Daniel Edozie a Gopher commit, per Amelia UPDATED (11/26) Edozie signs with Iowa St

Donate To GopherHole


Doogie tidbit on the Edozie saga:

According to Daniel Edozie's AAU coach, Donley Minor, the 6-foot-8 juco forward "fell in love" on his official visit to the "U" campus a couple weeks ago.

It wasn't long thereafter that he gave coach Tubby Smith a verbal commitment beginning with the 2013-2014 season.

But then Smith saw Edozie play in a jamboree last Saturday and pulled the offer, Minor said.

Recruiting is a dirty business, and instances like this happen far too regularly. In the long term, it's probably in the Gophers' best interest to find someone else, as Edozie doesn't strike you as Big Ten-caliber. But it's hard to not feel bad for him.

This also raises a larger issue: what sort of disconnect is there with Smith and his assistants? One of them evaluated Edozie and made him an offer. Did Smith not know about this? Was something lost in translation?

"U" officials can't comment on the record about recruits, but one didn't deny Minor's story.
 

Marcus weighs in:

What a strange situation it was for Tyler Junior College (Texas) power forward Daniel Edozie to give an oral commitment to the Gophers, and then be convinced to look elsewhere about a week later.

The 6-8, 240-pound sophomore had great size. But it was pretty apparent that Edozie was very raw. He seemed like the ideal recruit for the spring if Minnesota struck out on many of their high school post player targets in the early signing period.

So why did Smith offer Edozie a scholarship now and accept his commitment? I have no clue.

Smith and an assistant watched Edozie at a junior college event Saturday in Duncanville, Texas. I heard that Edozie really struggled for a half. And that was enough for the Gophers’ assistant to ask Edozie after the game if he would consider reopening his recruitment.

I do feel bad for Edozie. He really enjoyed his official visit. He thought the Gophers were the right fit. He didn’t have much else going from a visit standpoint. But now he will have to move on.

This kind of thing happens more often than you would think (remember Nate Garth and Andrew Brommer who ended up committing to New Mexico and Iowa back in 2007). But not a month before signing day. We’ll see what Smith can do now with three scholarships available for the 2013 class.

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2012/10/11/gophers-recruit-alvin-ellis-coming-to-open-scrimmage/

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Marcus weighs in:

What a strange situation it was for Tyler Junior College (Texas) power forward Daniel Edozie to give an oral commitment to the Gophers, and then be convinced to look elsewhere about a week later.

The 6-8, 240-pound sophomore had great size. But it was pretty apparent that Edozie was very raw. He seemed like the ideal recruit for the spring if Minnesota struck out on many of their high school post player targets in the early signing period.

So why did Smith offer Edozie a scholarship now and accept his commitment? I have no clue.

Smith and an assistant watched Edozie at a junior college event Saturday in Duncanville, Texas. I heard that Edozie really struggled for a half. And that was enough for the Gophers’ assistant to ask Edozie after the game if he would consider reopening his recruitment.

I do feel bad for Edozie. He really enjoyed his official visit. He thought the Gophers were the right fit. He didn’t have much else going from a visit standpoint. But now he will have to move on.

This kind of thing happens more often than you would think (remember Nate Garth and Andrew Brommer who ended up committing to New Mexico and Iowa back in 2007). But not a month before signing day. We’ll see what Smith can do now with three scholarships available for the 2013 class.

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2012/10/11/gophers-recruit-alvin-ellis-coming-to-open-scrimmage/

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

Like I said earlier, another red flag.
 


Amelia weighs in per her chat:

Comment From Russ
You may have covered this, but why did the JC kid recommit? Was it a mutual thing?
12:19


Amelia:
I think you mean decommit. This is a strange situation and it’s pretty embarrassing for both sides. Basically, the Gophers offered Edozie, but hadn’t seen much of him. I think there was a bit of confusion within both parties about where the sides were. Then the Gophers went down to a tournament in Texas to watch Edozie last weekend, and didn’t like what they saw. They had a conversation and the two sides decided to part ways. The fact is, the Gophers have their eye on several other big men for 2013 and need some strong candidates to replace Williams and Mbakwe. I’m not sure Edozie, with his skill level, was ready to play at the Big Ten level or was a good fit for the team.

