Chris Monter: With Scholarship Available, Walter Pitchford Gets Late Gopher Interest

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Walter Pitchford, a 6-foot-9, 217-pound forward from East Lansing (MI) Summit Christian Academy, is a talented athletic big man who has attracted plenty of high major interest. The Gophers figure to have an available scholarship with the Devoe Joseph situation, so GopherHole.com is starting a series of top available prospects. Summit Christian Academy head coach Steve Ernst talked to GopherHole.com about his standout player.

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1270
 




DeAndre Daniels

If not a guard, DeAndre Daniels is coming out.

I just learned that he's going to KU.
 


We're going to need a PF pretty bad if Trevor decides to go pro.
 

hey guys, read. pitchford shoots 41% from three, and provides another weapon on D. He may not be a ball handler, by he would help. If we can make it this year with 2 Pgs, we can make it next year with 2.
 

Go Gophs eh? said:
hey guys, read. pitchford shoots 41% from three, and provides another weapon on D. He may not be a ball handler, by he would help. If we can make it this year with 2 Pgs, we can make it next year with 2.
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I take it your reference is to Ahanmisi and Andre. Andre isn't a true PG and Ahanmisi still has a lot to prove before I'll be confident in him running the point.
 




gopherbadgerman said:
You think he is going pro? Offensive game is nowhere near where he needs to be. 6-8 or 6-9 guys grow on trees in the NBA...
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Well, Ben Wallace really didn't have a polished offensive game, and I'd say he did pretty well for himself (and only averaged 6 pts & 10 rebs/game for his career).

He is 6-9'', 240. Mbakwe is 6'8'', 240, but much better hands.

I'd say at this point, Mbakwe probably has at least his offensive talent, probably more.
 

ShowinGoldyLove said:
Well, Ben Wallace really didn't have a polished offensive game, and I'd say he did pretty well for himself (and only averaged 6 pts & 10 rebs/game for his career).

He is at 6-9'', 240. Mbakwe is 6'8'', 240, but much better hands.

I'd say at this point, Mbakwe probably has at least his offensive talent, probably more.
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He's also 21, he's almost getting "too old" to stay in school. If he is guaranteed to go in the 2nd round or better I think he declares.
 

ShowinGoldyLove said:
Well, Ben Wallace really didn't have a polished offensive game, and I'd say he did pretty well for himself (and only averaged 6 pts & 10 rebs/game for his career).

He is 6-9'', 240. Mbakwe is 6'8'', 240, but much better hands.

I'd say at this point, Mbakwe probably has at least his offensive talent, probably more.
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If Mbakwe has the pro career of Ben Wallace, I will wash your car once a week for the rest of my life.
 

The comparsion on Pitchford is Damian Johnson with a jump shot. Similar framed forward.
 



If Pitchford is Damian with a jumper, sign me up.

As for Trevor leaving? He's by far the most important player with eligibility for 2011-2012 which means that we should brace for the possiblity of him leaving. Whatever can go wrong, has gone wrong the past few years.
 

EG#9 said:
If Pitchford is Damian with a jumper, sign me up.

As for Trevor leaving? He's by far the most important player with eligibility for 2011-2012 which means that we should brace for the possiblity of him leaving. Whatever can go wrong, has gone wrong the past few years.
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I think Mbakwe has everything the NBA wants except a 12 foot jump shot and I expect some team will use a mid to late first round pick on him this year. I will be very surprised if he is on the team next year.
 

Chris Monter,

Is there more to the story with this kid? Two star Rivals recruit, committed to DePaul, DePaul wouldn't release him, some sort of deal with his father?

Any blanks to fill in?
 

I'd be suprised if Trevor goes pro after this year. He still needs time to develope. We need guys who can shoot from the outside for next year.
 

Trevor is projected in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft. that would NOT mean declaring after THIS season. That would mean after his SENIOR season (Next Year) going pro. If he is projected 2nd rounder in the 2012 draft, what are the odds he is drafted in the 2011 draft? They are, in fact, two different drafts. Trevor is NOT going pro this year, he may get drafted after next.
 

However, I do like this offer from Tubby. He has two guards essentially coming in next year. I know Andre has played more of a 2-guard in his high school career, but when a kid has offers to Harvard he has got to be pretty smart. I could easily see Andre playing PG. I, like most, want to see us grab a proven true PG, but when in two years we have 3 PF/C leaving, doesnt hurt to recruit those either.
 

