Gophers Basketball Recruiting Nuggets & Tid-Bits: Shanks, Martin, Mason & More

Gophers Basketball Recruiting Nuggets & Tid-Bits: Shanks, Martin, Mason & More

Chris Monter's Gophers Basketball Recruiting Nuggets & Tid-Bits: Shanks, Martin, Mason & More
By Chris Monter

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/324523?referrer_id=388419

Minnesota signed three players in the early signing period and have one scholarship available for the 2014-15 season.

Former Cooper guard Rashad Vaughn, who is playing at Findlay Prep, recently released his list of five schools, Kansas, UNLV, North Carolina, Iowa State and Kentucky, eliminating Minnesota.

The Gophers will likely hit recruiting trails, looking for junior college help or a player under the radar. Ninety-six of ESPN's Top 100 seniors signed in the early signing period.

One possibility is Carson Shanks, who recently left Utah State. The former Prior Lake seven-footer is expected to initially walk-on at Minnesota and would be eligible in the second semester in 2015. The Gophers, who have junior centers Maurice Walker and Elliott Eliason on the roster, would be patient with Shanks’ development as he adds strength to his frame. He is more of an outside player than inside threat, but runs the floor well and is a shot blocking presence.

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The three Gopher signees have performed well this winter.

Carlos Morris of Chipola has helped lead his team to a 14-1 start and is averaging 14.8 points, 5.0 boards and 2.0 assists. He is shooting 50.4% from the field, 29.8% from three-point range and 68.8% from the line. They are ranked #5 in the country with their lone loss to top ranked Indian Hills.

Nate Mason of Arlington Country Day scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures in a 100-90 loss to Northside Christian in the Wild Wing Cafe Hoops Classic last Friday and bounced back to defeat Vance 72-39 Saturday. They fell out of the USA Today Top 25 after being ranked #13. They beat St. James (Maryland) 51-43 Monday to improve to 12-3 this season.

Bothell big man Josh Martin continues his strong start. He had 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and was named the Bothell Holiday Classic MVP, despite battling foul troubles in a 45-42 win over Ballard in the title game. He had 24 points & 12 boards in a 68-50 over Edmonds-Woodway in the tournament opener. His 16-point effort was his lowest of the year. His previous low was 24. He has 3 games of more than 30 points and five other of 20 or more. He is averaging 26.9 points per game and has led the Cougars to a 6-3 mark.

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Six-four guard Chip Armelin from Sulphur, LA, transferred from Minnesota to Southern Mississippi after his sophomore season. Armelin averaged 4.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 11.1 minutes as a freshman and 5.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 13.7 minutes as a sophomore.

He sat out the 2012-13 season and is averaging 5.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per game this season. Armelin has scored in double figures in four of 12 games, but has gone scoreless five times. Southern Mississippi is 12-2 with their only losses to defending national champions Louisville and Western Kentucky.

Senior guard Justin Cobbs is leading California in scoring and assists this season. He averaged 2.1 points and 1.3 assists per game for the Golden Gophers as a freshman. He transferred back to the West Coast and averaged 12.6 points and 5.0 assists as a sophomore and 15.1 points and 4.8 assists as a junior. Cobbs is contributing 14.2 points and 6.0 assists this season and has scored in double figures in 11 of 13 games with a season-high 31 points versus Dayton. He had fractured a bone in his right foot in the offseason.

The Golden Bears are 9-4, having won their last five games.

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Minnesota signed two players in the fall of 2012, only to see those two decide to ask to be released from their letter of intent.

Alvin Ellis is averaging 2.0 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 8.2 minutes per game for Michigan State. The Spartans are currently 12-1 and are ranked fifth in the country. Gopher fans will get a chance to see what could have been when Minnesota travels to East Lansing January 11th.

Alex Foster elected to follow former Gopher head coach Tubby Smith to Texas Tech. He has been held scoreless in five of nine games this season. Foster has not played in the last three contests for the Red Raiders.

