this weekend's unofficial visitors

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JohnnyGopher

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continuing with the recent trend of bringing in underclassmen for unofficial visits, so far this weekend we will have Lomomba from Madison plus DeLaSalle's Jonah Travis and MN Transitions Kyle Noreen, and I think there may be a couple more, maybe Hanstad from NoDak.
 


Does Noreen have a legit shot at a scholarship offer? Maybe it depends on Mbakwe's status.

I know its early, but as of today who are the top 5 in-state juniors? And how many of them are good enough to get offers from the gophers?
 

drnkmn said:
Does Noreen have a legit shot at a scholarship offer? Maybe it depends on Mbakwe's status.

I know its early, but as of today who are the top 5 in-state juniors? And how many of them are good enough to get offers from the gophers?
Click to expand...

In no specific order these are some of the top in state juniors...
Joe Coleman
Shelby Moats
Ross Travis
Jake White
Kyle Noreen
 

Whooops, my bad. It was Kyle, not Kevin visiting.
 


mnballa2121 said:
In no specific order these are some of the top in state juniors...
Joe Coleman
Shelby Moats
Ross Travis
Jake White
Kyle Noreen
Click to expand...

You forgot Jordan Smith from Orono who has been evaluated by just about every Big 10 school. He led the entire western Minneapolis suburbs in scoring last season. He has a smooth stroke. I think he would be a great addition to the Gophers since current senior and fellow sharp-shooter Cole Stefan of Minnetonka is heading elsewhere
 

Many players are "evaluated". Do you know some inside stuff about Smith and MN? This is not MN of the past. They have a chance to get Joseph, a five star PG recruit. From everything I have gathered and seen, those kids I listed above are the kids who are being recruited heaviest. I know I missed a few though like Smith, Tyler, Singleton, Schalk and Richter. These kids are still pretty young and I am sure some will have some breakout years this season.
 

mnballa2121 said:
Many players are "evaluated". Do you know some inside stuff about Smith and MN? This is not MN of the past. They have a chance to get Joseph, a five star PG recruit. From everything I have gathered and seen, those kids I listed above are the kids who are being recruited heaviest. I know I missed a few though like Smith, Tyler, Singleton, Schalk and Richter. These kids are still pretty young and I am sure some will have some breakout years this season.
Click to expand...

Look, I understand this isn't the Gophers of past, but a team like Minnesota could always use a pure shooter and Smith is the widely-considered purest in the class. He has no offers yet and hasn't been give a "star" ranking, but from what I've personally seen and other have agreed, he's legit. I'm not saying he's the best in the class, I just think he should be considered top 5-10 material. He averaged almost 16 PPG as a freshman an well over 20 as a sophomore. He dropped something like 54 points in a single game last season.
 

Marvin Singleton is another top junior. Where he ends up will probably be determined by his height, unless he's been working on his perimeter game over the summer.
 



Weisbrod said:
Look, I understand this isn't the Gophers of past, but a team like Minnesota could always use a pure shooter and Smith is the widely-considered purest in the class. He has no offers yet and hasn't been give a "star" ranking, but from what I've personally seen and other have agreed, he's legit. I'm not saying he's the best in the class, I just think he should be considered top 5-10 material. He averaged almost 16 PPG as a freshman an well over 20 as a sophomore. He dropped something like 54 points in a single game last season.
Click to expand...

I said those were SOME of the top players in his class. They asked for five, so I gave a quick list. I added a few others in my previous post. Even if Smith is in the top 5-10 of his class there is no way MN takes the 10th best kid in MN. Look at last year with Royce and Rodney. Tubby is recruiting all over the nation. No reason to settle for the 5-10 best player in MN. Tubby will keep the ELITE talent in the borders. No knock on Smith at all. He is a good player. Who knows, maybe he will prove he is the best in his class this season. The thing that I think will hurt Smith is his size. But look at what happened to Leuer...Junior year is really time to come out and show what you have.
Prospect wise though it is hard not to fall in love with Coleman, Moats, Travis, White and Noreen. A lot of D1 offers are based on potential.

Maybe Johnnygopher can help us out? Do you know anything specific about Jordan Smith?
 

