Why did Macura shun the Gophers?

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Miles Tarver

Miles Tarver

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I do think this deserves it's own thread.

Why do you think he went elsewhere, especially after it seemed we were the heavy favorite?

Do you think it was...

A. Pitino didn't jump on him right away after getting the job, and Macura didn't like this?
B. Macura thinks we will land a bigger SG target (Whitehead or Vaughn) and this affected his decision?
C. He was turned off from his visit here to MN
D. He was just "wowed" that much by Xavier?

I am really confused on this decision....We have a new, young coach that plays to JP's strengths...

Well, we lost a recruit we thought we had, hopefully we get one we didn't think we would (Whitehead)

Thoughts?
 

B.

Going back to his interview with Monter about his visit at Xavier, he said "it was awesome, I liked it a lot. What I like about the school is that I can come in and have a big impact on the team right away....."

I wonder if Richard Pitino and the staff never promised that. Maybe this is just me hoping for the best, but it still is strange that after being the "front runners" that he decided to commit to Xavier.
 

I think pitino feels confident in getting one of his higher rated shooting guards
 

gopherdiehard said:
I think pitino feels confident in getting one of his higher rated shooting guards
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He's got a shot at Whitehead. It seemed certain he was going to Syracuse but now that they've lost interest who knows where he'll go. IU for obvious reasons worry me but Seton Hall is just as worrying. He seems like a kid that wants to stay close to home.
 

Myke said:
He's got a shot at Whitehead. It seemed certain he was going to Syracuse but now that they've lost interest who knows where he'll go. IU for obvious reasons worry me but Seton Hall is just as worrying. He seems like a kid that wants to stay close to home.
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I think we've got a better shot at Vaughn & an outside shot at both.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
I think we've got a better shot at Vaughn & an outside shot at both.
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I get the feeling Vaughn's leading the fans and the media along. Kind of like JP did with the "I'd love to be the first to commit" bit. In my opinion Vaughn's heart seems to be set on UNC the problem is the guys that have already committed there in the 2014 class. That and Minnesota being home for him is keeping us in it.
 

B and D. I bet he is worried that we land a bigger name player in the same position as him and his Xavier visit went very well. I thought he was as good as signed.....just proves that you shouldn't assume anything. Still think that we have a decent shot at some of our remaining top targets. Easy to decide that the sky is falling when a few players commit elsewhere, but each is an individual......no reason to assume that since a few players go elsewhere, that we will not sign any. Macura certainly could have felt slighted because we have a few high profile recruits and he was an afterthought. I can see how that could tick him off as a good bball player. It will be awfully disappointing if we cannot manage to sign at least one top MN recruit.
 

I hate to see JP go elsewhere, but at no time have I felt he was a program changer. Plenty of time, and Coach P. and the guys are still hard at it. Last year Michigan State came up empty at the NSD, the year before Ohio State did. It is times like this I wish we had the new practice facility.
 

A) More believable for me than others. I think there's a connection between A and B.
B) Probably a concern for Macura but without knowing for sure seems like a rushed decision
C) Very Very long shot.
D) That's a given.
 



Some combination of your A,B, and D. I don't think Macura knows/believes that Pitino will land Whitehead/Vaugh, but I think he likely believes that Pitino views him as a role player. I think JP was looking for a school where the coach believed in him and the system/level of play would allow him to be an all around player and not just a shooter. Xavier/Creighton is more likely to be that type of school than Minnesota. I think it's telling that JP chose Xavier not only over Minnesota, but other programs in a high major conference (ZERO chance the new Big East is the best basketball conference in America as someone stated in another thread). Xavier's a good school, it's a smaller school, and they are often in the tournament.

I thought it was insane that a few people started trying to lump JP in with the Big 3 as he's clearly not on that level. He wasn't a priority for Coach Pitino and his staff and we will see if they can land any of their priority recruits. I think JP could have been a nice contributor at Minnesota and would have been happy if he committed to the Gophers. That said, Pitino needs athletes to run his system. There's certainly room for a JP in that system, but there's not room for a JP and Joey King on the floor at the same time.
 

EG#9 said:
Some combination of your A,B, and D. I don't think Macura knows/believes that Pitino will land Whitehead/Vaugh, but I think he likely believes that Pitino views him as a role player. I think JP was looking for a school where the coach believed in him and the system/level of play would allow him to be an all around player and not just a shooter. Xavier/Creighton is more likely to be that type of school than Minnesota. I think it's telling that JP chose Xavier not only over Minnesota, but other programs in a high major conference (ZERO chance the new Big East is the best basketball conference in America as someone stated in another thread). Xavier's a good school, it's a smaller school, and they are often in the tournament.

