Gabe in Portal

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GopherPlaya said:
Just because it’s a rule doesnt mean coaches abide by it. Coaches violate rules all the time. You’re naive if you think coaches aren’t still running kids of campus. All 1200 kids aren’t in the portal by choice
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Not my point. You stated always been one year scholarships, they are not.
 

60's Guy said:
If Ben had anything to do with Gabe entering the portal it’ll be a short tenure for Ben.
Kids need inspiration....not threats. Highly doubt it was anything Ben said negatively about Gabe’s performance as a Gopher.
Ben may not have blown enough smoke up Gabe’s skirt for Gabe’s taste but anything
harsh about his play would be very dumb.
Why? Every team needs a lockdown defender. Hard worker. Straight arrow. Etc
It ain’t Ben that nudged him in the portal.
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(This has gone off on a tangent and I do not mean for it to sound like we are attacking Gabe. Many of the talking points are meant for a generic player and not Gabe in particular. I really like Gabe and hope he stays on the team, but that ship has sailed away with him entering the portal.)

It is not threats, it is straight talk. Like PJ says, he is going to try to over recruit every player on his team and it is the players responsibility to keep improving and win their spot. Ben was not hired to hold anyones hand. The coach is not doing anyone any favors by sugar coating the situation or playing favors to anyone on the team. Of course they do it diplomatically, but the players has to know what is expected from them.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Not my point. You stated always been one year scholarships, they are not.
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They technically aren’t but if a coach needs a scholarship and a player isnt performing I guarantee that 4 year scholarship won’t be a 4 year scholarship
 

GopherPlaya said:
Top players are already getting paid. Always have been
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Exactly. If you don't know how to keep the kids you want, you probably don't deserve them. Most of these players have given their life to the game, I think it is fair for them to want get the most out of it.
 



bc2211 said:
The real question is for how long. Unless you are a powerhouse, year 1 is not about results but culture and foundation. Firing a coach (who normally would have deserved it) during a free transfer year, and hiring a new coach with no pedigree is asking for a multi year disaster before BJ has anything at all to sell.

I keep reading that individual local recruits didn’t like Pitino or thought he didn’t work hard enough locally. Maybe that’s the case, but at best, BJ fixes only that issue. He still has to convince players that he’s the best coach for their future. I hope I’m in the minority, but BJ’s lack of experience would simply preclude him from consideration if I was a recruit or a parent who had a voice. That’s despite the assumption that he’s a good dude and recruits hands


only been skimming lately, apologies if this has been said a zillion times on here.
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There are many examples of some of the most successful college basketball coaches in history of college basketball who got their start as a head coach at much more successful basketball schools than Minnesota. There are also examples of National Championship basketball coaches who weren't successful at their next stop.
 

"They technically aren’t but if a coach needs a scholarship and a player isnt performing I guarantee that 4 year scholarship won’t be a 4 year scholarship"


August 18, 2014 Andy Rittenberg-

The Big Ten announced Wednesday that all of its institutions will grant athletic scholarships for the entire term of an athlete's enrollment and allow some athletes who leave school to return and finish their degrees on scholarship.

Scholarships will be "neither reduced nor cancelled" as long as athletes maintain good standing in school, within the athletic department and in the community. If athletes leave school for "a bona fide reason," they will be allowed to return at a later date to complete their degrees on scholarship.
 

GopherBlood666 said:
Former players would argue a 4 years scholarship is not enough, that they all deserve to get paid on top of the benefits that come with being on the team. Seems as though players like Gaston and Hurt got more than enough value from their time here considering their actual on court contributions.
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Some of those players may be right. I don't really have a strong opinion on paying players but I expect such a proposal, if enacted, would result in athletic cutbacks at least in lesser sports.

My reason for making an analogy to academic scholarships had more to do with the fairness of significant under-performers retaining a scholarship for four years. Scholarships, whether athletic or academic, are a scarce resource. If an under-performer is holding that scholarship for four years, a more deserving performer can't get that one.
 




Keyser Söze said:
If you paid attention on defense then you would certainly view it as a loss.
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He shot 30% from the floor and 25% from 3 on the season for a team that fell apart. We were playing 4 on 5 on offense with him on the floor. I’d like him to stay, but if he moves on, we will be just fine.
 

mplarson7 said:
Okay, I don't think you even understood what you typed out.

