Gopher-centric Portal Short List

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60's Guy said:
I know! Worked once...it's almost guaranteed to work again...if you ignore 6'8" 220 and the two years at Belmont where he shot 86% from the line, 47% and 42% from 3, avg 16 and 14 ppg, and 6 and 5 reb per game...if we ignore that....exactly the same or wait, Evans is better! You're right!
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Gawd, you are a miserable, insufferable prick.

I hope the rest of your years are as pleasant as you are.
 


Bad Gopher said:
As far as Evans goes, I'll optimistically declare that no news is good news...for now.
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Interesting neither Groves, Evans or Matas are rated in 247's top 250 transfer portal prospects. Only one is the Wing/ SG from Yale! I trust Niko however once again we will likely be the lesser talented team on the floor as far as paper ratings are concerned in virtually every Big Ten Game!
 


MTBeaudry said:
Interesting neither Groves, Evans or Matas are rated in 247's top 250 transfer portal prospects. Only one is the Wing/ SG from Yale! I trust Niko however once again we will likely be the lesser talented team on the floor as far as paper ratings are concerned in virtually every Big Ten Game!
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Just my opinion, which isn't worth much....

To improve you need better players. And with none of the three "main" targets even rated in the top 250, I have a hard time seeing where the team improves much. I know a lot of people blame depth for our issues last year, but who knows if the injured players would have been much better, if any better, than the guys on the floor, and its possible the guys on the floor dont develop as they did with less playing time.

Bottom line I'll reserve judgement until after the portal closes. I think Niko is a very good coach and will get the most out of whomever is on the roster, but in my opinion until there is a large influx of better talent the ceiling is only so high.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Just my opinion, which isn't worth much....

To improve you need better players. And with none of the three "main" targets even rated in the top 250, I have a hard time seeing where the team improves much. I know a lot of people blame depth for our issues last year, but who knows if the injured players would have been much better, if any better, than the guys on the floor, and its possible the guys on the floor dont develop as they did with less playing time.

Bottom line I'll reserve judgement until after the portal closes. I think Niko is a very good coach and will get the most out of whomever is on the roster, but in my opinion until there is a large influx of better talent the ceiling is only so high.
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It is clear that we are not going to be able to match the athletes that many other Big Ten teams put on the floor. That said, last year we played half the season or close to it with 6-7 guys. 3 of them couldn't shoot from range ( Shinholster, Grove and Reynolds). We had no size once JCJ got injured. Yet we won 8 Big Ten games. With decent size and depth can we win more? What will Niko's offense look like with 5 guys on the floor who can all shoot 3s proficiently? I am assuming that one addition will be a 6-9 or 6-10 guy that can shoot from outside.
 




gopherbadgerman said:
Just my opinion, which isn't worth much....

To improve you need better players. And with none of the three "main" targets even rated in the top 250, I have a hard time seeing where the team improves much. I know a lot of people blame depth for our issues last year, but who knows if the injured players would have been much better, if any better, than the guys on the floor, and its possible the guys on the floor dont develop as they did with less playing time.

Bottom line I'll reserve judgement until after the portal closes. I think Niko is a very good coach and will get the most out of whomever is on the roster, but in my opinion until there is a large influx of better talent the ceiling is only so high.
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Yes, overtime we'll need more talent

Even if they're not "better" guys do need rest, even kids, there were games we were clearly gassed down the stretch.

I don't think anyone here thinks we're going to final 4 next year, I would like to get Tourney next year.....and eventually couple of sweet 16s and if stars align a final 4 appearance

I also know it won't be a linear progression, some ups and downs and mn fans could really use some more ups.......
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Just my opinion, which isn't worth much....

To improve you need better players. And with none of the three "main" targets even rated in the top 250, I have a hard time seeing where the team improves much. I know a lot of people blame depth for our issues last year, but who knows if the injured players would have been much better, if any better, than the guys on the floor, and its possible the guys on the floor dont develop as they did with less playing time.

Bottom line I'll reserve judgement until after the portal closes. I think Niko is a very good coach and will get the most out of whomever is on the roster, but in my opinion until there is a large influx of better talent the ceiling is only so high.
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There are countless examples of productive players - or better - that were not in some services top 250 transfer list. Cade Tyson just put together one of the Gophers' best offensive seasons of the last 30 years, for one. But more broadly, the program needs to find stability. In a perfect world, no one gets hurt last year; Willis, Vaihola, and Omot are all staying another season, and the staff is filling in gaps rather than building a roster. But that's not the reality.

The program badly needs a season in which the roster is mostly healthy, young players are not asked to take on too big of a role, and players can take on additional responsibilities year over year. On the latter point, Asuma, Durkin, and JCJ should provide a foundation for the rest of the roster.

