Favorite hoops recruits in the 2017 class (Jerry Meyer: Isaiah Washington, Minnesota)

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BleedGopher

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Isaiah Washington, Minnesota — Isaiah Washington plays the point guard position with a mental and physical strength that I have the utmost respect for. He grinds out plays with a passion and intensity of a middle linebacker or a physical safety. In fact, NFL standout Ed Reed comes to mind. Washington has a feel for getting his team a possession. I was struck by his competitiveness at the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp. He played like his team was his team. Continually he was finding ways to strip balls lose and come up with lose balls for his team.

http://247sports.com/Article/Wednesday-Question-Favorite-recruits-in-the-2017-class-52700956

Go Gophers!!
 

Hmmm, Meyer's description of Washington's game made me think of another Gophers point guard out of NYC: Eric Harris. Tough, with a grinder's mentality (albeit with a much more refined finger roll). His body type even reminds me of how E looked. I hope Isaiah takes us to a Final Four too.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Hmmm, Meyer's description of Washington's game made me think of another Gophers point guard out of NYC: Eric Harris. Tough, with a grinder's mentality (albeit with a much more refined finger roll). His body type even reminds me of how E looked. I hope Isaiah takes us to a Final Four too.
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Same high school, in fact.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Hmmm, Meyer's description of Washington's game made me think of another Gophers point guard out of NYC: Eric Harris. Tough, with a grinder's mentality (albeit with a much more refined finger roll). His body type even reminds me of how E looked. I hope Isaiah takes us to a Final Four too.
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Good comparison. By all accounts Isaiah is a much better shooter than Eric coming out of high school. It took E two full years to refine his offensive game. Love Meyers description. Sounds like a winner and a great teammate.
 

I mean, I know Eric Harris was a nice point guard on a GREAT team, but shouldn't we have higher expectations for Washington? I was 13-16 years old when Harris was here, so maybe I am forgetting his greatness but in my memory he was just kind of 'a guy' compared to the rest of the roster. From what I hear about Washington is that he may be able to elevate us to "Sock School" (it is my on-the-spot basketball version of 'Helmet School' in football). Not hating on Harris at all - in fact, if I remember correctly, many people believe that if he wouldn't have been dinged up we would have beaten Kentucky.
 


GopherHomer said:
I mean, I know Eric Harris was a nice point guard on a GREAT team, but shouldn't we have higher expectations for Washington? I was 13-16 years old when Harris was here, so maybe I am forgetting his greatness but in my memory he was just kind of 'a guy' compared to the rest of the roster. From what I hear about Washington is that he may be able to elevate us to "Sock School" (it is my on-the-spot basketball version of 'Helmet School' in football). Not hating on Harris at all - in fact, if I remember correctly, many people believe that if he wouldn't have been dinged up we would have beaten Kentucky.
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Same recollection, also remember hearing that between junior and senior year had a heart to heart with Stephon Marbury about what it took to take the next step and said that it helped him become much more aggressive his senior year and a much better player. Something along the lines that Stephon told him that good point guards see the seams to drive into and react, and great ones just assume they will be there and make it work even if they aren't.
 

I liked Eric, but as I remember, he was continually 25' from the basket, with his back to the basket. People were screening and cutting for the basket, and he was looking over his shoulder at the action.
Just sayin.
 

Did... did he just compare an incoming HS guard to an NFL HOF safety? I've heard a lot of comparisons in my time, that one may be the most funny. Not good or bad, just funny
 

I was a bit younger when Harris was playing, but he was always a favorite of mine. His job as to run the offense, not to be the offense. And he was amazing at being the floor general. But when he needed to, he could step up and get points. Not to mention, wasn't he an elite defender? It was devastating when he got hurt.
 



Harris was a really good defender and a floor general type. That said he had 4 NBA guys to pass the rock to and Courtney James who had a lot of talent too.
 

GopherHomer said:
I mean, I know Eric Harris was a nice point guard on a GREAT team, but shouldn't we have higher expectations for Washington? I was 13-16 years old when Harris was here, so maybe I am forgetting his greatness but in my memory he was just kind of 'a guy' compared to the rest of the roster. From what I hear about Washington is that he may be able to elevate us to "Sock School" (it is my on-the-spot basketball version of 'Helmet School' in football). Not hating on Harris at all - in fact, if I remember correctly, many people believe that if he wouldn't have been dinged up we would have beaten Kentucky.
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I'm too young to have an accurate memory of Harris but,

Eric Harris(senior year only) averaged 13.6ppg 4.1 apg and 2.8 rpg 2.1 spg while shooting 45% from the field

Nate Mason(junior year only) averaged 15.2ppg 5.0apg and 3.6 rpg 1.3 spg while shooting 38% from the field

I would hope with Washington we can get a player the quality of Mason with Harris' shooting percentage and defense. (I'm not expecting those numbers Washington's freshman year)
 





Lou Hudson said:
I liked Eric, but as I remember, he was continually 25' from the basket, with his back to the basket. People were screening and cutting for the basket, and he was looking over his shoulder at the action.
Just sayin.
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That's my recollection, too. The best part of Eric's game was his defense.
 

I think there are a lot of conflated memories. E came in as a defense first point guard with limited offense, and improved greatly as his career progressed. Major jump between sophomore and junior years, in which he said he shot "a thousand shots a day" during the summer. He definitely struggled his freshman year but got much better. His injury could very well have been the difference between a vacated national championship and a mere final four appearance. No matter what, I believe he and Bobby were the best tandem in Gopher history at the guards, slightly edging out Ray Williams and Flip Saunders.
 

Harris was always a defensive stalwart, but he became a reliable offensive presence his senior season. Loved how he played for the most part, especially in his senior year. Must admit I'm expecting a bit more offensively from Washington, at least in his early career. If he can defend anything like Harris, so much the better.

Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk
 

Maybe we should change the thread title to

Favorite hoops recruits in the 2017 class (Jerry Meyer: Eric Harris, Minnesota)
 

Rouser said:
Maybe we should change the thread title to

Favorite hoops recruits in the 2017 class (Jerry Meyer: Eric Harris, Minnesota)
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Hard to stay focused in the off-season.
 


GopherHomer said:
I mean, I know Eric Harris was a nice point guard on a GREAT team, but shouldn't we have higher expectations for Washington? I was 13-16 years old when Harris was here, so maybe I am forgetting his greatness but in my memory he was just kind of 'a guy' compared to the rest of the roster. From what I hear about Washington is that he may be able to elevate us to "Sock School" (it is my on-the-spot basketball version of 'Helmet School' in football). Not hating on Harris at all - in fact, if I remember correctly, many people believe that if he wouldn't have been dinged up we would have beaten Kentucky.
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there is a decent probability that we would have won the NC that year had Harris not been hurt
 

Harris definitely would have scored more had he not been aligned with Bobby Jackson.

As for best backcourt, I favor Ray and Flip, their statistics were greatly diminished by playing with Thompson and McHale. Man, what a team that was!
 

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