Talent that "Got Away"

BarnBoy

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I can't help but notice some of the MN names that are not playing for the Gophers that I saw playing this weekend. Who are some of the other talented MN boys that "got away" that are currently contributing on other rosters?

Whether they would have significantly helped this year's team is not the point. Just trying to come up with a list to look at:

Here is a start:

Cole Aldrich - Kansas
John Leuer - WI
Jordan Taylor - WI
Ben Woodside - NDSU
 

I can't help but notice some of the MN names that are not playing for the Gophers that I saw playing this weekend. Who are some of the other talented MN boys that "got away" that are currently contributing on other rosters?

Whether they would have significantly helped this year's team is not the point. Just trying to come up with a list to look at:

Here is a start:

Cole Aldrich - Kansas
John Leuer - WI
Jordan Taylor - WI
Ben Woodside - NDSU

you would have to better define the term "got away" since i am not positive if dan monson actively recruited any of the players you named.
 

Good clarification.

Whether we actively recruited them or not was not the intent of my question.

Simply put: Name some talented MN boys that are currently playing on other rosters.

I am really not trying to make a point with this other than sitting back to think, "wow, we produce some pretty good basketball talent in MN".
 

Good clarification.

Whether we actively recruited them or not was not the intent of my question.

Simply put: Name some talented MN boys that are currently playing on other rosters.

I am really not trying to make a point with this other than sitting back to think, "wow, we produce some pretty good basketball talent in MN".

word. got ya! personally, i think we produce more D1 basketball talent in minnesota (especially in the last decade or so) than most people outside of the big ten footprint realize.
 

you would have to better define the term "got away" since i am not positive if dan monson actively recruited any of the players you named.

I can't speak for Taylor or Woodside (I believe it was Rico or Woodside), but I can tell you Coach Monson did heavily recruit Cole Alrich. I was actually on the Barnyard Board at that time, and we coordinated poster for Cole, chants, etc - we even posted photos of him so people would know who he was at football games. He just choose KU, which I don't think he's regretted for a second. It wasn't from lack of effort at the U.

As for Jon Leuer, at that exact time, we had one scholarship, and it was for him or Hoff, Hoff knew he wanted to be a Gopher and accepted first.

Hindsight is a funny thing - obviously, all of those players are good, some phenomenal - but you it's comparing apples to oranges. You have no idea how they would of developed at the U, in a different system. I just look forward to the next couple years, and the fantastic players we have and are getting!
 



I can't speak for Taylor or Woodside (I believe it was Rico or Woodside), but I can tell you Coach Monson did heavily recruit Cole Alrich. I was actually on the Barnyard Board at that time, and we coordinated poster for Cole, chants, etc - we even posted photos of him so people would know who he was at football games. He just choose KU, which I don't think he's regretted for a second. It wasn't from lack of effort at the U.

As for Jon Leuer, at that exact time, we had one scholarship, and it was for him or Hoff, Hoff knew he wanted to be a Gopher and accepted first.

Hindsight is a funny thing - obviously, all of those players are good, some phenomenal - but you it's comparing apples to oranges. You have no idea how they would of developed at the U, in a different system. I just look forward to the next couple years, and the fantastic players we have and are getting!

Good point about hindsight.

UK signed 3 guards in 2004 class. Rajon Rondo is in the NBA. Joe Crawford was drafted by the NBA and is playing NBDL. Ramel Bradley is playing pro basketball overseas.

And yet, UK didn't sign Chris Lofton that year. He became a 2000 pt career scorer at Tennessee. In 2004, each of the above 3 were rated "better" than him. In 2008, maybe only Rondo was.
 

Woodside would not have played for us this year, even had we signed him. He would've played from day one, with his eligibility expiring last year.
 

Meh. There are a few good MN players but not many when you consider that there are like 170 D1 programs out there. Aldrich is the only MN born player that could be considered a legit star and NBA prospect right now. Woodside is a great player but he's at a small school and has no real NBA potential. The guys for Wisky are ok and Leuer may become an NBA level prospect but I doubt it.
 



Gopher fans seem to beat themselves up about the guys that get away more than most programs I've seen. Can you imagine if we were Missouri Tiger fans letting Tyler Hansborough go out of state?!

Go Gophers!!
 

Good point about hindsight.

UK signed 3 guards in 2004 class. Rajon Rondo is in the NBA. Joe Crawford was drafted by the NBA and is playing NBDL. Ramel Bradley is playing pro basketball overseas.

And yet, UK didn't sign Chris Lofton that year. He became a 2000 pt career scorer at Tennessee. In 2004, each of the above 3 were rated "better" than him. In 2008, maybe only Rondo was.

As good as Lofton was, he was no Troy Bell.
 


I actually believe there are 300 division 1 basketball programs. Minnesota has the largest population of any state with only 1 division one school. Iowa has 4, Wisconsin 4, Colorado 4. We aren't used to the competition for instate recruits with other Minnesota schools as there are none. Hopefully we will get all the kids we want and are available to develop them. We cannot give any prospect a scholarship and 20% will develop into a player we will regret after..fact of life. Kind of like looking back at the draft and saying how the gm screwed up and could've drafted such and such a player. When everyone else would've taken that player at that time. Twolves excluded. They just suck at it and never have any lottery luck.
 



Northern Iowa has...

Travis Brown - Richfield
Kwadzo Ahelegbe - Oakdale (Tartan)
 

Romain Martin (Mpls. North) scores 15 a game at Eastern Illinois.

How about Oregon losing Love and Singler in the same year?
 

I honestly wonder which brother is having more fun this year, Big Ten Title and NCAA Tourney Run or All-Conference and Playing Time?

Isaiah Dahlman (MSU): 0.7 PPG, 0.6 RPG, 1.9 MPG
Noah Dahlman (Wofford): 17.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 30.1 MPG
 




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