"It definitely is surprising," Jackson McAndrew on not receiving Gophers' offer

[WoodburyTim]

I guess if he made it known that he had no interest in the Gophers.....and/or the other way around.....there may not be a reason to offer the scholarship.

In my Whatifsports online basketball simulation you can only offer so many guys. Maybe Ben didn’t want to waste any of his offers?

 

[Spaulding!No!]

In my Whatifsports online basketball simulation you can only offer so many guys. Maybe Ben didn’t want to waste any of his offers?

Well now we lost him for sure.

 

[GopherLaundry2013]

I have known this family for quite a while. I don’t have any inside scoop on what he’s thinking about college and I wouldn’t share it if I did. Jackson is a great kid with wonderful, successful parents. His Mom is a UW grad (I think) and his Dad played basketball at UND. (One of his teammates there was Ben Jacobson, the head coach at Northern Iowa.) They are not anti-University of Minnesota people, but they also didn’t grow up here or as Gopher fans necessarily. With his family having other allegiances, Jackson isn’t a kid who grew up loving the Gophers or dreaming of a Minnesota offer. I think it’s quite likely that he would have opted to go elsewhere even if Minnesota had been in on him early. That said, to hear him say he hasn’t had contact from the coaches at the U since last fall is inconceivable to me.

This x100000. Even if he didn't grow up loving the Gophers he took the time to talk someone who literally writes for the Gophers. Makes zero sense that they wouldn't at least talk to him or try to get him on campus.

 

[MNVCGUY]

This x100000. Even if he didn't grow up loving the Gophers he took the time to talk someone who literally writes for the Gophers. Makes zero sense that they wouldn't at least talk to him or try to get him on campus.

We are making a lot of assumptions based oh his no contact since the fall. No clue what kind of contact was made prior to the final contact. Maybe they tried multiple times to get him on campus and he refused, the bottom line is we don't know.

The people who seem pretty plugged into the recruiting scene have said Jackson made it clear he wasn't coming here, if that is the case then Johnson has no reason to waste his time trying to woo him when he can spend that time trying to get someone else.

 

[Gophers_4life]

This x100000. Even if he didn't grow up loving the Gophers he took the time to talk someone who literally writes for the Gophers.Gopherhole

Just one small point of clarification there.

Carry on

 

[Gophers_4life]

We are making a lot of assumptions based oh his no contact since the fall. No clue what kind of contact was made prior to the final contact. Maybe they tried multiple times to get him on campus and he refused, the bottom line is we don't know.

The people who seem pretty plugged into the recruiting scene have said Jackson made it clear he wasn't coming here, if that is the case then Johnson has no reason to waste his time trying to woo him when he can spend that time trying to get someone else.

OK ... is it the no contact bit, or the no offer bit?

Seems you could at least have offered, at any point, even if you know he's not taking it, just to make it look like you, at one point, had tried.

 

[MNVCGUY]

OK ... is it the no contact bit, or the no offer bit?

Seems you could at least have offered, at any point, even if you know he's not taking it, just to make it look like you, at one point, had tried.

I don't agree with offering just to offer, there is no point in that. The staff has their reasons for not offering Jackson....and although we will likely never know what those are for sure....they exist.

 

[roadrunner]

Best player in the high school tournament, hands down.

 

[Roland Brooks]

Best player in the high school tournament, hands down.

Yep agree. IMO late to the table on him and Grove….

 

[Spaulding!No!]

The state hs kids are dunking on Ben.

 

[TheRealUncleRico]

I don't agree with offering just to offer, there is no point in that. The staff has their reasons for not offering Jackson....and although we will likely never know what those are for sure....they exist.

Don’t just offer to say you offered, that was Pitinos philosophy. Offer and offer early on these guys. They may not be interested right away but they aren’t going to tell their first D1 recruiter to hit the road. Build a relationship with the kid and the family and try to change their mind, maybe you will and maybe you won’t, I’m just looking for someone to try. I think Johnson has done a pretty good job recruiting in state talent. E.g. Payne and Ola-Joseph but no contact with a player of his caliber who is literally a 20 minute drive from your office just doesn’t make sense to me. I’m sure they have their reasons but I’d sure like to hear them

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

It is getting kind of annoying to hear all of these in-state kids with absolutely no interest in going to the U complain that the U doesn't recruit them hard enough.