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Lourawls Nairn, Riley LaChance and Reid Travis were the three official visitors that did not sign with Minnesota.

Nairn, who signed with Big Ten rival Michigan State, has led his Sunrise Academy team to a #6 ranking by USA Today and #15 by Student Sports. He was named MVP of the recently completed Tournament of Champions and lead Sunrise to win over Barking Abbey and New England prep power Brewster Academy (former school of Maurice Walker).

LaChance, who inked with Vanderbilt, has helped lead Brookfield Central to a 9-0 start and a #2 ranking in Division 4. He is averaging 24.1 points per game and has scored in double figures in all nine games this year. They will face Germantown, who set a state record with 67 straight wins and has won back-to-back state titles January 14th. Recent Minnesota football Luke Rasmussen also plays for the Brookfield Central basketball team.

Travis, who signed with Stanford, has yet to play this season, due to a stress fracture in his foot. DeLaSalle, which lost just one game last season, is 4-3 and will face Chicago St. Rita's at the Target Center Saturday.

I hope foul problems aren't indicative of Josh Martin's play. He looks like a great offensive talent and it would be a bit of a waste if he spends 15+ min. a game riding the bench due to fouls.

There is a thread on Martins season so far and I don't recall any other games in which he had significant foul trouble (although I could be wrong)

Interesting updates on Ellis and Foster

PhillyGopher said:

There is a thread on Martins season so far and I don't recall any other games in which he had significant foul trouble (although I could be wrong)

Interesting updates on Ellis and Foster

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Some people were outraged that we didn't get them. So far, I'm not sad at all.

Gopherguy0723 said:

Some people were outraged that we didn't get them. So far, I'm not sad at all.

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That's true. If we are only going to win 6 games in the B1G we hardly need them. Evan Daniels reported Coach P. tried to get them to reconsider, but the damage was already done. A shooting guard playing 8 minutes at Michigan State as a freshman vs. a JUCO shooting guard averaging 15 points against uneven competition. Maybe next year it will make you sad, when the blackhole at the 4 moves to the 3. Coach P. has signed 7 players. On film and now on the court, Ellis appears to be the best. Foster is a tough call. We do know he received 6 B1G offers, has a near ready B1G body, is a defense first PF, whose strongest skill is rebounding.

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:

I hope foul problems aren't indicative of Josh Martin's play. He looks like a great offensive talent and it would be a bit of a waste if he spends 15+ min. a game riding the bench due to fouls.

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He will have foul problems early on (in EYBL play last year among players who played in at least 30%+ of their team's minutes, Martin's fouls / mins were higher than ~87% of the league) and won't be a big offensive player (in terms of usage and output), but he can help in some other areas.

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Southern Miss is a decent team and they have a pair of senior guards... Chip's still showing the same tenencies (19% usage but 24% %Shots; 7/23 3FG for 30.4%, 8% assist rate, 21%+ TO rate), but he's playing a fair amount and has made almost 70% of his 2FTA's. He can do some things very well.

Gopher Warrior said:

He will have foul problems early on (in EYBL play last year among players who played in at least 30%+ of their team's minutes, Martin's fouls / mins were higher than ~87% of the league) and won't be a big offensive player (in terms of usage and output), but he can help in some other areas. --- Southern Miss is a decent team and they have a pair of senior guards... Chip's still showing the same tenencies (19% usage but 24% %Shots; 7/23 3FG for 30.4%, 8% assist rate, 21%+ TO rate), but he's playing a fair amount and has made almost 70% of his 2FTA's. He can do some things very well.

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What exactly are you trying to project for Martin? EYBL numbers or Ncaa numbers?

howieramone said:

That's true. If we are only going to win 6 games in the B1G we hardly need them. Evan Daniels reported Coach P. tried to get them to reconsider, but the damage was already done. A shooting guard playing 8 minutes at Michigan State as a freshman vs. a JUCO shooting guard averaging 15 points against uneven competition. Maybe next year it will make you sad, when the blackhole at the 4 moves to the 3. Coach P. has signed 7 players. On film and now on the court, Ellis appears to be the best. Foster is a tough call. We do know he received 6 B1G offers, has a near ready B1G body, is a defense first PF, whose strongest skill is rebounding.

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You sound vindictive. Get this through your head: those athletes didn't want to be here. Releasing them from their LOI's was the decent thing to do. There's no point to continue to harp on their loss.

Bad Gopher said:

You sound vindictive. Get this through your head: those athletes didn't want to be here. Releasing them from their LOI's was the decent thing to do. There's no point to continue to harp on their loss.

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Norwood didn't want them here.

howieramone said:

That's true. If we are only going to win 6 games in the B1G we hardly need them. Evan Daniels reported Coach P. tried to get them to reconsider, but the damage was already done. A shooting guard playing 8 minutes at Michigan State as a freshman vs. a JUCO shooting guard averaging 15 points against uneven competition. Maybe next year it will make you sad, when the blackhole at the 4 moves to the 3. Coach P. has signed 7 players. On film and now on the court, Ellis appears to be the best. Foster is a tough call. We do know he received 6 B1G offers, has a near ready B1G body, is a defense first PF, whose strongest skill is rebounding.

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LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

So you'd rather have Ellis than DeAndre?

Bad Gopher said:

You sound vindictive. Get this through your head: those athletes didn't want to be here. Releasing them from their LOI's was the decent thing to do. There's no point to continue to harp on their loss.

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He also appears to have some revisionist history. Foster had almost all if not all of his scholarships pulled by the Big Ten schools.

MadtownGopher said:

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

So you'd rather have Ellis than DeAndre?

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I'd take 4 years of Ellis over 2 years of Mathieu in a heartbeat. As it stands right now, I don't believe we can make it to the dance next season. Ellis would fill the 3 hole. Also, I'm starting to think Dre is playing out of position at the 2. No idea how to fix that other than to let it play out. I do believe Mathieu will be one of the top PG's in the B1G next season.

howieramone said:

I'd take 4 years of Ellis over 2 years of Mathieu in a heartbeat. As it stands right now, I don't believe we can make it to the dance next season. Ellis would fill the 3 hole. Also, I'm starting to think Dre is playing out of position at the 2. No idea how to fix that other than to let it play out. I do believe Mathieu will be one of the top PG's in the B1G next season.

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After Mathieu plays two years there will be a scholarship open to use for at least two more years. Who knows who that will be.

Andre is not playing out of position. He is not a pg.

I think Foster is a dime a dozen. I also think at some point we're all going to look at Ellis and by like "damn."

howieramone said:

Norwood didn't want them here.

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Prove it. Norwood may have done a crappy job of communicating with the recruits, but its typically common for recruits to ask out of LOI during a coaching search, if Pitino wanted either one, Norwood wouldn't have overuled him and Pitino did reach out to both. I do not recall at any point Teague saying I don't want Foster or Ellis

You Prove it Sherlock

bemidjigopher said:

Prove it. Norwood may have done a crappy job of communicating with the recruits, but its typically common for recruits to ask out of LOI during a coaching search, if Pitino wanted either one, Norwood wouldn't have overuled him and Pitino did reach out to both. I do not recall at any point Teague saying I don't want Foster or Ellis

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If Coach P. had landed the Big 3, and then quit to take another job. Would Norwood or any other A.D. for that matter, have waited 8 or 9 days to contact them? Foster called the U. on approximately the 9th day after Orlando was fired, since the 2 close friends had heard nothing. Ellis, knowing he was a hot item, was already making other arrangements. Coach Young at some point in time, called Foster back and told him they were going in another direction. They had already received Ellis's release request.

howieramone said:

If Coach P. had landed the Big 3, and then quit to take another job. Would Norwood or any other A.D. for that matter, have waited 8 or 9 days to contact them? Foster called the U on approximately the 9th day, since the 2 close friends had heard nothing. Prove it ain't so.

