Gophers offer 2012 prospect

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UWOle

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Tubby has apparently offered JP Tokoto, a 6'5" wing from Menomonee Falls, WI (just north of Milwaukee) who just completed his freshman year. Wisconsin offered a while ago, then Marquette followed suit, and Kansas offered when Tokoto attended their elite camp in June. The consensus is that Vander Blue and Tokoto are the two best college prospects in the state of Wisconsin regardless of class, with some believing Tokoto is the best overall. It's fair to say that JP is a very, very nice prospect.

http://www.wissports.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/message.aspx?f=123&id=1040787


Here is a recent article from the Wisconsin State Journal about Tokoto:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/wiaa//455668
 

UWOle said:
Tubby has apparently offered JP Tokoto, a 6'5" wing from Menomonee Falls, WI (just north of Milwaukee) who just completed his freshman year. Wisconsin offered a while ago, then Marquette followed suit, and Kansas offered when Tokoto attended their elite camp in June. The consensus is that Vander Blue and Tokoto are the two best college prospects in the state of Wisconsin regardless of class, with some believing Tokoto is the best overall. It's fair to say that JP is a very, very nice prospect.

http://www.wissports.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/message.aspx?f=123&id=1040787


Here is a recent article from the Wisconsin State Journal about Tokoto:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/wiaa//455668
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When/if Tubby starts signing Wisconsin's best players, I'll be happy for him. BUT I expect players like that guy will either choose Marquette / Wisky or a prominent national program.

I do think Tubby will have the edge from now on for Minnesota's best players. Those who leave the state will be fewer than before.
 

UWOle said:
Tubby has apparently offered JP Tokoto, a 6'5" wing from Menomonee Falls, WI (just north of Milwaukee) who just completed his freshman year. Wisconsin offered a while ago, then Marquette followed suit, and Kansas offered when Tokoto attended their elite camp in June. The consensus is that Vander Blue and Tokoto are the two best college prospects in the state of Wisconsin regardless of class, with some believing Tokoto is the best
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Whatever happened to Vander Blue?
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
When/if Tubby starts signing Wisconsin's best players, I'll be happy for him. BUT I expect players like that guy will either choose Marquette / Wisky or a prominent national program.

I do think Tubby will have the edge from now on for Minnesota's best players. Those who leave the state will be fewer than before.
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If Tubby is ever able to take Wisconsin kids that UW wants, the UW program will be in real trouble. In-state kids have been the foundation for UW's success over the last decade or so. UW loses some they want to Marquette, but Bo and his staff have gotten the majority of the in-state kids they have wanted. Every few years, there is a prospect worthy of national attention (e.g. Sam Okey, Brian Butch, now Tokoto), but it's not too often that UW needs to fight off the big dogs. Tokoto appears to be in that category, hopefully they are able to do so in his recruitment.

I don't think there are too many Badger fans who believe the UW/Minnesota recruiting landscape did not change when Tubby was hired. Tubby is going to get the top kids from Minnesota, though there may be some battles with the UNCs and KUs of the world. That said, there will be kids worthy of a high major offer who leave the state (e.g. Mike Bruesewitz) because the state of Minnesota generally produces more prospects in a year than the Gophers can take.
 

Mikie S said:
Whatever happened to Vander Blue?
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Vander is doing just fine, though his recruitment has been pretty quiet. At this point, things appear to be pretty positive for UW. Vander is taking summer school, and he participated in both the UW advanced camp and the UW team camp. He will be playing with the Milwaukee Spartans AAU team this week in a couple AAU events in Milwaukee. There have not been any reports of him visiting any other schools since his de-commitment.
 


Mikie S said:
Whatever happened to Vander Blue?
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Vander has "decommitted" to Wisconsin and is going to ride out his senior year in HS. Word on the street is that former Madison Memorial players Wes Matthews and Jeronne Maymon are pressuring him to go to Marquette (Matthews just graduated and Maymon will be a freshman). I don't know if you have ever seen Vander play, but he is a player that would fit well in and up tempo program and I wonder if he didn't see the plodding Badger offense as a bad fit.
 

