Ryan James, perhaps the most knowledgeable basketball recruiting reporter in the state, suggested today on his podcast, Talk Gophers Buckets (TGB), that Minnesota has all but secured a big man to transfer to the Twin Cities this spring/summer (around the 53 minute mark in the latest podcast episode).
He didn't get into specifics. It was clear that he did not have authority to disclose such information yet. But he sounded as if it was close to a done deal. James also said that De La Salle forward Jamison Battle, who is currently committed to George Washington University, may open up his availability and that the Gophers would likely be interested.
While James did not exactly guarantee any of this, he seemed quite confident that the Gophers' 2019 class would be made up of Tre Williams, Grant Sherfield, Jamison Battle and the nameless transfer big. James said that Pitino really likes the JUCO guard McNeil, but that there was a lot of competition to land him and that getting Jamison Battle to flip would be a great consolation prize...
Obviously the lead story in all of this is that the Gophers have a transfer big potentially coming in. James didn't specify if it was a grad transfer or even if the player would for sure be eligible right away (my interpretation of his phrasing is that the transfer would be eligible). My own baseless, irresponsible speculation is that James was referring to Texas' Jericho Sims, but in no way did James tip me off of that
He didn't get into specifics. It was clear that he did not have authority to disclose such information yet. But he sounded as if it was close to a done deal. James also said that De La Salle forward Jamison Battle, who is currently committed to George Washington University, may open up his availability and that the Gophers would likely be interested.
While James did not exactly guarantee any of this, he seemed quite confident that the Gophers' 2019 class would be made up of Tre Williams, Grant Sherfield, Jamison Battle and the nameless transfer big. James said that Pitino really likes the JUCO guard McNeil, but that there was a lot of competition to land him and that getting Jamison Battle to flip would be a great consolation prize...
Obviously the lead story in all of this is that the Gophers have a transfer big potentially coming in. James didn't specify if it was a grad transfer or even if the player would for sure be eligible right away (my interpretation of his phrasing is that the transfer would be eligible). My own baseless, irresponsible speculation is that James was referring to Texas' Jericho Sims, but in no way did James tip me off of that
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