Thoughts on the Coach

[Roy Christensen]

Tubby recieved a nice start to his new team when Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber had strong freshmen seasons. Tubby started by bringing three freshmen whom he had been recruiting while the coach at Kentucky. He continued by doing what we all thought was neccesary this year and signed Royce and Rodney. He impressively recruited a three star from California Jordan Cobbs to be the third point guard and gathered in Trevor Mbakwe as a great consolation recruit after failing to lure other big men. Next year will be the third in a row where the new talent coming in is quite a bit better than the talent which has just exited.

Another strong year of recruiting (Barnes, Cosby, Calcaterra?) would give the Gophers the talent and depth usually found on top tier teams. It would seem the Gophers would be able to strike deep into the NCAA playoffs and contend for the Big Ten. That type of success would place Tubby in a good position to get his swank practice facility. I would hope that Tubby could then cherry pick the best of local talent and spice it up with national recruits. Minnesota would become a top tier program and the expectations of our fans would adjust accordingly.

Another path would be for Tubby to rely mostly on local recruits and recruit nationally only out of necessity. There would be less talent and depth and no need for the swank practice facility. Minnesotans would be comfortable as long as the team was "pretty good" and played "our kids."
All the trips to Ames make it appear that Tubby wants the practice facility.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

Tubby recieved a nice start to his new team when Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber had strong freshmen seasons. Tubby started by bringing three freshmen whom he had been recruiting while the coach at Kentucky. He continued by doing what we all thought was neccesary this year and signed Royce and Rodney. He impressively recruited a three star from California Jordan Cobbs to be the third point guard and gathered in Trevor Mbakwe as a great consolation recruit after failing to lure other big men. Next year will be the third in a row where the new talent coming in is quite a bit better than the talent which has just exited.

Another strong year of recruiting (Barnes, Cosby, Calcaterra?) would give the Gophers the talent and depth usually found on top tier teams. It would seem the Gophers would be able to strike deep into the NCAA playoffs and contend for the Big Ten. That type of success would place Tubby in a good position to get his swank practice facility. I would hope that Tubby could then cherry pick the best of local talent and spice it up with national recruits. Minnesota would become a top tier program and the expectations of our fans would adjust accordingly.

Another path would be for Tubby to rely mostly on local recruits and recruit nationally only out of necessity. There would be less talent and depth and no need for the swank practice facility. Minnesotans would be comfortable as long as the team was "pretty good" and played "our kids."
All the trips to Ames make it appear that Tubby wants the practice facility.

3 freshmen this year are Sampson, Iverson, and Joseph.

Sampson, yes - he was recruiting him while at Kentucky. Joseph - maybe but I don't think so. Iverson, no.

 

[SelectionSunday]

I'd choose the former

I'd prefer the best basketball players (in a perfect world most of them aren't allergic to books, either), no matter what state they come from. The one thing we have now that we didn't have before is an elite & respected coach who will coach up the talent he has at his disposal.