Frank Mitchell commits

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Holy Man said:
According to the Canisius website he sat out an entire season due to “NCAA transfer rules” only playing one season for them and one in Canada. This presents an interesting case on eligibility. Does he get back the year he sat out due to the NCAA giving up the fight on transfer rules? If he does, he gets two more. If not, only one.
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If he sat out an entire season for transferring, it would not have counted against his eligibility.
 







Gophers1992 said:
What is the story on why Carrington can't come back?
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He put the team in a tough spot with his mental health break midseason, we did the right thing by allowing him time away, then welcomed him back a few weeks later with open arms.

He then immediately entered the portal once the season was over, despite playing a huge role off the bench and struggling to make a shot all season.

Regardless of the 3 Sophs being malcontents at the end of the season (may or may not have happened)...Ben is well within his rights to not let Carrington come back and I support that decision.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Lets just assume he has 1-4 years left.
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With two years left it’s basically appears to be a somewhat even trade between someone who wanted out and someone that wants to be here.
More work now is needed to replace the others. Roster upgrade. Can actually get better construction. Win win for everyone. One thing Frank did was foul more often than Payne. Fox will play an important role once again. Love to see him get a 6’5” shutdown defender and a really good shooter. He has some nice pieces.
 

Completely speculating, but for JOJ to go from playing major minutes to almost nothing, with no injury (the late season concussion aside) something had to happen at practice or in the locker room. I could see a scenario where JOJ and BC were both unhappy about their roles and decided together they would enter the portal right away at the end of the season. Payne couldn't be upset about his role, but they could have gotten in his ear about NIL and what he's worth. I think there is a way to bring them back, but it would involve the team coming together to make that decision, along with the returning players addressing the team and making a commitment moving forward.
 





MNVCGUY said:
Parker Fox is currently testing the limits for how many years a player can stay in school. :)
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You might recall that the football team in recent years had a defensive lineman (transfer from Notre Dame) who I believe was in school 8 years until his eligibility expired.
 






Holy Man said:
He’s either a quitter, a malcontent, or isn’t good enough. Take your pick.
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I would add, they don't want a precedent that players can just enter the transfer portal to test the waters and come back if Minnesota is the best offer. If you want committment you don't allow testing the waters. If there were extenuating circumstances, then exceptions may happen. I think it is the right move but good chance one of your reasons is the biggest factor.
 

bottom line for me - Mitchell seems like a good addition. brings size, strength and rebounding.

but - the Gophers still need more depth across the board. as I have said, Johnson has to proceed on the assumption that Christie is not coming back, and find a player or players who can at least fill in some of the lost production. the Gophs also need a wing defender who can replace Carrington and a SF/PF replacement for JOJ.

so Johnson has a lot of work to do.
 




howeda7 said:
Certainly. Despite this addition they are still worse today than when the season ended.
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But are they? I would submit that the top 6 minutes guys are already there. Garcia/Hawkins/Mitchell/Mitchell/Fox/Christie. If Christie leaves obviously the gophers have a huge hole to fill. The other missing pieces (Ihnen/JOJ/Carrignton/Payne) heave been replaced (Mitchell for Payne) or can/should be easily replaced. Carrignton had some defensive value and maybe not easily replaced.
 
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Big Dawg said:
But ar

But are they? I would submit that the top 6 minutes guys are already there. Garcia/Hawkins/Mitchell/Mitchell/Fox/Christie. If Christie leaves obviously the gophers have a huge hole to fill. The other missing pieces (Ihnen/JOJ/Carrignton/Payne) heave been replaced (Mitchell for Payne) or can/should be easily replaced. Carrignton had some defensive value and maybe not easily replaced.
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Yes. I would still take Payne over Mitchell and if Christie leaves (which I think is at least 50/50), his replacement will almost certainly be a downgrade. Carrington for Asuma is probably a wash at least to start with more offense but less defense. If Christie returns and they can add an 8th/9th guy who actually play, they can be better.
 

We for sure need an athletic and bigger 2/3 wing type...with our without Christie.

If Cam isn't back- then we could do with another shooter for sure.

Need another big man as well to compete with Frank Mitchell and provide some shot blocking.

Those are the (3) biggest remaining needs. Definitely set at PG and PF, combo guard looks solid as well.
 

