Vaugh will make yet another unofficial visit to the U this weekend.
Rashad Vaughn, a 6-foot-5 junior guard from Robbinsdale Cooper, shined this summer and was recentlky ranked as the #12 player in the Class of 2014 by ESPN. GopherHole.com attended his open gym Sunday and caught up with Vaughn to learn the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: You had Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith and assistant Vince Taylor along with Baylor assistant Jerome Tang attend your open gym Sunday. That has to make you feel proud that they took time out of their schedule to watch you play?
Rashad Vaughn: Yes, it made me pretty good that they both came out thereto the open gym for one day. That made me feel good.
Gopher Hole: You had a good summer and ESPN ranked you number 12 in the Class of 2014. How did you hear about that and how pleased were you with that honor?
Rashad Vaughn: My coach had texted me and told me that I was rated twelfth in the country. It is nice to be rated that high .The hard work that has paid off. It felt really good.
Gopher Hole: You were one of three Minnesota ranked high in the class of 2014. You think of other states like New York and California producing great basketball players, but obviously Minnesota with you, Reid (Travis) and Tyus (Jones) have shown that there is some good basketball up here.
Rashad Vaughn: Yes, we have a really good class. Me, Reid and Tyus. We are showing the world that Minnesota has good basketball players here. I think that it is good that we have three players in the rankings.
Gopher Hole: Have you ever talked about playing at the same place?
Rashad Vaughn: No, we have never really talked about it. We have talked about what schools we like and all that, but we have really talked about playing together.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, all three of you have been offered by Minnesota. Is that appeal to you to maybe play with those two guys and play for the home state school?
Rashad Vaughn: Oh, yes. I love the Gophers. They are the home school. I think that if we all did decide to play here together, I think that would be good
Gopher Hole: What are your plans the next couple of weeks? Are you going to try to go to any college football games or visit some schools?
Rashad Vaughn: I will probably go to the Gopher game this weekend. That is about it. I am just going to be working out.
Gopher Hole: You went to Iowa State the previous weekend. What was that like?
Rashad Vaughn: It was fun, I got to go up and down with the players and watch the football game and tailgate. It was fun.
Gopher Hole: Do you gain a lot from those experience in terms of getting to know the coaching staffs and the players?
Rashad Vaughn: Yes. I got to know the coaches well. I already did. Coach (Fred) Hoiberg and Coach Matt (Abdelmassih) already have a great relationship there, so really it was to just go down there and watch the game. .
Gopher Hole: How about your relationship with the Gopher staff?
Rashad Vaughn: Yes, I have a good relationship with Coach Taylor and also with Coach Tubby Smith.
Gopher Hole: Have you even thought about when you would decide on a college? Or is that still far away?
Rashad Vaughn: It is kind of far away. I would probably say like my senior year, probably the beginning or the middle. .
Gopher Hole: What about your Cooper team. You had some guys missing from the open gym who are playing football. What are the expectations, especially now that you have a new head coach this year?
Rashad Vaughn: I think that the new coach is going to come in and change a lot of stuff around and put people in good positions. I think that we should be pretty good this year. We got some guys playing football right now, but they should come back ready and we should be pretty good this year.
Gopher Hole: You played in the Elite 24 All-Star Game in California a few weeks ago. What was that experience like?
Rashad Vaughn: It was a fun experience, being out in Caly and the Elite 24 going against all the top players in the country. We played outside, so it was fun.
Gopher Hole: To be honest, as a basketball purist, I like a little bit of defense. Is that the style of play that you like or would you have liked to see more competitive play in terms of defense?
Rashad Vaughn: I would have liked it to be more competitive, but it was just an All-Star Game before going back to school after a long summer. We were all just playing. It was fun.
Gopher Hole: How about your summer? I know you played well in Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Las Vegas. How pleased were you with how well things went this summer?
Rashad Vaughn: I think that I played pretty good. Got more offers. I think that my team did pretty good in a lot of tournaments and I played pretty good in a lot of tournaments, so I think the summer overall went pretty well.
Gopher Hole: How many offers are you up to right now? Do you still keep track?
Rashad Vaughn: No, I don’t even keep track anymore.
Gopher Hole: How many do you think it is if you had to guess?
Rashad Vaughn: Probably around 18 or 20. .
Gopher Hole: Who is recruiting you the hardest out of all those schools?
Rashad Vaughn: I would say really everybody.