MN HS Basketball 2024-25 Season thread

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Watched sophomore center, Mustafa Mohammed (6'10") from So St Paul last Thursday. He's a kid to watch. He can step out and hit the three. He has decent handles and nice footwork. Right now he's just too thin. He gets pushed around and pushed out of the paint. A good weight program will help. He has the tools to play P4 D1 basketball. His team is young. No senior starters. They gave away a win against No St Paul with lapses focus while the No St Paul point guard took over and abused his defender down the stretch. No St Paul won by one point. A fun game to watch.
 

FinnGopher said:
Watched sophomore center, Mustafa Mohammed (6'10") from So St Paul last Thursday. He's a kid to watch. He can step out and hit the three. He has decent handles and nice footwork. Right now he's just too thin. He gets pushed around and pushed out of the paint. A good weight program will help. He has the tools to play P4 D1 basketball. His team is young. No senior starters. They gave away a win against No St Paul with lapses focus while the No St Paul point guard took over and abused his defender down the stretch. No St Paul won by one point. A fun game to watch.
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I watched the ssp game vs sta (I have no connection to either.) I agree definitely some tools for a young big kid. But he got dominated by a 6-6 kid inside. He really did not defend well and got pushed around really easily. Played a lot smaller than 6-10. Obviously as a sophomore the kid is one to watch and develop, but has a long way to go.

**side note watching game noticed a kid that was playing at a different school earlier this year was playing in this game. I know the mnhsl transfer rules are a joke, but this seems beyond reasonable
 

GeezoBeezo said:
I watched the ssp game vs sta (I have no connection to either.) I agree definitely some tools for a young big kid. But he got dominated by a 6-6 kid inside. He really did not defend well and got pushed around really easily. Played a lot smaller than 6-10. Obviously as a sophomore the kid is one to watch and develop, but has a long way to go.

**side note watching game noticed a kid that was playing at a different school earlier this year was playing in this game. I know the mnhsl transfer rules are a joke, but this seems beyond reasonable
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Yes, Mustafa Mohammed is presently a young willow that gets pushed around. He has to get stronger (and he will). His footwork also needs improvement, but he has God given abilities that make him an interesting prospect.

As for the other person, I suspect he was playing for the Tommies. I believe that a person can transfer from a public school to a private school without penalty.
 


FinnGopher said:
Yes, Mustafa Mohammed is presently a young willow that gets pushed around. He has to get stronger (and he will). His footwork also needs improvement, but he has God given abilities that make him an interesting prospect.

As for the other person, I suspect he was playing for the Tommies. I believe that a person can transfer from a public school to a private school without penalty.
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Actually it was cretin up until January.

***the change in Mustafa from last year to this has been impressive hopefully continues to develop. Still a long ways to go, but would guess he’s going to get offers on potential alone.
 

FinnGopher said:
Yes, Mustafa Mohammed is presently a young willow that gets pushed around. He has to get stronger (and he will). His footwork also needs improvement, but he has God given abilities that make him an interesting prospect.

As for the other person, I suspect he was playing for the Tommies. I believe that a person can transfer from a public school to a private school without penalty.
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Having been intimately involved in that scenario, I can tell you that is categorically false. The other way around might be true but there’s no free transfer into private schools. My situation was a fringe player on a fringe team who switched schools for school and not basketball and was denied in appeal and missed her senior year of playing.
 

GeezoBeezo said:
I watched the ssp game vs sta (I have no connection to either.) I agree definitely some tools for a young big kid. But he got dominated by a 6-6 kid inside. He really did not defend well and got pushed around really easily. Played a lot smaller than 6-10. Obviously as a sophomore the kid is one to watch and develop, but has a long way to go.

**side note watching game noticed a kid that was playing at a different school earlier this year was playing in this game. I know the mnhsl transfer rules are a joke, but this seems beyond reasonable
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He's the type of guy that a school like MN has to take a gamble on. If he pans out, everyone will wonder how he ended up at MN. If he doesn't pan out, everyone will wonder how anyone offered him a scholarship. He has a ton of tools but at times looks really bad.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
He's the type of guy that a school like MN has to take a gamble on. If he pans out, everyone will wonder how he ended up at MN. If he doesn't pan out, everyone will wonder how anyone offered him a scholarship. He has a ton of tools but at times looks really bad.
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First, I have no idea where Mustafa will end up so take this as you will. But, I watched a young 6'9"sophomore kid, scrawny as a bean pole, who had just transitioned from hockey, play at Hibbing HS. He went on to blossom and be Mr Basketball in 1976 and then attend the U. He was still scrawny his senior year, but his footwork was incredible. At the U he started an intense weight program and became an NBA legend.
Mustafa probably will never develop to such amazing success, but at age 15/16 who can know. He has the height. He has good form on his shot. He has descent handles for his height. He now needs to learn the game, build muscle, and consistently believe he can succeed with hard work. His potential is hardly tapped. And I agree that this is an under the radar kid that the Gophers could get.
 



