How will we do with our portal additions?

What grade do you expect?


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Gopher_In_NYC

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Was wondering where people are with their mindset/expectations. As I recall last year, Hawkins and Mitchell weren’t lauded much and I was happy with both. Hawk was the first real PG we’ve had here in a while.

So what’s your prognostication?
 

With so many openings and who we're replacing, I feel like we have to end up better off as a whole. So, if what we had would have been "average" (open to debate, I know), I think we'll end up above that.
 

If we get Morgan, I think that is a nice start. Out of the 5 scholarships available, my expectation is that we'll get only 2 that will contribute. So Morgan + another quality starter would be ideal.
 

Not optimistic. 5 spots now. Is that going to be it? Also not optimistic that it stays at 5. Too many transfers to hit on and don't think it can be pulled off. The need of a couple big men is too much to overcome for this staff. Probably too much for most staffs.
 
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ouch

...should not be a starter here

We need a high quality center who can defend the paint, a back up center (Morgan would be fine in that role) and a scoring guard with size. Then we need to retain everyone else we have.

Yeah, I don't think Morgan should start on a B1G team, but he might on ours. I'm not expecting a high quality starting Center. I just don't have a ton of faith in the staff to land anyone of significance.
 



A lot of players would love to be in Big Ten at the Barn, but weren’t highly recruited out of HS. Feeder programs hopefully will allow us to get a couple addnl overacheiving starters who can defend and be coached into playing better (ie Hawkins, Mitchell). I really like the optimism of the vocal minority in this message board.
 



Need to make sure we land 2 good posts able to play in big ten, a wing, and backup PG able to at least fil 5 to 15 min of good play. Going to be an interesting next 30 days or so. Rooting for Ben. I know we lost some, but I think there are some additions out there that may work as good if not better. Payne is hard to lose and wish him best of luck, but he also had his difficulties with FT, foul trouble, staying healthy, consistent (meaning sometimes seem undersized and turnover prone while committing fouls) Curious to see where all the former gophers in the portal go to as well.
 

Morgan is the first official visit - Any sources for who else we get on campus would be appreciated.

Not much time to swing and miss this year.
 

Morgan is the first official visit - Any sources for who else we get on campus would be appreciated.

Not much time to swing and miss this year.
Yeah, kind of weird with all other leaks that more information about people in the transfer portal on where they might be going. With how things seem to go, I would think players would get more info out there hoping another team goes aggressive and gives them more. Lot of greed out there.
 

Yeah, kind of weird with all other leaks that more information about people in the transfer portal on where they might be going. With how things seem to go, I would think players would get more info out there hoping another team goes aggressive and gives them more. Lot of greed out there.
I did see from Ryan James article that Morgan is headed to NEB for his next visit. News, but not the type we want.
 



I did see from Ryan James article that Morgan is headed to NEB for his next visit. News, but not the type we want.
He would be a good addition but what concerns me is he only has 1 year left to play. Next year if they all come back we will lose Garcia, Fox, Hawkins, Mitchell, Christie (likely) and our transfer only have 1 year left, Ben really puts him in hard spot. Ben only has 2 Freshman coming in next year. If not careful next year would be looking again for 6-10 players. Jevon Porter and now Danny Wolf be really intriguing they have at least 2 years left and seem to have high level of play experience.
 

He would be a good addition but what concerns me is he only has 1 year left to play. Next year if they all come back we will lose Garcia, Fox, Hawkins, Mitchell, Christie (likely) and our transfer only have 1 year left, Ben really puts him in hard spot. Ben only has 2 Freshman coming in next year. If not careful next year would be looking again for 6-10 players. Jevon Porter and now Danny Wolf be really intriguing they have at least 2 years left and seem to have high level of play experience.
Agreed that would be ideal, but missing the tournament this year and the following years likely don't matter for Ben. He'll be done.

It's a tough spot right now.
 


Be a good start if Mitchell, who announced he is staying, would help get Jevon Porter here from Pepperdine!
 
