Official 2022 Gophers Football Recruiting Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos, Rumors

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Boomtime said:
That the Gophs can't keep in State talent at home.

One could argue in the years between Kevin McHale and Gable Steveson, nearly every high school star has left. And in Steveson's case... he probably goes to Iowa if Eggum hadn't given his big bro a scholly.

That's embarrassing! Paige Bueckers and Jalen Suggs just rubbed more salt in the wound last year.

Gopher fan support is so limited and controlled that there isn't much incentive to stay and play.
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One could argue that. One would be wrong but one could certainly argue that.
 

Boomtime said:
I'm sorry that I come across as negative.
My beef is that Gopher sports seem like we have a good year, or maybe two, every decade. Most often average or below.
Fleck's 11-2 season sandwiched between a whole bunch of meh...as one example.
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like it or not, there are no guarantees in sports. There is no guarantee that a team you follow will have a winning season, let alone win a championship.

It is your choice, as a fan, to follow a particular team or not. Nobody is forcing you to be a Gopher Fan. There is no penalty for ending your fan status.

Sure, it's more fun to follow a team that is winning on a regular basis.

If winning is the most important thing in your choice of which team to follow, then maybe you should consider following another team.

Or wait to see which team is doing well, and adopt that team as "your" team. You will not be the first bandwagon-jumper and you won't be the last.
 

MNVCGUY said:
It certainly would be nice to see us keep a higher number of the top football and basketball players in the State each year
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Would be nice for us homer fans, of course.

But for these kids ... most of whom are metro area ... and they hear about all the neat, fun, far away places their classmates are going off to college ...... the idea of just driving down the road to go to school, in the same place they've grown up, must be a massive turn off.
 

Boomtime said:
Paige Bueckers and Jalen Suggs just rubbed more salt in the wound last year.
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Going somewhere else is fun and exciting. Even if the place really isn't better than here.

That's why people go on vacations.
 

Boomtime said:
I'm sorry that I come across as negative.
My beef is that Gopher sports seem like we have a good year, or maybe two, every decade. Most often average or below.
Fleck's 11-2 season sandwiched between a whole bunch of meh...as one example.
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Appreciate your frustration, both with the performance of the teams on the field and the fact that top recruits leave the state regularly. I think many here share your frustrations. The real question is what are the coaches doing about it -- and are they doing all they can? Despite what you think about Fleck ("self-promoter"?), I think most here would agree he's the absolute best chance MN football has had in a LONG time to keep the very best players in Minnesota. He works tirelessly to promote the program and connect with kids. I don't think anyone can say he's not trying. And even when he doesn't land the in-state studs, he's bringing in classes that are consistently better than we've ever seen.

Basketball I have no idea. I do know the guy who are leaving ain't going to Nebraska or PSU. They're going to Gonzaga, Duke, et al...and Beuckers joined perhaps the biggest dynasty in the history of women's sports. Like Fleck, I think Johnson will work tirelessly to connect with kids and AAU coaches, but at the end of the day he can't force anyone to choose MN. He'll need to build a brand that kids WANT to play for...same as Fleck is trying to do.
 


As the brand improves so will the level of retention. Should Fleck and Johnson have sustained success local athletes will see the U has a great destination. Even with that, some will get away.
 

BroncoRedux said:
As the brand improves so will the level of retention. Should Fleck and Johnson have sustained success local athletes will see the U has a great destination. Even with that, some will get away.
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And by the time / if we get a very high level of retention then the chicken and the egg story comes around because ... by then we might be looking elsewhere more often anyhow.
 


Boomtime said:
Fans like you is likely one reason. Arguing just for the sake of arguing.
And being happy being mediocre is another. Gopher fans thinking a self promoter like PJ is the answer.
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PJ is the only realistic shot at being "the answer" I've seen in the past 50 years. Advice I have given many times to folks who are stuck at a 40% rate of success, yet are dismissive of and complain endlessly about a change that moves them up to "only" 80% success (because it isn't a 100% solution and isn't perfect): "The perfect is the enemy of the good." PJ is good, very good. By the way, PJ isn't a self-promoter. I see him constantly promoting the University, promoting his team, promoting his players, promoting the University's other teams, promoting the Twin Cities, promoting academic achievement, and promoting balance in one's life. This doesn't make him a self-promoter.
 



Gophergrandpa said:
PJ is the only realistic shot at being "the answer" I've seen in the past 50 years. Advice I have given many times to folks who are stuck at a 40% rate of success, yet are dismissive of and complain endlessly about a change that moves them up to "only" 80% success (because it isn't a 100% solution and isn't perfect): "The perfect is the enemy of the good." PJ is good, very good. By the way, PJ isn't a self-promoter. I see him constantly promoting the University, promoting his team, promoting his players, promoting the University's other teams, promoting the Twin Cities, promoting academic achievement, and promoting balance in one's life. This doesn't make him a self-promoter.
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RTB? Running down the sideline when he knows the camera is on him?