From every indication I've heard, he has no interest in going to the U. He's annoyed the U didn't waste their time.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

It is getting kind of annoying to hear all of these in-state kids with absolutely no interest in going to the U complain that the U doesn't recruit them hard enough.

From every indication I've heard, he has no interest in going to the U. He's annoyed the U didn't waste their time.

I thought this was a Pitino issue, and that the reason Ben was hired was because he had so many great recruiting connections in the state and was going to land more in state players?

 

[Gophers_4life]

Kids want to leave the state. That's never going to change. They want to go some place else, for a while at least.

We have some nice in-state kids, and that's great! I think we'll always be able to get some decent contributors and a star now and then too.


But this whole idea of "recruiting and keeping all the best in-state kids, is what's going to drive me, is what's going to get me out of bed in the morning!" .... it's just bunk. Because of what I said above.

 

[GopherPlaya]

I thought this was a Pitino issue, and that the reason Ben was hired was because he had so many great recruiting connections in the state and was going to land more in state players?

Has he not? Half of our current roster is from Minnesota & he already has 1 commit from the same class as McAndrews. He also offered Groves & is after Mekonnen. We can’t say he hasn’t done his work as far as local recruiting

 

[GophersInIowa]

In my Whatifsports online basketball simulation you can only offer so many guys. Maybe Ben didn’t want to waste any of his offers?

I totally forgot about whatifsports. I used to play the college football dynasty religiously.

 

[GophersInIowa]

This x100000. Even if he didn't grow up loving the Gophers he took the time to talk someone who literally writes for the Gophers. Makes zero sense that they wouldn't at least talk to him or try to get him on campus.

I believe they were recruiting him at one time, then stopped right around the time he started getting better offers.

The coaches can't tell us what the reason was so it can be convenient for the recruit to make the home school look bad because they can't respond anyways. I don't know if that's what happened here but it most definitely does happen.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

Has he not? Half of our current roster is from Minnesota & he already has 1 commit for the same class as McAndrews. He also offered Groves & is after Mekonnen. We can’t say he hasn’t done his work as far as local recruiting

He has landed two players out of HS that played their final season of HS in MN, and they were ranked 7th and 8th in the state by 247s composite. If you want to count JOJ, that's fine, but he was ranked similarly and his upside is limited.

He has missed on all of the higher rated recruits that had options. Asuma is currently ranked 3rd of 3 in that class and 180th nationally so far, and after Iowa St backed off, there didn't appear to be much interest from his other offers besides the Gophers.

Freitag is likely going to play college basketball, and yet PJ is recruiting him harder than Ben.

 

[GopherPlaya]

He has landed two players out of HS that played their final season of HS in MN, and they were ranked 7th and 8th in the state by 247s composite. If you want to count JOJ, that's fine, but he was ranked similarly and his upside is limited.

He has missed on all of the higher rated recruits that had options. Asuma is currently ranked 3rd of 3 in that class and 180th nationally so far, and after Iowa St backed off, there didn't appear to be much interest from his other offers besides the Gophers.

Freitag is likely going to play college basketball, and yet PJ is recruiting him harder than Ben.

He was recruiting Freitag. I’ve seen them at Jefferson games. He focused his attention on Asuma instead. It’s not like Freitag has been getting new hoops offers. It seems like more teams are backing off then hooping on. As far as McAndrews, it seems there was interest but then that went away and he focused attention on others in the class. I have players that I have coached that is part of the Pulley program & before the state tournament run everyone thought McAndrews would be at Northern Iowa

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

He was recruiting Freitag. I’ve seen them at Jefferson games. He focused his attention on Asuma instead. It’s not like Freitag has been getting new hoops offers. It seems like more teams are backing off then hooping on. As far as McAndrews, it seems there was interest but then that went away and he focused attention on others in the class. I have players that I have coached that is part of the Pulley program & before the state tournament run everyone thought McAndrews would be at Northern Iowa

They thought McAndrew would end up at UNI despite several better offers and a visit to Creighton a month before the state tournament?