FinnGopher said:
First, I have no idea where Mustafa will end up so take this as you will. But, I watched a young 6'9"sophomore kid, scrawny as a bean pole, who had just transitioned from hockey, play at Hibbing HS. He went on to blossom and be Mr Basketball in 1976 and then attend the U. He was still scrawny his senior year, but his footwork was incredible. At the U he started an intense weight program and became an NBA legend.
Mustafa probably will never develop to such amazing success, but at age 15/16 who can know. He has the height. He has good form on his shot. He has descent handles for his height. He now needs to learn the game, build muscle, and consistently believe he can succeed with hard work. His potential is hardly tapped. And I agree that this is an under the radar kid that the Gophers could get.
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Yeah, I was agreeing with you. He has the stuff you can't teach. If he can learn those things and develop, he'll be special. People have made and lost a lot of money gambling on talented bigs who need to develop, they are certainly worth the risk.
 

Holy Man said:
Having been intimately involved in that scenario, I can tell you that is categorically false. The other way around might be true but there’s no free transfer into private schools. My situation was a fringe player on a fringe team who switched schools for school and not basketball and was denied in appeal and missed her senior year of playing.
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That is not something this board will want to hear. I would edit your post to say, “Private school kids get lavish scholarships, in many cases hand delivered by the Pope himself.”

Is MplsGopher hadn’t gotten banned he would be on here backing me up on this.
 

WoodburyTim said:
That is not something this board will want to hear. I would edit your post to say, “Private school kids get lavish scholarships, in many cases hand delivered by the Pope himself.”

Is MplsGopher hadn’t gotten banned he would be on here backing me up on this.
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When I was talking about "free" I wasn't speaking of $$$. I was saying that the transfer rules are different between public and private schools, which I took as being easier if you can roll from public to private or from private to private. This is in comparison to moving from public to public.

It sounds like @Holy Man is saying the transfers are difficult no matter the status of private or public.
 




FinnGopher said:
When I was talking about "free" I wasn't speaking of $$$. I was saying that the transfer rules are different between public and private schools, which I took as being easier if you can roll from public to private or from private to private. This is in comparison to moving from public to public.

It sounds like @Holy Man is saying the transfers are difficult no matter the status of private or public.
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That is correct. A change of address is necessary and it must be out of the current school district for a kid to be eligible
 

GopherPlaya said:
That is correct. A change of address is necessary and it must be out of the current school district for a kid to be eligible
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I knew a family that "rented" an apartment in a suburb so their daughter could switch schools to attend and play hockey. The "apartment" was merely another hockey players house. It's really quite interesting to see how people find loopholes to the rules.
 



Absolutely wild scene last night in the Hopkins and Wazayta game...both coaches and the officials lost control big time:




Go Gophers!!
 

Unfortunately, the adults are the issue in these situations and from what I've seen this was the issue again last night.

Doogie probably could have started by blaming the coaches rather than pointing out that the MSHSL needs better officials. At least one of those officials has worked state tournament games, if not all of them. He makes it seem like the officials were what caused the coaches to get into it, a coach to kick a chair and a team not shaking the hands of the other team.

The students did not come on the floor until Wayzata's coach had a hissy fit and didn't shake hands.

Terrible on two of the best coaches in the state to let that all happen.
 

1. Tough foul to call. Awkward play. Would’ve been criticized if a foul was called.
2. Wayzata coach should’ve teen t’d up for going on the court and getting in the refs face after the non-call.
3. Wayzata coach telling his players to leave the court without shaking hands is ridiculous. If the two teams are shaking hands, this thing in my opinion, doesn’t boil over like it did.
4. Hopkins administration needs to do a better job of controlling the students, especially when you see what happened about a week ago with non-players attacking a player with a crowbar while he’s on the bench in Minneapolis
5. Let me guess? Doogie has a connection with.Wayzata?? I’m betting his kid goes there? There was plenty of blame to go round between the two teams.
 
