Rodney Williams cleared to play by NCAA!!

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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One less thing to worry about!

Big day for Williams
By Marcus Fuller

Gophers incoming freshman Rodney Williams Jr. had a big smile on his face Monday night at the Howard Pulley Pro City League, but it wasn't just because he was showing off an improving outside shot.

The 6-foot-6 Williams learned Monday that he had been ruled eligible to play college basketball by the NCAA Clearinghouse, according to his father, Rodney Williams Sr.

Williams already received the ACT score he needed and finished high school with a high enough grade point average, but he had to wait for the NCAA to clear him. Gophers guard Devoe Joseph went through the process last summer when the NCAA had to look over his transcripts from Canada.

While waiting for the news Monday, Williams played the Best Buy Classic in Bloomington for a local AAU team. He then finished the day with his Gophers teammates at the Pulley league in St. Paul.

Go Gophers!!
 

I'm really interested to see where he is at as a sophomore. I think Williams will have to work a lot on his game as a frosh, but he's got some amazing athletic gifts that remind me of how physically dominate Michael Floyd was at the high school level.

His star seemed to diminish some as a senior, but when I watched him he it appeared as though he was playing against kids 10 years younger than him and a lot in the post out of necessity. I imagine it will be easier for him to focus on developing his skills to play on the wing now that the black cloud surrounding his academics is gone.
 

There is no doubting Williams' athletic ability. The kid can absolutely fly.

How that translates at the college level remains to be seen. One thing we do know is he can really finish in transition. He's the first "lob it in the air and let him go get it" type of finisher we've had in a really long time. Having said that, how much he plays as a freshman will depend a lot on how much effort he puts in on the defensive end.

After that, if he improves his overall skills to go along with his athleticism, he'll be a stud down the line.
 

Great! After the news about Hasan Lipscomb I need a pick-up.
 

strange sighting: monday, tuesday, wednesday rodney was/is playing with the grassroots AAU team at the NCAA sanctioned event in bloomington; thought he had signed and thus ineligible, but based on just getting cleared i would assume he hadn't 'signed' yet. He is a special athlete and has all the potential in the world. If he dedicates himself to playing defense he will see time next year, and as he develops as a player he will turn into a very very good big ten player with the potential to play at the next level. I think it all depends on how hard rodney is willing to work!!!
 


Kudos to Rodney!

This young man worked very hard his last two years to become eligible. It's very hard to dig yourself out of a hole, but he did. He realized what he had to lose, and dedicated himself to qualifying. I'm really proud of him, I think it shows a lot of hard work and maturity on his part, for realizing how important this is.

I'm just sooooo excited to see him play for the Gophers!
 


If this kid puts his efforts to defense, imagine this lineup:

Nolen
Williams
DJ
Carter
Mbakwe

Try breaking that 1-3-1 full court press with Nolen up front and Trevor in the back - impossible.
 

Teams with good ballhandlers break any press more often than it hurts them. I actually like to play against teams that press since it opens up the court for easy shots.

No doubt that the league is going to be loaded over the next few years, though.
 



KoolAid said:
If this kid puts his efforts to defense, imagine this lineup:

Nolen
Williams
DJ
Carter
Mbakwe

Try breaking that 1-3-1 full court press with Nolen up front and Trevor in the back - impossible.
Click to expand...

No doubt. I can't wait to see that! It could be like the old Arkansas team (94 feet of hell!).
 

KoolAid said:
If this kid puts his efforts to defense, imagine this lineup:

Nolen
Williams
DJ
Carter
Mbakwe

Try breaking that 1-3-1 full court press with Nolen up front and Trevor in the back - impossible.
Click to expand...
There's not a player in that bunch that can constantly make a 10 foot shot.

And that's my problem with next year's team ... they haven't addressed shooting or ballhandling.
 

Mikie S said:
There's not a player in that bunch that can constantly make a 10 foot shot.

And that's my problem with next year's team ... they haven't addressed shooting or ballhandling.
Click to expand...

I am hopeful of these things:

1. An Eric Harris like turnaround summer for some of our shooters. Namely Nolen, DJ and Devoe
2. Maybe Cobbs adds a good shooter/scorer
3. It's possible that Bryant Allen the 50+ % 3point shooter could help despite the fact he comes in late from football.

Otherwise- you are right- shooting is the number one issue here. I think ballhandling will get better. Joseph playing the 2 and Cobbs backing Nolen at point will help. Joseph is my number one bet for a big improvement this year.
 

Agree that perimeter shooting is the absolute #1 concern heading into the season. The Gophers need a stone-cold sniper or two (among Hoffarber, Joseph & Westbrook) to loosen things up from the outside. Westbrook doesn't mind mixing it up by going to the basket, so I'm thinking it'll more have to be Blake and/or Devoe consistently stetching out a defense by making shots. Obviously, that requires they show a knack for getting open (Blake in particular struggled with that last season), or that their teammates show a willingness to set screen after screen to free 'em up.
 



People seem to be forgetting or just chose not to mention royce white in the mix; anyone feel as I do that this kid has the potential to be the big ten freshmen of the year, and will start for the gophers right away?

Starters
Nolen
Westbrook
White
Mbakwe
Sampson III

2nd group
DJ
Joseph
Carter
Iverson

3rd group
Blake
Rodney
Cobbs
Bostick

WOW WE ARE REALLY REALLY DEEP. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SEASON!
 

stroms7 said:
People seem to be forgetting or just chose not to mention royce white in the mix; anyone feel as I do that this kid has the potential to be the big ten freshmen of the year, and will start for the gophers right away?

Starters
Nolen
Westbrook
White
Mbakwe
Sampson III

2nd group
DJ
Joseph
Carter
Iverson

3rd group
Blake
Rodney
Cobbs
Bostick

WOW WE ARE REALLY REALLY DEEP. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SEASON!
Click to expand...

DJ will start. He is probably the only guaranteed started
 

i love DJ, but i love the thought of royce in his place as a guy who can defend 3 positions if need be; not to mention an actual threat on the offensive end. DJ off the bench will just energize the team and really be a game changer in spurts on the defensive end.

I guess I am just really high on Royce and don't like the thought of only having 1 scorer on the floor like we did in 08-09 with westbrook; i really think royce will score from the beginning, westbrook will do what he does, Nolen will be the penetrating pass first point gaurd we need, RSIII is ready to be a post presence which will open up the perimeter for LW from 3 and RW from 12-15 and mbakwe will average 8 -10 without a play being run for him.

I really don't care who starts or plays just as long as we are successful and keep improving; This is a great problem to have as we finally have >12 BIG TEN caliber players!!!!

Just my opinion.

GO GOPHERS
 

stroms7 said:
People seem to be forgetting or just chose not to mention royce white in the mix; anyone feel as I do that this kid has the potential to be the big ten freshmen of the year, and will start for the gophers right away?

Starters
Nolen
Westbrook
White
Mbakwe
Sampson III

2nd group
DJ
Joseph
Carter
Iverson

3rd group
Blake
Rodney
Cobbs
Bostick

WOW WE ARE REALLY REALLY DEEP. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SEASON!
Click to expand...

DJ is our best overall player. He's a top 3 defender in the BT, and people forget that he's not that bad of an offensive player even though he scores mostly from athleticism. He was our second leading scorer at about 10 a game and he shot almost 50% from the field. He's definitely our most valuable player.
 

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