Class of 2014

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Gopher07

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http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/rankings/_/class/2014

3. Tyus Jones
12. Ian Theissen
14. Reid Travis
78. Stephon Sharp

I'm sure this has been covered ad naseum over here, but I've been preoccupied with the meltdown over on the football side of things lately. Are these guys the real deal? If they develop how the scouts are projecting them to, what sort of chance do we have to land them? That's a whole lot of potential talent coming from Minnesota.
 

I know they have numbers next to their names on that list, but I'm not convinced that those are actually what their rankings are (if they are the accuracy is probably awful). If you look at their profiles it doesn't say their grade or ranking and they have Andrew Wiggins all the way down at 28 I think it was. If there is even one player in that class better than Andrew Wiggins then it is quite possibly the greatest class of all time, at least for top-end talent.

Tyus is definitely the real deal, but I can't speak for the others. Something makes me doubt that they're as good as those "rankings" say they are though.
 

Ah, it looks like after the first 14 it's just alphabetical. That said, there are still 3 MN players in the top 14.
 

Im salivating right now. CMON TUBBY!!!!! get on the early recruiting trail this winter. get the 2012 and 2013 class quick so we can land these guys.
 

Go Gophs eh? said:
Im salivating right now. CMON TUBBY!!!!! get on the early recruiting trail this winter. get the 2012 and 2013 class quick so we can land these guys.
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He HAS been recruiting both classes already. Don't look for many early commitments. His earliest UK commitment was Adam Williams, and Tubby got burned on that one.
 


How good are they? Wiggins is very good and more dynamic than any other player I've seen at his age group. The 2014 class from Mn has a ton of potential. Whether or not they pan out is another thing but so far so good.
 

I mean they are freshman, its pretty hard to say "hey this kids gonna be a 5 star" at age 14
 

Damn, Tom Crean has two commits from the Class of 2014 already? Wow. That's a tad high risk/high reward.
 





GophersOnTheRise;270276 Tyus is definitely the real deal said:
And why would you "doubt that they're as good as those "rankings" say they are" if you haven't seen them play?
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Tyus might be the best PG in MN, RIGHT NOW!!
 

Duthasmon Smith said:
And why would you "doubt that they're as good as those "rankings" say they are" if you haven't seen them play?
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If i had to guess, I'd say it is because after number 14 the rankings are just alphabetical order.
 



Tyus Jones is definitely big time. Ian was at the Gopher FB game last Saturday and Reed is the younger brother of DeLaSalle's Jonah, who is going to Harvard, but could have gone to a higher level, but loved the Ivy education.

Chris Monter
 

Chris Monter said:
Tyus Jones is definitely big time. Ian was at the Gopher FB game last Saturday and Reed is the younger brother of DeLaSalle's Jonah, who is going to Harvard, but could have gone to a higher level, but loved the Ivy education.

Chris Monter
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Jonah will dominate in the IVY league and then have that education to fall back on? Good for him!

Thanks for the info Chris.
 

#12 a 'solid mid-major' player??
these are early rankings.. most guys in 2014 haven't even been seen yet.
they are just throwing something out there to create buzz.
Theissen wont be in the top 100 when its all said/done.



Theissen is a strong bodied and long for a 6'8 post. He has potential to grow a few more inches and become a big post player. With no additional height, he will be a solid mid-major post player. Ian has good mobility for someone his size at his age. He is comfortable finishing around the basket with his right hand. Ian rebounds the ball in a crowd with two hands and throws good outlet passes. He could work on becoming more aggressive in the post when the opportunity presents itself.
 

dboy said:
#12 a 'solid mid-major' player??
these are early rankings.. most guys in 2014 haven't even been seen yet.
they are just throwing something out there to create buzz.
Theissen wont be in the top 100 when its all said/done.


Ready to throw the Mn kid out of the top 100 w/o seeing him play? First off it is nearly impossible with the big kids to see what's what. If you saw Cole Aldrich as a freshman, there is NO way you saw a kid who 7 years later would be the 10th pick of the draft. Leuer is another kid who was about 6'0 as a freshmen and now has a chance to play professionally when his career is over.

Rankings at this age are ridiculous but I'm assuming they've seen him play. I will agree it's odd to call a kid mid-major and then rank him high. I have however, chatted with a few of these folks who rank kids for ESPN and they will say the early rankings are usually based on one appearance. Not even sure why they would bother with the rankings based on a single appearance.