Don't forget, we have Oto next year. I'm not sure how he is on D, but isn't he a shooter? Could he be a poor mans John Shurna?
 

gopherbadgerman said:
You think he is going pro? Offensive game is nowhere near where he needs to be. 6-8 or 6-9 guys grow on trees in the NBA...
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How about ones who's range is from 1 foot and in. Trevor may lead the B10 in rebounding this year, but if you take away rebounding his own misses, he wouldn't be. I love his athleticism and his ability to go get the ball, but his inability to hit a layup is not going to get him into the NBA...
 

I talked to Pitchford's coach Steve Enrst a few minutes ago. He said that Pitchford is close to being academically eligible for next season. He said that he can't imagine any other coach in the country getting as many calls as he is getting about his star player. He thinks that he will be a freshman starter.

Pitchford's father has a reputation of being highly involved, but Ernst said that he has not been a problem to deal with at all.

Minnesota assistant Vince Taylor is traveling to watch him tomorrow at Vincennes. No word if Vince is traveling to duck my attempt to give him a chance at revenge on our semi-regular shooting contest. I'm planning on going to Tubby's press conference tomorrow and since I have to skip my daily hoops game, I'm hoping to get a few shots in after the practice.

Chris Monter
 

If Mbakwe doesn't lead the BT in rebounding it's Sullinger. Have you seen him play? I suppose you think he doesn't rebound his own misses frequently. What are you talking about with his inability to "hit" a layup? That hasn't been a problem. And if he's close enough for a layup, he's probably dunking the ball.

Sparlimb said:
How about ones who's range is from 1 foot and in. Trevor may lead the B10 in rebounding this year, but if you take away rebounding his own misses, he wouldn't be. I love his athleticism and his ability to go get the ball, but his inability to hit a layup is not going to get him into the NBA...
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He never said anything close to that. That's a typical out of context response for you. It's like when someone compares the style of play to an NBA player and then you make some idiotic comment like "Wow. Now we're comparing Gopher player x to NBA player x? Take off the rose colored glasses."

Nobody said anything about Mbakwe having a pro career as good as Wallace. He'll never be the defender that Wallace was or the rebounder. It it true that they're somewhat similar type players though. It's really not hard to see that. Undersized, very strong and athletic, limited offensively, mostly dunks. Mbakwe is already a better offensive player than Wallace was. Wallace literally only scored with dunks and putbacks. His dunks were from alley-oops, dishes, and rebounding the ball and going back up. Obviously this won't happen, but if Trevor played 30 minutes a game in the NBA like Wallace has, he would score more than 6 ppg (Wallace's average).

gopherbadgerman said:
If Mbakwe has the pro career of Ben Wallace, I will wash your car once a week for the rest of my life.
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For those who think the draft projections meaningful? You're a Moron!
If Trevor continues to have consistent games all year, he will go in the first round, period!
Not saying he wouldn't improve with another year here, but it don't work like that.
 

Tonight, when asked about schools that have offered, Pitchford said: "Indiana, Minnesota, LSU, Memphis, Arizona State (surprise, surprise) and Iowa"
 

underground629 said:
He never said anything close to that. That's a typical out of context response for you. It's like when someone compares the style of play to an NBA player and then you make some idiotic comment like "Wow. Now we're comparing Gopher player x to NBA player x? Take off the rose colored glasses."

Nobody said anything about Mbakwe having a pro career as good as Wallace. He'll never be the defender that Wallace was or the rebounder. It it true that they're somewhat similar type players though. It's really not hard to see that. Undersized, very strong and athletic, limited offensively, mostly dunks. Mbakwe is already a better offensive player than Wallace was. Wallace literally only scored with dunks and putbacks. His dunks were from alley-oops, dishes, and rebounding the ball and going back up. Obviously this won't happen, but if Trevor played 30 minutes a game in the NBA like Wallace has, he would score more than 6 ppg (Wallace's average).
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Excellent points underground. You put me in my place...
 

A couple of tweets from Ryan:

"Minnesota assistant coach Vince Taylor watched Pitchford play last night. Walter scored 12 points battling a strong cold bug"

""Indiana, Minnesota, MSU, Memphis, Arizona State, Iowa," said Walter Pitchford last night of the schools recruiting him."
 


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