Kenny Pohto commits

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Valkommen Kenny.


Looks like Nebraska was his only other big offer?
 


Bakary Konate’s Hands said:
Hopefully this Euro pipeline pays off. Not like we were gonna get him but this pretty much closes the door on Chet I’m thinking.
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That’s fine. The percentage was so low on Chet. I’m all for finding other pipelines. Need to prove ourselves in the player development side and all will be good. I still am seeing a recruiting strategy and plan now which I like.
 





bfriedrichs10 said:
Is Wichita State considered a big offer? They've finished in the top 25 5 of last 10 years.
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Maybe I misread but it didn't look like he actually had an offer from them. I would certainly consider it a solid offer if they did.
 

Bakary Konate’s Hands said:
Hopefully this Euro pipeline pays off. Not like we were gonna get him but this pretty much closes the door on Chet I’m thinking.
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Recall this reporting - David said Chet’s college destination will be impacted by at least one factor involving complementary players. “They gotta have some bigs so that Chet doesn’t get thrown into the middle. The middle is not his game. I don’t want him anywhere where one guy gets hurt, now he’s gotta be the big. It won’t make sense.”
 






While our mn kids just go other places. We get to sniff out Morant except we don’t.
 


Frink said:
Maybe I misread but it didn't look like he actually had an offer from them. I would certainly consider it a solid offer if they did.
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Think you're right. They were on his 247 page but doesn't look like he had an offer from them. James mentioned on Twitter that they were showing interest.
 

I don't know...he seems to have significant skills overlap with Treyton Thompson.
 

Urbandale said:
I don't know...he seems to have significant skills overlap with Treyton Thompson.
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And Isaiah Ihnen, Martice Mitchell, and Freeman for that matter. Do we not have too many tall forwards on the roster?
 


https://247sports.com/college/minne...itted-Kenny-Pohto-Add-to-the-Class-152725465/
He can pass, he can shoot from the outside and has some creativity around the basket. Only reservation I see in a highlight tape...can he defend anybody? Very
stiff defensively on the perimeter. But, he can become more agile, quicker and stronger.
Do you pass on a top 150 guy?
Some of our present tall guys may not stick you know?
 

So the headline here obviously is no Chet Holmgren for Pitino which means he misses out on Holmgren, Brown (and I'd argue Tschetter now that he's taken Pohto) after missing out on the entire 2020 class.

The sub headline is that the roster construction is currently a mess. As of now for 2021 the roster would have FOUR center only prospects among the 13 scholarship players. With the way modern basketball is played, I would strongly argue that only 2 scholarships should be used on centers. As of now the 2021 Gophers would have Robbins, Freeman, Thompson, and now Pohto at the position. Going further, you could certainly argue that Martice Mitchell is a center or more of a center than a forward, that Jarvis Omersa is ideally a small ball center and certainly can't give you minutes on the wing given his lack of a perimeter shot or ball handling skills, and that Isaiah Ihnen is a 4 who cannot play the 3 until we see way more from as a ball handler than we've seen to date. That's now 7 of the 13 scholarships to guys you frequently only want one of on the court (non ball handler and/or non shooter). Obviously there is expected player movement here, but this roster needs more skilled players in the 6'4-6'8 range.

From what I've read on Pohto and the very little I've seen of him, his skill set is oddly similar to that of Treyton Thompson. They are both pick and pop bigs with average to below average athleticism who seem to play the right way but have questions about their physicality. Two of the biggest reasons I gave Pitino a pass on Tschetter were that Holmgren was still out there and that I saw Will as a really bad fit in a front court with Treyton as I didn't see that pairing as being athletic enough to play together. Will Tschetter had better offers than Pohto and at least plays a different position than Treyton Thompson, even if he would not be an ideal fit (obviously you take a talent like Chet Holmgren no matter what your roster looks like).

We're not opening any sort of "pipeline" with Pohto internationally, he's been at Sunrise Christian for a number of years. That's concerning because he's played with two top 20 kids in this 2021 class (including Minnesota's own Kendall Brown) so everyone has had a lot of chances to see him play and his only other high major offer (that we know of) is Nebraska. When Lindsted came to become our top recruiting assistant, I am sure this is not the type of player profile Pitino was expecting to land from Sunrise Christian where Lindsted's roots run deep. The Rivals site states that Pohto has grown from 6'9 and sub 200 to 6'11 and 235 since arriving at Sunrise Christian. Maybe (hopefully) a lot of that growth occurred during the pandemic and he's made a significant leap over a period of time where schools have been unable to view him?

Thompson (or Pohto) would be absolutely fine pieces for almost any school in the nation, as would a guy like Mashburn Jr last year. The issue arises when you're not bringing in the lead pieces ahead of these guys who are ranked in the top 30, 50 or even 75 in their class. If you look at the 247 composite you will see recruits from so many schools before you get to Treyton Thompson to Minnesota at 127. Auburn, Alabama, Stanford, Baylor, Tennessee all landed kids in the top 15, not a Blue Blood in the bunch. Texas A&M, Purdue, Ole Miss, UNLV, Western Kentucky, and Iowa State landed kids ranked between 25-50 (as did LSU but I will keep them out of this discussion for Will Wade reasons). Wake Forest who made a really late coaching change has the 63rd ranked player and another kid at 106. Colorado has two kids ranked from 75-100 and DePaul has 3. Northwestern and Nebraska both landed a higher ranked recruit than the Gophers did in this cycle. If you are a great X's and O's guy or a great developer of talent or great at picking out under rated recruits than these rankings don't really matter to your program.
 