As of last week, we only had one guard total on the roster, all the others were in the transfer portal. You're throwing out a hypothetical where Johnson went to Gabe, knowing full well that he was the only guard remaining, saying that he was recruiting a guard to take his starting spot.

Your exact words: "Maybe Ben told him that his replacement is in the portal and is going to accept an offer to come to Minnesota."

So your take, the one guard we have we are replacing instead of filling out the other guard spots.
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It doesn't matter how many guards you have on your team now, it is how many guards your have on your roster at the start of the season and who will be playing then.
 

cjbfbp said:
Some of those players may be right. I don't really have a strong opinion on paying players but I expect such a proposal, if enacted, would result in athletic cutbacks at least in lesser sports.

My reason for making an analogy to academic scholarships had more to do with the fairness of significant under-performers retaining a scholarship for four years. Scholarships, whether athletic or academic, are a scarce resource. If an under-performer is holding that scholarship for four years, a more deserving performer can't get that one.
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I agree with your take. I was only pointing out that former players, even underachieving ones (see Kendall Shell on twitter), have the opinion that the scholarship and other benefits are not worth what they contribute to the school and that they should be getting paid on top of those. While to your point, even a player who doesn't contribute on the floor in a meaningful way, still gets to enjoy all the benefits of being on the basketball team ALONG with getting a 4 yr scholarship. If your grades slip on an academic scholly, they pull it.
 







GopherBlood666 said:
I was only pointing out that former players, even underachieving ones (see Kendall Shell on twitter),
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Are you saying Kendal Shell was an underachiever? Let me know if I misunderstood this comment.

He was a walk-on so I'm fine that he never contributed on the court. He sounds like a fantastic glue guy, and is one of the best recent alumni advocates we have.

Incidentally I ran into his mom at the grocery store in STL (I was wearing a Gopher hat) and chatted with her for a while. Really nice lady.
 

Guys this really isn't that difficult to figure out. Gabe it seems wasn't happy with the situation at the end of the season and planned on entering the transfer portal. When Ben Johnson was hired, he paused on that decision because he had a good relationship with Johnson and he wanted to think about it for a bit. After a week or so of thinking about it, he decided that he wanted to go through with his original decision and see what his options were...so he entered the portal. I'm sure Ben and Gabe still have a very good relationship and Ben hopes Gabe comes back, and there is probably better than 50/50 chance that he will. All these weird conspiracy theories some of you come up with are just strange.

As far as pressure of playing in your hometown....it isn't fun for Micheal Hurt to hear that he stinks....or Gaston to hear that he is a D player....or that Gabe couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Especially in the fishbowl that is your home town. These are 18-21 year old kids for the most part. They aren't professionals. Yeah they have the opportunity to get a free education and a lot of other perks, but that doesn't mean some of the criticism isn't hard to take for some of them.

I think we need to see who Ben hires as his assistant coaches, see who he recruits, and probably even play a few games before we make judgements on whether or not he is a good hire or a failure. I'm optimistic that the next 8 years will be much better than the last 8 years.
 

ethomasp31 said:
Guys this really isn't that difficult to figure out. Gabe it seems wasn't happy with the situation at the end of the season and planned on entering the transfer portal. When Ben Johnson was hired, he paused on that decision because he had a good relationship with Johnson and he wanted to think about it for a bit. After a week or so of thinking about it, he decided that he wanted to go through with his original decision and see what his options were...so he entered the portal. I'm sure Ben and Gabe still have a very good relationship and Ben hopes Gabe comes back, and there is probably better than 50/50 chance that he will. All these weird conspiracy theories some of you come up with are just strange.

As far as pressure of playing in your hometown....it isn't fun for Micheal Hurt to hear that he stinks....or Gaston to hear that he is a D player....or that Gabe couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Especially in the fishbowl that is your home town. These are 18-21 year old kids for the most part. They aren't professionals. Yeah they have the opportunity to get a free education and a lot of other perks, but that doesn't mean some of the criticism isn't hard to take for some of them.

