Spring recruits/transfers only thread.

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Costa Rican Gopher said:
Doesn't sound so crazy to me. Joey King & Oto Osenieks started. Who's his competition? True Freshman Tre Williams, at 6'4"? Isaiah Ihnen, an athletic recruit who's has never played US basketball before? It's going to be a 'by committee' situation I imagine & we could go 3 guards, but there's no reason to think Hurt won't be firmly in that mix & could well be the starter.
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I have it in my head that Pitino is calling Ihnen the equal of a top 50 US recruit, plus he is on the NBA radar screen as a future prospect. I may well be wrong but those kind of kids tend to start here. It sure happened last year with Gabe and Oturu and Gabe was barely top 100 if he was that. Obviously that worked out pretty well. We need Ihnen or Williams or both to step up like that.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Doesn't sound so crazy to me. Joey King & Oto Osenieks started. Who's his competition? True Freshman Tre Williams, at 6'4"? Isaiah Ihnen, an athletic recruit who's has never played US basketball before? It's going to be a 'by committee' situation I imagine & we could go 3 guards, but there's no reason to think Hurt won't be firmly in that mix & could well be the starter.
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Horrible take.
 


MennoSota said:
If Hurt plays more than 10 minutes per game that will mean we suck and are vying for 12th or lower in the B1G standings.
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10 minutes isn't really that hard to get to. Just two 2 1/2 minute stretches in each half.
 



I'd be fine with Hurt playing 10 minutes per game if he plays the way he played his sophomore year or better. The ball moves well when he is in and other players get good shots because of it. He needs to be a threat to shoot though too, which he is capable of if he's not playing scared.
 
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What's up with Woolridge?! Kind of strange he hasn't committed anywhere yet... this making anyone nervous we aren't signing him?
 




Feels like this thread has gotten off the rails. I get that many people are debating the playing time of incoming freshman and transfers, but I think this thread should be dedicated to rumors/speculation/news involving our two outstanding scholarship spots. If you want to debate the minutes Ihnen will play, there are other threads for that
 


GopherBlood666 said:
What's up with Woolridge?! Kind of strange he hasn't committed anywhere yet... this making anyone nervous we aren't signing him?
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any chance the delay is from the gopher side. the transfer list continues to grow. for example, gonzaga's greg foster just entered the transfer portal
 

GopherOhana said:
any chance the delay is from the gopher side. the transfer list continues to grow. for example, gonzaga's greg foster just entered the transfer portal
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Is Greg Foster going to be highly sought after??
 





GopherOhana said:
any chance the delay is from the gopher side. the transfer list continues to grow. for example, gonzaga's greg foster just entered the transfer portal
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With two open scholarships, I wouldn't think the delay is on the Gophers end.
 


bga1 said:
I have it in my head that Pitino is calling Ihnen the equal of a top 50 US recruit, plus he is on the NBA radar screen as a future prospect. I may well be wrong but those kind of kids tend to start here. It sure happened last year with Gabe and Oturu and Gabe was barely top 100 if he was that. Obviously that worked out pretty well. We need Ihnen or Williams or both to step up like that.
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Here's 247's scouting report on him.

"Nn intriguing combo forward prospect with good size, very long arms and a projectable frame with wide shoulders. A very good athlete especially for his size. He is fluid, mobile and is pretty explosive off the ground. Offensively, Ihnen is a tad raw, but can make shots off the catch from 3, Is a willing and good passer, runs the floor in transition and has potential as a slasher with development of his handle as it is fairly loose at this stage. Defensively, he is loaded with upside due to his athleticism and physical gifts. He can already defend multiple positions as he breaks down and gives good effort on this end and moves well laterally."

I take from that, that coming in he's still a very skinny 6'9" 190lbs, can't create his own shot yet, doesn't dribble real well yet & has the potential to be a great defender, after he learns how to play team D, like every other freshman.

To me Ihnen is more of a potential guy, than an immediate impact guy. Of course he's going to be thrown into the fire anyway, so he'll play, but he's a guy who would have been best served learning from Amir for a year.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Here's 247's scouting report on him.

"Nn intriguing combo forward prospect with good size, very long arms and a projectable frame with wide shoulders. A very good athlete especially for his size. He is fluid, mobile and is pretty explosive off the ground. Offensively, Ihnen is a tad raw, but can make shots off the catch from 3, Is a willing and good passer, runs the floor in transition and has potential as a slasher with development of his handle as it is fairly loose at this stage. Defensively, he is loaded with upside due to his athleticism and physical gifts. He can already defend multiple positions as he breaks down and gives good effort on this end and moves well laterally."