I've said this numerous times, 2021 is critical for Fleck because 2019 looks like the exception and not the rule.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
like it or not, there are no guarantees in sports. There is no guarantee that a team you follow will have a winning season, let alone win a championship.

It is your choice, as a fan, to follow a particular team or not. Nobody is forcing you to be a Gopher Fan. There is no penalty for ending your fan status.

Sure, it's more fun to follow a team that is winning on a regular basis.

If winning is the most important thing in your choice of which team to follow, then maybe you should consider following another team.

Or wait to see which team is doing well, and adopt that team as "your" team. You will not be the first bandwagon-jumper and you won't be the last.
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The idea of being a bandwagon fan does not factor into this POV. Fans want to believe a new HC is an improvement over the guy that got fired. Doesn't always work that way.

Fleck is barely back to the Mason days. Maybe not even there. Winning percentage is pretty close.
 

Boomtime said:
RTB? Running down the sideline when he knows the camera is on him?

I've said this numerous times, 2021 is critical for Fleck because 2019 looks like the exception and not the rule.
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How does he know the camera is on him? Is he prescient? Row.The.Boat. Three words. Which ones are self-promotional? Serious question.
 

Boomtime said:
That the Gophs can't keep in State talent at home.

One could argue in the years between Kevin McHale and Gable Steveson, nearly every high school star has left. And in Steveson's case... he probably goes to Iowa if Eggum hadn't given his big bro a scholly.

That's embarrassing! Paige Bueckers and Jalen Suggs just rubbed more salt in the wound last year.

Gopher fan support is so limited and controlled that there isn't much incentive to stay and play.
Click to expand...
You could argue that, as long as you’re willing to overlook Jim Peterson, Randy Breuer, Sam Jacobson, Joel Pryzbilla, Michael Bauer, Rick Rickert, Kris Humphries, Rodney Williams, Amir Coffey, Daniel Oturu, Carter Coughlin, the Barber boys, Jimmy Gjere, Eric Decker, Tyler Johnson, Kamal Martin, Blaise Andries, Maxx Williams, Matt Spieth, Isaac Hayes, Tommy and Ed Olson, Lindsey Whalen, Rachel Banham, Carlie Wagner...

(not to mention Royce White, Jeff Jones, Jarvis Johnson who all committed to the “U” but never played for one reason or another)
 



Boomtime said:
RTB? Running down the sideline when he knows the camera is on him?

I've said this numerous times, 2021 is critical for Fleck because 2019 looks like the exception and not the rule.
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You need to get real. 2019 was the best year of Gopher football in my 36 years of existence. Every year (even last year), the team got better as the season went on.

He is also consistently getting higher end talent at skill positions which has also never happened here at this rate since I have been alive.

Baylor did not have a winning record the first 4 seasons Scott Drew was there. They also had down years where they made the NIT. We as a fan base need to be patient. There will be ups and downs but with Fleck the overall trajectory in my opinion is up.

A self promoter doesn’t show up to Ben Johnson’s press conference to support the new coach. Having a flashy style is very different than being a self promoter.
 


Boomtime said:
I'm sorry that I come across as negative.
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Boomtime said:
RTB? Running down the sideline when he knows the camera is on him?

I've said this numerous times, 2021 is critical for Fleck because 2019 looks like the exception and not the rule.
Click to expand...

"sorry that I come across as negative"

Naw man ... that's just what you do... can't even talk about 2019 without being negative.

Here we are in a recruiting thread and it's all negative ...
 
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Boomtime said:
The idea of being a bandwagon fan does not factor into this POV. Fans want to believe a new HC is an improvement over the guy that got fired. Doesn't always work that way.

Fleck is barely back to the Mason days. Maybe not even there. Winning percentage is pretty close.
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So you want to fire Fleck? Answer the question. You’re being ridiculous, one strange year removed from 11-2 and you are ready to say we are worse off than with Mason and Kill/Claeys? Neither of which hit 11 wins while having more years to do so.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Row.The.Boat. Three words. Which ones are self-promotional?
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A motto that is specifically a brand (he has registered it as intellectual property, I believe), that he invented out of thin air, that ostensibly has nothing to do with football, that he ports around with him from job to job??

Come on, don't be silly.
 




A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
"sorry that I come across as negative"

Naw man ... that's just what you do... can't even talk about 2019 without being negative.

Here we are in a recruiting thread and it's all negative ...
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How Fleck's first four years, or is it three because he wanted everyone to believe his first year was "Year Zero", is viewed has everything to do with recruiting. Do the 2022 recruits see an upward trend or do they see one great year surrounded by a bunch of average?
The coaching staff gets a pass for the Covid year, but if Morgan sucks in 2022 like he did in 2021...not sure the other skill position players can bail him out.

