Mitchell commits!!

Per the Strib article, he was also portal recruited by Oklahoma, Clemson, UNLV and San Diego St. (yes, Brian Dutcher knows more about talent than anyone on this thingie)- that isn’t too shabby and he mentions Bens relationship with him.
 
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Not only was he a respectably ranked player coming out of high school, but he's fairly well ranked in the transfer portal. On top of that.....WCC All Freshman team.....which is a good sign no matter how you spin it. Especially considering that his numbers improved from his freshman to sophomore season.

Really nice get. But there's still work to do.
 



Ben Johnson banked on a lot of freshman minutes this past season.
And the 3 that are returning will be in a much better position to make a bigger impact in 23-24 because of it.

If Ihnen, Fox and Battle don't go down with injuries he might have been able to bring Payne and JOJ along a little slower. Once those 3 were unavailable there wasn't much choice but to throw the freshman out there and see what they can do.
 


And the 3 that are returning will be in a much better position to make a bigger impact in 23-24 because of it.

If Ihnen, Fox and Battle don't go down with injuries he might have been able to bring Payne and JOJ along a little slower. Once those 3 were unavailable there wasn't much choice but to throw the freshman out there and see what they can do.
I don't see that scenario turning out well for the Gophers. Let's say Ihnen and Fox were fully healthy. #1. Still needed guards. We may have won an extra BIG or 2 but we would still have been 14th. Also-the F who didn't play on a historically bad team would now be in the portal. Because they got to play this year they are choosing to stay and hopefully be the foundation for a BIG that is moving up in the standings. Not glad that Fox and Ihnen were injured. Just glad those 4 freshmen are now somewhat seasoned and in more of a position to contribute this fall.
 

I'm right behind you, Moorpark.
could be Mitchell tired of the fires. drove by pepperdine after that fire burned down all the way to the ocean. the campus was saved, but all around it was burned. houses right on the ocean burnt to the ground

moorpark was hit hard also a few years ago when the reagan library was saved.

lived through a 7.2 and once had fires on two sides of me in CA. sometimes the cold isn't as bad as earthquakes and fires

Mitchell talking about why he committed to Pepperdine back in 2021:

hopefully he'll be more committed to CBJ
 

And the 3 that are returning will be in a much better position to make a bigger impact in 23-24 because of it.

If Ihnen, Fox and Battle don't go down with injuries he might have been able to bring Payne and JOJ along a little slower. Once those 3 were unavailable there wasn't much choice but to throw the freshman out there and see what they can do.

Amazing Facilities !!!
That I didn't know we had !
 




Amazing Facilities !!!
That I didn't know we had !
They do have top facilities, there is still something around 80 million left to pay on all of the facilities upgraded for all Gopher sports. That was one of the advantages that Pitino waisted.
 



Still gotta ask though. How is the Athletes Village still not paid off? And on top of that, we are trying to get people to pay for NIL?
Is Lou Nanne still heading up the fund-raising?
 



Good to see Ben is moving quick in the portal. I like that players who didn't want to be here entered the portal early and he has a guard signed before April. Are we expecting Mitchell to start? I understand he is younger, will he be able to contribute right away like Stephens and Loewe did?
 



Good to see Ben is moving quick in the portal. I like that players who didn't want to be here entered the portal early and he has a guard signed before April. Are we expecting Mitchell to start? I understand he is younger, will he be able to contribute right away like Stephens and Loewe did?
🔌 and play - I’m thinking he will be the starter , but we should be able to rotate 4 Guards throughout s game and no more Tony Stark minutes next season.

I think we have two now, including Christie, and 2 to go - all should have better handles than Cooper/Samuels, as that alleviates many issues.
 

Make no mistake: this is a good player. Thank your lucky stars, Gopher fans; I wasn't sure we'd be able to pull someone in like this, so I figure this bodes well for other transfers. This is momentum.
Optimism? Is it allowed?
 

Still gotta ask though. How is the Athletes Village still not paid off? And on top of that, we are trying to get people to pay for NIL?
Is Lou Nanne still heading up the fund-raising?
It is almost paid off but you slow donations by not appearing to have ‘needs’.
 




It is almost paid off but you slow donations by not appearing to have ‘needs’.
I agree. It's more exciting to likely donate to a new initiative. Moody Center in Austin TX (Has been mentioned before) is their premiere arena in Austin. It sits about 10,000 for games and 15,000 for concerts. It was $375M to build 4 years ago. They are hosting the CMT Music awards on Sunday. Our facility probably wouldn't need all the bells and whistles of the Moody Center (Hockey rink and Music), so we should be able to build something nice in that ballpark.

Problems I see is if you tear down Williams arena, does the pavilion have to come down as well? Does a complete renovation make sense keeping the shell?
 

Make no mistake: this is a good player. Thank your lucky stars, Gopher fans; I wasn't sure we'd be able to pull someone in like this, so I figure this bodes well for other transfers. This is momentum.
I'm with ya.

Going to come back to earth for a moment though:
-If we don't pull in at least 2 more transfer guards (Respectable ones), that will be a let down.
 



I'm with ya.

Going to come back to earth for a moment though:
-If we don't pull in at least 2 more transfer guards (Respectable ones), that will be a let down.
Realistically, yes, we're still down both qualitatively and quantitatively because we lost Battle. Will still be a challenge to recruit someone of his caliber, but this is a start.
 

Make no mistake: this is a good player. Thank your lucky stars, Gopher fans; I wasn't sure we'd be able to pull someone in like this, so I figure this bodes well for other transfers. This is momentum.
Anybody know who else they are looking at.
 






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