Gopher-in-Keno said:
Completely speculating, but for JOJ to go from playing major minutes to almost nothing, with no injury (the late season concussion aside) something had to happen at practice or in the locker room. I could see a scenario where JOJ and BC were both unhappy about their roles and decided together they would enter the portal right away at the end of the season. Payne couldn't be upset about his role, but they could have gotten in his ear about NIL and what he's worth. I think there is a way to bring them back, but it would involve the team coming together to make that decision, along with the returning players addressing the team and making a commitment moving forward.
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I'm sure JOJ wasn't happy with his role but that kind of tells you a lot about why he wasn't playing. His path to PT was to be a hyper active player who brought energy (JYD). He didn't do that and then he was competing with Parker Fox for backup minutes. Parker was way better. If he can't recognize he is a role play and commit himself to that role, I'd rather just move on.

As far as Carrington, if he didn't like his role, he is also delusional. He was getting 20 minutes per game in the Big 10 despite shooting under 35% from the field and under 25% from 3. He did some things well (defended, rebounded, etc.), but for someone to expect more PT despite that kind of performance is delusional. It also sounds like he quit on his teammates last year and then showed no loyalty to the team that stood by him. Frankly, he just isn't good enough to deal with those kinds of headaches.
 

howeda7 said:
Yes. I would still take Payne over Mitchell and if Christie leaves (which I think is at least 50/50), his replacement will almost certainly be a downgrade. Carrington for Asuma is probably a wash at least to start with more offense but less defense. If Christie returns and they can add an 8th/9th guy who actually play, they can be better.
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I agree with all of that. I won't say we are better or worse until the fall roster is set. Most teams as of this date still have holes in their roster. Let's see who the next few players to sign with MN are. I can pretty much guarantee Ben will sign someone. Also, I'll go out on a limb and say that Mitchell will have a better 2024/2025 than Payne. I'm talking individual stats. We'll see.
 

Big Dawg said:
I agree with all of that. I won't say we are better or worse until the fall roster is set. Most teams as of this date still have holes in their roster. Let's see who the next few players to sign with MN are. I can pretty much guarantee Ben will sign someone. Also, I'll go out on a limb and say that Mitchell will have a better 2024/2025 than Payne. I'm talking individual stats. We'll see.
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I hope you're right but they had similar 2023-2024's statistically with Payne playing against Big 10 schools and Mitchell playing at Canisus.

Generally, I agree with your take though. I think we have a chance for our roster to be better than last year's roster. I am a little concerned that the other bottom feeders also improve their rosters.
Rutgers has a great class. I can't believe Michigan won't improve, Maryland has added a couple really nice players in the portal.
 

Big Dawg said:
I agree with all of that. I won't say we are better or worse until the fall roster is set. Most teams as of this date still have holes in their roster. Let's see who the next few players to sign with MN are. I can pretty much guarantee Ben will sign someone. Also, I'll go out on a limb and say that Mitchell will have a better 2024/2025 than Payne. I'm talking individual stats. We'll see.
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I think Mitchell plays 20-25 minutes here- splitting some time with Parker Fox. My guess is that the plan is to post Garcia on the blocks more because he is pretty slick down there, with Mitchell getting garbage buckets on offensive rebounds and also some screen and roll dishes from Hawkins. So I see Mitchell as an 8 point 10 rebound guy. Payne is a 14 pt 9 rebound guy if he plays 30 minutes somewhere and I think that's what he is shopping for - in addition to the money.

Payne has more upside but I do hold out the possibility that Mitchell could end up being the better team fit guy to pair with Garcia. He has a nose for the boards (excellent) and he sure passed well in the clips I saw. Can he defend the post?
 



Zeppelin Gopher said:
Need another big man as well to compete with Frank Mitchell and provide some shot blocking.
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With the Mitchell commitment we now have 4 true front court players (thanks again, Parker!) but one of those is an untested freshman. All we need is an injury to be dangerously thin there and, if Groves isn't ready to compete, we're already dangerously thin there. Going into the 2018 season we had Murphy, Lynch, Curry, and Bakary. I was angry about Matz being recruited as a sit out transfer (I did like him as a player when he played later) because I didn't think the front court was safe with those numbers. Sure enough, Curry was hurt in the offseason and Lynch was suspended in early January of the season and that year proceeded to go down the toilet.
 

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