BTN: Throwback Thursday Q&A: Gophers' Damian Johnson

per the BTN:

BTN.com: What about the best celebration?
DJ: The craziest celebration we had wasn’t even after a win. It was after we lost to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game and found out we got into the dance. We broke a couch in Conseco Fieldhouse and were going crazy like we were fresh off a win.

BTN.com: Be honest here: Can the Gophers compete for the Big Ten and for the nation’s top recruits without improving their facilities?
DJ: I think we can compete for the Big Ten now with our facilities, but I believe a practice facility and renovations to The Barn is a must. The Barn is unique venue, but if any fan doesn’t think that it needs upgrades, they are delusional. A practice facility is needed because every elite school has one and we have to compete with cheer, dance, women’s basketball and volleyball for gym time. I remember practicing in the Rec multiple times my final two seasons. If we improve those things, I think the U of M would be a lot more attractive to recruits, because the city of Minneapolis is great, the academics and networking opportunities at the U of M are better than most schools, there is an NBA team in the city so scouts and GMs can easily stop by for practices or games, and top recruits can play in an elite conference with every game televised for an up-and-coming coach. That’s an attractive package that elite recruits would have to consider.

http://btn.com/2014/01/09/throwback-thursday-qa-gophers-damian-johnson/

Go Gophers!!

"BTN.com: Tell me something about Tubby Smith, as a coach or a person, that us on the outside of the program didn’t know about him.
DJ: Coach Smith loved that John Legend song “Give Me The Green Light.” I remember one practice he had it on repeat nonstop and it was at like 7 in the morning, and till this day if I hear that song on Pandora or radio in my car, I change the channel immediately."

I can't lie, I did not see that coming haha

I tell ya, one thing I do like about BTN is the chance to get to know the players and coaches a little bit. "The Journey" is good for that. These interviews as well.

As much as we followed Damien and other players when they were here, you never get to know them very well. The local papers' interviews are pretty stiff. This BTN interview is a good one. DJ seems like a pretty cool dude.

"I think we can compete for the Big Ten now with our facilities, but I believe a practice facility and renovations to The Barn is a must. The Barn is unique venue, but if any fan doesn’t think that it needs upgrades, they are delusional. A practice facility is needed because every elite school has one and we have to compete. ..."

Damian pretty much sums up my thoughts. We desperately need the practice facility to catch the eye of recruits (how could one not be impressed seeing Nebraska's practice facility?), but I'd prefer renovations to The Barn (yes, big ones) over cookie-cutter, blahhh arenas like the Breslin Center or Kohl Center (both very nice, but no real charm).

There's a way the U can get the best of both worlds. If it was simply all about having shiny new arenas, Duke and Kansas would be left out in the cold, but along with their tradition they have charming arenas (Cameron Indoor & Phog Allen). Their recruits don't seem to mind playing their home games there. The same applies to Williams Arena. ... now let's just modernize it some more.

SelectionSunday said:

"I think we can compete for the Big Ten now with our facilities, but I believe a practice facility and renovations to The Barn is a must. The Barn is unique venue, but if any fan doesn’t think that it needs upgrades, they are delusional. A practice facility is needed because every elite school has one and we have to compete. ..."

Damian pretty much sums up my thoughts. We desperately need the practice facility to catch the eye of recruits (how could one not be impressed seeing Nebraska's practice facility?), but I'd prefer renovations to The Barn (yes, big ones) over cookie-cutter, blahhh arenas like the Breslin Center or Kohl Center (both very nice, but no real charm).

There's a way the U can get the best of both worlds. If it was simply all about having shiny new arenas, Duke and Kansas would be left out in the cold, but along with their tradition they have charming arenas (Cameron Indoor & Phog Allen). Their recruits don't seem to mind playing their home games there. The same applies to Williams Arena. ... now let's just modernize it some more.

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I agree with you that we may need a new practice facility to get top level recruits. But how much does it really matter? You referenced Nebraska's practice facility, but they haven't anything above a three-star recruit since 2012 according to 247sports. I'm not sure when their facility was actually built, but it doesn't appear to be producing immediate dividends in recruiting. I realize they are not really a desirable basketball program at the moment for recruits, but the new facility alone doesn't appear to be bringing in top recruits for a Big Ten team. Just a thought...

Richard said:

I agree with you that we may need a new practice facility to get top level recruits. But how much does it really matter? You referenced Nebraska's practice facility, but they haven't anything above a three-star recruit since 2012 according to 247sports. I'm not sure when their facility was actually built, but it doesn't appear to be producing immediate dividends in recruiting. I realize they are not really a desirable basketball program at the moment for recruits, but the new facility alone doesn't appear to be bringing in top recruits for a Big Ten team. Just a thought...

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Nebraska's practice facility open on October of 2011. That's just over two years ago.

Did you expect Nebraska would go from a nothing BB program to a top destination in two years?