Go Gophers!!
 

so who wins the bet if they finish where I think 5th lol. Seriously though 5th in the bigten could get you a 4 or 5 seed on selection sunday no shame in that
 

dpodoll68 said:
This also raises a larger issue: what sort of disconnect is there with Smith and his assistants? One of them evaluated Edozie and made him an offer. Did Smith not know about this? Was something lost in translation?
Click to expand...

There appears to be some real disconnect on the staff. I manage a group of 15 for a multi-national corporation, and my direct reports have explicit instructions on what they can and cannot approve. If any did not follow those instructions, I would have no choice but to have them find another opportunity outside of the organization. If there is any grey area, the good ones come to me for an opinion to be certain. The confusion on multiple offers to me indicates that the assistants believe they have proxy to do one thing but when they go to Tubby to describe what they did (in effect under his delegation), they are overruled. Again, looking at it from an organizational behavior perspective.
 

This is a bad situation for a number of reasons . . .

- In basketball, with so few scholarships each year, it really bothers me that we offered a kid who we weren't sure about. What I mean is that the staff pulled his offer after 1 bad half of basketball. If you were sure about a kid, would a bad half really be enough to change your mind?

-As others have pointed out, there seems to be a lot of disconnect between Tubby and his staff. How could somebody like this kid enough to offer (especially knowing his offer sheet and the liklihood of his commitment) while other members could see him for a half and know he wasn't a fit?

-This is bad in terms of "doing the right thing". Your heart has to go out for this kid. Tubby either needs to be SURE about kids that he offers or he needs to find a way to be clearer when offering a kid.
 



Gopher Warrior said:
Exactly right. I'd be curious to know what the comments are from the thing Big Lew is referring to - most specifically, the source. I think most likely the young man jumped the gun, helped by some prodding from a newspaper person (who I privately expressed my doubts to upon that person's initial story).
If in fact Minnesota did, in no uncertain terms, give Edozie the green light to 'publicly' express a commitment, that's horrible. I just don't believe it.

Now, the staff might get a 'shame on you' if they didn't make it clear that his recruitment was a fluid process and things could change - he must check in with them before making any kind of 'decision' or proclamation... but if that happened, or the kid simply jumped the gun, then I think the right approach would be to physically go down to meet with the kid and have a face to face to talk about the experience and counsel him on the need to look elsewhere.
Click to expand...



Gopher Warrior said:
Yep - and based partly on some of the young man's comments late last week (i.e., per newspaper folks, he made it clear to one that he had been offered by Iowa State in high school, while to the other newspaper he made it clear that he had not been offered), I think he just got ahead of himself a bit and there's probably fault on the side of the Gophers staff as well for not being as direct as they could have been.
Click to expand...

All the 'newspaper folks' are sticking by he received an offer and committed.

Gopher Warrior said:
Clem - Thanks for bringing up Mbakwe AGAIN. I still stand by everything I said. There's an amazing story there, but people don't want to touch it. I won't either. If you should one day become enlightened, though, feel free to apologize.
Click to expand...

If anything you will be the one apologizing to Trevor.
 

Clem's Gophers said:
All the 'newspaper folks' are sticking by he received an offer and committed.

I'm saying I believe it's more likely that he jumped the gun and misunderstood the status of Minnesota's interest. Either way, it's an unfortunate story, but I don't buy the claim that watching the kid at a scrimmage this past weekend made the Gophers go from, "we absolutely have a scholarship for you, happy to take your commitment! Welcome!" to "uhh, this isn't going to work".

If anything you will be the one apologizing to Trevor.
Click to expand...

Since you're so hung up on this, can you tell me some misstatements of facts that you believe I have made, if any?
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Since you're so hung up on this, can you tell me some misstatements of facts that you believe I have made, if any?
Click to expand...

Let's start with (paraphrasing here): "I'd give a 2% chance of Trevor getting another year." Of course, I realize what you said there was not a fact.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Since you're so hung up on this
Click to expand...

Your the guy who was hung up on him being guilty when it was a simple plea bargain to move on with is life.

Gopher Warrior said:
That's rich.. trying to draw parallels between kids getting ticketed for being underage and in a bar where alcohol is beeing served withe the felony assault of a woman who was unknown to the defendant and for which the accused was found guilty in the court of law."
So vindictive. Glad you guys could take a break from listing out the various Gopher players that you want kicked off the team to make room for guys that you prefer.
"Just win, baby"
"Drain the Tub"
Click to expand...

What part do I believe you are wrong about? Your assumption he was guilty of the crime.
 



