Q&A: Riley LaChance on Gophers Visit: "It went very, very well."

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Q&A: Riley LaChance on Gophers Visit: "It went very, very well."
By Chris Monter

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/287669?referrer_id=388419

Riley LaChance, a 6-foot-2, 160-pound point guard from Brookfield (WI) Central, visited Minnesota this past weekend. Gopher Hole.com caught up with Riley to learn about his visit to the U and his overall recruitment.

Gopher Hole: How was the visit?

Riley LaChance: Good. It went very, very well. The campus was absolutely beautiful. The Barn looks like an incredible place to play in. It was great to spend time with a lot of the guys and coach Pitino and Coach Johnson and all the coaches.

Gopher Hole: I know that you visited Creighton and Vanderbilt officially and Michigan State on an unofficial visit? How did the visit compare to those?

Riley LaChance: This campus is obviously, a lot bigger. It has a lot more students. It is very different in some ways, so it is two opposite ends of the spectrum.

Gopher Hole: What are your plans after this visit? Are you going to go anywhere else?

Riley LaChance: Yes. I am visiting Iowa this Thursday to Saturday.

Gopher Hole: What are you expecting to get out of that visit?

Riley LaChance: Kind of the same thing as every visit. Get a good feel for the guys on the team. Coaching staff. The community there and everything that goes with it playing college basketball.

Gopher Hole: I am sure that you enjoy the visits, but does it in a way make it a little bit more difficult because I am sure that there is something to like about every school?

Riley LaChance: Absolutely, because on an official visit they treated you like gold and there is nothing wrong with that. I appreciate and am thankful for every place that I visited. I have the most respect possible for each and every place that I have visited. Each and every coach on campus and it does make the decision a lot harder.

Gopher Hole: Have you thought about when you are going to try to decide on a school?

Riley LaChance: I am thinking, barring any new offers or anything like that, I am thinking that I’ll take the Iowa visit and probably decide a week or two after that.

Gopher Hole: What is going to be the main factor that is going to make you pick School A over School B or C?

Riley LaChance: I think the team that has a chance to win. A chance to win, a chance to be competitive in the near future. A team where I feel relatable with the coaching staff, with the players. I can see myself going to school there and having success, both academically and on the court. Just a place where I could see myself really fitting in.

Gopher Hole: Do you have a favorite yet?

Riley LaChance: I do not.

Gopher Hole: Is distance going to be much of a factor? Obviously, all the schools are at least five hours away with Minnesota being the closest and Vandy and Creighton being a little bit farther. Is that going to be much of a factor?

Riley LaChance: No, I think that if that did have an effect, I think the schools that it did have an effect on are already ruled out. I wouldn’t say that Minnesota has an advantage over Vanderbilt because it is four hours less. I think that all the schools are in the radius that I wanted it to be in.

Gopher Hole: You are in a state that has Big Ten basketball and you are being recruited by Minnesota and Iowa both. What would it mean to play in that conference, one that you are probably very familiar with?

Riley LaChance: It would be great to come and play at Wisconsin every year. I would love that. Nothing like playing in your home state with your family being able to see you play live and close to where you grew up, so it would be great.
 

Hmmm.....only two very's. Analyze away.
 

Why hasn't Wisconsin offered LaChance? He seems like a Wisconsin kind of player, he's a home state guy, Brust and Gasser are just about ready to graduate (I forget if they're jrs or srs), and he's not a reach rankings-wise. Some people say he's "not that athletic," but when has that stopped Bo from recruiting a player in the past?

Or did Wiscy simply fill their 2014 scholarships before LaChance shot up the rankings this summer?
 


Maybe LaChance wasn't interested in WI. His Dad was a Marquette guy and we all know Bo's system isn't exactly appealing to everyone!
 


Why hasn't Wisconsin offered LaChance? He seems like a Wisconsin kind of player, he's a home state guy, Brust and Gasser are just about ready to graduate (I forget if they're jrs or srs), and he's not a reach rankings-wise. Some people say he's "not that athletic," but when has that stopped Bo from recruiting a player in the past?

Or did Wiscy simply fill their 2014 scholarships before LaChance shot up the rankings this summer?

The Badgers do not have any scholarships for guards available in the '14 class because Gasser got hurt last year and he had to redshirt.

I don't know if they were interested in LaChance or not, but even if they were, there was nothing they could do. LaChance has received a lot of offers lately because he had a really nice summer and under different circumstances, may have had Badgers interest. Will never know.

The scholarship situation also stopped the Badgers from being in the running for Macura. The Badgers were interested in that case, they just could not offer a scholarship to JP for '14 and he looked elsewhere. Not to say he would have gone to Wisconsin, but the scholarship situation eliminated the possibility.
 

