Sports Illustrated facebook article on Isiah Johnson-Arigu and making the case the gophers should be interested.

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march madness

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I really liked I. Johnson-Arigu when I saw him for Totino. 6-7 215 very athletic and strong enough to play either forward spot. Depending on who Niko can bring in, only have Durkin and Nolen Anderson who might be able to guard 3's next year. Arigu might give us what Omot wasn't healthy enough to. The first forward off the bench for St. Thomas, the sophmore put up 10.5 ppg, 4.0 reb, 1 ass. Not a shooter 32.5% from 3. He easily would be our most athletic player.

Why Isaiah Johnson-Arigu Should Be on Minnesota’s Transfer Portal Radar
 


Zeppelin Gopher said:
Went to the UST-NDSU game a few weeks ago (just to check out the new arena, not a Tommies guy whatsoever).

Was impressed by IJA. He's definitely a B1G level athlete and can handle and pass well for his size.
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Curious, what were your thoughts on the arena?
 


SelectionSunday said:
Curious, what were your thoughts on the arena?
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I went to NDSU game as well. Really nice arena and clearly a step up in size and luxury from the handful of mid major arenas I’ve been in. I was someone’s guest and didn’t pay, but top row of lower deck tickets were $50 which seemed high for that level of basketball. The industry is getting close to saturation with the prices they demand. Note: They were playing the first place team late in the season in a brand new arena and it was at best three quarters full. That’s a problem imho.
 




"The Gophers have already used a lot of their resources to retain Durkin, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Asuma." I surely hope Tony has no idea what he's talking about.

Regarding IJA, he sounds like an athlete, and one who who can score...we need both. The fact his next school will be his fourth could be a cause for pause but some funky circumstances seem involved too.
We certainly coulda used him this year. If he was the 4th recruit of the new portal guys in expected production I'd be very excited.
 




60's Guy said:
"The Gophers have already used a lot of their resources to retain Durkin, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Asuma." I surely hope Tony has no idea what he's talking about.

Regarding IJA, he sounds like an athlete, and one who who can score...we need both. The fact his next school will be his fourth could be a cause for pause but some funky circumstances seem involved too.
We certainly coulda used him this year. If he was the 4th recruit of the new portal guys in expected production I'd be very excited.
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Laranaga retired so he left Miami.. he went to Iowa Fran got fired.. he lacks some physicality in his game that’s why the Summit is currently a good fit… he is not power 4 at this stage..
 

Roland Brooks said:
Laranaga retired so he left Miami.. he went to Iowa Fran got fired.. he lacks some physicality in his game that’s why the Summit is currently a good fit… he is not power 4 at this stage..
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If we can get four guys in the portal that are better I'll be excited....with the caveat I have never seen him play...just like the height, described athleticism, "ability to defend all 5 spots" and scoring 10ppg off the bench.
Niko is good at developing guys.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Parking is the issue from reports.
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That was my wife and I's biggest issue. In the Anderson lot near the arena, but the way they handled people walking in front of the exit ramp after the game was puzzling. Told people parked in the ramp they had to walk past the ramp and then backtrack just to get to their vehicle. Hoping they work out the kinks next season.

Arena well done, not really any bad seats, concessions are so-so (except for the pizza), and definitely overall disappointed with attendance. Never expected UST to fill a 5,300-seat arena after moving from a 2,000-seat arena but thought it would hike up to around 2,800-3,000 more regularly. They'll have to keep winning and get to the tournament soon if they want that to change.
 




On3 guy wrote an article showing what each team in the sweet 16 doled out in nil this year:

Michigan. $10 mil. at least
Illinois, Iowa, Purdue. $8 - 10 mil.
Nebraska. $4.5 mil.

Said was unable to get info regarding MSU.
I have no idea the gopher's nil number. Wonder how far it is from the Hawkeyes. Do we trail Nebraska as well?
 
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golf said:
On3 guy wrote an article showing what each team in the sweet 16 doled out in nil this year:

Michigan. $10 mil. at least
Illinois, Iowa, Purdue. $8 - 10 mil.
Nebraska. $4.5 mil.

Said was unable to get info regarding MSU.
I have no idea the gopher's nil number. Wonder how far it is from the Hawkeyes. Do we trail Nebraska as well?
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I think the On3 guy was totally guessing off the top of his head... I doubt Iowa was close to $8M.
Nebraska, I think spent more than $4.5M
UCLA, USC, Indiana, Ohio St and Oregon were not shy about spending money. So those teams plus Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan St, Wisconsin and Nebraska (11 teams total) spent more than Iowa is my total guess. Maryland likely may have as well...makes 12. I'd say Iowa was 13th or lower.
That leaves the group of maybe the Gophers?....likely Penn St, NW, Washington?, Rutgers? who spent less than Iowa. All the others spent more than Iowa.
Stirtz was at Iowa for loyalty to McCollum as were the other Drake transfers. Folgueiras, I'm guessing was their highest paid guy but didn't break the bank from Robert Morris. Liked the fit and the basketball vibe.
 

SelectionSunday said:
That was my wife and I's biggest issue. In the Anderson lot near the arena, but the way they handled people walking in front of the exit ramp after the game was puzzling. Told people parked in the ramp they had to walk past the ramp and then backtrack just to get to their vehicle. Hoping they work out the kinks next season.

Arena well done, not really any bad seats, concessions are so-so (except for the pizza), and definitely overall disappointed with attendance. Never expected UST to fill a 5,300-seat arena after moving from a 2,000-seat arena but thought it would hike up to around 2,800-3,000 more regularly. They'll have to keep winning and get to the tournament soon if they want that to change.
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No one who frequents St.Paul can be surprised by the parking, which can’t be any worse than ramp parking at the U. The whole neighborhood has parking issues and the campus is almost void of surface parking now, funneling everything into ramps. No problem during normal circumstances but brutal with large crowds coming and going at the same time.

