdale Cooper and Reid Travis of Minneapolis DeLaSalle. I attended the Minnesota-Michigan State game on Decmeber 31st when the Gophers were rolling and defeated a good Spartan team at home. Leaving the game after talking to all three recruits, I thought that they had a chance to sign one, two or maybe all three players. However, after the 6-12 finish and the firing of the coaching staff, the question is whether they will be able to land any of these 2014 standouts. The trio will have plenty of opportunities from top programs across the country, but Pitino and his coaching staff will make the “Big Three” a top priority. He will meet with Jones next week and expect him to see Vaughn and Travis soon.
Keeping the top in-state talent home is a priority for the new coaching staff. Tubby Smith did a good job of getting the best players to stay home, such as Royce Williams, Royce White (briefly) and Joe Coleman.
Gopher fans might criticize the team for missing on current seniors Nate Wolters of South Dakota State and Bucknell’s Mike Muscala, who both made my Wooden Award Top 15. However, those fans would have likely howled their displeasure if the Gophers had signed them four years ago. The two players picked the right schools for them and worked hard to continue to improve themselves each year and they have made themselves into likely picks in the 2013 NBA Draft. Would the two have looked good in Maroon and Gold? Yes, but I have a hard time criticizing the former staff for missing out on those two.
There are several other talented Minnesotans in the college ranks like Trent Lockett, who played at Arizona State and Marquette and Sam Dower from Gonzaga, but again Minnesota has landed most of the local must-gets in the past six years.
Pitino and his staff will need to get most of the top local products to stay home as well as recruit the rest of the Midwest, which is sometimes easier said than done. Wisconsin natives want to play for the Badgers and top Iowa prospects, typically want to become Hawkeyes and Cyclones. Chicago is often loaded with talent, but there is plenty of competition with Illinois, Notre Dame, DePaul as well as the neighboring states. It is tough to land Indiana and Michigan products with two Big Ten schools in each state and Ohio State has traditionally landed most of the top local players.
Minnesota’s neighbor’s to the West, South Dakota and North Dakota, are not top producers of Division I talent and the juco players come from states like Iowa, Kansas, Texas and Florida and the Gophers have had a mixed record with jucos. For every Bobby Jackson and Trevor Mbakwe, there is a Kris Collins and Daniel Edozie.
Pitino has not recruited the state of Minnesota in the past, but local players Blake Hoffarber and Jon Leuer nearly picked Louisville over Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively. Pitino will need to hire assistants, who know the area. Keeping Vince Taylor, who landed both of their fall recruits, would be a wise decision to keep that Chicago pipeline going and hopefully increase their chance with local 2014 prospects.
Former Minnesota assistant and current DeLaSalle head coach Dave Thorson would be a nice addition. He preaches defense and has two outstanding prospects on his team in Reid Travis and Jarvis Johnson.
Pitino needs to reach out to the local AAU programs and assure them that Minnesota players are a priority. You can’t win with only Minnesota players, but a good mixture is a key to having success on the court and attracting the local fans as well as appeasing the Minnesota high school and AAU coaches.
Pitino landed three players in the early signing period for FIU in Daquein McNeil of Vermont Academy, Jaquan Lynch from Coney Island (NY) Thomas Jefferson and Jonathan Holton of Palm Beach College. Holton had received some recruiting interest from Minnesota before landing at Rhode Island. He has some off-the-court issues there and transferred to the Florida junior college. It is questionable whether any of the three would follow Pitino to Minnesota.
