Now that the season is finally over, what comes next for Coach Pitino?

[EG#9]

I imagine this is going to be a very busy next couple of months for Gopher Basketball.

1. The status of Mason, McBrayer, and Dorsey- Coach Pitino can maybe(MAYBE) get by with losing one of these players provided that player is not Nate Mason. If more than one of these guys is gone, then it's tough to imagine any other changes making enough of a difference to overcome that.

2. Departures- I wouldn't be surprised to see any of Buggs, Diedhiou, Gilbert, or Konate move on to either simply graduate (Buggs case) or transfer to a lower level of competition. With Pitino under immense pressure next year, I am sure those conversations have already started (at least among the staff) which leads to..

3. Additions- Ideally, Pitino will need to find a grad transfer (or two) that can come in and fill a role (preferably as a shooter) so that he can use whatever scholarships he does open up again for the 2017 class. That said, he's in a position where he simply needs to acquire talent that can help him win next year so he's got to take talent anywhere he can find it which leads to..

4. Coaching changes- I think there are two ways a staff change could occur in the next few months. The first is if Pitino decides he needs a veteran coach to come in and add some experience to a young staff. The second is if there is a coach available who is attached to a player or two that would make a significant difference for next year. That could be like an Isaiah Whitehead situation, or hiring a JUCO coach, or hiring an assistant of a coach who gets fired/changes jobs in the next couple of months.

 

[RickDornsby]

Pitino is going to have to be a hell of a salesman go get a juco/grad transfer of any substance. I know he'll sell them as well would sell ourselves of Coffey + the transfers + young team, but a guy with only a year or two left is really going to have a hard time being convinced to come into this situation.

Playing time is a reasonable argument, but otherwise, it's a shame that we won't be further restocking the future with freshmen. Pitino is playing for right now, of course, and I'd rather find 2 younger kids to develop and have as sophomores/juniors when Coffey becomes an upperclassman instead of having a bunch of young kids once there is a mass exodus of whoever is left from Mason/Gaston/Fitzgerald/Lynch/Konate/the jucos in a few years.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Pitino is going to have to be a hell of a salesman go get a juco/grad transfer of any substance. I know he'll sell them as well would sell ourselves of Coffey + the transfers + young team, but a guy with only a year or two left is really going to have a hard time being convinced to come into this situation.

Playing time is a reasonable argument, but otherwise, it's a shame that we won't be further restocking the future with freshmen. Pitino is playing for right now, of course, and I'd rather find 2 younger kids to develop and have as sophomores/juniors when Coffey becomes an upperclassman instead of having a bunch of young kids once there is a mass exodus of whoever is left from Mason/Gaston/Fitzgerald/Lynch/Konate/the jucos in a few years.

This might sound crazy, but someone else posted that St. Thomas has better shooters than anyone we have returning, and it's disgusting because it's true. Let's find the best combination of shooting ability and size we can find around here on the D2 or D3 level and bring them in. Michigan took on Duncan Robinson from D3, and he turned out to be for real. I firmly believe we'd have better luck going that route than to try and interest a juco star in jumping into this burning dumpster.

 

[Blackhammer]

Kids want to play and get shots. In recruiting that can be a big positive. The burning dumpster thing is an opportunity for a player. There are so many good players out there there is no reason we can't add talent to what should be a good nucleus. You look at all the excellent mid major kids that could play at high D1 schools basketball is much different than big time football.

 

[RickDornsby]

Kids want to play and get shots. In recruiting that can be a big positive. The burning dumpster thing is an opportunity for a player. There are so many good players out there there is no reason we can't add talent to what should be a good nucleus. You look at all the excellent mid major kids that could play at high D1 schools basketball is much different than big time football.

You never know, but the guys that want to come here from juco given our situation are probably more like Carlos Morris than [insert name of good juco or grad transfer].