This discussion has everything to do with recruiting.
 

coolhandgopher said:
You could argue that, as long as you’re willing to overlook Jim Peterson, Randy Breuer, Sam Jacobson, Joel Pryzbilla, Michael Bauer, Rick Rickert, Kris Humphries, Rodney Williams, Amir Coffey, Daniel Oturu, Carter Coughlin, the Barber boys, Jimmy Gjere, Eric Decker, Tyler Johnson, Kamal Martin, Blaise Andries, Maxx Williams, Matt Spieth, Isaac Hayes, Tommy and Ed Olson, Lindsey Whalen, Rachel Banham, Carlie Wagner...

(not to mention Royce White, Jeff Jones, Jarvis Johnson who all committed to the “U” but never played for one reason or another)
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Nice list, but I'm talking elite national recruits. ESPN had a segment on Suggs and Bueckers and kinda took a jab at the Gophers.
 
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MplsGopher said:
This is like trying to call Colonial Sanders to complain that you got a bad bucket at your local KFC.

The board has a mod staff, and they do their job. You contact them by PM to @GopherHole Staff , and they're pretty responsive.
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You should try calling Colonel Sanders. Colonial handles the clam chowders complaints.
 

Boomtime said:
Nice list, but I'm talking elite national recruits. ESPN had a segment on Suggs and Bueckers and kinda took a jab at the Gophers.
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Have you seen the jabs at you? Perhaps you need to look at why people are rolling their eyes when they read your comments. I also suggest that you take a break from posting here for a while until you come to grips with your posts.
 

coolhandgopher said:
You could argue that, as long as you’re willing to overlook Jim Peterson, Randy Breuer, Sam Jacobson, Joel Pryzbilla, Michael Bauer, Rick Rickert, Kris Humphries, Rodney Williams, Amir Coffey, Daniel Oturu, Carter Coughlin, the Barber boys, Jimmy Gjere, Eric Decker, Tyler Johnson, Kamal Martin, Blaise Andries, Maxx Williams, Matt Spieth, Isaac Hayes, Tommy and Ed Olson, Lindsey Whalen, Rachel Banham, Carlie Wagner...

(not to mention Royce White, Jeff Jones, Jarvis Johnson who all committed to the “U” but never played for one reason or another)
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Kevin Lynch...
 

#2Gopher said:
Have you seen the jabs at you? Perhaps you need to look at why people are rolling their eyes when they read your comments. I also suggest that you take a break from posting here for a while until you come to grips with your posts.
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Yeah, you're probably right. Just not convinced Fleck is the answer. The final straw was that stunt he pulled against Iowa last year calling a timeout in the last minute when the Gophs were getting their asses handed to them.

Officially taking a few weeks off.
 

Boomtime said:
Nice list, but I'm talking elite national recruits. ESPN had a segment on Suggs and Bueckers and kinda took a jab at the Gophers.
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Peterson, Jacobson, Pryzbilla, Rickert and Humphries were McDonald’s All-Americans.

Bueckers went to the most successful women’s program of the past 30+ years; Suggs went to a perennial contender that just played in the national championship game. One just earned POY in her sport; the other will be a Top 5 pick in the NBA draft.

If they were located 50 or 100 miles to the east, they would have left that state too (see: Tyler Herro or Diamond Stone for reference). The “U” has its issues with recruiting, but not getting either of the two players is not the issue.
 

Boomtime said:
Yeah, you're probably right. Just not convinced Fleck is the answer. The final straw was that stunt he pulled against Iowa last year calling a timeout in the last minute when the Gophs were getting their asses handed to them.
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Fleck is fine ... but he makes boneheaded decisions about the coordinators he hires, and that is what sinks him.

Robb Smith screwed him on defense, and now Sanford will screw him on offense.
 

coolhandgopher said:
You could argue that, as long as you’re willing to overlook Jim Peterson, Randy Breuer, Sam Jacobson, Joel Pryzbilla, Michael Bauer, Rick Rickert, Kris Humphries, Rodney Williams, Amir Coffey, Daniel Oturu, Carter Coughlin, the Barber boys, Jimmy Gjere, Eric Decker, Tyler Johnson, Kamal Martin, Blaise Andries, Maxx Williams, Matt Spieth, Isaac Hayes, Tommy and Ed Olson, Lindsey Whalen, Rachel Banham, Carlie Wagner...

(not to mention Royce White, Jeff Jones, Jarvis Johnson who all committed to the “U” but never played for one reason or another)
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He used Wrestling as well so that means all sports are on the table. Guessing there were more than a few elite hockey players that stayed home to play for the Gophers in the past 40+ years.
 

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