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Would be a terrific get. There will be many more targets, so we’ll see how it goes.
 

If not careful next year would be looking again for 6-10 players. Jevon Porter and now Danny Wolf be really intriguing they have at least 2 years left and seem to have high level of play experience.

I think he has to go all in for next season regardless of recruits' eligibility. If he has good year next season (at least 20 or 21 regular season wins) and a tournament appearance, then he can survive a rebuilding year the season after. The 6-10 players won't all come from the portal. He can recruit a larger freshman class.
 

He would be a good addition but what concerns me is he only has 1 year left to play. Next year if they all come back we will lose Garcia, Fox, Hawkins, Mitchell, Christie (likely) and our transfer only have 1 year left, Ben really puts him in hard spot. Ben only has 2 Freshman coming in next year. If not careful next year would be looking again for 6-10 players. Jevon Porter and now Danny Wolf be really intriguing they have at least 2 years left and seem to have high level of play experience.
Schools like Minnesota will always be looking for five or more guys every year as long as unrestricted free agency exists.
 

Schools like Minnesota will always be looking for five or more guys every year as long as unrestricted free agency exists.
Because we are a weak program. That's what you hire coaches to fix. When kids get to our program and think they have arrived at their dream spot- then we stop losing impact guys.
 

Because we are a weak program. That's what you hire coaches to fix. When kids get to our program and think they have arrived at their dream spot- then we stop losing impact guys.
Thinking about earlier today, it does strike me that virtually all programs will have an average of three guys a year leave before expired eligibility. There will always be fringe players who will want to move on for opportunities or they are forced out. Factoring in coaching changes and other external factors will increase the average turnover rate.

There are a few scenarios in which guys like that stay.

Their choice of school is really about more than basketball.

They are really convinced they can earn playing time in the system they are in.

Or they are part of a legitimate contender and they are happy to be part of that success no matter how much they play.
 



Was wondering where people are with their mindset/expectations. As I recall last year, Hawkins and Mitchell weren’t lauded much and I was happy with both. Hawk was the first real PG we’ve had here in a while.

So what’s your prognostication?
I think Ben seems to do a pretty good job at evaluating transfer talent. Not every one has worked out, but I feel he can do just as good as last year if not better.
 


Thinking about earlier today, it does strike me that virtually all programs will have an average of three guys a year leave before expired eligibility. There will always be fringe players who will want to move on for opportunities or they are forced out. Factoring in coaching changes and other external factors will increase the average turnover rate.

There are a few scenarios in which guys like that stay.

Their choice of school is really about more than basketball.

They are really convinced they can earn playing time in the system they are in.

Or they are part of a legitimate contender and they are happy to be part of that success no matter how much they play.
Some turnover is fine. It ends up boiling down to what kind of turnover a team is having. Culling out those who aren't cutting it can actually be a way to improve. A program that is losing good players is the one that will suffer in this era.
 

Because we are a weak program. That's what you hire coaches to fix. When kids get to our program and think they have arrived at their dream spot- then we stop losing impact guys.
No, because there are a small handful of schools where players even might consider it their dream spot. About 310 DI programs are in our boat, reloading every year with mercenaries who will have zero loyalty to the school or coach.
 

Need to make sure we land 2 good posts able to play in big ten, a wing, and backup PG able to at least fil 5 to 15 min of good play. Going to be an interesting next 30 days or so. Rooting for Ben. I know we lost some, but I think there are some additions out there that may work as good if not better. Payne is hard to lose and wish him best of luck, but he also had his difficulties with FT, foul trouble, staying healthy, consistent (meaning sometimes seem undersized and turnover prone while committing fouls) Curious to see where all the former gophers in the portal go to as well.
Agree we need two post players to share time, a wing who can shoot, and at least one guard. But the first priority at guard is not a PG, it's a strong, big guard who can play hard defense and back a smaller guy down in the post.

It's hard to keep Hawkins off the floor more than five minutes a game. Asuma can hold it together the remainder.

A second new guard could be either a point or combo. The main qualification for this one is minimum two years left.
 





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