I take from that, that coming in he's still a very skinny 6'9" 190lbs, can't create his own shot yet, doesn't dribble real well yet & has the potential to be a great defender, after he learns how to play team D, like every other freshman.

To me Ihnen is more of a potential guy, than an immediate impact guy. Of course he's going to be thrown into the fire anyway, so he'll play, but he's a guy who would have been best served learning from Amir for a year.
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Having Coffey would have been ideal. I'd be giving Ihnen a lot of minutes in the non-conference to see if he can be readied for the big boys. Maybe he will be a year away......but. That's the fun of college basketball, most of us have no idea how things will go until the season is near. Last year we got some early fall indications that Pitino liked Gabe and it was right on. I hope we get the same on Ihnen and Williams. The Italy trip is very helpful for this team considering all the new pieces.
 

bga1 said:
Having Coffey would have been ideal. I'd be giving Ihnen a lot of minutes in the non-conference to see if he can be readied for the big boys. Maybe he will be a year away......but. That's the fun of college basketball, most of us have no idea how things will go until the season is near. Last year we got some early fall indications that Pitino liked Gabe and it was right on. I hope we get the same on Ihnen and Williams. The Italy trip is very helpful for this team considering all the new pieces.
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This is indeed the fun of college BB. Usually I'm a optimist (to a fault) about our chances, but I'm not real excited about our incoming recruits & don't much like our chances this upcoming season. The good news is they should all have the chance to play right away, so we'll see what the young guys are made of right away.

I think Ihnen's got all the athletic ability in the world, but also has a little Ziggy or Bakary in him. i.e. Didn't grow up playing the game at the highest level & will be in for a real learning curve jumping from German 4th division to the B1G. Sammy Freeman looks limited but should be able to help with some things immediately. Usually guys who're 6'10" & can play have high major offers coming out of their ears. I think Tre Williams is the most game-ready of the bunch, but will struggle to find minutes behind Gabe & Willis initially. I think Woolridge can give us some quality minutes at PG if he signs, but don't see a lightly recruited grad transfer being a difference maker of the Gophs.

I think this is a rebuilding year & an NIT team. I don't want to lay out any more negativity on this, so this is my last post on this & people are free to blast away.
 
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Costa Rican Gopher said:
This is indeed the fun of college BB. Usually I'm a optimist (to a fault) about our chances, but I'm not real excited about our incoming recruits & don't much like our chances this upcoming season. The good news is they should all have the chance to play right away, so we'll see what the young guys are made of right away.

I think Ihnen's got all the athletic ability in the world, but also has a little Ziggy or Bakary in him. i.e. Didn't grow up playing the game at the highest level & will be in for a real learning curve jumping from German 4th division to the B1G. Sammy Freeman looks limited but should be able to help with some things immediately. Usually guys who're 6'10" & can play have high major offers coming out of their ears. I think Tre Williams is the most game-ready of the bunch, but will struggle to find minutes behind Gabe & Willis initially. I think Woolridge can give us some quality minutes at PG if he signs, but don't see a lightly recruited grad transfer being a difference maker of the Gophs.

I think this is a rebuilding year & an NIT team. I don't want to lay out any more negativity on this, so this is my last post on this & people are free to blast away.
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Yea, I think you are nuts.


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Costa Rican Gopher said:
I think this is a rebuilding year & an NIT team. I don't want to lay out any more negativity on this, so this is my last post on this & people are free to blast away.
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Well, certainly one could be more negative than that. Let's remember that Pitino's teams failed to even merit an NIT invite in three of his six years so an NIT season is not the floor. If we can get one more capable player, I'm not so pessimistic about this team's chances but next year's team certainly could do worse than an 18 win regular season with an NIT invite.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
This is indeed the fun of college BB. Usually I'm a optimist (to a fault) about our chances, but I'm not real excited about our incoming recruits & don't much like our chances this upcoming season. The good news is they should all have the chance to play right away, so we'll see what the young guys are made of right away.