I thought it was insane that a few people started trying to lump JP in with the Big 3 as he's clearly not on that level. He wasn't a priority for Coach Pitino and his staff and we will see if they can land any of their priority recruits. I think JP could have been a nice contributor at Minnesota and would have been happy if he committed to the Gophers. That said, Pitino needs athletes to run his system. There's certainly room for a JP in that system, but there's not room for a JP and Joey King on the floor at the same time.
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JP is twice the Player King is. King was a ESPN and Rivals ZERO Star recruit. Who put up modest numbers at Drake. He is a higher rated recruit then all cuurent players other than Andre. As far as him not being a Pitino Priority .... Pitino would be nuts if that was true. If Pitino had a verbal from Vaughn or Whitehead then JP could be secondary.
 

I always thought the Pitino bashing would at least wait to start after the first loss - and yet here we are in September. Even I'm surprised by this one Gopherhole.
 

I'm curious why people keep saying that Macura would be an immediate starter at Xavier but merely a role player here. Xavier is a better basketball program than Minnesota.
 



scher215 said:
I always thought the Pitino bashing would at least wait to start after the first loss - and yet here we are in September. Even I'm surprised by this one Gopherhole.
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scher215, not sure what "Pitino bashing" post you're referring to, especially in this thread. Most of these posts seem rational and objective, people expressing their opinions on why an in-state kid chose X over us. Seems like an appropriate topic with some well stated opinions. Not to mention, quite a few people are suggesting (whether right or irrational) that we still have a shot at the two top SGs in the nation in Whitehead and Vaughn. Seems pretty positive towards Pitino IMO.

Go Gophers!!
 

+1

BleedGopher said:
scher215, not sure what "Pitino bashing" post you're referring to, especially in this thread. Most of these posts seem rational and objective, people expressing their opinions on why an in-state kid chose X over us. Seems like an appropriate topic with some well stated opinions. Not to mention, quite a few people are suggesting (whether right or irrational) that we still have a shot at the two top SGs in the nation in Whitehead and Vaughn. Seems pretty positive towards Pitino IMO.

Go Gophers!!
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EG#9 said:
Some combination of your A,B, and D. I don't think Macura knows/believes that Pitino will land Whitehead/Vaugh, but I think he likely believes that Pitino views him as a role player. I think JP was looking for a school where the coach believed in him and the system/level of play would allow him to be an all around player and not just a shooter. Xavier/Creighton is more likely to be that type of school than Minnesota. I think it's telling that JP chose Xavier not only over Minnesota, but other programs in a high major conference (ZERO chance the new Big East is the best basketball conference in America as someone stated in another thread). Xavier's a good school, it's a smaller school, and they are often in the tournament.

I thought it was insane that a few people started trying to lump JP in with the Big 3 as he's clearly not on that level. He wasn't a priority for Coach Pitino and his staff and we will see if they can land any of their priority recruits. I think JP could have been a nice contributor at Minnesota and would have been happy if he committed to the Gophers. That said, Pitino needs athletes to run his system. There's certainly room for a JP in that system, but there's not room for a JP and Joey King on the floor at the same time.
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There might be a lot to this logic. Hard to say if we land Vaughn or Whitehead this year. But it is obvious that Pitino is shooting for the stars- so to speak- in recruiting. So regardless of this class JP may be concerned that Pitino will still attempt to recruit over the top of him in the ensuing class.
 

I would say all of the above. The Kingston Trio of Jones, Vaughn, and Travis have to be Pitino's highest "visible" priorities regardless of how realistic landing any of them might be (and I have no idea what the result would be). Regardless of what Pitino may have been telling Macura face-to-face, it may not have been enough. I'm not down on Macura. Glad he's happy with his choice and good luck to him. Would have been a nice player to add here.

All I can say is I hope "B" is true or the peanut gallery is going to start chucking stuff at Pitino.
 

bga1 said:
There might be a lot to this logic. Hard to say if we land Vaughn or Whitehead this year. But it is obvious that Pitino is shooting for the stars- so to speak- in recruiting. So regardless of this class JP may be concerned that Pitino will still attempt to recruit over the top of him in the ensuing class.
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Every Coach at every college tries to get recruits that are "over the top" of members of his current squad. That's how teams improve.
 

