Class of 2010

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Elisha

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Are there any players in the state worthy of a scholarship offer from the U?
 

One 2010 target in the state is Jacob Thomas 6'3" 2/3 from Columbia Heights he is a real talent, and I am very high on his game (no affiliation to CHHS or JT). He seems to have an ever expanding skill set and looks like he could grow another inch or so; not to mention being a knock down shooter with range extending out to 25-30 feet. 21per game.

Come watch him play tonight vs Spring Lake park at CHHS 7:15 as this should be a high scoring affair and his skills should be on display in this uptempo game. SLP's D1 prospect Shaun Jensen held Thomas to 13 last time they faced off in a 68-52 victory for SLP.

But Thomas has improved tremendously since their meeting in the middle of January as has his team. This should be a fun game as CHHS is looking to overtake Fridley for a chance at the 2nd seed in the section, and SLP trying to rebound from their loss last week vs BSM, and stay in touch with Cooper for the conference title.
 

In my opinion, other than Thomas, no others. Kid from Cloquet needs to develop more and show Tubby a little more
 

I have a friend that's a coach and he feels different about the Thomas kid. He says that if he were on a team like Hopkins, Cooper, or Henry Sibley that we would not know who the kid is. He also says that he shoots a really low percentage. Is he better than DJ Peterson from Hopkins? Or Jordan Hughes from Henry?
 

Elisha said:
I have a friend that's a coach and he feels different about the Thomas kid. He says that if he were on a team like Hopkins, Cooper, or Henry Sibley that we would not know who the kid is. He also says that he shoots a really low percentage. Is he better than DJ Peterson from Hopkins? Or Jordan Hughes from Henry?
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It seems that your friend is right about him shooting a really low percentage.

It looks like he may be suffering from Bostick Syndrome (i.e. a terrible shooter with a shooter's mentality).
 




JT just hung 30 on SLP in a 10 point victory. He hit 3's, stopped and popped, got to the rim and rebounded pretty well.
He probably does shoot a lower percentage than you would like, but when he is your only gunner, and scorer, he takes some tough shots but on a team when he is their only scorer he is asked to take the majority of the shots. I would say Jordan Hughes is a better shooter, but JT is much bigger and an overall better player in my mind. I think right now he is similar to DJ peterson with a better J, and I think JT is going to be a better player down the road. Like i said, i am really high on this kid, and love the fact that he has really improved over the year, and i can only expect him to continue to get better, and the kid is a worker!!!

Just my opinion; we can agree to disagree. but after watching again tonight, i would not mind if tubby offered at the begining of the summer season.

go gophers.
 

I was impressed with Thomas early this season at the St. Thomas Jamboree. Pretty good athlete, great-looking shot, seemed to pay attention to defense. Of course, he was making shots that night, so he was going to look good. I am sure he can look bad when he is having an off night. Assuming he is with Howard Pulley this spring and summer, it will be interesting to see how he does when AAU gets rolling, as he will be one of the better players on a team going against very good competition.
 




my guess is he'll be with pulley black "the top 17u" team; as his HS coaching staff are both pulley coaches. It will be fun to see how he continues to develop. He had a good year with 16u last summer. Keep an eye on him, and we'll have to see where he ends up!
 

last year....
Thomas shot 34 percent from beyond the arc for the season and he took 223 three-point shots out of 504 total for the year. Because of that his overall field goal percentage fell to 41 percent but he made 48 percent of his looks from inside the three-point line
 

I got to watch a kid named Bjorklund from Sibley East play a couple of weeks ago. He's a big kid who could board and finish with both hands pretty easily. I can't say much about the competition he was facing that night, but he looked pretty good. I had heard rumors of Tubby having an interest in him, thats why I bring him up.
 



Looks like he is averaging 22 a game; i would like to see him against some better competition as it appears as though they have pretty much played a 1a/2a schedule.
 

KoolAid said:
I got to watch a kid named Bjorklund from Sibley East play a couple of weeks ago. He's a big kid who could board and finish with both hands pretty easily. I can't say much about the competition he was facing that night, but he looked pretty good. I had heard rumors of Tubby having an interest in him, thats why I bring him up.
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I have coached against the kid from Sibley and he is a solid player but in no way do I think he is Big Ten caliber. He is not quick enough and doesn't shoot well enough from the outside. Our 6'2 post shut him down pretty good (15 points) Nothing against the kid, he's a very good high school player, but I don't think Tubby will end up offereing him anything.
 

golfinggopher said:
I have coached against the kid from Sibley and he is a solid player but in no way do I think he is Big Ten caliber. He is not quick enough and doesn't shoot well enough from the outside. Our 6'2 post shut him down pretty good (15 points) Nothing against the kid, he's a very good high school player, but I don't think Tubby will end up offereing him anything.
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I am from the MRC (where Sibley East plays) and he is probably the best basketball player to play in that conference in a very long time. That being said I think a preferred walk on offer would be a good idea for him though. He has offers from NDSU and Northern Illinois so I think we should see how is summer plays out. This past summer he was rumored to be the best player on a team that had Noreen and Calcaterra.
 

Cole Stefan and Kevin Noreen are two others that are being overlooked....I hear that Thomas is close to receiving an offer, but the Gophs are really hard after a teammate of Justin Cobbs.

Chad Calcaterra has received an offer from the U...in fact, he has 6 offers right now.
 

In the Hopkins/Columbia Heights game - Peterson shut down Thomas in the second half
 

In the Hopkins/Columbia Heights game - Peterson shut down Thomas in the second half

Nobody shut down Jacob in that game, he hit four threes in the first 5 minutes of the second half with Peterson right in his face. DJ played good D but he also had alot of help.

