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Extensive Q&A: Vermont Academy HC Jesse Bopp Gushes Over New Gopher Daquein McNeil
Extensive Q&A: Vermont Academy HC Jesse Bopp Gushes Over New Gopher Daquein McNeil
By Chris Monter
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/248024?referrer_id=331171
Daquein McNeil, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard from Saxtons River (VT) Vermont Academy, signed with Florida International in the early signing period. However, McNeil asked for his release after head coach Richard Pitino and members of his staff left for Minnesota. It appears that McNeil will follow Pitino as a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Gopher Hole caught up with Vermont Academy head coach Jesse Bopp to learn more about his standout guard and his decision to come to Minnesota.
Gopher Hole: I know that Daquein had asked for his release from Florida International. Is he definitely coming to Minnesota or has that been determined yet?
Jesse Bopp: He is definitely coming to Minnesota.
Gopher Hole: For people who maybe have not seen him play, what would you say are his strengths as a player?
Jesse Bopp: I would say that if you watched Louisville win a national championship and you saw how Russ Smith played and the energy that he plays with and the fearlessness that he attacks with, I would say Daquein has a lot of those same attributes. He can really score in a lot of different ways. He is a guy who has a desire to win and I think a lot of them comes from where he is from, some of the things that he has been through and that he has totally built on the things that go into winning and that is how he measures success, as winning.
Gopher Hole: What about things like any player his ages, that he needs to continue to improve on to play at a Big Ten level?
Jesse Bopp: I think for Daquein since he is such a good scorer and driver and that he has had such a success in doing that, that he could continue to develop as an outside shooter. I think that he is a scorer. I would not describe Paul Pierce as a great shooter. He is a great scorer and when he gets that rhythm and a scoring rhythm, I think that Daquein can score in a lot of different ways and that includes making shots. I think for him to improve as a shooter is definitely something that he can get better at and work at, but he can shoot because he is such a good scorer.
Gopher Hole: What about him just as a kid in your dealings with him the past couple of years?
Jesse Bopp: He, in terms of a kid who has had an impact on my life and someone who has taught me and I have learned from and I feel strongly that there is no kid that I have ever been around that I feel as strongly for. He has been here for three years. He was the first kid that made the decision to come to Vermont Academy after I became the coach here. He is from a very difficult, humbling background from East Baltimore and to think that a kid like that can make a transition to a small boarding school in the middle of nowhere Vermont and to turn into and become who he has become is an emotional thing. So I have no doubt in his ability to be someone in that program that is going to have a large impact. It is a huge loss for our program that he is leaving. I have never coached a game here without him here, but I know what he has done here. He has left a mark and left a legacy and for our incoming players and returning players, he is the standard.
Gopher Hole: What did you think when he signed with Florida International in the fall. You probably thought that they were getting a sleeper?
Jesse Bopp: Just my understanding and his understanding of who Richard Pitino was and what he was trying to do and how he felt about Kimani Young and the way that they showed and expressed their commitment to him and how what he was about aligned with who they were and what they wanted their program to be about and their style of play. It worked at the University of Florida for Coach Donovan and at Virginia Commonwealth University for Coach Smart. There are a lot of similarities in play with those programs and how we play and certainly how Louisville plays and a lot of the intangibles that they value. So for me, no matter where Richard Pitino was coaching and where Kimani Young was going to be, if it was at Florida International or Dartmouth or Cal Berkeley, there was such a connection between those guys in all the ways that we think are important for a kid to be connected with their perspective coaches at the next level.
Gopher Hole: How did you first find out about Daquein?
Jesse Bopp: He came to Vermont Academy through a friend in the business. I had just gotten the job and was looking for players and cast a wide net and in walked a very quiet, shy, uncertain 16- year old. We wonder if he was going to be able to make it. We had heard about what kind of kid he was and all the great things he had done, but a lot of kids show up and with an environment that they had no experience with. He was very shy and just to see where he is now three years later is a tribute to Vermont Academy and the way that they have cared for him and the things that he has done.
Gopher Hole: Originally, he picked Florida International over offers from Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure and UAB. Had he heard from other schools?
Jesse Bopp: He had interest and was being recruited by Rutgers, Washington and VCU. They were three schools that were invested in the recruiting process with him.
Gopher Hole: Had you heard from many schools in the last week or two who figured that with Coach Pitino leaving that McNeil would re-open his recruitment?
Jesse Bopp: Schools had been reaching out since Coach Pitino left. There have been schools that reached out. I’m not going to go on record saying who those schools are, but there were a fair amount of schools that were interested to find out what he was doing.
Gopher Hole: So you have no doubt that even though people might look at it as a kid who signed with Florida International, you have no doubt that he can play at a Big Ten level?
Jesse Bopp: No question.
Extensive Q&A: Vermont Academy HC Jesse Bopp Gushes Over New Gopher Daquein McNeil
By Chris Monter
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/248024?referrer_id=331171
Daquein McNeil, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard from Saxtons River (VT) Vermont Academy, signed with Florida International in the early signing period. However, McNeil asked for his release after head coach Richard Pitino and members of his staff left for Minnesota. It appears that McNeil will follow Pitino as a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Gopher Hole caught up with Vermont Academy head coach Jesse Bopp to learn more about his standout guard and his decision to come to Minnesota.
Gopher Hole: I know that Daquein had asked for his release from Florida International. Is he definitely coming to Minnesota or has that been determined yet?
Jesse Bopp: He is definitely coming to Minnesota.
Gopher Hole: For people who maybe have not seen him play, what would you say are his strengths as a player?
Jesse Bopp: I would say that if you watched Louisville win a national championship and you saw how Russ Smith played and the energy that he plays with and the fearlessness that he attacks with, I would say Daquein has a lot of those same attributes. He can really score in a lot of different ways. He is a guy who has a desire to win and I think a lot of them comes from where he is from, some of the things that he has been through and that he has totally built on the things that go into winning and that is how he measures success, as winning.
Gopher Hole: What about things like any player his ages, that he needs to continue to improve on to play at a Big Ten level?
Jesse Bopp: I think for Daquein since he is such a good scorer and driver and that he has had such a success in doing that, that he could continue to develop as an outside shooter. I think that he is a scorer. I would not describe Paul Pierce as a great shooter. He is a great scorer and when he gets that rhythm and a scoring rhythm, I think that Daquein can score in a lot of different ways and that includes making shots. I think for him to improve as a shooter is definitely something that he can get better at and work at, but he can shoot because he is such a good scorer.
Gopher Hole: What about him just as a kid in your dealings with him the past couple of years?
Jesse Bopp: He, in terms of a kid who has had an impact on my life and someone who has taught me and I have learned from and I feel strongly that there is no kid that I have ever been around that I feel as strongly for. He has been here for three years. He was the first kid that made the decision to come to Vermont Academy after I became the coach here. He is from a very difficult, humbling background from East Baltimore and to think that a kid like that can make a transition to a small boarding school in the middle of nowhere Vermont and to turn into and become who he has become is an emotional thing. So I have no doubt in his ability to be someone in that program that is going to have a large impact. It is a huge loss for our program that he is leaving. I have never coached a game here without him here, but I know what he has done here. He has left a mark and left a legacy and for our incoming players and returning players, he is the standard.
Gopher Hole: What did you think when he signed with Florida International in the fall. You probably thought that they were getting a sleeper?
Jesse Bopp: Just my understanding and his understanding of who Richard Pitino was and what he was trying to do and how he felt about Kimani Young and the way that they showed and expressed their commitment to him and how what he was about aligned with who they were and what they wanted their program to be about and their style of play. It worked at the University of Florida for Coach Donovan and at Virginia Commonwealth University for Coach Smart. There are a lot of similarities in play with those programs and how we play and certainly how Louisville plays and a lot of the intangibles that they value. So for me, no matter where Richard Pitino was coaching and where Kimani Young was going to be, if it was at Florida International or Dartmouth or Cal Berkeley, there was such a connection between those guys in all the ways that we think are important for a kid to be connected with their perspective coaches at the next level.
Gopher Hole: How did you first find out about Daquein?
Jesse Bopp: He came to Vermont Academy through a friend in the business. I had just gotten the job and was looking for players and cast a wide net and in walked a very quiet, shy, uncertain 16- year old. We wonder if he was going to be able to make it. We had heard about what kind of kid he was and all the great things he had done, but a lot of kids show up and with an environment that they had no experience with. He was very shy and just to see where he is now three years later is a tribute to Vermont Academy and the way that they have cared for him and the things that he has done.
Gopher Hole: Originally, he picked Florida International over offers from Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure and UAB. Had he heard from other schools?
Jesse Bopp: He had interest and was being recruited by Rutgers, Washington and VCU. They were three schools that were invested in the recruiting process with him.
Gopher Hole: Had you heard from many schools in the last week or two who figured that with Coach Pitino leaving that McNeil would re-open his recruitment?
Jesse Bopp: Schools had been reaching out since Coach Pitino left. There have been schools that reached out. I’m not going to go on record saying who those schools are, but there were a fair amount of schools that were interested to find out what he was doing.
Gopher Hole: So you have no doubt that even though people might look at it as a kid who signed with Florida International, you have no doubt that he can play at a Big Ten level?
Jesse Bopp: No question.
