Ross Travis taking official visit to Penn St, may visit Iowa and Memphis

[BleedGopher]

per this update in the STrib:

Basketball players gather for recruiting photo shoot

By BRIAN STENSAAS, Star Tribune

More than 80 of the top boys' basketball players in the state gathered at Target Center on Sunday for a photo shoot for Breakdown Magazine, an annual informational publication used by players, coaches and college recruiters alike.

Aside from gentle chiding about everything from individual photo shoots ("c'mon, palm that ball!") to questionnaire answers ("ain't no way you're 6-7!"), much of the talk behind the scenes was either about how bummed out players were that school had started up again, or where they might enroll next year.

Hopkins senior Joe Coleman, a 6-3 wing player listed as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, said he had an official visit with the Gophers on Saturday and has future official visits planned at Santa Clara and Iowa State.

Ross Travis, a 6-7 forward from Chaska, will take his first official visit later this week to Penn State. He also has Iowa on his list and is looking into scheduling a trip to Memphis.

"The Big Ten Conference is a good physical conference and stuff like that," Travis said. "It's a conference [in which] you can make a name for yourself."

Bloomington Jefferson guard Marcus Alipate, who also stars for the Jaguars football team as a wide receiver, said he is looking into schools that would be open to him playing both sports in college, as well. That list includes UCLA, Stanford, Bucknell and Harvard. He said he's also taken unofficial visits to Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"Those are good schools, and I want to get a good education to see where that takes me," said Alipate, who carries a 3.8 GPA.

Players were jovial throughout the session, which included a pep talk from former college and NBA assistant coach and current Fox Sports North broadcaster Mike McCollow.

"It's fun to see a lot of the guys you might have played with or against during the summer again," Coleman said. "It's good to see those faces before the season starts."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/p...iUeyD8_o8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiU

Go Gophers!!

 

[Chris Monter]

I talked to Ross Travis' high school coach and he said that he is out with a stress reaction in his foot. He is expected to be ready for the Breakdown League at Kennedy. He is visiting Penn State this weekend

 

[CDH27]

One of the knocks on Travis has been that he is injury prone so I am sorry to hear aboiut his recent setback. I continue to think that Travis has the size and skill to become a very solid D1 player and for that reason I have been disappointed that the Gophers have not shown much interest. I'm afraid that Tubby may regret not recruiting Travis in a couple years if Travis finds success elsewhere in the Big 10. Of course, if the injury prone label proves to be correct, Tubby is making the right decision. Time will tell.

 

[UWOle]

I really like Ross as a player. I think his combination of size, athleticism and skill give him the potential to be a very good college player. It's too bad he's had so many injury issues. I think it will be interesting to see if programs like Minnesota and Wisconsin made a good decision to take a pass on Ross, especially if he ends up at Penn St. or Iowa.

 

[Curseislifted33]

is alipate good enough for a gopher offer?

 

[march madness]

small forward options

What if Rodney goes pro? We will have Otto and no one else at this spot next year, unless we keep the 3 guard lineup.

 

[jovs]

The Gophs don't seem to have any interest, I hope he ends up at Penn State, I think he could help them, not Iowa.

 

[Goph4phan]

Ross has a very good skill set for his size. IMO he's still a bit raw but you would be blind if you couldn't see his athletic ability. From reports that I've seen recently, he's been spending a lot of time on his face-up offensive game. The few times I saw him last HS season he was still trying to find his shooting game, so good for him that he's working hard. That's all good, however, the kid can't stay out of the training room! I'm ok with the Gopher Staff taking a pass on him. The rigors of college hoops are going to be far more taxing on his body and he'll be even more likely to get hurt. A stress reaction in his foot before practice has even started is not a good sign for a high school athlete.

 

[hssportsluver]

Ross Travis

There is no doubt he is an amazing athlete. As one scout said, he has a "professional body". The question I have is why can he always be healthy for AAU but high school is chipped up? Could only be a coincidence?

 

[UWOle]

is alipate good enough for a gopher offer?

Certainly nothing against Marcus, but I think it is fair to say that the answer is no. I know both UW and Minnesota took a look at Alipate when he was younger, I believe during his sophomore year, but both moved on and offered other guard prospects. UW received a commitment from a PG out of Chicago (George Marshall), while the Minnesota staff is obviously focused on Tharpe. I would guess there are other PGs on their priority list ahead of Alipate as well in case they are not able to land Tharpe.

 

[UWOle]

There is no doubt he is an amazing athlete. As one scout said, he has a "professional body". The question I have is why can he always be healthy for AAU but high school is chipped up? Could only be a coincidence?

That is not entirely true. Ross missed a good portion of the AAU season in the summer after his sophomore year with back issues. Perhaps I am not remembering correctly, but I thought that was also some sort of stress fracture or stress reaction in a bone in his back. He's had some tough luck and missed a lot of time already.