Jacob is an amazing shooter and its pretty funny reading some of the comments about him. You want to criticize the amount of shots he takes, well then you need to direct the attention at Coach Braziel who basically has given Jacob the green light and is always encouraging him to shoot whenever possible. Also everytime I have watched him play, he's usually double teammed and most of the shots he makes are with a defender right in his face. Jacobs biggest weakness is his ball handling. The odds still are pretty good that Jacob will be a Gopher.

The next best MN 2010 option I would say is Jake Krueser from Sibley. Like alot of big men, his developement has taken time and he is still a work in progress but there is alot of skill there and he moves well and Minnesota is watching him and will follow him close this summer.

Calcaterra has alot to prove this summer and his "offer" from MN is a little complicated. Let's just say that if Chad walked into Bierman today and wanted to commit, I don't think they would accept it. Chad is still an interesting prospect but hasn't progressed like some had hoped. He needs a big summer and switching to Pulley will be big for him.

Marshall Bjorklund, as has been written many times, is a beast but undersized and will go to NDSU if he doesn't grow 2-3 inches. He wants to be a Gopher but not likely unless he finds that Leuer magic.

Jordan Hughes is small and got kicked off henry, end of discussion.

They have never had interest in Kevin Noreen and I don't see that changing.

Cole Stephan is a nice player but not Big Ten

The 6'9 kid from Ellsworth is interesting but have never seen him play so can't really comment too much. MN. did go watch him play.

DJ Peterson is a D1 kid but more so the Santa Clara/Cal Poly type.
 

Peterson started guarding him 3 minutes into the second half - after Jacob had made 2 3's.
He made 1 free throw when DJ was guarding him
Jacob IS an amazing shooter -
my point was that peterson shut him down and made 3 3's himself during that half
 

The Marshall Bjorklund super star from Sibley East going to NDSU put up a triple-double scoring on 11 of 14 shots and four of five free throws. He totaled 27 points, 17 rebounds, and 11 blocked shots.

http://minnesotapreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1054563

shooting 75% from the field, that aint too shabby.


Jay Harris--No idea why Tubby hasnt seen this kid.

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http://hoopsillinois1.hoops247.com/a...jayharris.html

Class Of 2010 Oswego East Star Jay Harris Pumps In 44 Points On 11-14 Three-Point Shooting........A Pair Of High-Major Schools Come In To Check Him Out
February 20, 2010

Class of 2010 Oswego East star Jay Harris pumped in 44 points on 11-14 shooting from behind the three-point arc to lead his team to a 77-64 win over Plainfield East. Harris is continuing to see his list of collegiate suitors grow with a pair of high-major schools now beginning to show interest.

Harris, who earlier this year scored 47 points in a game, connected on 13-17 shots overall from the floor en route to his 44 points on Friday night.

Andy Borman, who coached Harris on the travel team circuit with Illinois Old School noted that Virginia Tech was in on Wednesday to see Harris, and that Boston College came out to see him play last Friday. Western Kentucky has also been in to see Harris, who has standing scholarship offers from Ball State, Valparaiso and North Dakota State. Harris recently took unofficial visits to both Ball State and Valparaiso, and has already been on campus at North Dakota State as well. Harris was at the NDSU vs OAKLAND game saturday night.
 

Kevin Noreen from Minnesota Transitional is the leading scorer in Minnesota right now. I dont know what kind of competition they get at that school but he is constantly scoring 30+ pts a night. Minnesota transitional beat MPLS Edison (not much competition) other night 131-54 and he scored 58 pts. Now i hear he is signed with Boston College but i also heard he was at the wisconsin game....dont know if he was there as a fan or as a visit of some kind. but i dont know why Tubby didnt looked at him much. I dont know what anyone else thinks of him but averaging 27+ pts a game...might be worth a look
 

gray4heisman said:
Kevin Noreen from Minnesota Transitional is the leading scorer in Minnesota right now. I dont know what kind of competition they get at that school but he is constantly scoring 30+ pts a night. Minnesota transitional beat MPLS Edison (not much competition) other night 131-54 and he scored 58 pts. Now i hear he is signed with Boston College but i also heard he was at the wisconsin game....dont know if he was there as a fan or as a visit of some kind. but i dont know why Tubby didnt looked at him much. I dont know what anyone else thinks of him but averaging 27+ pts a game...might be worth a look
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Noreen signed NLOI and is committed to BC.

Minnesota was aware of him but he opted for BC.
 

gray4heisman said:
Kevin Noreen from Minnesota Transitional is the leading scorer in Minnesota right now. Now i hear he is signed with Boston College but i also heard he was at the wisconsin game....dont know if he was there as a fan or as a visit of some kind. but i dont know why Tubby didnt looked at him much. I dont know what anyone else thinks of him but averaging 27+ pts a game...might be worth a look
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Kevin committed to Boston College long ago (June? last summer) and made it official last fall. The much smaller and lesser Noreen, Kyle, is who you may be talking about.
 

UWOle said:
I was impressed with Thomas early this season at the St. Thomas Jamboree. Pretty good athlete, great-looking shot, seemed to pay attention to defense. Of course, he was making shots that night, so he was going to look good. I am sure he can look bad when he is having an off night. Assuming he is with Howard Pulley this spring and summer, it will be interesting to see how he does when AAU gets rolling, as he will be one of the better players on a team going against very good competition.
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Thomas is a senior and is going to Long Beach State next year to play for Dan Monson.
 

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