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Nobody on this board can prove anything. I think it's probable that Norwood Teague/Mike Ellis/someone associated with Gopher Basketball made a determination that it would be in the programs best interest for Alex Foster and Alvin Ellis to be released from their LOI's, but only a small circle of people know the truth. Most who follow recruiting, not just Gopher fans, though of Foster as reach. He was a kid who was rated highly very early in his high school career, but did not continue to develop as projected. His "offers" from other high majors were not legitimate at the point of his commitment (if they ever were). The fact that Foster drew little attention in the Spring (where lesser players typically draw better offers due to supply/demand), just reinforces the view that he was a reach. Ellis was a solid recruit and I think most fans would have liked to see him remain a Gopher, but you are going way out on a limb with Ellis being better than Mathieu or even Nate Mason, Carlos Morris, and Josh Martin. What is this "film" you are referring to? YouTube highlights? Are you getting dvd's of summer league games sent to your home? All 3 2014 recruits had better offers than Alvin Ellis did last fall when he chose the Gophers over Kansas State, Northwestern, and Wichita State. Mason visited Virginia and KSU (and had other high major offers), Martin visited Pitt and FSU (and had other high major offers), and Morris was a rivals 150 kid out of high school who chose South Carolina over Arkansas and Cincinnati (among others). That's not to say Ellis can't end up having a better career than these kids, but the guys whose jobs depend on analyzing the "film" preferred all 3 2014 kids to Ellis.

Another way to look at it is that maybe Teague/Ellis/Someone decided to be the "bad guy" so whoever the new coach was wouldn't have to deal with fallout from two guys who had not yet become Gophers. There were 5 possible scenarios with Ellis/Foster and the new coach and only 2 of the 5 would be positive for the new coach publicly.

Scenario #1 Neither Ellis/Foster asks out of their LOI and the new coach is excited about both players potential and is happy to have them. This works out perfectly and the press has nothing to say.

Scenario #2 Ellis stays/Foster asks out of LOI. Again, nothing negative happens here, assuming the coach actually wants Ellis

Scenario #3 Ellis asks out/Foster stays. The coach is now in the uncomfortable position of "suggesting" to Foster that he look for an opportunity elsewhere. This gets a shrug throughout the college basketball media as it happens all the time, except in the Twin Cities would you be surprised if a "look how mean the coach is" article is written?

Scenario #4 Both players stay committed coach wants neither. Again, this would be met with a yawn from those who understand college basketball, but the odds of a negative press in the Twin Cities market are very good if the coach suggests two kids look elsewhere

Scenario #5 Both players ask out of their commitments. Again, not a story nationally, but locally it could get some play. Even if the coach didn't want the players, it could be written as he "lost" them. We are reminded all the time about what Justin Cobbs is doing at Cal, could you imagine the headache for the new coach if Alvin Ellis blew up in the Big 10 and he was perceived to have "lost" him?

All things considered, it seems like the smart thing to do was to wipe the slate clean and let the new coach recruit guys for his system. It would be different if the Gophers had a 4 or 5 star kid committed for 2013, but they didn't. Even if the Gophers had a highly rated kid or two committed, it wouldn't be surprising if he asked out of his LOI after a new coach was hired. For the most part kids commit to coaches, not schools, and someone from the athletic department can only do so much to keep a kid on the line if he has an interest in exploring other options.


Another possible thought is that Teague/Ellis/Someone heard early on from a coach (pick your rumor of who they allegedly targeted) that they were not high on the kids the Gophers recruited for 2013. Teague/Ellis/Someone decided that they wouldn't actively try to keep those players because Coach(es) X(Y,Z) told them they didn't want them during negotiations. Teague/Ellis/Someone decided (or found out from talking with coaches) that the Gopher job was more desirable with three open scholarships as opposed to just one.