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Oops, misread that. I actually didn't know that JP wasn't four star everywhere. Didn't ESPN had him lower ranked than others.
 

PitinoFan said:
Both Wisconsin and Nebraska had been in touch with him.
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Yeah, but I don't think either were really in the running when he started to blow up in AAU ball, his recruiting really picked up with his strong showcasing at AAU. At the end of day doesn't really matter the timing of everything, wish he could have been here, but he is not, be we can't hang our heads on it, we just need to move on and keep our upcoming instate kids home, and I like our chances with pitino on accomplishing that.

Honestly the only reason I brought him up in the first place was not place blame on the gophers or anything, just thought the kid deserved credit that he doesn't get on here because of the big 3, I've seen him play a few times and have been really impressed, and think he is one of the better players the state has produced over the years, just gets overlooked because he is probably the best class Minnesota has ever produced in basketball as a state
 

Pitino should have offered him earlier ...he had films AAU games as well as thescout deeming him worthy of a scholly back in Feb 13. JP fiqured that with him being a home state kid ...the home state team should have offered earlier.
 

I think one of the interesting questions to ask after the 2014 class is complete is whether or not the Pitino philosophy of shooting for the moon was the right strategy. I think most of us have complimented him for targeting the really elite talent but did that hurt him in the long run with players like Macura? Maybe/maybe not. Clearly they haven't changed course for 2015 and beyond.
 


golfing18now said:
I think one of the interesting questions to ask after the 2014 class is complete is whether or not the Pitino philosophy of shooting for the moon was the right strategy. I think most of us have complimented him for targeting the really elite talent but did that hurt him in the long run with players like Macura? Maybe/maybe not. Clearly they haven't changed course for 2015 and beyond.
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Macura never showed any interest in attending a big school. He just wanted an offer from the U for ego purposes. I'm not sure why people still think he was some kind of sure thing until Pitino "ignored" him or didn't offer soon enough. Other than U, he only showed interest in the smaller schools like Butler, Xavier etc. As someone else pointed out he didn't even show very much interest in Wisconsin or Nebraska when they entered the picture.

I have no idea why anyone would have wanted Pitino to give up on elite recruits to immediately settle for 2 and 3 star kids because they'd be more of a sure thing. Hell, not even Tubby used this recruiting method (do any major conference coaches?). Tubby went after the Harrison Barnes, Cory Joseph, Brandon Dawson and AJ Hammons of the world. When that failed he would move on to other recruits.
 

MadtownGopher said:
I have no idea why anyone would have wanted Pitino to give up on elite recruits to immediately settle for 2 and 3 star kids because they'd be more of a sure thing. Hell, not even Tubby used this recruiting method (do any major conference coaches?). Tubby went after the Harrison Barnes, Cory Joseph, Brandon Dawson and AJ Hammons of the world. When that failed he would move on to other recruits.
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I agree with you. However, I continue to hear rumblings in Macura's case about feeling slighted due to not being the first option (real or imagined).

Not to mention the continued bias toward Minnesota kids throughout these threads and the perception that we have little to no chance at getting a 4 or 5 star kid not from here. At the end of the day, is it worth the investment of time and resources? I say yes, but I doubt that feeling is universal.

I also think some kids would react differently to being down the priority list. Particularly at a school like Minnesota.
 

golfing18now said:
I agree with you. However, I continue to hear rumblings in Macura's case about feeling slighted due to not being the first option (real or imagined).

Not to mention the continued bias toward Minnesota kids throughout these threads and the perception that we have little to no chance at getting a 4 or 5 star kid not from here. At the end of the day, is it worth the investment of time and resources? I say yes, but I doubt that feeling is universal.

I also think some kids would react differently to being down the priority list. Particularly at a school like Minnesota.
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I'm not going to worry about our recruiting strategy until I have a reason to do so.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 

MadtownGopher said:
I'm not going to worry about our recruiting strategy until I have a reason to do so.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
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I don't disagree with you. Once the 2014 class is complete, I do think it's a fair question to evaluate the class. Perhaps a conversation for another day.

Sorry I got this thread off topic.
 



I don't think Macura will be considered mistake. A mistake to me is like Tubby in 2008 not offering Jordan Taylor, Pitino went after him, it's no more a mistake than losing Reid Travis was, Pitino didn't land him, move on. If, big if we lanf Piper or Eubanks, I think people will be forgetting at J.P, but it's a tough pill to swallow only because he's from here.
 


Tubby can't be blamed for Jordan Taylor as he was already committed before he got the job. However, Taylor was class of 2008.
 

silky said:
Tubby can't be blamed for Jordan Taylor as he was already committed before he got the job. However, Taylor was class of 2008.
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Yup, my mistake. I was thinking 2007 because he committed in November of 2006, but it actually was 2008.
 





Have to look at the Macura recruitment from all angles. First, he was widely considered to be a strong Butler lean before Brad Stevens left for the Celtics. Then I believe it was reported that if Macura didn't commit to Xavier, it would have been Creighton and not Minnesota or Iowa State who got his commitment. That's a pretty significant trend of preferring the smaller school environment, and Macura mentioned in an interview that he was concerned about being pigeonholed as a shooter at Minnesota/Indiana as opposed to the smaller schools where he may have more opportunity/success as an all around player. Additionally, Pitinio was in on Vaughn(? to a degree), Whitehead, and Baldwin and probably had all 3 above Macura on his list. Obviously it's easy to say in hindsight that you put the full court press on Macura, but as of this Summer rumors were still strong that the best chance of any of the Big 3 coming to Minnesota was Rashad. I also think it's tough to take a wing in your first class who doesn't fit what you're trying to do defensively all that well, especially when the roster your inheriting is full of guys who don't fit either.

Hopefully JP does well at Xavier and Coach Pitino is able to land some big fish in the future, so the "what if's" can be minimized.
 

Sam Jacobsen??

JP seems to have more offensive skills than just being a shooter. Looks like a solid ball handler and has great vision. Without knowing about his D, I think he would have been a solid BT player.
 


Sam and JP

From what i remember of Sam he was a 6'5" guy who played inside some on his high school team initially and it was during summer tournaments when he had a chance to play outside his guard/shooting skills were put on display. Sam also had a very nice 40"+ vertical, I believe. Sam was a pretty good athlete but struggled with lateral quickness against some wings.

I remember some comparing Shane Shilling to Sam. Shane had a decent vertical and was a good shooter. Shane took a while to get off the floor though, he wasn't a quick jumper. Not sure JP has that kind of vertical, but he does appear to have a nice all round game, and he appears to be a better ball handler than either.



Bayfieldgopher said:
Sam Jacobsen??

JP seems to have more offensive skills than just being a shooter. Looks like a solid ball handler and has great vision. Without knowing about his D, I think he would have been a solid BT player.
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J.P. is a huge miss - perhaps the biggest miss of the big four because of his versatility combined with the fact that he'll almost certainly be a four-year player. He looks like the complete player. I love his foot speed and his quick release.
 


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