JohnnyGopher said:
continuing with the recent trend of bringing in underclassmen for unofficial visits, so far this weekend we will have Lomomba from Madison plus DeLaSalle's Jonah Travis and MN Transitions Kyle Noreen, and I think there may be a couple more, maybe Hanstad from NoDak.
Click to expand...

Junior Lomomba had surgery on his right (shooting) wrist today and could miss a significant portion of the upcoming HS season.

http://host.madison.com/sports/high...cle_74fd2daa-b516-11de-bf5c-001cc4c03286.html
 


I got to see Smith twice last year.

I saw Jordan Smith play twice last year at a Holiday Tournament against some weak competition and though he played well I was suprised to see him ranked so highly. Now I know it was just two games but later in the year I read about a couple big scoring nights he had and then saw him listed as one of the top players in his class I just didnt see a high D-I talent. Good athlete and tremendous shooter but he wasnt that big. I sure hope he continues to develope but I am not sure I would put him at the U at this point.
 



gophers actually ended up with six kids in today, Travis, Noreen, Lomomba, plus three other kids from wisconsin, i only have last names, Ole should be able to fill in the blanks, Ortiz from Madison Memorial, Ellenson from Eau Claire, and Mayfield from Milwaukee. all are freshman or soph.
 

JohnnyGopher said:
gophers actually ended up with six kids in today, Travis, Noreen, Lomomba, plus three other kids from wisconsin, i only have last names, Ole should be able to fill in the blanks, Ortiz from Madison Memorial, Ellenson from Eau Claire, and Mayfield from Milwaukee. all are freshman or soph.
Click to expand...

Wally Ellenson, 6'4" off guard, sophomore

Brendon Ortiz, 6' guard, freshman

Antonio (Tony) Mayfield, 5'9" pg, sophomore (I assume it's Tony they were talking to. His brother Malik is a year younger and also a point guard, but AFAIK, TOny is the one coaches are keeping an eye on.)
 

2011 players in Minnesota and Wisconsin

These players are/should be on the Gophers radar...

PG
Esten Tyler St Paul Johnson: The only pg in the class that has remote chance of being a Gopher someday.

SG
Paul Jesperson Merill:6' 6" long and lankey. Can really Shoot it. Can do a litlte bit of everything
Kyle Noreen Minnesota Transitions: Lights out shooter. Soild defender

SF
Ross Travis Ckaska: A lot of upside.
Jonah Travis DLS: Very strong,good rebounder
Joe Coleman Hopkins: Very explosive
Eric Robertson Wayzata: Long, good bounce, good shooter

PF
Shelby Moats Waconia: Big body, Lights Out Shooter
Jake White Chaska: Skilled, good touch
Thomas Shalk Apple Valley: Moves good, decent bounce

C
NONE
 

There are about 10-15 2011 kids in Minnesota who have a very good chance of playing division 1 basketball. It's a group much like the 2010 class, although deeper in talent. the big question alot of people have is will any of these kids make that next step to the major conference level. Right now there are a couple kids who are getting some nice offers and there are a couple who have the athletic ability but lack the skill right now, and then there are a bunch who are very good players but lack the athleticism or size.

I haven't seen all these kids play enough to make solid judgements so all I can go on is what I've seen and what other people who have watched these guys play alot say, plus what some college coaches think.

Top Tier I would put Shelby Moats from Waconia, Estan Tyler from St. Paul Johnson, Ross Travis and Jake White from Chaska, and Jonah Travis from DelaSalle.

In the next group I would have Joe Coleman and Marvin Singleton from Hopkins, Kyle Noreen from MN Transitions, Marcus Alipate from Jefferson. All these guys could move up but also have a big question marks.

Last I would put Jordan Smith of Orono, Marquel Curtis from Armstrong, Freddie Young from Brooklyn Center, and Thomas Shalk of Apple Valley. I'm sure more names will pop up this next year of kids who will fall into this group, low D1 type kids.
 

What about the kid from Cooper. The one that transferred to Cooper this year.
 

Have seen both Moats from Waconia and Smith from Orono play a lot...I really don't think either has the talent to play on Tubby's team. Both really nice players but Moats is really slow and I've seen Smith shut down by a 5'10 guard. Again, I'm not bashing them, but I'd be really surprised if they get offered a scholly by Tubby.
 

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