Eli King commits to Iowa State

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TWeber said:
Really? 70-33 at SDSU, two conference titles, two NCAA tournaments, and he can't coach? Sounds like if it was his coaching holding them back, with a "real" coach, they may have won the National Title!
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Yeah he was also handed the keys to a really well oiled machine with one of the best Summit League players ever (Daum). He's will get guys to ISU, but his coaching acumen isn't the most highly thought of. To be fair he did follow Nagy who is a really good coach, but not as good of a recruiter. His tenure at UNLV was pretty short, but also very blah despite having some talent.

He is revered in Ames and I think it has to do with his recruiting very similar to Ben here. TJ just has some HC experience and made a smart assistant hire in Green who can and will help with the game management side. He's a good example of how much the Joes can make up for the x's and o's
 


WriterGoph said:
Ultimately the posters who just cannot accept the fact that Coyle hired Ben without their approval are going to hang onto Coyle saying he expected Ben to recruit Minnesota better.
Obviously now that Ben has been on the job 3 weeks and a Minnesota kid left, it's the perfect opportunity for them to remind all of us just how upset they are about this hire.
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I haven't seen anyone act like this is the end of the world.

But of course people are going to comment on the Gophers not landing Eli King. Most of those folks on here have said things like "we understand he hasn't been there long" but we were told by tons of folks (not just Coyle) that this hire was good because Ben connects with local recruits. We were told to ignore the resume and all of that, but focus on the word-of-mouth perception that Ben will connect with recruits.

I didn't love the hire but I'm all on that game plan. Maybe it'll work and if not, it could be kind of fun to watch a bunch more local recruits. That said, Ben will be judged by his recruiting and that starts day 1. The judgment should be reasonable, but it's certainly a point of data that Eli King committed to Iowa State. I think it's a data point that Gabe left. How significant are those points? Probably not too significant but they're really all we have right now.

I asked in a thread a couple of weeks when it would be fair to start judging Ben's recruiting ability. Most posters seem to think it was with the 2022 class. That was the big test. Now, you start seeing posts like this who want the goalposts moved back. Is it the 2023 class? 2024 class? When can we expect those results?

Most of my skepticism in improved local recruiting a lot of these folks locally has absolutely nothing to do with Ben (or his ability to recruit). It's more just that a lot of these folks in the local bball community are all talk. It bothered me that a bunch of people who never would have chosen the U had a strong opinion.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I haven't seen anyone act like this is the end of the world.

But of course people are going to comment on the Gophers not landing Eli King. Most of those folks on here have said things like "we understand he hasn't been there long" but we were told by tons of folks (not just Coyle) that this hire was good because Ben connects with local recruits. We were told to ignore the resume and all of that, but focus on the word-of-mouth perception that Ben will connect with recruits.

I didn't love the hire but I'm all on that game plan. Maybe it'll work and if not, it could be kind of fun to watch a bunch more local recruits. That said, Ben will be judged by his recruiting and that starts day 1. The judgment should be reasonable, but it's certainly a point of data that Eli King committed to Iowa State. I think it's a data point that Gabe left. How significant are those points? Probably not too significant but they're really all we have right now.

I asked in a thread a couple of weeks when it would be fair to start judging Ben's recruiting ability. Most posters seem to think it was with the 2022 class. That was the big test. Now, you start seeing posts like this who want the goalposts moved back. Is it the 2023 class? 2024 class? When can we expect those results?

Most of my skepticism in improved local recruiting a lot of these folks locally has absolutely nothing to do with Ben (or his ability to recruit). It's more just that a lot of these folks in the local bball community are all talk. It bothered me that a bunch of people who never would have chosen the U had a strong opinion.
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Johnson will be judged by how the 2022 class turns out but his true impact on the local scene (if there is one) probably won't become truly evident until 2023.

The problem in this thread is that some posters are acting like King going to ISU is validation that Johnson isn't going to improve our standing with local recruits and that we were lied to by Coyle. It is way too early to start making any sort of blanket judgements like that.

We were never going to sign all the top 2022 Minnesota recruits no matter who the coach was. This is just one guy, way too early to make any massive assumptions based on his decision.
 

Regarding the ISU HC... winning in the Summit League is not the same as winning in the Big 12.

Give him a couple years to see what the W/L record looks like. And the portal has changed recruiting for now.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Johnson will be judged by how the 2022 class turns out but his true impact on the local scene (if there is one) probably won't become truly evident until 2023.

The problem in this thread is that some posters are acting like King going to ISU is validation that Johnson isn't going to improve our standing with local recruits and that we were lied to by Coyle. It is way too early to start making any sort of blanket judgements like that.

We were never going to sign all the top 2022 Minnesota recruits no matter who the coach was. This is just one guy, way too early to make any massive assumptions based on his decision.
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Honest question, who is making those massive assumptions? Every one of my posts has gone to great lengths to try to avoid people bringing up that strawman.

So if we judge him on 2022? Do you consider it a failure if we don't land Holloman, Heide or King?
 

MNVCGUY said:
Johnson will be judged by how the 2022 class turns out but his true impact on the local scene (if there is one) probably won't become truly evident until 2023.