Myke said:
I get the feeling Vaughn's leading the fans and the media along. Kind of like JP did with the "I'd love to be the first to commit" bit. In my opinion Vaughn's heart seems to be set on UNC the problem is the guys that have already committed there in the 2014 class. That and Minnesota being home for him is keeping us in it.
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Completely disagree. While Macura was believed from the get-go to want to play out of state, Vaughn has always seemed to want to stay home. From him showing up at high profile H.S. basketball games dressed in all Gopher swag, to the multiple visits he made to the U (with both staffs!), even multiple unannounced visits where he just showed up at the U to hang out around the coaches/team, his constant tweeting/interaction with Rodney Williams, to him delaying his commitment until spring because he says he wants to give Pitino a fair chance to show what kind of team he'll field at the U. If he wanted to go to Ky or Kansas he would already have committed imo. To me it appears everything he does recruiting-wise is designed to let the U win his commitment.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Completely disagree. While Macura was believed from the get-go to want to play out of state, Vaughn has always seemed to want to stay home. From him showing up at high profile H.S. basketball games dressed in all Gopher swag, to the multiple visits he made to the U (with both staffs!), even multiple unannounced visits where he just showed up at the U to hang out around the coaches/team, his constant tweeting/interaction with Rodney Williams, to him delaying his commitment until spring because he says he wants to give Pitino a fair chance to show what kind of team he'll field at the U. If he wanted to go to Ky or Kansas he would already have committed imo. To me it appears everything he does recruiting-wise is designed to let the U win his commitment.
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Very good post. I remember seeing Tubby working so hard on Vaughn during last year's Tipoff. Honestly, I am not sure why I write this because I have said it many times before. Things are cooling down now. I hope that some of you understand why some of us were against Tubby's firing when it happened. It was true that Tubby was closed to retirement. Unfortunately, I wish NT had some idea that this is not VCU. Purdue did the best coaching change that I have ever seen. Coach Keady, a very well-respected man like Tubby was replaced by a young coach like Richard. We should have had Richard working with Tubby this year and had a retirement party for Tubby. Tubby had a very good chance of getting the big 3. He worked very hard on that. Richard could have coached and Tubby could have raised money for the practice facility that is a must-have. By the way, stop saying that Richard was not NT top choice. How the heck do you know? Grant would have never left Alabama for MN job. Also, Shaka's style of street basketball would never work in B1G. I think Richard is a good choice but should have worked as a sidekick for one season. Right or wrong, this is my opinion and may not worth a penny.

Go Gophers
 

I take this as a positive sign. We didn't put the full court press on Macura, obviously. We recruited him hard, because we've recruited everybody hard. But the fact that we didn't go as all out on him tells me (and maybe I'm being overoptimistic), that Pitino truly believes he's got a big time shooting guard coming in. If that's true, then Macura leaving looks far less of a problem. If Pitino whiffs on his big time recruits, it won't look good. Granted, I'm still going to give him a few years to get his system in, and everything, but it'd be a bit of a misstep. As to Macura himself, he had an opportunity to be a Gopher, and chose not to, so, per usual, I hope his basketball career flounders, because he's now a member of a team standing between the Gophers and their goals.
 

Who among us really knows what went into JP's decision? He's an 18-year-old kid who apparently wants to play basketball at a high level and get a good education. Could he do that at the U? Absolutely. Can he do that at Xavier? Of course. Intangibles like relationships to coaching staffs, becoming more independent by moving away from home, and being part of a smaller university (some people are completely intimidated by a school the size of Minnesota. Not saying JP is/was, but Xavier has 4,500 students, which I think was the approximate size of my Psych 1001 class in Willey Hall) are all potential factors in why a player may choose one school over another. I won't blame him for making the decision he did because he did what was best for him. I'm confident Pitino will connect with the right recruits, who will make the decision to come to Minnesota because it's best for them.
 

Miles Tarver said:
I do think this deserves it's own thread.

Why do you think he went elsewhere, especially after it seemed we were the heavy favorite?
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Why do you think we "were the heavy favorite" when JP was all set to commit to Butler?
 

harrys ghost said:
Why do you think we "were the heavy favorite" when JP was all set to commit to Butler?
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once Stevens bolted for the NBA, we clearly became the heavy favorite. Don't know how much you have been following his recruitment.
 

Maybe the Gophers were willing to wait on both Vaughn and Whitehead and Macura didn't want to wait around? Macura might have simply felt his skills would be a better fit at Xavier rather than at Minnesota. With that said we can move on now to the next guy.
 

Miles Tarver said:
once Stevens bolted for the NBA, we clearly became the heavy favorite. Don't know how much you have been following his recruitment.
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According to who? I don't remember reading any comments from him that said "Minnesota was the favorite". The only recruit that I can recall being that blatant was Cohen in his comments about Marquette, pre-commitment. The comments from Macura about how much it would mean to be the first to commit didn't mean much IMO. He was positive about all his suitors.
 

golfing18now said:
According to who? I don't remember reading any comments from him that said "Minnesota was the favorite". The only recruit that I can recall being that blatant was Cohen in his comments about Marquette, pre-commitment. The comments from Macura about how much it would mean to be the first to commit didn't mean much IMO. He was positive about all his suitors.
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Obviously it was speculation that we were the favorite, but I think one of the main reasons so many people believed that was because of how frequently he was visiting our campus. Usually when a player visits a particular school as much as he visited here, they end up committing to that school.
 

We don't need to recruit kids out of high school. We can get all of tubby's players that transfer from tech.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
Obviously it was speculation that we were the favorite, but I think one of the main reasons so many people believed that was because of how frequently he was visiting our campus. Usually when a player visits a particular school as much as he visited here, they end up committing to that school.
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I remeber JP being quoted here as saying something to the effect that he would love to be the first commit for the gophers 2014 class
 

Of course he would have "loved" to have been the first, had he committed to us. He didn't, he isn't, let's move on.
 

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