Clem's Gophers said:
Your the guy who was hung up on him being guilty when it was a simple plea bargain to move on with is life.

What part do I believe you are wrong about? Your assumption he was guilty or the crime.
Click to expand...

That a court found him guilty is not an assumption - it's fact. Did he actually commit the crime? - I don't know. I do know he was found guilty of a second degree felony assault in Florida. That's not an assumption/my feeling/an opinion - it's just the truth and even you could easily verify this. The U has moved on.. I have moved on.. I realize you keep bringing it up because you think I am wrong on this, but maybe you should just verify it yourself so that you can put that idea to rest.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
That a court found him guilty is not an assumption - it's fact.
Click to expand...

Trevor assaulting the lady is not a fact, that is something you have constantly insinuated. Although you have never manned up and said that you believe he committed of the actual (courts aside) assault.

Gopher Warrior said:
However, I could understand if someone asked, "why in the world is a convicted felon who can't even vote telling me that if I don't vote a certain way I am being anti-Minnesotan and an extremist/hateful person?" Especially when considering what he was found guilty of... talk about extreme and anti-Minnesotan. Yikes.
Click to expand...
 

Gopher Warrior said:
That a court found him guilty is not an assumption. Did he actually commit the crime? - I don't know. I do know he was found guilty of a second degree felony assault in Florida. That's not an assumption/my feeling/an opinion - it's just the truth and even you could easily verify this.
Click to expand...

You keep saying this, but it is absolutely not a fact. Nolo contendere and guilty are not the same thing.
 

dpodoll68 said:
You keep saying this, but it is absolutely not a fact. Nolo contendere and guilty are not the same thing.
Click to expand...

It absolutely is fact and it's amazing how people don't recognize how big of a deal it still could become.

No contest is a PLEA. Guilty is a type of PLEA, but it's also a FINDING of the court. What we're discussing here is the FINDING of the court. They found him GUILTY. They can't find him, "no contest". You're talking apples and oranges.
 


Let me rephrase. Yes, you are correct that he was found guilty. What you seem to not understand is that not all findings of guilt are the same. They are different based on the plea submitted by the accused. You continually attempt to conflate the two, and want everyone to treat Mbakwe the same as someone who was found guilty on a plea of guilty, which is not the case.
 


dpodoll68 said:
You keep saying this, but it is absolutely not a fact. Nolo contendere and guilty are not the same thing.
Click to expand...

Yes, but a no-doubt innocent person would not plead nolo contendere. I look forward to the responses. Run Forest, run!!!
 

dpodoll68 said:
Let me rephrase. Yes, you are correct that he was found guilty. What you seem to not understand is that not all findings of guilt are the same. They are different based on the plea submitted by the accused. You continually attempt to conflate the two, and want everyone to treat Mbakwe the same as someone who was found guilty on a plea of guilty, which is not the case.
Click to expand...

For real. You need some new talking points from the Smith camp. "Not all findings of guilt are the same." Does the court of law differentiate, Forest?
 


Give Doogie credit. His questions were blunt and to the point. He didn't sugar-coat the questions to Teague. Lotta' interesting nuggets of information in the column.
 

BleedGopher said:
per Doogie:

After talking to numerous people involved, here's the real story on ex-Gophers basketball commitment Daniel Edozie: he never got a scholarship offer from the Gophers. He somehow misconstrued what assistant Ron Jirsa told him.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/...king_hard_on_Martell_Webster_settlement101912

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

So are we going to accept this or are people going to just believe what they want to believe anyway cause they already have their opinions in place?
 

Biglew33 said:
Yes. A person that is certainly more "in the know" then we are. It is a reliable enough source for me to draw a conclusion.
Click to expand...

But wait, there's another person "in the know" who said a scholarship wasn't offered. I suppose you're going to disregard this report because it doesn't help you complain about Tubby.
 

Reminds me of a high school football player a few years ago announcing he signed with Cal or some west coast school and they had never heard of him.
 

drinks at Northpoint said:
Reminds me of a high school football player a few years ago announcing he signed with Cal or some west coast school and they had never heard of him.
Click to expand...

I thought of that too, Northpoint. And that guy even had an all-student assembly to announce it. Oh the beauty of it all. :)
 


I don't know how you found it, GII, but that is the one that Northpoint and I referred to.

I wonder what car wash he is working at?
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom