To recap, the following 7 Gophers have put their name in the Transfer Portal




Who’s next? Robbins?
Robbins is going to Vanderbilt. Here's a blurb from the Lobo chatroom. They want more Gophers in Lobo land.

... I too would welcome in Martice Mitchell and would like to see if he could blossom here. He was a top 160 kid out of HS. Didn't get much PT his frosh year, but that would change here. He would still be considered a frosh, since last year was a freebie. That would give him a full 4 years to develop either into an NBA draftee or a solid pro elsewhere.

Tre Williams would also be a nice pick-up. He got his frosh development year out of the way and had a solid uptick in both his FG shooting %, a +12%+ and 3 point %, a 6% improvement over his frosh year to be 40% FG and 33% from 3. I would expect those %'s to increase even more going into what will be his "soph" year. If he can be a 44%+ and 36%+ from 3 shooter, he would be a high level addition here. His FT % dipped to 31% this year, but did shoot 61% his frosh year. Hopefully, he can get to 65%-75% at the FT line. Just as a comparison, MM was 44.3% overall and 29.6% from 3. Tre should have better shooting #'s than MM had this past year.

I have not seen anything re: the HS recruits Pitino signed to go to MN in the fall. The one 6'11" kid from IN seemed to really be more a MN kid than a coach Pitino kid, but who knows? 6'11" Kenny Pohto though, is from Wichita, KS, so maybe, Pitino could recruit him here to join UNM as a frosh? He's also more an inside/outside threat. Good shot from 3, so he could stretch the court.
 

Robbins is going to Vanderbilt. Here's a blurb from the Lobo chatroom. They want more Gophers in Lobo land.

... I too would welcome in Martice Mitchell and would like to see if he could blossom here. He was a top 160 kid out of HS. Didn't get much PT his frosh year, but that would change here. He would still be considered a frosh, since last year was a freebie. That would give him a full 4 years to develop either into an NBA draftee or a solid pro elsewhere.

Tre Williams would also be a nice pick-up. He got his frosh development year out of the way and had a solid uptick in both his FG shooting %, a +12%+ and 3 point %, a 6% improvement over his frosh year to be 40% FG and 33% from 3. I would expect those %'s to increase even more going into what will be his "soph" year. If he can be a 44%+ and 36%+ from 3 shooter, he would be a high level addition here. His FT % dipped to 31% this year, but did shoot 61% his frosh year. Hopefully, he can get to 65%-75% at the FT line. Just as a comparison, MM was 44.3% overall and 29.6% from 3. Tre should have better shooting #'s than MM had this past year.

I have not seen anything re: the HS recruits Pitino signed to go to MN in the fall. The one 6'11" kid from IN seemed to really be more a MN kid than a coach Pitino kid, but who knows? 6'11" Kenny Pohto though, is from Wichita, KS, so maybe, Pitino could recruit him here to join UNM as a frosh? He's also more an inside/outside threat. Good shot from 3, so he could stretch the court.
These guys not watching a lot of gophers. Casually suggesting a guy who couldn’t get off the bench will develop into a pro.
 


Did you not see that Robbins committed to Vanderbilt?
I saw that right after I posted the question. It will be interesting though if any other Gophers end up in New Mexico.
 

These guys not watching a lot of gophers. Casually suggesting a guy who couldn’t get off the bench will develop into a pro.

Well, the alternative story is that Pitino failed here because he wasn't a good coach and he didn't recruit players good enough to win with any regularity. I can understand why they don't want to tell themselves that story about their newly hired coach and his players and prefer to tell stories like the one you highlighted.
 

Well, the alternative story is that Pitino failed here because he wasn't a good coach and he didn't recruit players good enough to win with any regularity. I can understand why they don't want to tell themselves that story about their newly hired coach and his players and prefer to tell stories like the one you highlighted.
True enough. Who are we to talk!?!
 

Tre Williams would also be a nice pick-up... His FT % dipped to 31% this year
I had to double check this because I thought that had to be an error. Sure enough, Tre shot 31% (10-32) from the FT line. Wow.

If I told you that a team’s best 3 pt shooter by percentage shot 31% from the FT line, you would probably think that team must have been terrible at shooting threes. And in this case, you would be absolutely right.
 





Didn’t know Mashburn was going to New Mexico. After all the posts on here about how great he is I figured ACC or Big 12 was more likely. Maybe no one wanted him.........
 

We have the following:

Ihnen, PF
Gach, SF

Transfers:
Battle, PF/SF
Leowe, PG
Stephens, SG

Possibility:

Johnson, PF - Grad Student who has not stated his intentions

In Portal:

Gabe - WTF?
Robbins
Mitchell
Freeman
Mashburn
Tre
Omersa
Mutaf - Turkish Jordan - think he'd come back with all those available minutes? Lol

Carr - was never coming back anyway.

Considering you have the makings of a second to last place B1G team in the portal.

We really aren't in that bad of shape!

Lots of potential. The NBA would love this team.
Add transfer Sutherlin and Thompson who will be a freshman center. Pohto is possibly staying committed. So we have 7 guys for sure and two maybes with 4-6 more scholarships.
 




That source for Mashburn isn't a good source at all, yes it could still happen though.