I think we need to see who Ben hires as his assistant coaches, see who he recruits, and probably even play a few games before we make judgements on whether or not he is a good hire or a failure. I'm optimistic that the next 8 years will be much better than the last 8 years.
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I wouldn't be surprised if Ben even encouraged him to test the portal with the intention of continuing to recruit him. I think this could help Ben be on Gabe's side and say "hey, if this is something you want to do, then do it, I want you here though too and I'm gonna let you know that the whole way through." Sounds like Gabe was pretty set on the portal.
 

ethomasp31 said:
Guys this really isn't that difficult to figure out. Gabe it seems wasn't happy with the situation at the end of the season and planned on entering the transfer portal. When Ben Johnson was hired, he paused on that decision because he had a good relationship with Johnson and he wanted to think about it for a bit. After a week or so of thinking about it, he decided that he wanted to go through with his original decision and see what his options were...so he entered the portal. I'm sure Ben and Gabe still have a very good relationship and Ben hopes Gabe comes back, and there is probably better than 50/50 chance that he will. All these weird conspiracy theories some of you come up with are just strange.

As far as pressure of playing in your hometown....it isn't fun for Micheal Hurt to hear that he stinks....or Gaston to hear that he is a D player....or that Gabe couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Especially in the fishbowl that is your home town. These are 18-21 year old kids for the most part. They aren't professionals. Yeah they have the opportunity to get a free education and a lot of other perks, but that doesn't mean some of the criticism isn't hard to take for some of them.

I think we need to see who Ben hires as his assistant coaches, see who he recruits, and probably even play a few games before we make judgements on whether or not he is a good hire or a failure. I'm optimistic that the next 8 years will be much better than the last 8 years.
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Was with you on this post, until you said "I think we need to see ..." etc., and then concluded with "I'm optimistic that ...". ;)
 

eker0016 said:
Are you saying Kendal Shell was an underachiever? Let me know if I misunderstood this comment.

He was a walk-on so I'm fine that he never contributed on the court. He sounds like a fantastic glue guy, and is one of the best recent alumni advocates we have.

Incidentally I ran into his mom at the grocery store in STL (I was wearing a Gopher hat) and chatted with her for a while. Really nice lady.
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I wasn't saying that he didn't meet expectations for himself, as a walk on there really are no expectations. I'm sure he's great, but considering he was a walk on, it's even stranger to hear him complain about the grueling life of a student athlete. I'm sure he regrets nothing considering the things you mentioned.
 

SuperSenior13 said:
He shot 30% from the floor and 25% from 3 on the season for a team that fell apart. We were playing 4 on 5 on offense with him on the floor. I’d like him to stay, but if he moves on, we will be just fine.
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So why do you want him to stay then?
 

ethomasp31 said:
As far as pressure of playing in your hometown....it isn't fun for Micheal Hurt to hear that he stinks....or Gaston to hear that he is a D player....or that Gabe couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Especially in the fishbowl that is your home town. These are 18-21 year old kids for the most part. They aren't professionals. Yeah they have the opportunity to get a free education and a lot of other perks, but that doesn't mean some of the criticism isn't hard to take for some of them.
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Yada, yada, yada. I prefer Clint Eastwood's famous quote: "A man's got to know his limitations." Michael Hurt had no business playing at this level. He probably should have known that as a prep and, if not then, at least by the end of his freshman year. I don't know anything about him academically but if he was inclined that way, he had offers from two very fine lower level athletic schools: Davidson and Bucknell. I'm not sure he would have played much at Davidson but I think he might have been able to be a rotational player at Bucknell in the Patriot League. Every year that Gaston and Michael Hurt held a scholarship here meant that a more deserving player who might have been able to contribute meaningfully here couldn't get one.
 

skiumah1 said:
I wouldn't be surprised if Ben even encouraged him to test the portal with the intention of continuing to recruit him. I think this could help Ben be on Gabe's side and say "hey, if this is something you want to do, then do it, I want you here though too and I'm gonna let you know that the whole way through." Sounds like Gabe was pretty set on the portal.
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Not a bad thought and wouldn't surprise me considering what people have said about their relationship.
 

Clearly the guys are not buying in on Ben Johnson. Either Coyle was strapped down to make a racial hire and bring in someone who has ties to the black community in basketball in MN, or the U was strapped for cash on this hire. Already a loss for Ben Johnson not being able to 100% keep Gabe committed is a huge red flag. Should have just kept Pitino at this point...
 

Keyser Söze said:
If you paid attention on defense then you would certainly view it as a loss.
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Defense is not hard to recruit.

What is hard to recruit is a defender that can also play offense. Don't get so caught up on how the kid plays defense. I can go out and grab a D2 kid that has zero effect on offense but can shut another kid down. Doesn't mean jack squat.
 




SuperSenior13 said:
I always think there’s value in a local kid championing the program,
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Well, then, I wouldn't be looking toward him as a program champion because he just entered the transfer portal.
 

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