Harrison Barnes Update

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tjgopher

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From Lexington (KY) Newspaper:

Interesting quote on his interest in the Gophers:

"I think Coach Smith, who came from Kentucky, has been very successful. I'm interested to see whether he has success at Minnesota."
 

Yikes.

A lot of these top recruits will end up signing somewhere in the early signing period, which is basically before the season starts (a few meaningless NC games will have been played). So if he's not impressed yet by the progress, and see that we are headed for a final four caliber team, I don't know how much opportunity we'd have to show him before he makes his decision.
 

WanderingGopher said:
Yikes.

A lot of these top recruits will end up signing somewhere in the early signing period, which is basically before the season starts (a few meaningless NC games will have been played). So if he's not impressed yet by the progress, and see that we are headed for a final four caliber team, I don't know how much opportunity we'd have to show him before he makes his decision.
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That may have been taken out of context. He has been much more positive in some of his other statements and wouldn't be considering Minnesota if it weren't for Tubby. Don't forget he played some games with Royce & Rodney last summer on Howard Pulley AAU so he knows very well what we brought in for a recruiting class this year on top of our success last year.
 

grunkiejr said:
That may have been taken out of context. He has been much more positive in some of his other statements and wouldn't be considering Minnesota if it weren't for Tubby. Don't forget he played some games with Royce & Rodney last summer on Howard Pulley AAU so he knows very well what we brought in for a recruiting class this year on top of our success last year.
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Clipped:

Barnes, whose mother is a secretary in the school of music at Iowa State University, will have plenty of options to consider. It's a who's who of college basketball. He said his list of schools includes Duke, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Stanford, UCLA, "Kentucky, obviously," Minnesota, Florida and Iowa State.

Minnesota stands out in the group. Tubby Smith, the former UK coach, is the reason Barnes is considering the Golden Gophers.

"I think Coach Smith, who came from Kentucky, has been very successful," Barnes said. "I'm interested to see whether he has success at Minnesota."
 

Well, the quality of coaching he receives in College will end up meaning multiple millions right off the bat in the pros. Tubby has a very good track record.

BTW - Many top recruits wait unless their is a specific school they want to attend that gives them a scholarship. Why be hasty on a decision. It sounds like Harrison is carefully weighing his options and when he is satisfied will make a decision. He seems more concerned with making the best choice for himself. Nothing wrong with that. If he comes to MN, he can be a part of the whole turnaround of the program and make his mark. It would only help him in draft status and negotiations.
 


I would much rather see Barnes at Minnesota than Duke or Kansas.
 


Friend Of Tubby said:
Clipped:

Barnes, whose mother is a secretary in the school of music at Iowa State University, will have plenty of options to consider. It's a who's who of college basketball. He said his list of schools includes Duke, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Stanford, UCLA, "Kentucky, obviously," Minnesota, Florida and Iowa State.

Minnesota stands out in the group. Tubby Smith, the former UK coach, is the reason Barnes is considering the Golden Gophers.

"I think Coach Smith, who came from Kentucky, has been very successful," Barnes said. "I'm interested to see whether he has success at Minnesota."
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I think the "stands out" part means it would stand out to the readership of this Kentucky paper, who are all obviously familiar with Smith going to Minnesota.

From everything I had read previously, Kentucky wasn't in the picture for Barnes any more. This is kind of an out of the blue story.
 

WanderingGopher said:
I think the "stands out" part means it would stand out to the readership of this Kentucky paper, who are all obviously familiar with Smith going to Minnesota.

From everything I had read previously, Kentucky wasn't in the picture for Barnes any more. This is kind of an out of the blue story.
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I thought that "stands out" was a reference to MN not being as big a name as the others (except home town ISU.) But I give no more importance to his including KY in that list than I do to Kansas not being in it.
 



WanderingGopher said:
Yikes.

A lot of these top recruits will end up signing somewhere in the early signing period, which is basically before the season starts (a few meaningless NC games will have been played). So if he's not impressed yet by the progress, and see that we are headed for a final four caliber team, I don't know how much opportunity we'd have to show him before he makes his decision.
Click to expand...

My guess is he didn't mean for it to sound the way it came out.
 

Jim V2 said:
I thought that "stands out" was a reference to MN not being as big a name as the others (except home town ISU.) But I give no more importance to his including KY in that list than I do to Kansas not being in it.
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He's down to 10 schools - Kansas is the 10th.
 

Jim V2 said:
I thought that "stands out" was a reference to MN not being as big a name as the others (except home town ISU.) But I give no more importance to his including KY in that list than I do to Kansas not being in it.
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I don't see how Minnesota "stands out" yet Stanford and Oklahoma don't. I think it's a reference to Tubby now coaching at Minnesota.
 

I've been saying 6 months I thought we had a chance at getting Barnes. Early on I was dismissed because he was going to Duke or UNC. Now, I see others are coming to my side on this one. The important factors are aligned nicely for the U- need for a primary scorer, opening at the wing, geography, coach, program on the rise, etc. I remember the Chris Carrawell recruitment and am not saying we're a lock, but I'll be surprised if we aren't one of his 5 official visits and a good chance we are in his final 3.
 



I'm pretty confident we'll be one of his top 3 choices, and I really wouldn't be surprised if he comes here. Besides all the reasons/connections for us, he also doesn't strike me as a kid who cares that much about going to a real big name bball school with all the stars and a team that is already a final 4 caliber team.
 

EG#9 said:
I don't see how Minnesota "stands out" yet Stanford and Oklahoma don't. I think it's a reference to Tubby now coaching at Minnesota.
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You could well be right. That was just my reaction when I first read it.

But if you put on your Lex KY newpaper reporter's hat, and look at the difference in NCAA success over the last 10 years, I still think you could beleive that MN is not in the same league as Stanford and OK. That doesn't mean I agree with that perspective, only that I wouldn't be surprised to hear it expressed.

You'd think that a journalist and editor working together could put together a sentence that didn't leave so much room for wide interpretation.
 

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