I don't see Mitchell playing for Pitino again. Pitino never gave the guy any minutes and played him at a position he didn't like himself.

Tre would do well in the MWC, so would Pohto.
 

Pitino himself said Mitchell had the most nba potential of anyone on the team last season.
Someone not too long ago had a great post about the ultimate impact made by all the players who never earned minutes during their freshman year at Minnesota. History suggests they don’t have a high ceiling.

that’s not to say that Mitchell won’t make the NBA, but I’ll take the under.
 



Didn’t know Mashburn was going to New Mexico. After all the posts on here about how great he is I figured ACC or Big 12 was more likely. Maybe no one wanted him.........
Or maybe he just wanted to play for Pitino. Mashburn is going to be a really good player in that conference. I bet he will average 15+ points.
 

Or maybe he just wanted to play for Pitino. Mashburn is going to be a really good player in that conference. I bet he will average 15+ points.
Agreed he will do well there. Just not sure he was as sought after as many on here wanted to believe.
 

I bet he will average 15+ points.

My guess is that you likely will be right. The question is how many shots will he take in hitting that average. The kid certainly isn't gun shy.

He came fairly close to that mark (13.6 per game) in the last 9 games this season. However, he was 29 for 91 (.319) from the field overall in that stretch with .297 on 3s and .333 on 2s. It must be said that he was a solid free throw during that span hitting 19 of 25 (76%).

I'm not putting the guy down too much for his poor shooting percentages at this point. Probably more often than not, freshmen players are relatively poor shooters. In addition, he had to take a lot of shots on this team at the end of this season because of the dearth of scorers. I believe his shooting will improve although I'm less confident about his point guard instincts.
 

Agreed he will do well there. Just not sure he was as sought after as many on here wanted to believe.

Were these the same people who said Gabe would get offers from every Big Ten team because he is an elite defender? ;)

(I am not actually dissing Gabe but some people act like he is Gary Payton)
 

Were these the same people who said Gabe would get offers from every Big Ten team because he is an elite defender? ;)

(I am not actually dissing Gabe but some people act like he is Gary Payton)

I would say that he's not even close to Matisse Thybulle, a off-guard out of the U of Washington who was drafted a couple of years ago specifically for his defense.
 


Were these the same people who said Gabe would get offers from every Big Ten team because he is an elite defender? ;)

(I am not actually dissing Gabe but some people act like he is Gary Payton)
The Glove!!
 

Or maybe he just wanted to play for Pitino. Mashburn is going to be a really good player in that conference. I bet he will average 15+ points.

Pitino will let him dominate the ball ala Marcus Carr and Nate Mason as well.
 

Imaginary roster I could get pretty excited about considering the names that are out there:

PG -1
Mason Faulkner ? (Western Carolina) Grad transfer - really good player
Cashius McNeily? - A&M Frosh- son of possible assistant

SG 2/3
Loewe
Stephens
Gach
Sutherlin

3/4
Battle
Ihnen

4/5
Johnson Another year?
Pohto Sticks with his commitment?
Freeman Returns?
Thompson
Rebraka ND transfer?

With a great coaching job- perhaps even .500 in the B1G??? Can a person dream a little?
 

Imaginary roster I could get pretty excited about considering the names that are out there:

PG -1
Mason Faulkner ? (Western Carolina) Grad transfer - really good player
Cashius McNeily? - A&M Frosh- son of possible assistant

SG 2/3
Loewe
Stephens
Gach
Sutherlin

3/4
Battle
Ihnen

4/5
Johnson Another year?
Pohto Sticks with his commitment?
Freeman Returns?
Thompson
Rebraka ND transfer?

With a great coaching job- perhaps even .500 in the B1G??? Can a person dream a little?
People are being way too harsh, if this is what we have, it is not very good, but considering Thorsons defense and the spark and energy provided by Johnson, this team will be better than people will think. Especially next year, where the mid and botttom tiers of the big ten will be absolutely terrible.
 

People are being way too harsh, if this is what we have, it is not very good, but considering Thorsons defense and the spark and energy provided by Johnson, this team will be better than people will think. Especially next year, where the mid and botttom tiers of the big ten will be absolutely terrible.
At this point, I'm inclined to agree with you provided we get a decent point guard and a decent center. I like the 2-4 positions. Without solidifying 1 and 5 though, it's going to be rough. I'm not concerned yet though that will be an issue.
 

Imaginary roster I could get pretty excited about considering the names that are out there:

PG -1
Mason Faulkner ? (Western Carolina) Grad transfer - really good player
Cashius McNeily? - A&M Frosh- son of possible assistant

SG 2/3
Loewe
Stephens
Gach
Sutherlin

3/4
Battle
Ihnen

4/5
Johnson Another year?
Pohto Sticks with his commitment?
Freeman Returns?
Thompson
Rebraka ND transfer?

With a great coaching job- perhaps even .500 in the B1G??? Can a person dream a little?
Freeman isn't returning, and Pohto will not play here either.

One name to watch at center- Joey Brunk, transferring from Indiana. Would be a quality starting center for us if his injury issues are resolved.

We definitely need a starting PG and C yet from the portal. Assuming that happens, and maybe land one more quality transfer (Fox??), I think we'd actually have a chance to be competitive next season.
 




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