The problem in this thread is that some posters are acting like King going to ISU is validation that Johnson isn't going to improve our standing with local recruits and that we were lied to by Coyle. It is way too early to start making any sort of blanket judgements like that.

We were never going to sign all the top 2022 Minnesota recruits no matter who the coach was. This is just one guy, way too early to make any massive assumptions based on his decision.
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Missing on King just means he is 0 for 1. Johnson was hyped as the guy who could get the locals, so every local miss is going to be evaluated on this site. You are 100% correct, he cannot get or take them all. The 2022 class is crucial. I think he will get a good one, but I like most here, would have loved to have gotten King.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Honest question, who is making those massive assumptions? Every one of my posts has gone to great lengths to try to avoid people bringing up that strawman.

So if we judge him on 2022? Do you consider it a failure if we don't land Holloman, Heide or King?
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Not trying to lump you into the group that has decided Johnson will fail already and therefore is going to try and blow things like this way out of proportion. As always it is a small, very vocal group that makes the huge assumptions in order to get a rise out of people and be negative.

To the second part.....honestly can't answer that question right now. Johnson will be judged on the entirety of his 2022 class not just the Minnesota guys in it. Will be disappointing if none of the top in state guys stay home but if the class he brings in looks good it really doesn't matter where the kids are from. I don't get sucked into the local angle thing. Don't get me wrong, would love to see all the top in-state guys stay home but all the coaches can do is recruit the kid, if in the end he picks somewhere else it is what it is.

In the end Johnson's job will hinge on his ability to win games. If the team is winning no one will give a damn where the kids come from. It is only a massive issue right now for some people because the program is struggling AND good players from Minnesota are going elsewhere for their college careers.
 

cjbfbp said:
Well, maybe we shouldn't count on rubes coming here then and adjust our recruiting accordingly.
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Fact. MN made the decision to be an inclusive school 60 yrs ago and now they have to make it work for them not against them. Simply put, we cannot out white wi and ia. The MN team that wins will look like Baylor and not Gonzaga. We have to embrace this and stop chasing kids who ain’t comin to an integrated school.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
I haven't seen anyone act like this is the end of the world.

But of course people are going to comment on the Gophers not landing Eli King. Most of those folks on here have said things like "we understand he hasn't been there long" but we were told by tons of folks (not just Coyle) that this hire was good because Ben connects with local recruits. We were told to ignore the resume and all of that, but focus on the word-of-mouth perception that Ben will connect with recruits.

I didn't love the hire but I'm all on that game plan. Maybe it'll work and if not, it could be kind of fun to watch a bunch more local recruits. That said, Ben will be judged by his recruiting and that starts day 1. The judgment should be reasonable, but it's certainly a point of data that Eli King committed to Iowa State. I think it's a data point that Gabe left. How significant are those points? Probably not too significant but they're really all we have right now.

I asked in a thread a couple of weeks when it would be fair to start judging Ben's recruiting ability. Most posters seem to think it was with the 2022 class. That was the big test. Now, you start seeing posts like this who want the goalposts moved back. Is it the 2023 class? 2024 class? When can we expect those results?

Most of my skepticism in improved local recruiting a lot of these folks locally has absolutely nothing to do with Ben (or his ability to recruit). It's more just that a lot of these folks in the local bball community are all talk. It bothered me that a bunch of people who never would have chosen the U had a strong opinion.
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Your points are fair. I think the 2022 class (given the sheer volume of quality recruits) should be somewhat of a barometer for Ben. My point with the King stuff is that if you showed me a list of those 2022 guys, I just never had a feeling he was very likely to end up a Gopher. So I, personally, am not going to jump to conclusions based of this specific one kid.

All that said, if Ben finishes out the 2021 recruiting in strong fashion and we field a competitive team this coming season, I think that will be a positive sign that should afford him some patience and credibility.
 

TWeber said:
Really? 70-33 at SDSU, two conference titles, two NCAA tournaments, and he can't coach? Sounds like if it was his coaching holding them back, with a "real" coach, they may have won the National Title!
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Yeah and once the players the core that Nagy brought in left, we got beat by the 8 seed in the conference tournament. Great coaching.
 

SuperSenior13 said:
I hate to be that person, but I think everything going on in Minneapolis right now HAS to be a factor in some kids making decisions currently, especially rural Minnesota players with the perceptions that get beat into their heads as children. I grew up in northern Minnesota, and it’s definitely an us vs them mentality. Minneapolis just isn’t exactly where a lot of parents want their high school kids going right now, living outside their home for the first time.
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The hype is blown way too out of portions. Any disruptions are very limited to a few areas in a few neighborhoods. Parents are always reluctant to have their kids go off to college, but they have to trust the kid knows how to take care of themselves. Also, if the family is that afraid of new situations and let’s stereotypes rule their decisions then I doubt they would have let their kid play AAU with all of those city kids.

Many outstate people are afraid of driving in the Cities, but it is easily overcome if they just try.
 

