Mn prospects 2015 and beyond...

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march madness

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Could anyone give me their take on some of the 2015 and beyond Mn recruits? I no longer live in Minnesota, so I no longer get to see the high schoolers too often in person.
2015:
I haven't seen Illikainen but I have read enough about him.
How about Sacar Amin. ESPN says 6'3" 185 SG, athletic driver, good defender, who needs to improve his ball handling and shooting. He sounds a lot like Maurice Hargrow? Gopher interest?

Jarvis Johnson, ESPN 6'1" 185. Super athletic pg with speed, motor, and ability. Needs to work on an outside shot. A bigger version of Dre Mathieu?? I know gophers are interested and he sounds perfect for our style.

Marshawn Wilson, ESPN 6'3" 185. Strong attacking lead guard and a good rebounder. Another guy who is not a strong shooter, streaky at best. He doesnt sound like a pure pg and might be a combo guy?? T. Simmons comparisons? Is he a backup plan guy incase the gophers miss on Jarvis?
2016:
Amir coffey, 6'4" 168. Long, lean smooth lefty scorer and shooter. Good motor and a good defender. Sounds a bit like Austin in size. Obviously needs to gain weight and strength. Anything else?
Betram 6'11 250. I have seen him in person. I imagine Colt looked similar but Betram is further along. Betram isn't an athlete. Not sure he fits with Pitino's gophers. I saw him against a tiny Jefferson team so it's hard to gauge how he is against size.2017:
Gary Trent Jr. ESPN lists him as a 6'3" pg? Nothing else. Son of Shaq of the mac. Any thoughts?
Anyone else to keep an eye on?
thanks.
 

2015:
Jarvis and Illikainen are the guys to focus on. Sacar is a good player, but I will be surprised if he gets an offer. Marshawn is very talented, but we haven't shown much interest and there are rumors he will have trouble qualifying.
2016:
Amir is a flat out star. Would be huge to get him. No way in hell we offer Bertram unless something crazy happens.
2017:
Trent Jr. has a lot of potential. Will be very surprised if we don't offer, but might be tough to get him. Not sure why he is listed as a point guard. Definitely a shooting guard. Good shooter/scorer.
 

expect reed nikko ...65 Reed Nikko 6-8 PF Maple Grove Maple Grove, MN rated 65th in nation by hoopscoop to get offer. Class of 2017 looks pretty good could be at least 4 kids who get high major offers
 

Thanks for the info

Couldn't Sacar be the man and improve his scoring with Reid graduating? I am just wondering he sounds like the type of athlete Pitino would like on the wing?




GophersOnTheRise said:
2015:
Jarvis and Illikainen are the guys to focus on. Sacar is a good player, but I will be surprised if he gets an offer. Marshawn is very talented, but we haven't shown much interest and there are rumors he will have trouble qualifying.
2016:
Amir is a flat out star. Would be huge to get him. No way in hell we offer Bertram unless something crazy happens.
2017:
Trent Jr. has a lot of potential. Will be very surprised if we don't offer, but might be tough to get him. Not sure why he is listed as a point guard. Definitely a shooting guard. Good shooter/scorer.
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Watch out for Tyler Johnson from Mpls. North. Crazy athletic, High IQ, defensive stopper, and good size and strength. By this summer the word will be out on him.
 


march madness said:
Couldn't Sacar be the man and improve his scoring with Reid graduating? I am just wondering he sounds like the type of athlete Pitino would like on the wing?
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I'm sure his scoring average will improve, but coaches don't offer kids based on how many points they average. Sacar is a good player, but I think Pitino will be shooting a little higher. I have a feeling Wisconson ends up offering and he ends up there, but we'll see. If Sacar really improves his shooting and/or we miss on a bunch of wings then I could see us offering.
 


Minneapois North

Is Minneapolis North really in class A now? Wow they have tremendous size, no seniors, 1 jr who plays. Looks like they are made up of mostly sophmores, Freshmen, and even an 8th grader! Does there 6'6" soph Jackson have division 1 potential also?




SoMpls said:
Watch out for Tyler Johnson from Mpls. North. Crazy athletic, High IQ, defensive stopper, and good size and strength. By this summer the word will be out on him.
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GophersOnTheRise said:
I'm sure his scoring average will improve, but coaches don't offer kids based on how many points they average. Sacar is a good player, but I think Pitino will be shooting a little higher. I have a feeling Wisconson ends up offering and he ends up there, but we'll see. If Sacar really improves his shooting and/or we miss on a bunch of wings then I could see us offering.
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I think it's fair to say that UW likes Sacar, but I'm not sure if they like him enough to offer. I suspect that the UW staff will spend a lot of time watching him this spring, assuming he is still on the Pulley squad with Jarvis Johnson. Jarvis is very clearly a priority for the Badger staff, as he's the only guard with an offer right now. I saw DLS on Tuesday, and I still think Sacar has a ways to go before high majors start offering. He can definitely slash to the bucket and he can be disruptive defensively, but his perimeter shooting does need to improve. He has a little bit of an unusual shot with his guide hand seemingly coming off the ball a little early. It almost looks like a bit of a shot put. At the moment, Anim's game reminds me of how former Badger Boo Wade played. With UW having a big 2015 class, he may be a fit. I would guess we will know a lot more after the spring evaluation period.

