Marcus: Vince Taylor would be candidate at U if Tubby leaves and other tid-bits

Tubby watching 2011 recruit in Indiana this weekend
By Marcus Fuller

Gophers coach Tubby Smith is in Indiana this weekend watching Lew Wallace High School junior Branden Dawson play in the state tournament. But is Smith still recruiting for Minnesota?

Smith talked with Oregon representatives about its basketball coaching position this week, but there's no telling if that is as far as it has gone as of today. He's keeping things close to the vest.

Wallace, an athletic 6-foot-6 small forward, is a five-star recruit and ranked as the 16th-best player in the 2011 class by Rivals.com. Minnesota, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Georgetown, Marquette and UCLA have offered him scholarships.

The Gophers also watched Dawson play earlier this month, but it looks like they have some competition to land him. Few West Coast schools are recruiting him, so Smith still seems to be doing business as usual as Minnesota's coach. That could be a sign that he's staying put.

-- When Gophers assistant basketball coach Vince Taylor joined Smith's staff three years ago, he was already thinking about becoming a Division I head coach.

Those close to him hope that Taylor gets his shot now. As I reported earlier this week, the former Duke player and Louisville assistant is interviewing at North Carolina-Wilmington and North Carolina-Charlotte. Don't be surprised, either, if he is considered for the Minnesota job if Smith leaves.

"It wouldn't surprise me to see him get a job sometime soon," ESPN analyst and former Duke player Jay Bilas said about Taylor. "He's got an amazing amount of experience through his playing career and coaching career. He's seen it all."

-- The Gophers will have their eyes keenly fixed on a point guard during next Wednesday's McDonald's All-American game in Columbus, Ohio.

Findlay Prep (Nev.) senior Cory Joseph, the younger brother of Gophers sophomore Devoe Joseph, should be a candidate for MVP honors in the game. If he outplays his high-profile counterparts, it could make it less likely that he signs with Minnesota.

Sometimes kids tend to fall in love with the spotlight. Joseph definitely won't be on the national radar as a freshman immediately with the Gophers as much as he would be at Texas, Villanova or Connecticut.

The Gophers have been confident for a while about their chances of landing the younger Joseph. I think they have a 50-50 shot right now. It's been known that he won't sit down to make a decision until after his last game on April 3. The question is, how long after that will he pick a school?

Rivals.com recruiting expert Jerry Meyer said if Cory Joseph joined the Gophers, he would be the best point guard to enter the Big Ten since Mike Conley went to Ohio State in 2006.

"What makes him special to me is his unique feel for the game," Meyer said. "He knows when to assert himself to score and when to facilitate the ball to keep his teammates happy. He's also a very good defender, a very good defender. He has a complete game."

-- Brewster Academy (N.H.) center Mo Walker is scheduled to visit the Gophers on April 9, according to Zagsblog.com. But Adam Zagoria, who wrote the story, said he thinks Walker will end up at Pittsburgh, which has been the favorite for a while. I agree.

Brewster Academy coach Jason Smith called the 6-10, 300-pound Walker the best available big man in the country.

"He's very skilled for a big man," Smith told me today. "He's a great passer and has outstanding hands and footwork. Yes, he will need to continue to work on conditioning, but he understands this and puts in the necessary extra time in this area. He's a high-character kid who's a great teammate and citizen in our community."

If Cory Joseph signs with Minnesota, I wonder if Walker will seriously consider playing here. He played with the Joseph brothers at one time on the Grassroots Canada AAU team in Toronto.

-- I've heard that former Milwaukee high school star Johnnie Lacy has let the Gophers know through people close to him that he's interested in transferring to Minnesota from Providence. But I'm not sure the Gophers have the same interest in him at this time.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Lacy is built like a point guard, but he isn't one. He's a scorer. That might be the reason Minnesota passes, because it has Devoe Joseph and Blake Hoffarber returning next season. Recruit Austin Hollins will also be a freshman.

Lacy's numbers this season also weren't flattering. He averaged 1.9 points in 8.1 minutes a game for the Friars as a freshman.

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2010/03/tubby-watching-2011-recruit-in.html

Go Gophers!!

Marcus is full of positive news today.

Well, it appears Marcus has jumped onto the "Tubby to Oregon" bandwagon. Good to hear.