I think Ihnen's got all the athletic ability in the world, but also has a little Ziggy or Bakary in him. i.e. Didn't grow up playing the game at the highest level & will be in for a real learning curve jumping from German 4th division to the B1G. Sammy Freeman looks limited but should be able to help with some things immediately. Usually guys who're 6'10" & can play have high major offers coming out of their ears. I think Tre Williams is the most game-ready of the bunch, but will struggle to find minutes behind Gabe & Willis initially. I think Woolridge can give us some quality minutes at PG if he signs, but don't see a lightly recruited grad transfer being a difference maker of the Gophs.

I think this is a rebuilding year & an NIT team. I don't want to lay out any more negativity on this, so this is my last post on this & people are free to blast away.
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Very reasonable take.

Hard to argue with most of it. I think Williams has a chance to eventually beat out Willis for a spot in the starting lineup, and will see the most minutes of any freshman. I have zero clue what to expect from Ihnen. Pretty wide range of possibilities for him. Agree on Woolridge. He could be a nice depth piece, but it’s not like signing him would drastically alter expectations for this team.

This has rebuilding year written all over it.
 

So it appears we are just going to sit on 2 scholarships then? Pitino has always done a poor job of roster management in my opinion but this might be up there with the worst jobs he has done.
 

leib0039 said:
So it appears we are just going to sit on 2 scholarships then? Pitino has always done a poor job of roster management in my opinion but this might be up there with the worst jobs he has done.
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Wouldn't it be a good idea to wait until the process is done? Coffey left very late in the process leaving him the second one open. He has two choices- grad transfers or frosh. I doubt there is anyone of the quality that he would want to take another incoming frosh and lock up a scholly for 4 years. So that leaves grad transfers. He is working on Woolridge and maybe others.

I recall a few months ago people were in panic that we had only Williams in the recruited class. Then we rounded it out pretty well getting Demir, Ihnen and Freeman and it ends up being rated the 4th or 5th best class in the Big Ten. I'll wait a bit before call this one of the worst roster management jobs he has done.
 

leib0039 said:
So it appears we are just going to sit on 2 scholarships then? Pitino has always done a poor job of roster management in my opinion but this might be up there with the worst jobs he has done.
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Will you feel better if he gives one to Brady Rudrud for the year and we have one left? Do you have proof that he's just been "sitting" on them? Seems like he's still had guys on visits.
 

Giving them to walk ons is sitting on them in my opinion, so no. And having guys on visits does nothing, you can get every guy in the top 100 to visit, if none of them sign that doesn't matter, in recruiting if you aint first your last. I hope it all works out but I have my doubts there are a lot of P5 schools with 2 open scholarships on June 11th, maybe I am wrong but feels at this point like the team should be pretty set by now and not hoping a guy who averaged 5.3 points playing for Northwestern State at Cal Poly commits to us.
 

leib0039 said:
Giving them to walk ons is sitting on them in my opinion, so no. And having guys on visits does nothing, you can get every guy in the top 100 to visit, if none of them sign that doesn't matter, in recruiting if you aint first your last. I hope it all works out but I have my doubts there are a lot of P5 schools with 2 open scholarships on June 11th, maybe I am wrong but feels at this point like the team should be pretty set by now and not hoping a guy who averaged 5.3 points playing for Northwestern State at Cal Poly commits to us.
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Exactly. If it were only as easy as we think it should be to fill a nice complete roster. If they can land Woolridge and bank the last scholarship, I'll feel good about where it ended up.
 

manderson1984 said:
Will you feel better if he gives one to Brady Rudrud for the year and we have one left? Do you have proof that he's just been "sitting" on them? Seems like he's still had guys on visits.
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if it turns out to be a rebuilding year it won't matter. If the gophers make the NIT or NCAA they'll likely find themselves short once again with respect to players who can contribute significant minutes at a high level of competition - kind of like the last two ncaa trips.
 

leib0039 said:
Giving them to walk ons is sitting on them in my opinion, so no. And having guys on visits does nothing, you can get every guy in the top 100 to visit, if none of them sign that doesn't matter, in recruiting if you aint first your last. I hope it all works out but I have my doubts there are a lot of P5 schools with 2 open scholarships on June 11th, maybe I am wrong but feels at this point like the team should be pretty set by now and not hoping a guy who averaged 5.3 points playing for Northwestern State at Cal Poly commits to us.
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Also remember that for the first time in what seems like a long time the Gophers won't have anyone sitting out the year because of a transfer.
 

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