Kinami Young is already in full recruiting mode, including speaking with former Gophers signee Alex Foster on Tuesday.
New Gophers coach Richard Pitino is expected to arrive in Minnesota around 4pm on Wednesday, with a partial staff already in place and a recruiting road map already sketched out. The Minnesota Golden Gopher staff is already hitting the ground running which is critical as the April open period features evaluation events held the 19-21 and 26-28.
Pitino will have three familiar faces on his staff as Mike Balado, Kimani Young and Josh Adel are following him from Florida International.
Mike Balado spent the past season as an assistant coach at FIU after spending three seasons at High Point. He previously served as an assistant at Miami for one season and Florida Atlantic for three years. Balado served two seasons at Miami Dade College.
Kimani Young spent the past season at FIU after serving as athletic director for the New Heights AAU program. He had previously served as the St. John’s Red Storm staff as the head team manager/video coordinator. Young played at UTEP and scored more than 1,000 points in his college career.
Josh Adel served as FIU’s video coordinator after spending five years at Florida, including a stint as the team manager.
Pitino is likely to add two more names to his staff soon. Gopher coaches are expected to attend the EYBL events in California and Virginia, the adidas VIP in Dallas, Spring Classic in Bloomington, Mile High Classic in Denver, Bigfoot Hoops Kingwood Tournament in Houston, NY2LA Sports Spring Extravaganza in Minnetonka, Pittsburgh Hoop Fest, Bigfoot Hoops Las Vegas Grand Opening and the Under Armour Jayhawk Invitational among others.
Gopher fans can expect the new coaching staff to follow juniors Tyus Jones and Reid Travis of Howard Pulley, Rashad Vaughn, who will play for Wisconsin Playground Elite, sophomore Alex Illikainen of the Cyclones, and sophomores Henry Ellenson and Jarvis Johnson of Minnesota D1 along with other top prospects.
The new coaching staff has made it clear that keeping the top local talent to stay home is a big priority, which is crucial with the strong 2014 and 2015 classes of top Minnesota talent.