What I like about the next 3 classes after '11 are the number of kids who appear to have potential to be studs.

2012 - Joey King, Sanjay Lumpkin, Zach Huisken, Johnny Woodard, Syani Chambers
2013 - Darrion Strong, Riley Dearring, Quinton Hooker, Carson Shanks

Are just a few of the kids who have the potential to go high major with continued development.

It would be nice to get some of these kids.
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Tyus Jones - Timberwolves Shootout

I also agree that Jones might the best PG in MN regardless of class. I read on the Pulley website that Apple Valley is slated to play Linn-Mar, IA in the T-Wolves shootout in January. Should be a good matchup between Jones and 2012 standout PG Marcus Paige.
 

Duthasmon Smith said:
And why would you "doubt that they're as good as those "rankings" say they are" if you haven't seen them play?
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Heard some things from people who have seen them, and rankings this early are always going to be somewhat inaccurate. How many kids in the class of 2014 do you think ESPN has actually seen? I'm sure they spent most of their time this summer watching 2011/2012 as those classes are much more relevant/important right now. Not saying they aren't as good, just taking a guess that they probably aren't.
 

Ian- i've played against ian in 8th grade traveling ball during the winter. his team was really good and he was one of the "twin towers". they also had this other kid maybe an inch or two shorter than him. when we played he was probably a legit 6-7 with shoes. hes got a fairly bad jumper but has confidence in it (he was shooting mid-rangers a lot) which leads me to believe that maybe he wasnt having his best day? but he did just dominate on the boards. holy crap hes got decent hops for a kid thats his size two. pretty fast (his strides are big). but he didnt just dominate completely against us. we just three-quartered him on d and then when he got the ball with his back to the basket (how he usually got the ball) we'd just have a wing come in and help. but he didn't really dominate, he was the best player on the floor clearly though. approxiametely 12 points and 12 rebounds against us i don't remember much else about him.

Tyus- never played against him. heard a lot about him though. a ton of freshman know about this guy though even if they don't live in the apple valley area or have played against him. definetely a buzz about him. apparently hes a tank at football and baseball too.

Reid- I think I've played this kid in traveling ball before, but I'm not really sure. If it's the person I think it is, than he's really athletic, can jump, and can get to the hoop at will.

Stephon- never heard of the kid before
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
Heard some things from people who have seen them, and rankings this early are always going to be somewhat inaccurate. How many kids in the class of 2014 do you think ESPN has actually seen? I'm sure they spent most of their time this summer watching 2011/2012 as those classes are much more relevant/important right now. Not saying they aren't as good, just taking a guess that they probably aren't.
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I've seen all the top 20 kids listed and would say Wiggins is the the best overall. There is a PG from Ca who plays for Team Eleate (sp) that is the best PG in the class. Beyond that, the Minnesota kids are as good as the rest.

Tyus is the next best PG but it is very close. He's been covered a great deal on this site so I'll move on to the others.

Theisen from Osseo at 6'8 225 is the equal to any of the C/PF listed. Raw is a good word but tough and strong with a good jump shot. Shot 80% from the line for the Orioles last winter as an 8th grader. He won't be a center as he matures but a PF.

Travis from De La Salle - very athletic, strong and a shooter who is streaky but can fill it up. I'm not buying he isn't one of the best talents at this age level assuming he too continues to develop. Reid is about 6'2 about 175 with a demeanor equal to his older brother but at the same age is well ahead of his brothers development.

The best shooter in that class that I've seen is Jake Wright from Hopkins. Jake is a pure shooter who can fill it up. I doubt there is a better shooter listed on that list. Jake needs to become more athletic and work on this handle but I would put him up against the best shooters in the state regardless of age and feel he'd handle himself just fine. He reminds me of a more athletic and bigger Jordan Smith from Orono right now with upside to a JJ Redick type.

Another kid is Rashard Vaughn from Cooper. Rashard is a very raw but athletic kid. Not a lot of better athletes than the Cooper freshman. He needs to work on his skill. A good comparison would be Joe Coleman at the same age.

My point to this post is I've seen all these kids play multiple times and think it's going to be a great class. Are the ones listed top10? I've no idea but lets give the Mn kids some love now. Every year ESPN lists a top 100 freshmen class and it's the first time I've ever seen 6 Minnesota kids ever listed this early.
 