As for the rest of it, none of it is particularly interesting or insightful. Apparently, we're supposed to hope that Cory Joseph plays a bad game at the McDonald's All-American game so he won't be swept up in the national spotlight and pick another school. Maurice Walker is also coming for a visit, but don't get excited. He's going to Pittsburgh. And Vince Taylor is going to be considered for coach as soon as Tubby gets back from recruiting Braden Dawson for Oregon and signs his contract with the Ducks. Great.

I think that about covers it.

I usually like Marcus quite a bit, but the tenor makes me think that he may have waken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

If Pittsburgh's scholarship situation doesn't get cleared up then he might have/want to go elsewhere. Hopefully that elsewhere would be Minnesota.

Marcus seems caught up in the "lil' Minny" mindset right now. Cory Joseph would get as much national play at Minnesota as any of those other schools. With him we have a chance to be better than any of those other schools next year. A lot of national talk comes along with being good. We are in the Big 10 Marcus. Any Big 10 school that is successful gets a lot of play. Also, Wright's name is thrown out there more than Tubby's for leaving, so not tons of security there. Barnes is Barnes, and Calhoun will probably miss half the season again. Who knows...

Ozzy&Ray said:

Marcus seems caught up in the "lil' Minny" mindset right now. Cory Joseph would get as much national play at Minnesota as any of those other schools. With him we have a chance to be better than any of those other schools next year. A lot of national talk comes along with being good. We are in the Big 10 Marcus. Any Big 10 school that is successful gets a lot of play. Also, Wright's name is thrown out there more than Tubby's for leaving, so not tons of security there. Barnes is Barnes, and Calhoun will probably miss half the season again. Who knows...

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ESPN will give more exposure to a Conneticut or Vilanova player than any Big Ten player. It is just the way it is.

jovs said:

ESPN will give more exposure to a Conneticut or Vilanova player than any Big Ten player. It is just the way it is.

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seriously? I didn't see much of UConn this year (they weren't very good) or Villanova either (and they were good). The U is on TV almost all of the time, they get plenty of exposure; and if their team improves, will be very much in the national spotlight.

cncmin said:

seriously? I didn't see much of UConn this year (they weren't very good) or Villanova either (and they were good). The U is on TV almost all of the time, they get plenty of exposure; and if their team improves, will be very much in the national spotlight.

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Purely in terms of games being on ESPN that's not really true. The Big 10 has as many weekly games in thier contract as the Big East (maybe even more). And the Big East has 16 teams. However, in terms of being 'talked about' I suppose it might be true. But it's marginal. And having every one of your conference games nationally televised is a lot more then the Big East can say. In any case, I hope Cory's smart enough to base his decision on things much more important then how much he'll get talked about by Colin Cowherd and Doug Gotlieb.

howeda7 said:

Purely in terms of games being on ESPN that's not really true. The Big 10 has as many weekly games in thier contract as the Big East (maybe even more). And the Big East has 16 teams. However, in terms of being 'talked about' I suppose it might be true. But it's marginal. And having every one of your conference games nationally televised is a lot more then the Big East can say. In any case, I hope Cory's smart enough to base his decision on things much more important then how much he'll get talked about by Colin Cowherd and Doug Gotlieb.

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Furthermore, it's pretty obvious that the Big Ten has once again become on of select few preeminent basketball conferences in the country. It had a little letdown for about a decade there, but it's back, with about 8 schools (of 11) with a reasonable chance to win the title every year, and 5 or 6 of the other 7 being strong competitors in any given season.

That basically sums up what I thought of the article as well. That thing about CJ in the AA game was extremely Myron-sounding.

MRJ said:

Well, it appears Marcus has jumped onto the "Tubby to Oregon" bandwagon. Good to hear.

As for the rest of it, none of it is particularly interesting or insightful. Apparently, we're supposed to hope that Cory Joseph plays a bad game at the McDonald's All-American game so he won't be swept up in the national spotlight and pick another school. Maurice Walker is also coming for a visit, but don't get excited. He's going to Pittsburgh. And Vince Taylor is going to be considered for coach as soon as Tubby gets back from recruiting Braden Dawson for Oregon and signs his contract with the Ducks. Great.

I think that about covers it.

I usually like Marcus quite a bit, but the tenor makes me think that he may have waken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

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