short ornery norwegian
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2011
- Messages
- 21,873
- Reaction score
- 15,871
- Points
- 113
Gopher Basketball coach Richard Pitino was a guest on the Sports Huddle on WCCO Radio with Sid, Dave and Max.
Mona: spring recruiting, new commit
RP: I can talk about certain guys. I cannot talk about the one I think you're talking about. the recruiting game has changed. 800 kids in transfer portal. beneficial to have scholarships in spring. be ready to make moves. terrific spring. good barometer of where you stand. I think some services have us rated top 4, top 5 in B1G.
Sid: talk about the German kid
RP: really good get for us. recruited him all year. I believe if he was in the US, he'd be a top 50 kid. most places have him top 75, top 100. very skilled. terrific potential.
Max: how many times have you been to the Kentucky Derby?
RP: been there 10-12 times. it's an experience. long couple of days. lead-up to the race gives you chills. singing My Old Kentucky Home. what happened yesterday, I was surprised by it. But I think they made the right decision. you see it all the time -when you gamble on horses, better save the ticket.
Sid: Coffey?
RP: it's funny. as you deal with building a program. We haven't had an NBA player since Humphries. crazy to think about. we've had decent success here. Tubby went to 3 NCAA tournaments. we've been to 2 NCAA's, won the NIT. it's part of the process. as you recruit good players, they need to do this. he'll work out for some teams, get some feedback. he doesn't know yet. he's invited to the new G league combine. if not, he'll come back to us and get better.
Mona: what are the rules for Coffey in this process
RP: for him, it means a lot of travel. he's allowed to hire an agent. he's not allowed to miss class. it means travelling a lot. hard for college coaches. you don't know what your roster will be like. you may want to add a piece. but we don't need to add if he comes back. it's a little tricky. every school deals with it. do what's best for the player.
Sid: (asks about a recruit - honestly could not understand what Sid was saying.....)
RP: have to be careful about what you read. no disrespect to the media, but the media doesn't see these kids play. we signed Tre Williams. a lot of people didn't know much about him then. then he plays well, and shoots up the rankings. we saw something in him. he'll be be a terrific player.
Mona: 1 scholarship left. use it or not?
RP: have to be smart with last one. If Coffey left, that opens up another one. communication is important. have to be transparent with each other. We Support Amir. We have some interchangeable parts on the roster. Remember, we added Jordan Murphy on May 15th.
Sid: kid from Drexel?
RP: not official yet.
Sid: How much have you improved the squad?
RP: losing Jordan, DuPree - they played a lot of minutes for 2 NCAA teams. Amir, Michael Hurt, Curry - as far as I know, no 4 year player has been to 3 tournaments at MN. if Amir comes back, with Carr, Willis, Daniel, Jarvis, Gabe - it could be our best team. need to stay healthy. not easy to replace those 2 guys. can be really talented if Amir comes back.
Mona: this year's HS junior class. what can you do?
RP: you can communicate. can call or text when you want. we can't visit them right now. they can come see us, come on Campus. In-state recruiting, it's always talked about. we started 3 kids from in-state and went to the NCAA tournament. we had the 2nd-most in-state players in the B1G. we've done a pretty good job. added good pieces to the puzzle from MN. about In-state recruiting, have to remember, we can't take them all. only limited amount of scholarships available. winning is the biggest selling point. we tell people, we've been to NCAA tournament 2 of the last 3 years, and could have been 3 in a row except for injuries. facilities are greatly improved.
Max: back in the day, every big coach had own camp. nobody has a camp any more.
RP: really changed in recruiting. especially with in-state kids. 20 years ago, kids dreamed of playing at home. today, these kids travel so much, see so many different things. going away isn't difficult any more. with twitter, not any hidden gems. a kid has one good game, somebody tweets about it, coaches see it and make a call. seeing a lot of kids going away from home. travel is easier. for us, got 5 in-state kids on roster. recruiting in-state important - but also have to recruit the right pieces
Sid: playing Game in SD. why not play at US Bank?
RP: I don't know if that opportunity was provided to us. we've played in the Pentagon before. terrific opportunity. great fans there. awesome venue. really good opponent. schedule got tougher every year. just about finished with schedule. don't know who we'll play in the B1G-ACC challenge, Big East challenge. Playing OK State, Utah. excited about it. schedule tough -the committee will not reward you if you don't schedule tough.
