Fuller blog on Oto, Royce and HP:
Latvian recruit not in summer school yet
By Marcus Fuller on June 17
The Gophers signed Latvian native Oto Osenieks in the late recruiting period to help at small forward and power forward -- two positions where they seriously lack depth.
But the 6-foot-9, 215-pound Osenieks hasn't joined his fellow incoming freshmen in summer school this week. He hasn't been admitted yet because of an issue with his transcripts.
I'm not sure yet how long it will take to clear things up or whether this will affect his eligibility to play for coach Tubby Smith next season. But without Osenieks, sophomore Rodney Williams would be the only player on the 2010-11 roster who could play both forward spots.
Osenieks seems to think things will be fine. He told me that "everything was OK" and he should arrive in Minnesota next week.
-- I'm hearing that Kentucky is moving closer to possibly adding former Gophers freshman Royce White, but it's not a done deal. The Wildcats, I've been told, are trying to see if White could get a transfer waiver to play right away.
Even if that happens, the former Hopkins star wouldn't be eligible until the second semester because he left Minnesota without completing the spring semester. The same goes for if he wanted to return to the Gophers next season, which would make more sense because he wouldn't have to sit out a year.
According to Gophers' compliance, "Royce did not leave in good standing academically and does not meet NCAA eligibility requirements since he enrolled and attended class in the spring semester." They also said that summer school would not be enough to make White academically eligible for the fall semester. Because he's not academically eligible for the fall, he is not eligible to receive an athletic scholarship at that time.
I spoke to White's grandfather, Frank, who has heard only rumors about his grandson possibly going to Kentucky. Frank and Royce haven't spoken in a while. But Frank still wants Royce to stay home. He wants to talk to Smith again to see if there really is an opportunity for Royce to play for the Gophers next season. If not, Frank said he fully supports any decision his grandson makes to go back to school and play elsewhere.
-- The team to watch for Gophers fans in the Howard Pulley Pro-Am League this year appears to be Pat Madison Magic, which is expected to have returnees Al Nolen and Colton Iverson and new recruits Austin Hollins, Elliott Eliason and Maverick Ahanmisi on the roster. The Magic are playing Errol Carlstrom Playaz (Trevor Mbakwe and Blake Hoffarber) in their opening game at 7 Tuesday night at the Salvation Army in St. Paul.
Smith's basketball camp starts next week, so we'll see how many Gophers players show up to the first week of Pulley games. You can never predict what's going to happen each summer, especially with the newcomers.
http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2010/06/latvian-recruit-not-in-summer.html
Go Gophers!!