I also saw Maple Grove's game on Tuesday and I came away pretty impressed with Reed Nikko. He will need to get stronger, but he has a pretty good body already despite being only a sophomore. He is pretty bouncy and plays strong. I would say the thing he needs to improve the most is his game around the bucket. He didn't se real refined on offense, but here is certainly time to further develop those skills. He did have nice form on his frees throws, which would lead me to believe that he will eventually be capable of stepping away from the basket to hit a mid range shot.

Maple Grove's freshman PG Brad Davison struggled in that game, with Osseo's older, longer guards really pressuring him. Probably not the ideal game to evaluate Davison, but my early impressions are that it's a little tough to see him developing not a high major player at the next level. He looks pretty physically developed for a freshman, in which case he'll need to become quicker and a little more explosive to be able to play in he Big 10. Lots of time for that to happen, but it sounds like he had a really good year.
 



Sacar's shot form seems to have digressed as of late. He will need to really focus this off season on his release and up his accuracy.
 

Really hope the Gophers can land Jarvis and Alex and I certainly don't count out Marshawn getting a Gopher offer with as many scholarships as we will have open for 2015. I think this Summer will tell us a lot about Pitino and his recruiting style and ability. I would assume we will be "in" on some top 50/top 100 national kids again this Summer. The one concern I have about the 2015 class is how much time and resources will have to be devoted to filling the 3 open scholarships for 2014.

I am sure I've posted it before, but I really hoped that either Jarvis or Alex would want to be the first Minnesota high school kid to commit to Coach Pitino and would do it this Winter. It would be such a benefit to the program if we could get a local kid to commit a little earlier and allow the staff to narrow their focus a bit when looking nationally to fill the remaining scholarships. With the combination of playing time, fan enthusiasm, and Coach Pitino's desired style of play, it seems like the program should be more attractive to recruits than it has been since early in Tubby's tenure.
 

The Brain Trust said:
Sacar's shot form seems to have digressed as of late. He will need to really focus this off season on his release and up his accuracy.
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I was also at the game on Tuesday and Sacar was so unimpressive that I can't even tell you who he is.

Tuesday was also the first time since last year that I got to watch Travis in person. He has really improved and the Gophs lost out on a really nice player. As I was last year, I was really impressed with the prospect of Johnson. He is going to have to work on his 3 point shooting, but he has all of the tools to be successful. His pull up jumper in the lane while driving is a think of beauty. He may have a bit of an attitude problem, but having Quincy Lewis on the DLS staff could help. If Jarvis listens to him, and it appeared that he does, it will help him in the long run. One other thing. Even though I don't care for Thorson's antics on the sidelines, his players play very good man to man defense and are well coached in the fundamentals and that will benefit Jarvis in the future.
 

minny01 said:
I was also at the game on Tuesday and Sacar was so unimpressive that I can't even tell you who he is.

Tuesday was also the first time since last year that I got to watch Travis in person. He has really improved and the Gophs lost out on a really nice player. As I was last year, I was really impressed with the prospect of Johnson. He is going to have to work on his 3 point shooting, but he has all of the tools to be successful. His pull up jumper in the lane while driving is a think of beauty. He may have a bit of an attitude problem, but having Quincy Lewis on the DLS staff could help. If Jarvis listens to him, and it appeared that he does, it will help him in the long run. One other thing. Even though I don't care for Thorson's antics on the sidelines, his players play very good man to man defense and are well coached in the fundamentals and that will benefit Jarvis in the future.
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Jarvis definitely doesn't have an attitude problem.
 



Jarvis and Alex would thrive in Minnesota. An athletic point to help move the offense along with an athletic big with good hands that can run the floor. They are perfect fits for Pitino and must get players
 

EG#9 said:
I am sure I've posted it before, but I really hoped that either Jarvis or Alex would want to be the first Minnesota high school kid to commit to Coach Pitino and would do it this Winter. It would be such a benefit to the program if we could get a local kid to commit a little earlier and allow the staff to narrow their focus a bit when looking nationally to fill the remaining scholarships.
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+1 Jarvis has been rumored a strong Gopher lean for so long now, would be really nice to get a solid verbal commitment in April. Having a 4* PG on board makes it so much easier to recruit other high level players this summer.
 

minny01 said:
I was also at the game on Tuesday and Sacar was so unimpressive that I can't even tell you who he is.
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The times I've watched him he was really impressive. I wouldn't write him off yet.
 


What about the guys at Tatino Grace? Is Sam Neuman a division 1 guy. 3pt specialist at 6-6"?
 

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