 

[disco]

He was recruiting Freitag. I’ve seen them at Jefferson games. He focused his attention on Asuma instead. It’s not like Freitag has been getting new hoops offers. It seems like more teams are backing off then hooping on. As far as McAndrews, it seems there was interest but then that went away and he focused attention on others in the class. I have players that I have coached that is part of the Pulley program & before the state tournament run everyone thought McAndrews would be at Northern Iowa

McAndrew improved a ton over the season. The first couple games we went to, he wasn't shooting lights out from the 3, and we were constantly wondering why they were even letting him shoot 3's when as the tallest guy on the floor, he should have been under the basket. He got considerably better late in the season.

 

[GopherPlaya]

They thought McAndrew would end up at UNI despite several better offers and a visit to Creighton a month before the state tournament?

He finished the season strong but Northern Iowa was as recruiting much harder than Creighton. Multiple Pulley players & coaches have said the same thing

 

[MNVCGUY]

Has he not? Half of our current roster is from Minnesota & he already has 1 commit from the same class as McAndrews. He also offered Groves & is after Mekonnen. We can’t say he hasn’t done his work as far as local recruiting

It's pretty simple....those determined to complain about anything and everything related to Gopher basketball right now will include local recruiting because they will act like Johnson was supposed to sign every top Minnesota player every year.

Nevermind the reality that players leave their home states all the time and no school anywhere gets every in-state prospect that they go after in recruiting.

 

[PMWinSTP]

It's pretty simple....those determined to complain about anything and everything related to Gopher basketball right now will include local recruiting because they will act like Johnson was supposed to sign every top Minnesota player every year.

Nevermind the reality that players leave their home states all the time and no school anywhere gets every in-state prospect that they go after in recruiting.

Well said.

 

[PMWinSTP]

To really cut to the chase on this, they should have asked him if he would have committed if Ben offered.

 

[howeda7]

I don't agree with offering just to offer, there is no point in that. The staff has their reasons for not offering Jackson....and although we will likely never know what those are for sure....they exist.

Have to save scholarships for football players from Washington State...

 

[Spaulding!No!]

He has landed two players out of HS that played their final season of HS in MN, and they were ranked 7th and 8th in the state by 247s composite. If you want to count JOJ, that's fine, but he was ranked similarly and his upside is limited.

He has missed on all of the higher rated recruits that had options. Asuma is currently ranked 3rd of 3 in that class and 180th nationally so far, and after Iowa St backed off, there didn't appear to be much interest from his other offers besides the Gophers.

Freitag is likely going to play college basketball, and yet PJ is recruiting him harder than Ben.

PJ must walk past Ben’s office and shake his head.

 

[stocker08]

It's pretty simple....those determined to complain about anything and everything related to Gopher basketball right now will include local recruiting because they will act like Johnson was supposed to sign every top Minnesota player every year.

Nevermind the reality that players leave their home states all the time and no school anywhere gets every in-state prospect that they go after in recruiting.

There are a few posters that seem to have a personal vendetta against Johnson. Best to just ignore them.

 

[GopherPlaya]

Best player in the high school tournament, hands down.

Best offensive player for sure. He still has a lot of room to grow defensively. He’s not a good rebounder for his size.

 

[Gophers_4life]

will include local recruiting because they will act like Johnson was supposed to sign every top Minnesota player every year.

Johnson didn't land the job here by convincing Coyle that he would focus on signing Minnesota players?

I get the world isn't binary, but to pretend like you can toss this bit away just because it's not realistic to get to 100%, when he was selling himself by saying he would do 90-95%, is not valid.


Effort is great, results matter. He didn't get the job by saying "I'll try really hard! Hopefully it will go well, too"