I’ll throw in that they might consider lowering ticket prices. The night I was there featured a grade school with its band doing the anthem and basketball team at half. Nice promotion and hopefully some discounted tickets for kids and parents.
 


60's Guy said:
"The Gophers have already used a lot of their resources to retain Durkin, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Asuma." I surely hope Tony has no idea what he's talking about.

Regarding IJA, he sounds like an athlete, and one who who can score...we need both. The fact his next school will be his fourth could be a cause for pause but some funky circumstances seem involved too.
We certainly coulda used him this year. If he was the 4th recruit of the new portal guys in expected production I'd be very excited.
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I like the way the DTA is transparent and publicly announcing returning players on the men's and women's teams. Players in the portal can see who is back, publicly and IMO that helps people know what options are here.

Curious on the portal if anyone knows what it looks like? Is it like a career job posting list? Do players post resumes, schools they are interested in? Are schools able to post what they are looking for? If not, it seems short sighted.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
I like the way the DTA is transparent and publicly announcing returning players on the men's and women's teams. Players in the portal can see who is back, publicly and IMO that helps people know what options are here.

Curious on the portal if anyone knows what it looks like? Is it like a career job posting list? Do players post resumes, schools they are interested in? Are schools able to post what they are looking for? If not, it seems short sighted.
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Could you imagine the job postings for the Gophers bench.

Enjoy long strolls on the bench. Excel at attaboys. Well rested. I can't be worse at free throws than Grove. The opposition won't know what hit them with no tape of my game. If interested you know where to find me (on the bench).
 
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Holy Man said:
I’ll throw in that they might consider lowering ticket prices. The night I was there featured a grade school with its band doing the anthem and basketball team at half. Nice promotion and hopefully some discounted tickets for kids and parents.
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I was a season ticket holder but my girlfriend's kids were part of the band that night, so I got tickets for my other kids with their group. Nice discount on tickets and brought in some folks that wouldn't otherwise be interested. But ticket prices were an issue and I appreciate the promotions (2 for 1, various discounts) to try to bring folks in but it's also annoying as a season ticket holder to be locked in on price and not have enough demand to sell for anything more than a pittance when I can't make it. I won't be renewing for next year.

The neighbors don't love it, but street parking is the way to go. Summit near the seminary is closer than the ramp. Goodrich on the other side isn't bad, and failing that, finding something on Grand or Finn. Any of these avoid the ramp mess.
 

Holy Man said:
I went to NDSU game as well. Really nice arena and clearly a step up in size and luxury from the handful of mid major arenas I’ve been in. I was someone’s guest and didn’t pay, but top row of lower deck tickets were $50 which seemed high for that level of basketball. The industry is getting close to saturation with the prices they demand. Note: They were playing the first place team late in the season in a brand new arena and it was at best three quarters full. That’s a problem imho.
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my season tickets for UST are less than half of what I pay for my Gophers. But they should be with Crown College and St. Johns on the schedule. If I was a scheduler for any of the Gophers pre-season "buy" teams, I would call UST and get two games while here.

I never parked in the ramp so can't speak to that- when it was warm out and before knee replacement i had parking underground at the student center and then the handicapped parking was so close I am thinking about getting my other knee done this December.

Concessions- thanks for the pizza recommendation- I had the chicken strips a couple of times and they were as expected. The popcorn is junk. Makes me appreciate Drew's at the Barn.

Season tickets for the women's games were $500 for two courtside-- that was kind of fun, but I only had time for 4 games and could only give away 2 others, so probably won't do that again.
 

Minnesconsin fan said:
Season tickets for the women's games were $500 for two courtside-- that was kind of fun, but I only had time for 4 games and could only give away 2 others, so probably won't do that again.
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I was courtside for women's basketball also (across from our bench, closer to half-court) and I don't recall even paying that much. Sat with my daughter in our matching purple shoes for the games we made it, but like you said, tickets were tough to sell or give away and often went unused. We made it to more than 4 but not enough to feel like it made sense.
 

Sounds like his people trying to boost his stock. I'm all for having a decent MN kid on the roster, but I don't know if he would yield a lot of NIL and I hope we aim higher as well. That being said, I think he could be a valuable piece off the bench
 

It sounds like Northwestern as the likely spot for the former Miami, Iowa, St Thomas big man.

Go Gophers!!
 

jmtod said:
The neighbors don't love it, but street parking is the way to go. Summit near the seminary is closer than the ramp. Goodrich on the other side isn't bad, and failing that, finding something on Grand or Finn. Any of these avoid the ramp mess.
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I used to live in the area, I can guarantee you that if you parked in front of my house with no more spots around your car would be towed when you got back to it. It was bad with night classes, can't imagine it now.
 

jovs said:
I used to live in the area, I can guarantee you that if you parked in front of my house with no more spots around your car would be towed when you got back to it. It was bad with night classes, can't imagine it now.
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Yep. Do they still have neighborhood street parking permits?
 

jovs said:
I used to live in the area, I can guarantee you that if you parked in front of my house with no more spots around your car would be towed when you got back to it. It was bad with night classes, can't imagine it now.
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There are plenty of street parking spots that are not permit required on the streets I noted, but if you go back into the neighborhood at all, it's all permit and would not go well, as you say.

Summit, Finn, Grand, Goodrich, and Cretin are the only places I've ever parked.
 

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