I agree that players like Groves are not the flashiest signings, but they help the program take a step in the right direction. Not to mention, I think everyone here would have been over the moon to have signed him a year ago.
 

bga1 said:
It is clear that we are not going to be able to match the athletes that many other Big Ten teams put on the floor. That said, last year we played half the season or close to it with 6-7 guys. 3 of them couldn't shoot from range ( Shinholster, Grove and Reynolds). We had no size once JCJ got injured. Yet we won 8 Big Ten games. With decent size and depth can we win more? What will Niko's offense look like with 5 guys on the floor who can all shoot 3s proficiently? I am assuming that one addition will be a 6-9 or 6-10 guy that can shoot from outside.
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Has been interesting to see the different ways people view last season. For me, the way we played, especially late after all the injuries piled up, makes me excited to see what Niko can do when he has a full roster and much better luck on the injury front.

The team we were rolling out late in the season should have been getting crushed on a nightly basis. It had no size, no depth, and was relying heavily on some very inexperienced players. And yet, night in and night out the team competed well, didn't always result in a win but they played really well against some quality teams.

There is work to do in the portal and Niko has to find some scoring especially. But so much about basketball is how the players fit together. We saw that first hand last year with how the team played in spite of all the things working against it.

We have a solid core to fill in around with the 4 returners, 3 incoming freshman and now Groves. Will be interesting to see who else Niko is able to bring in.
 




MNVCGUY said:
Has been interesting to see the different ways people view last season. For me, the way we played, especially late after all the injuries piled up, makes me excited to see what Niko can do when he has a full roster and much better luck on the injury front.

The team we were rolling out late in the season should have been getting crushed on a nightly basis. It had no size, no depth, and was relying heavily on some very inexperienced players. And yet, night in and night out the team competed well, didn't always result in a win but they played really well against some quality teams.

There is work to do in the portal and Niko has to find some scoring especially. But so much about basketball is how the players fit together. We saw that first hand last year with how the team played in spite of all the things working against it.

We have a solid core to fill in around with the 4 returners, 3 incoming freshman and now Groves. Will be interesting to see who else Niko is able to bring in.
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At 8 guys we may already have more rotation guys than last year in the last half. Will Tomes, Anderson and Mpoyi be rotation guys? None of is know, but both Tomes and Anderson can really shoot it and Mpoyi has size that we desperately lacked. People here act like there is no way the freshmen can factor in, but that is just not the case in college buckets and you never know who gets the chance, fits the system and soars. Let's get a big that can shoot, a quick PG and a scoring wing and this could be a lot of fun.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Just my opinion, which isn't worth much....

To improve you need better players. And with none of the three "main" targets even rated in the top 250,
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Keaton Wagler, who Niko thought he had in the fold but switched to Illinois, was the composite 261st ranked player according to 247

He worked out OK
 

bga1 said:
At 8 guys we may already have more rotation guys than last year in the last half. Will Tomes, Anderson and Mpoyi be rotation guys? None of is know, but both Tomes and Anderson can really shoot it and Mpoyi has size that we desperately lacked. People here act like there is no way the freshmen can factor in, but that is just not the case in college buckets and you never know who gets the chance, fits the system and soars. Let's get a big that can shoot, a quick PG and a scoring wing and this could be a lot of fun.
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They need to add a fired up emoji of some kind to the reactions. This got my juices flowing!
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Just my opinion, which isn't worth much....

To improve you need better players. And with none of the three "main" targets even rated in the top 250, I have a hard time seeing where the team improves much. I know a lot of people blame depth for our issues last year, but who knows if the injured players would have been much better, if any better, than the guys on the floor, and its possible the guys on the floor dont develop as they did with less playing time.

Bottom line I'll reserve judgement until after the portal closes. I think Niko is a very good coach and will get the most out of whomever is on the roster, but in my opinion until there is a large influx of better talent the ceiling is only so high.
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Both can be true. The team is likely better with more depth, especially in the post. But staying healthy would hindered the development of several guys.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
Just my opinion, which isn't worth much....

To improve you need better players. And with none of the three "main" targets even rated in the top 250, I have a hard time seeing where the team improves much. I know a lot of people blame depth for our issues last year, but who knows if the injured players would have been much better, if any better, than the guys on the floor, and its possible the guys on the floor dont develop as they did with less playing time.

Bottom line I'll reserve judgement until after the portal closes. I think Niko is a very good coach and will get the most out of whomever is on the roster, but in my opinion until there is a large influx of better talent the ceiling is only so high.
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I frickin' love we got a guy like this who is under the radar. Keep giving Niko young guys, with multiple years left to play, who were sitting on 'Super Team' rosters in 2025/2026.

Imagine who Groves was practicing against day in and day out at TT!? Throw Winters Grady in that bucket as well at Michigan.

If the biggest money programs can outspend us by 2x and hoard top talent, this is how we win. We have the perfect coach to execute it.

Also, the same guys complaining about "rankings" would be complaining more if Groves had landed at Wisconsin, who wanted him badly (per reports).
 


topos said:
I frickin' love we got a guy like this who is under the radar. Keep giving Niko young guys, with multiple years left to play, who were sitting on 'Super Team' rosters in 2025/2026.