Parcival said:
And Isaiah Ihnen, Martice Mitchell, and Freeman for that matter. Do we not have too many tall forwards on the roster?
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I don't think the height matters. It matters what they can defend. Ihnen can have some versatility defending on the perimeter. No idea on Mitchell, Thompson, or Pohto
 

EG#9 said:
That's now 7 of the 13 scholarships to guys you frequently only want one of on the court (non ball handler and/or non shooter). Obviously there is expected player movement here, but this roster needs more skilled players in the 6'4-6'8 range.

From what I've read on Pohto and the very little I've seen of him, his skill set is oddly similar to that of Treyton Thompson. They are both pick and pop bigs with average to below average athleticism who seem to play the right way but have questions about their physicality.
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In one paragraph you call them non shooters, in the very next you call them pick and pop bigs. I’m as surprised as you on the pickup here, but you are going in circles on the argument. Counting Ihnen as a non shooter is... wrong.
 

Urbandale said:
I don't know...he seems to have significant skills overlap with Treyton Thompson.
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Not a knock on the kid, he appears to have some talent, but this was my first thought too. Roster construction has always been an issue with Richard. I will hope for the best though.
 

EG#9 said:
So the headline here obviously is no Chet Holmgren for Pitino which means he misses out on Holmgren, Brown (and I'd argue Tschetter now that he's taken Pohto) after missing out on the entire 2020 class.

The sub headline is that the roster construction is currently a mess. As of now for 2021 the roster would have FOUR center only prospects among the 13 scholarship players. With the way modern basketball is played, I would strongly argue that only 2 scholarships should be used on centers. As of now the 2021 Gophers would have Robbins, Freeman, Thompson, and now Pohto at the position. Going further, you could certainly argue that Martice Mitchell is a center or more of a center than a forward, that Jarvis Omersa is ideally a small ball center and certainly can't give you minutes on the wing given his lack of a perimeter shot or ball handling skills, and that Isaiah Ihnen is a 4 who cannot play the 3 until we see way more from as a ball handler than we've seen to date. That's now 7 of the 13 scholarships to guys you frequently only want one of on the court (non ball handler and/or non shooter). Obviously there is expected player movement here, but this roster needs more skilled players in the 6'4-6'8 range.

From what I've read on Pohto and the very little I've seen of him, his skill set is oddly similar to that of Treyton Thompson. They are both pick and pop bigs with average to below average athleticism who seem to play the right way but have questions about their physicality. Two of the biggest reasons I gave Pitino a pass on Tschetter were that Holmgren was still out there and that I saw Will as a really bad fit in a front court with Treyton as I didn't see that pairing as being athletic enough to play together. Will Tschetter had better offers than Pohto and at least plays a different position than Treyton Thompson, even if he would not be an ideal fit (obviously you take a talent like Chet Holmgren no matter what your roster looks like).

We're not opening any sort of "pipeline" with Pohto internationally, he's been at Sunrise Christian for a number of years. That's concerning because he's played with two top 20 kids in this 2021 class (including Minnesota's own Kendall Brown) so everyone has had a lot of chances to see him play and his only other high major offer (that we know of) is Nebraska. When Lindsted came to become our top recruiting assistant, I am sure this is not the type of player profile Pitino was expecting to land from Sunrise Christian where Lindsted's roots run deep. The Rivals site states that Pohto has grown from 6'9 and sub 200 to 6'11 and 235 since arriving at Sunrise Christian. Maybe (hopefully) a lot of that growth occurred during the pandemic and he's made a significant leap over a period of time where schools have been unable to view him?

Thompson (or Pohto) would be absolutely fine pieces for almost any school in the nation, as would a guy like Mashburn Jr last year. The issue arises when you're not bringing in the lead pieces ahead of these guys who are ranked in the top 30, 50 or even 75 in their class. If you look at the 247 composite you will see recruits from so many schools before you get to Treyton Thompson to Minnesota at 127. Auburn, Alabama, Stanford, Baylor, Tennessee all landed kids in the top 15, not a Blue Blood in the bunch. Texas A&M, Purdue, Ole Miss, UNLV, Western Kentucky, and Iowa State landed kids ranked between 25-50 (as did LSU but I will keep them out of this discussion for Will Wade reasons). Wake Forest who made a really late coaching change has the 63rd ranked player and another kid at 106. Colorado has two kids ranked from 75-100 and DePaul has 3. Northwestern and Nebraska both landed a higher ranked recruit than the Gophers did in this cycle. If you are a great X's and O's guy or a great developer of talent or great at picking out under rated recruits than these rankings don't really matter to your program.
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Granted, I have not idea of what it is. Regardless -

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Does it seem weird to anyone else that in the "news" section, it suddenly shows the only three entries, all dated Oct 10th? They're the offers from the Gophers, Nebraska, and his commitment. Obviously those did not all occur on Oct 10th.

What I'm wondering is, does that mean 247 slapped a page together for him at the last second? And if so, why? Is he that under the radar? And if that's true, how "valid" is their 89/3* rating for him? Did they pull that out of a hat, too?
 

MplsGopher said:

Does it seem weird to anyone else that in the "news" section, it suddenly shows the only three entries, all dated Oct 10th? They're the offers from the Gophers, Nebraska, and his commitment. Obviously those did not all occur on Oct 10th.

What I'm wondering is, does that mean 247 slapped a page together for him at the last second? And if so, why? Is he that under the radar? And if that's true, how "valid" is their 89/3* rating for him? Did they pull that out of a hat, too?
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Very quiet recruitment. The type of kid who would've blown up this spring/summer but with no coaches able to attend the limited AAU events he stayed under the radar.
 

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