Sid: Murray's certificate.
RP: thank you.
Mona: spring recruiting, new commit
RP: I can talk about certain guys. I cannot talk about the one I think you're talking about. the recruiting game has changed. 800 kids in transfer portal. beneficial to have scholarships in spring. be ready to make moves. terrific spring. good barometer of where you stand. I think some services have us rated top 4, top 5 in B1G.
Sid: talk about the German kid
RP: really good get for us. recruited him all year. I believe if he was in the US, he'd be a top 50 kid. most places have him top 75, top 100. very skilled. terrific potential.
Max: how many times have you been to the Kentucky Derby?
RP: been there 10-12 times. it's an experience. long couple of days. lead-up to the race gives you chills. singing My Old Kentucky Home. what happened yesterday, I was surprised by it. But I think they made the right decision. you see it all the time -when you gamble on horses, better save the ticket.
Sid: Coffey?
RP: it's funny. as you deal with building a program. We haven't had an NBA player since Humphries. crazy to think about. we've had decent success here. Tubby went to 3 NCAA tournaments. we've been to 2 NCAA's, won the NIT. it's part of the process. as you recruit good players, they need to do this. he'll work out for some teams, get some feedback. he doesn't know yet. he's invited to the new G league combine. if not, he'll come back to us and get better.
Mona: what are the rules for Coffey in this process
RP: for him, it means a lot of travel. he's allowed to hire an agent. he's not allowed to miss class. it means travelling a lot. hard for college coaches. you don't know what your roster will be like. you may want to add a piece. but we don't need to add if he comes back. it's a little tricky. every school deals with it. do what's best for the player.
Sid: (asks about a recruit - honestly could not understand what Sid was saying.....)
RP: have to be careful about what you read. no disrespect to the media, but the media doesn't see these kids play. we signed Tre Williams. a lot of people didn't know much about him then. then he plays well, and shoots up the rankings. we saw something in him. he'll be be a terrific player.
Mona: 1 scholarship left. use it or not?
RP: have to be smart with last one. If Coffey left, that opens up another one. communication is important. have to be transparent with each other. We Support Amir. We have some interchangeable parts on the roster. Remember, we added Jordan Murphy on May 15th.
Sid: kid from Drexel?
RP: not official yet.
Sid: How much have you improved the squad?
RP: losing Jordan, DuPree - they played a lot of minutes for 2 NCAA teams. Amir, Michael Hurt, Curry - as far as I know, no 4 year player has been to 3 tournaments at MN. if Amir comes back, with Carr, Willis, Daniel, Jarvis, Gabe - it could be our best team. need to stay healthy. not easy to replace those 2 guys. can be really talented if Amir comes back.
Mona: this year's HS junior class. what can you do?
RP: you can communicate. can call or text when you want. we can't visit them right now. they can come see us, come on Campus. In-state recruiting, it's always talked about. we started 3 kids from in-state and went to the NCAA tournament. we had the 2nd-most in-state players in the B1G. we've done a pretty good job. added good pieces to the puzzle from MN. about In-state recruiting, have to remember, we can't take them all. only limited amount of scholarships available. winning is the biggest selling point. we tell people, we've been to NCAA tournament 2 of the last 3 years, and could have been 3 in a row except for injuries. facilities are greatly improved.
Max: back in the day, every big coach had own camp. nobody has a camp any more.
RP: really changed in recruiting. especially with in-state kids. 20 years ago, kids dreamed of playing at home. today, these kids travel so much, see so many different things. going away isn't difficult any more. with twitter, not any hidden gems. a kid has one good game, somebody tweets about it, coaches see it and make a call. seeing a lot of kids going away from home. travel is easier. for us, got 5 in-state kids on roster. recruiting in-state important - but also have to recruit the right pieces
Sid: playing Game in SD. why not play at US Bank?
RP: I don't know if that opportunity was provided to us. we've played in the Pentagon before. terrific opportunity. great fans there. awesome venue. really good opponent. schedule got tougher every year. just about finished with schedule. don't know who we'll play in the B1G-ACC challenge, Big East challenge. Playing OK State, Utah. excited about it. schedule tough -the committee will not reward you if you don't schedule tough.
Sid: Murray's certificate.
RP: thank you.