SuperSenior13 said:
It has nothing to do with being a ‘rube’, it has everything to do with current events and perception of Minneapolis, and how divided we are as a state.
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Actually is does. I went to high school up north and visit relatives frequently. There is so much prejudice outstate that it is difficult to care on a normal conversation. I think the divide has a lot to do with the limited exposure many people have to places that are different than the small town the live in. It also comes from where people choose to get their information (notice I didn’t say facts).
 



MNVCGUY said:
If the team is winning no one will give a damn where the kids come from.
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I liked your post but I wouldn't say "no one." Many people just don't change their minds regardless of evidence. Heck, there are still people who are hoping that Zack Annexstad replaces Tanner Morgan at QB.
 

cjbfbp said:
I liked your post but I wouldn't say "no one." Many people just don't change their minds regardless of evidence. Heck, there are still people who are hoping that Zack Annexstad replaces Tanner Morgan at QB.
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True, there will always be people that find a reason to complain. Probably should have said the vast majority or something like that won't care where the kids come from if the team is winning :)
 

alchemy2u said:
The hype is blown way too out of portions. Any disruptions are very limited to a few areas in a few neighborhoods. Parents are always reluctant to have their kids go off to college, but they have to trust the kid knows how to take care of themselves. Also, if the family is that afraid of new situations and let’s stereotypes rule their decisions then I doubt they would have let their kid play AAU with all of those city kids.

Many outstate people are afraid of driving in the Cities, but it is easily overcome if they just try.
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I’m not saying it isn’t blown out of proportion, simply that the stigma is very real in certain parts of our state. I grew up in Itasca County, and still visit frequently.
 

alchemy2u said:
Actually is does. I went to high school up north and visit relatives frequently. There is so much prejudice outstate that it is difficult to care on a normal conversation. I think the divide has a lot to do with the limited exposure many people have to places that are different than the small town the live in. It also comes from where people choose to get their information (notice I didn’t say facts).
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I went to Deer River, what about you? I agree with everything in your post - but rube isn’t a word I’d choose. It over-generalizes a really great portion of our state with great people
 

Spaulding!No! said:
Fact. MN made the decision to be an inclusive school 60 yrs ago and now they have to make it work for them not against them. Simply put, we cannot out white wi and ia. The MN team that wins will look like Baylor and not Gonzaga. We have to embrace this and stop chasing kids who ain’t comin to an integrated school.
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Not to pick nits, but ISU will typically have way more Black players than white in MBB.

Once ISU hired their new coach, it would have been a big surprise if he went elsewhere.
 


cjbfbp said:
I liked your post but I wouldn't say "no one." Many people just don't change their minds regardless of evidence. Heck, there are still people who are hoping that Zack Annexstad replaces Tanner Morgan at QB.
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Winning is the ultimate measuring stick. You are right, there are people who will criticize coach Johnson on every potential D1 player that doesn’t go to the U.
 

SuperSenior13 said:
I went to Deer River, what about you? I agree with everything in your post - but rube isn’t a word I’d choose. It over-generalizes a really great portion of our state with great people
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There are a lot of great people that live throughout the state. They would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. Good hard working people that can have a very narrow view of people and places that are not like them. It isn’t just Minnesota, it is across the whole country. I agree that rube can be more of an insult, but it does describe an uncultured and inexperienced person.
 

SDSUgopher said:
Yeah and once the players the core that Nagy brought in left, we got beat by the 8 seed in the conference tournament. Great coaching.
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I agree, I watched sdsu those years more than the Gophers. The Nagy-TJO transition. TJO is very overrated and he proved it at UNLV
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I was joking. People on here are saying these things.
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I know or should have known, I just like to think about the area surrounding where Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa meet, one of my favorite regions in the whole US. Some day maybe I will figure out how to live down there part of the year, maybe with a view of the River.
 
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Spottedmuskie said:
I agree, I watched sdsu those years more than the Gophers. The Nagy-TJO transition. TJO is very overrated and he proved it at UNLV
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Yeah...complete overhaul of the roster at UNLV....surprised he didn't win the national title there too. Still about .500 with the rebuild.
 

WoodburyTim said:
You read the comments on here and I can't believe anyone wouldn't want to come spend time with this collection of metro delights.
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Let's invite them out to burgers and beers at Newt's. That'll make everyone happy.
 

SuperSenior13 said:
I’m not saying it isn’t blown out of proportion, simply that the stigma is very real in certain parts of our state. I grew up in Itasca County, and still visit frequently.
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I grew up in outstate MN too. My only pushback is those people with the strongest stigmas already carried that stigma prior to last year. Did they find some reasons to make it carry louder? Sure, I haven't noticed a change in many that live where I grew up. They live where they do cause they like it the quiet and slower life, but they are not afraid of MSP any more or less than they were before. In Kings case, his cousin went to the U, so he had plenty of info on what it was like. He wanted Ames with his buddy and the coach who recruited his brother. It's all good. Otherwise MN recruits outstate better than outer suburbs.
 


SuperSenior13 said:
I agree with everything in your post - but rube isn’t a word I’d choose. It over-generalizes a really great portion of our state with great people
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I know this post wasn't directed at me but, since I'm the one who first used the word "rube," I'll respond anyway. I believe in answering hatred and contempt with a double dose of hatred and contempt. Up the ante and see who flinches first.
 


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