Wonder if he has one of those mythical "conditional" offers from Indiana or will they offer him a real scholly now that Tum Tum chose Mich. St
 

Riley LaChance of Brookfield Central closing in on a decison. It appears Iowa and Vanderbilt are in the lead.
Retweeted by Ryan James
 

Hmmm, he still has four stars so that must mean he's not coming here.:p
 




LeChance=Moats. No PT. No factor. Good player but not in the SEC
 


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> RT <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDanielsFOX">@EvanDanielsFOX</a>: Riley LaChance tweeted that he committed to Vanderbilt.</p>— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherHole/statuses/384886571352461312">October 1, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Go Gophers!!
 



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> RT <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDanielsFOX">@EvanDanielsFOX</a>: Riley LaChance tweeted that he committed to Vanderbilt.</p>— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherHole/statuses/384886571352461312">October 1, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Go Gophers!!

We cooled on him, Richard thinks Tyus is a better player....
 

Vandy already has Baldwin

That was my first thought too. No doubt he and Baldwin can play together, but still ...

Seemed like Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt??) was a step ahead of us this year. And ... yet another top 100 recruit turning down Big Ten offers. Don't these kids ever watch television?
 


Maybe LaChance didn't like Martin, and once Martin committed, LaChance went else where.

I just pulled that out of my ass. :) I don't know what I'm talking about

Anyways, I'll take Martin over LaChance if I had to choose.
 

Maybe LaChance didn't like Martin, and once Martin committed, LaChance went else where.

I just pulled that out of my ass. :) I don't know what I'm talking about

Anyways, I'll take Martin over LaChance if I had to choose.

There is a lot of that on GopherHole. At least you and I admit it, JimmyJames. :)
 

That was my first thought too. No doubt he and Baldwin can play together, but still ...

Seemed like Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt??) was a step ahead of us this year. And ... yet another top 100 recruit turning down Big Ten offers. Don't these kids ever watch television?

Kevin Stallings is a heck of a coach. I'm not sure he would come here, but I was mildly surprised that his name wasn't even mentioned for the job here.
 

Kevin Stallings is a heck of a coach. I'm not sure he would come here, but I was mildly surprised that his name wasn't even mentioned for the job here.

Going way back, Stallings originally committed to Dutcher and the Gophers while in HS. Dutcher then recruited over him in the same class and Stallings de-committed.

Go Gophers!!
 

If only his visit had gone very, very, very well. Oh well.
 

Vanderbilt is rated a top 20 school academically by US News. This kid will never play in the NBA. Perhaps he wanted to go to the highest rated school he could get an offer from with a solid BB program.
 

Maybe I'm being too simplistic, but the kid had 2 offers (Minn and Iowa) to play in the best college basketball conference in the country and chose not to. Some people just don't like the bright lights.
 

Maybe I'm being too simplistic, but the kid had 2 offers (Minn and Iowa) to play in the best college basketball conference in the country and chose not to. Some people value their education more than others.

Fixed it for you.
 

Maybe I'm being too simplistic, but the kid had 2 offers (Minn and Iowa) to play in the best college basketball conference in the country and chose not to. Some people just don't like the bright lights.

The B10 had one good year. Everyone outside of the B10 understands that the conference has been fairly terrible in all major sports for quite a while, so we can see how you all cling to one year of success, but it is in no where near as big of a deal as some you of all try to make it out to be when it comes to recruiting.
 

The B10 had one good year. Everyone outside of the B10 understands that the conference has been fairly terrible in all major sports for quite a while, so we can see how you all cling to one year of success, but it is in no where near as big of a deal as some you of all try to make it out to be when it comes to recruiting.

I was talking specifically about basketball, you know, the sport LaChance plays, but you're right. Michigan State, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin all just tripped over success last season without anything to show in the years before that.
 

I was talking specifically about basketball, you know, the sport LaChance plays, but you're right. Michigan State, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin all just tripped over success last season without anything to show in the years before that.

How old were you when the Big Ten last won a national title?
 

So as of now we've whiffed on three PGs, is that correct?

Tyus (though I never expected Pitino to get him, his mind is made up on Duke), Lourawls, and LaChance? Am I missing any?
 

Academics are a big thing for many players. They realize they are not going to make a living playing basketball. A degree from a top tier university is worth a lot. This explains why Northwestern now has the 12th rated basketball recruiting class in the country and a class Gopher fans have to envy. Vanderbilt is in that category.
 

The B10 had one good year. Everyone outside of the B10 understands that the conference has been fairly terrible in all major sports for quite a while, so we can see how you all cling to one year of success, but it is in no where near as big of a deal as some you of all try to make it out to be when it comes to recruiting.

Wow. That was a pretty weird take.
 




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