"When asked if the style of play used by Wisconsin factored into his decision to re-open his recruitment, Blue said it did not.

'They had Devin Harris come through here and he was an up-tempo college player. That wasn’t the case at all. You have to adjust to the game. That’s all a part of the game.'"

http://www.wissports.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/message.aspx?f=123&id=1030957


Not sure exactly what was meant by ride out his senior year, but I will be very surprised if Vander does not sign a letter of intent during the November signing period.
 

The buzz surrounding Tokoto is unbelievable. MN has a good relationship with his coach as they we're one of the first schools to recruit Luke Russell from Menomonee Falls. Kind of like Barnes this year, Tokoto will have a whose who of college basketball schools to choose from. He has the potential to be as highly ranked as Barnes.
 

I think the Marquette stuff is old news at this point. Between the summer school and the fact that Vander played at UW's camp and not Marquette's, I'd be surprised if he went to Marquette. Not ruling out other schools (have heard Syracuse mentioned) but it doesn't seem like Marquette is really in play.


StCroix said:
Vander has "decommitted" to Wisconsin and is going to ride out his senior year in HS. Word on the street is that former Madison Memorial players Wes Matthews and Jeronne Maymon are pressuring him to go to Marquette (Matthews just graduated and Maymon will be a freshman). I don't know if you have ever seen Vander play, but he is a player that would fit well in and up tempo program and I wonder if he didn't see the plodding Badger offense as a bad fit.
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breadtree said:
I think the Marquette stuff is old news at this point. Between the summer school and the fact that Vander played at UW's camp and not Marquette's, I'd be surprised if he went to Marquette. Not ruling out other schools (have heard Syracuse mentioned) but it doesn't seem like Marquette is really in play.
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Are we not pursuing Blue any more? Don't hear much about him and MN.

If he's not going to Wisconsin, I would think we'd be right in the mix for him unless Tubby was scared off by the same issues that apparently concerned the WI coaches.
 


Hmmm, if Tubby took the time to go see him, we must still have a serious shot (or think we do). Otherwise he'd have been better off going to GA to watch Harrison Barnes like virtually every other coach apparently did.

I don't know if I've ever seen a kid de-commit and then end up committing to the same school, but it does sound like that's a possibility with Blue. If WI gets him and that other highly rated 2012 WI kid, it could make them a Big Ten contender again, and sure would change the image of Wisconsin and Bo Ryan's style.
 

WanderingGopher said:
Hmmm, if Tubby took the time to go see him, we must still have a serious shot (or think we do). Otherwise he'd have been better off going to GA to watch Harrison Barnes like virtually every other coach apparently did.

I don't know if I've ever seen a kid de-commit and then end up committing to the same school, but it does sound like that's a possibility with Blue. If WI gets him and that other highly rated 2012 WI kid, it could make them a Big Ten contender again, and sure would change the image of Wisconsin and Bo Ryan's style.
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Agree. Tubby doesn't seem like the type of coach who would travel to Mequon to see Vander play if he thought there wasn't a chance to land him. He did the same thing with Barnes when everybody said he was a lock for either Kansas or Duke, and as it turns out, Barnes is still considering the Gophers. On the other hand, everything is fluid in the recruiting world and things seem to change at the drop of a hat, so who knows?

From my perspective, the longer this plays out, the tougher it will be for the Badgers' chances in getting him. If he commits soon, that definitely gives Wisconsin the edge. If he decides to hold off and take the visits that he mentions in the article, the odds get longer for UW.
 




WanderingGopher said:
Hmmm, if Tubby took the time to go see him, we must still have a serious shot (or think we do). Otherwise he'd have been better off going to GA to watch Harrison Barnes like virtually every other coach apparently did.

I don't know if I've ever seen a kid de-commit and then end up committing to the same school, but it does sound like that's a possibility with Blue. If WI gets him and that other highly rated 2012 WI kid, it could make them a Big Ten contender again, and sure would change the image of Wisconsin and Bo Ryan's style.
Click to expand...

He'll do both - I'm sure he'll be at the Peach Jam this week.
 

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