Wasn't trying to hate on Minnesota kids if that is what it came off as. Minnesota players deserve more respect than they get. I'm very excited to watch Tyus develop and am looking forward to seeing these other 2014 kids from Minnesota play. Hopefully they turn out to be as good as advertised. Jeremy Lieberman is the point guard for Team Eleate. He will be playing in the Best Buy Classic in Minnesota next summer so hopefully he matches up with Tyus. He will be interesting to see.
 

Is isaiah Zierden not supposed to be mid-major? I remember hearing quite a bit about him last year
 

underground629 said:
Is isaiah Zierden not supposed to be mid-major? I remember hearing quite a bit about him last year
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I would expect him to be high-major. Not sure how hard Wisconsin is recruiting him lately, but he seems like he would be a good fit with them IMO.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
I would expect him to be high-major. Not sure how hard Wisconsin is recruiting him lately, but he seems like he would be a good fit with them IMO.
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Not sure Zierden is a high major kid. The obvious Benilde roots with Wisconsin but he's not a great athlete. And if I'm wrong and he is a high major, I certainly hope the Gophers would consider him if Wisconsin thinks highly of him.
 

What Zierden lacks in athletism he makes up with craftyness and confidence. The WI system is a better fit for Zierden then MN.

You won't see the Tyus/Lieberman match-up unless: A.) Pulley enters the Best Buy tournemant, which I'm sure they won't. B.) Tyus doen't play for Pulley, which I'm sure he will and should.
 

SoMpls said:
What Zierden lacks in athletism he makes up with craftyness and confidence. The WI system is a better fit for Zierden then MN.

You won't see the Tyus/Lieberman match-up unless: A.) Pulley enters the Best Buy tournemant, which I'm sure they won't. B.) Tyus doen't play for Pulley, which I'm sure he will and should.
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Craftiness and confidence for athletism??? Let me know how that works out. Jones will develop better in nearly any other program than Pulley. Just have him ask Rodney how his "skills" developed in the Pulley program. Pulley wins because of the athletes they get. Not because of how they "develop" players.
 

Duthasmon Smith said:
Craftiness and confidence for athletism??? Let me know how that works out. Jones will develop better in nearly any other program than Pulley. Just have him ask Rodney how his "skills" developed in the Pulley program. Pulley wins because of the athletes they get. Not because of how they "develop" players.
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I disagree. I can personally attest that the Pulley program spends a lot of time and energy in individual skill development. The difference is that some kids commit to it, and others don't.

Not to contradict myself, but I would add that skill development is impacted just as much by the time spent on basketball outside of AAU (e.g. high school teams) than it is during the summer. Look at where the kids who play at Hopkins or Benilde are from a fundamentals perspective, versus where Rodney played (Cooper). HUGE difference in focus, skill development, defense, and team basketball.
 

SoMpls said:
What Zierden lacks in athletism he makes up with craftyness and confidence. The WI system is a better fit for Zierden then MN.

You won't see the Tyus/Lieberman match-up unless: A.) Pulley enters the Best Buy tournemant, which I'm sure they won't. B.) Tyus doen't play for Pulley, which I'm sure he will and should.
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My bad I wasn't thinking at all, that's a Pump N Run tournament.
 

Duthasmon Smith said:
Craftiness and confidence for athletism??? Let me know how that works out. Jones will develop better in nearly any other program than Pulley. Just have him ask Rodney how his "skills" developed in the Pulley program. Pulley wins because of the athletes they get. Not because of how they "develop" players.
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There are so many examples of players w/o major athleticism making in impact on Major D1 programs it's not even funny. How about 3/4 of WI, Butler, Gonzaga, Northern Iowa, ets's roster. How about Blake? It's not like Zierden has no athletic abilities. He has some quickness plus a quick release on his shot. There's also somthing to be said about being fundamentally sound, which he is.

As far as Pulley goes, name an AAU program that has a better coaching staff? I'm not a Pulley supporter or basher. I just know all of there coaches are HS coaches. Not parents, not someone doing it for a hobby, or doing it for there own ego. IMO AAU basketball is not the place to develop skills. That's for the HS coaches. AAU, especially as you get older, is play against top competition and gain college exposure. Tyus won't find a better program to recieve both then Pulley and that NIKE circuit IMHO.
 

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