Richard said:

I agree with you that we may need a new practice facility to get top level recruits. But how much does it really matter? You referenced Nebraska's practice facility, but they haven't anything above a three-star recruit since 2012 according to 247sports. I'm not sure when their facility was actually built, but it doesn't appear to be producing immediate dividends in recruiting. I realize they are not really a desirable basketball program at the moment for recruits, but the new facility alone doesn't appear to be bringing in top recruits for a Big Ten team. Just a thought...

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The way I see it, it's like you have tiers in college ball. You have the classic programs, the KU, Duke, MSU type of level (Tier 1). Then from there, different levels of programs. Say we're in Tier 3 (just making this up). Getting a practice facility just puts us on par with other Tier 3 schools in the country, and the hope is that we will win more battles for recruits with these schools having the facility. Then, with winning those recruiting battles, the hope is that you will produce more on the court. Producing more on the court then opens up your ability to "move up" in tiers, to where you're hoping now you're able to win recruiting battles against Tier 2 schools, and so forth.

Minnesota getting a practice facility isn't instantly going to just start winning recruiting battles with MSU with any regularity. But hopefully it will allow us to beat out a schools for guys like Cohen at Marquette, or White with Georgetown. And with that, we'll produce better on the floor and start fighting harder for MSU type recruits. Nebraska may not net 4 star recruits, but I'm guessing their recruiting has up ticked a little at least since the introduction of the facility.

Richard said:

I agree with you that we may need a new practice facility to get top level recruits. But how much does it really matter? You referenced Nebraska's practice facility, but they haven't anything above a three-star recruit since 2012 according to 247sports. I'm not sure when their facility was actually built, but it doesn't appear to be producing immediate dividends in recruiting. I realize they are not really a desirable basketball program at the moment for recruits, but the new facility alone doesn't appear to be bringing in top recruits for a Big Ten team. Just a thought...

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A practice facility doesn't promise anything, but not having one makes failure more and more likely as time goes by as more and more programs invest in their programs while we do nothing. A practice facility shows a recruit a commitment to them, why would a kid from the North East with equal or better options come here if there's no commitment from the University to your program? This should've been done long ago, but apparently a women's hockey arena and rowing facility were more important. Only under Maturi

station19 said:

Nebraska's practice facility open on October of 2011. That's just over two years ago.

Did you expect Nebraska would go from a nothing BB program to a top destination in two years?

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No, I didn't think they would turn into a top destination in two years. I thought that would have been clear when I said "I realize they are not really a desirable basketball program". I was just pointing out that it hasn't appeared to improve their recruiting all that much in recent years. Maybe they've had a minor uptick since then, but frankly I don't feel like extensively researching Nebraska basketball recruting.

I agree 100% it will help our recruiting at Minnesota, I'm just not sure how much. The tiers logic makes sense to me in the post above; it may be able to push us over the edge for a recruit that has had us in his top 3 in years past but decided to go elsewhere.

Their top 2 targets for '15 are Illikainen and Henry Ellenson. Proof will be in the pudding.

gopherlaney said:

Their top 2 targets for '15 are Illikainen and Henry Ellenson. Proof will be in the pudding.

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I meant Nebraska's.

Richard said:

No, I didn't think they would turn into a top destination in two years. I thought that would have been clear when I said "I realize they are not really a desirable basketball program". I was just pointing out that it hasn't appeared to improve their recruiting all that much in recent years. Maybe they've had a minor uptick since then, but frankly I don't feel like extensively researching Nebraska basketball recruting.

I agree 100% it will help our recruiting at Minnesota, I'm just not sure how much. The tiers logic makes sense to me in the post above; it may be able to push us over the edge for a recruit that has had us in his top 3 in years past but decided to go elsewhere.

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The Huskers have improved the quality of the kids they get to visit since the practice facility was built, haven't yet closed the deal on any of them. Also money is not much of an issue at Nebraska with their football program.

6'7 Damian Johnson of University of Minnesota Signs With Pioneers

http://www.pioneersbasketball.com.au/page.php?id=47

The Castec Rural Pioneers have secured 6'7 American Import, Damian Johnson of Minnesota University. Johnson is aged 26 years and the club hopes he can help them take one step further in securing the 2014 SEABL championship.

Coach Richard Hill says "I am really excited to have a player of the quality of Damian joinging the Pioneers".

Coach Hill further said "he has performed well for Minnesota at a high level conference in the NCAA, he had a great season in Japan and a solid season in the NBA Development League, with the Springfield Armour".

Coach Hill anticipated that "Damian will bring Atleticism, defense and the ability to score in a variety of ways" and that "The Pioneers is all about team and through my discussions with Damian, he will fit into our system".

It is anticipated that Damian will arrive in Mount Gambier early February and will be able to participate in all ot the club's pre-season game which being in Millicent on the Weekend of 15th and 16th of February 2014.