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cheeseheadgophfan said:
1. Tough foul to call. Awkward play. Would’ve been criticized if a foul was called.
2. Wayzata coach should’ve teen t’d up for going on the court and getting in the rough face after the non-call.
3. Wayzata coach telling his players to leave the court without shaking hands is ridiculous. If the two teams are shaking hands, this thing in my opinion, doesn’t boil over like it did.
4. Hopkins administration needs to do a better job of controlling the students, especially when you see what happened about a week ago with non-players attacking a player with a crowbar while he’s on the bench in Minneapolis
5. Let me guess? Doogie has a connection with.Wayzata?? I’m betting his kid goes there? There was plenty of blame to go round between the two teams.
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The Hopkins students chase Wayzata players off the floor and a list of reasons why it Wayzata’s fault. Yeah Doogie is the biased one here. Good Lord.
 

WoodburyTim said:
The Hopkins students chase Wayzata players off the floor and a list of reasons why it Wayzata’s fault. Yeah Doogie is the biased one here. Good Lord.
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Looks like the Hopkins students were just waving them Goodbye. Didn’t see any crowbars?🤔
 

short ornery norwegian said:
OK, time for an update -- MN HS Boys Basketball ratings

Class A:
1. Cherry
2. Dawson-Boyd
3. Nevis
4. Henning
5. Deer River
6. Park Christian
7. Rushford-Peterson
8. Cedar Mountain
9. Red Lake County
10. Ada-Borup West

Class 2A:
1. Albany
2. Caledonia
3. Waseca
4. Breck
5. Lake City
6. Jackson County Central
7. Montevideo
8. Blake
9. Warroad
10. Rockford

Class 3A:
1. Benilde-St. Margaret's
2. Orono
3. Mankato East
4. Alexandria
5. DeLaSalle
6. Totino-Grace
7. Byron
8. Faribault
9. Stewartville
10. Richfield

Class 4A:
1. Cretin-Derham hall
2. Hopkins
3. Wayzata
4. Tartan
5. St. Michael-Albertville
6. Sauk Rapids-Rice
7. Prior Lake
8. Champlin Park
9. Anoka
10. Shakopee
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I believe Damian Johnson is the coach at Benilde-St. Margaret's, and previously he was the coach at North St. Paul where he made them a solid team. I wonder if he will stick to coaching at the highschool level or try to move up to college teams? If so, whoever is the next Gopher's coach should look into adding Damian as an assistant.
 


cheeseheadgophfan said:
5. Let me guess? Doogie has a connection with.Wayzata?? I’m betting his kid goes there? There was plenty of blame to go round between the two teams.
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Nope - Doogie is a Hopkins parent.

I honestly don't get why the officials let Ken Novak continue to act the way he does. He should literally be Teed up in almost every game.
 

WoodburyTim said:
The Hopkins students chase Wayzata players off the floor and a list of reasons why it Wayzata’s fault. Yeah Doogie is the biased one here. Good Lord.
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Dude....I'm from Wisconsin....don't have any dog in this fight. Think my points were 2-1 for each school????? Students were WRONG, but my point remains that the Wayzata coach was an idiot for not making the players shake hands. That very well may have de-escalated the whole thing. I thought Doogie's post was one-sided, and apparently I was wrong that he would have a Wayzata bias. I apologize.
 

Interesting, Wayzata's coach has been a hot head and Novak barks all game every game. As much as I wanted to see a foul there, I didn't. Awkward play, got off balance and couldn't strength it up there. Hopkins needs to keep this kids off the court longer
 

Hopkins 77 Wayzata 76: Five Things to Know - Prep Hoops

We break down all of the controversy right now after watching not only the game, but the numerous videos that have circulated around the local social media showcasing some of the things that did happen. One (A). Jayden. totaled 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. I think his ball pressure...
prephoops.com prephoops.com
 

cheeseheadgophfan said:
Dude....I'm from Wisconsin....don't have any dog in this fight. Think my points were 2-1 for each school????? Students were WRONG, but my point remains that the Wayzata coach was an idiot for not making the players shake hands. That very well may have de-escalated the whole thing. I thought Doogie's post was one-sided, and apparently I was wrong that he would have a Wayzata bias. I apologize.
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Sorry, I should have not meant that you were one way or another. From what I heard they left without shaking hands because the crowd was getting nasty. Best to get out of there in a hurry which may have been the different between a bad situation and a horrible situation.
 

WoodburyTim said:
Sorry, I should have not meant that you were one way or another. From what I heard they left without shaking hands because the crowd was getting nasty. Best to get out of there in a hurry which may have been the different between a bad situation and a horrible situation.
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Watch the video. They left the floor and didn't shake hands because the HC jumped in line and started pushing his team to go to the locker room and not shake hands.
 

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