Imagine who Groves was practicing against day in and day out at TT!? Throw Winters Grady in that bucket as well at Michigan.

If the biggest money programs can outspend us by 2x and hoard top talent, this is how we win. We have the perfect coach to execute it.

Also, the same guys complaining about "rankings" would be complaining more if Groves had landed at Wisconsin, who wanted him badly (per reports).
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Yep! Ability, skills, opportunity and system. Groves got no opportunity at TT. Evans got stuffed on the shelf at NC as did Tyson the year before. If the elements fit, you can do a lot. Stirtz started in D2 because he probably didn't show the athleticism that the majors wanted. Then he got with the right coach and was able to show what he could do. Gopher fans should never forget that we had a high end guy like Kris Humphreys and we won only a couple of Big Ten games. Then a year later, without him, but with a bunch of no names that fit together- we made the NCAA tourney. Do we want great players? Of course we do, but Niko can build a solid team with great fits to the system.
 

60's Guy said:
Nolan Groves...shot 23%, 11th leading scorer on his team at 0.9ppg in 23 games
Kyan Evans...8th leading scorer on his team at 4ppg in 33 games
AND, these are the two guys that will replace Tyson and Reynolds. These are the two guys we are focusing our attention on.
I can't be the only guy that thinks fubar?
No, Niko can make em both all conference....just wait!
No doubt Niko will make them better but we are in the Big Ten....seriously?
I hope there is a plan for 5 better guys in addition if we lasso these two.
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First Evans was never going to leave Iowa City because it's such a superior program. Now even if we get him, he's a stiff.

You seem determined to be negative.
 




Unregistered User said:
Keaton Wagler, who Niko thought he had in the fold but switched to Illinois, was the composite 261st ranked player according to 247

He worked out OK
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Portal ratings are less helpful than high school rankings of players. They will get them right on super high profile players with plenty of data. But a huge portion of portal guys are in because they didn’t play as much as they wanted to. It could be because they weren’t good, but it could also be bad coaching or bad fit. That leaves a lot of unknowns in the process, especially for those of us with access to stats only.
 


gopherbadgerman said:
Just my opinion, which isn't worth much....

To improve you need better players. And with none of the three "main" targets even rated in the top 250, I have a hard time seeing where the team improves much. I know a lot of people blame depth for our issues last year, but who knows if the injured players would have been much better, if any better, than the guys on the floor, and its possible the guys on the floor dont develop as they did with less playing time.

Bottom line I'll reserve judgement until after the portal closes. I think Niko is a very good coach and will get the most out of whomever is on the roster, but in my opinion until there is a large influx of better talent the ceiling is only so high.
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That is my point! However we always do need to questiin these different sites ratings as well. A lot of the rankings were based on there stars/ rating coming out of high school!
 

60's Guy said:
Nolan Groves...shot 23%, 11th leading scorer on his team at 0.9ppg in 23 games
Kyan Evans...8th leading scorer on his team at 4ppg in 33 games
AND, these are the two guys that will replace Tyson and Reynolds. These are the two guys we are focusing our attention on.
I can't be the only guy that thinks fubar?
No, Niko can make em both all conference....just wait!
No doubt Niko will make them better but we are in the Big Ten....seriously?
I hope there is a plan for 5 better guys in addition if we lasso these two.
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I don't think anyone thinks this.

Whether or not these are the guys you'd offer, it should not be difficult to understand why some people would like them.

Nolan Groves was a FR who was playing on an absolutely stacked Texas Tech team. Pointing to his stats in college is silly (IMO). There are tons of players who have done absolutely nothing in their FR seasons on good teams who turned into good basketball players. People look at Groves and they see a big guard who showed skill in HS. Players of his caliber against decent competition in MN usually turn out to be pretty good basketball players.

Kyan should be easy. He's been a good basketball player at Colorado State and didn't get much run at UNC. He can handle the ball, shoot, and knows Niko's system. He fits really well with Asuma and no team can have too many players who can shoot and dribble.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I don't think anyone thinks this.

Whether or not these are the guys you'd offer, it should not be difficult to understand why some people would like them.

Nolan Groves was a FR who was playing on an absolutely stacked Texas Tech team. Pointing to his stats in college is silly (IMO). There are tons of players who have done absolutely nothing in their FR seasons on good teams who turned into good basketball players. People look at Groves and they see a big guard who showed skill in HS. Players of his caliber against decent competition in MN usually turn out to be pretty good basketball players.

Kyan should be easy. He's been a good basketball player at Colorado State and didn't get much run at UNC. He can handle the ball, shoot, and knows Niko's system. He fits really well with Asuma and no team can have too many players who can shoot and dribble.
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It isn't like they have unlimited funds. Groves is the Tyson signing this year except younger. Out of the bunch they signed last year look how Reynolds, Tyson, Grove, and Durkin looked by end of the year......that is what they are trying to recruit. I hate to say Wisconsin type of guys but he is looking for shooters at every position except maybe C.
 

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