BleedGopher
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per Souhan:
The kid oozed talent and charisma. Isaiah Washington had a handle — “Jelly” — and could handle. His change-of-pace dribbling and “Jelly” finger-roll layups made him the New York Player of the Year and the rare Gophers recruit with a national reputation.
Signing Washington would change everything for Gophers coach Richard Pitino, making Minnesota a destination for recruits from the coast. Right?
Well, close. Thursday, Pitino’s team will play in the NCAA tournament, featuring three starters from Minnesota. If Amir Coffey returns for his senior season, next year’s Gophers team will feature four starters from the Twin Cities.
Pitino knows his program is dependent on recruiting the coasts — of the Mississippi River and various local lakes.
“There’s been a narrative that we don’t get local kids,” Pitino said. “We’re not going to get them all. We may not want them all. I’m not going to be perfect in my recruitment of all of them. I’m going to mess some up. Hopefully not a lot.
“But we start three players from the state of Minnesota. We have Minnesota kids. And when you’re building a program and you’re recruiting locally there’s nothing you can sell more — facilities, whatever — than local kids having a great experience.”
Landing Coffey, the star from Hopkins, might have been the most important moment in Pitino’s six-year tenure at Minnesota. As a freshman, Coffey played a key role on an NCAA tournament team that earned a fifth seed before losing to Middle Tennessee.
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...e-going-to-ncaa-tournament-a-habit/507443772/
Go Gophers!!
The kid oozed talent and charisma. Isaiah Washington had a handle — “Jelly” — and could handle. His change-of-pace dribbling and “Jelly” finger-roll layups made him the New York Player of the Year and the rare Gophers recruit with a national reputation.
Signing Washington would change everything for Gophers coach Richard Pitino, making Minnesota a destination for recruits from the coast. Right?
Well, close. Thursday, Pitino’s team will play in the NCAA tournament, featuring three starters from Minnesota. If Amir Coffey returns for his senior season, next year’s Gophers team will feature four starters from the Twin Cities.
Pitino knows his program is dependent on recruiting the coasts — of the Mississippi River and various local lakes.
“There’s been a narrative that we don’t get local kids,” Pitino said. “We’re not going to get them all. We may not want them all. I’m not going to be perfect in my recruitment of all of them. I’m going to mess some up. Hopefully not a lot.
“But we start three players from the state of Minnesota. We have Minnesota kids. And when you’re building a program and you’re recruiting locally there’s nothing you can sell more — facilities, whatever — than local kids having a great experience.”
Landing Coffey, the star from Hopkins, might have been the most important moment in Pitino’s six-year tenure at Minnesota. As a freshman, Coffey played a key role on an NCAA tournament team that earned a fifth seed before losing to Middle Tennessee.
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...e-going-to-ncaa-tournament-a-habit/507443772/
Go Gophers!!