All Things Matthew Hurt Thread (Rochester JM, Class of 2019)

Here's what I know from coaching high school kids: parents say things to coaches their kids are not aware of or on board with. My point: It's highly possible Mr Hurt told Richard under no circumstances was Matthew ever going to be a Gopher. It could easily have been part of a discussion how Richard had failed Michael. Maybe it was stronger....leave my kid alone. Only dad doesn't tell their son or daughter anything about his discussion with coach.
I'm not believing for one second Richard would not shoot off a text a couple times a week to Matthew at the minimum if there wasn't some parental interference. Come on...really?
 

I'm not a high school basketball coach, but I know several in this state. Some who have had players recruited by the biggest college basketball teams in the country, others who have not. I believe his story.
You truly believe that Pitino would stop recruiting an in-state 5 star player without cause...... really? Think about that for a minute.

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Here's what I know from coaching high school kids: parents say things to coaches their kids are not aware of or on board with. My point: It's highly possible Mr Hurt told Richard under no circumstances was Matthew ever going to be a Gopher. It could easily have been part of a discussion how Richard had failed Michael. Maybe it was stronger....leave my kid alone. Only dad doesn't tell their son or daughter anything about his discussion with coach.
I'm not believing for one second Richard would not shoot off a text a couple times a week to Matthew at the minimum if there wasn't some parental interference. Come on...really?

Parental interference from dad........no way!

I'm expecting dad to be the one who puts the Duke or Kansas hat on. LMAO
 

Except we can know that dman's story is a troll story. We have a gaping hole at PF, we have a big need for shooters/scorers. Pitino has been after Hurt for 3+ years and now some person comes on here and says that staff didn't bother themselves to work him while he still wanted to come here. That's total crap. We have heard other recruits who had an assistant as their main contact say that Pitino himself made a lot of contact. I believe that is true with Freeman. So Pitino recruited other kids harder than Hurt? Not buying it.

Just because you don’t buy it doesn’t mean you can know with certainty whether it’s true or not.
 

Parental interference from dad........no way!

I'm expecting dad to be the one who puts the Duke or Kansas hat on. LMAO

Was with a D1 coach last night for a couple hours and his policy is to politely bow out when a parent or a AAU coach become involved. He believes that if the young person can not make this adult decision on his own then they will have a hard time ever owning their decision. Then you move on, otherwise you end up having to deal with the handler,parent all the way through.
 


One thing we do know, the gopher coaching staff was the only staff meeting daily with a family member. For the Hurts, there were no unknowns about the school or program.
 

Was with a D1 coach last night for a couple hours and his policy is to politely bow out when a parent or a AAU coach become involved. He believes that if the young person can not make this adult decision on his own then they will have a hard time ever owning their decision. Then you move on, otherwise you end up having to deal with the handler,parent all the way through.
Sounds like that coach has his head on straight

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Yet there is a fraction of the fan base that believes Pitino is doing great on the recruiting front.

We will never know the actual story.

Don't think there is a big faction that thinks he is doing great in recruiting but I think most realize the odds of landing the really high end guys like Hurt, or Jones or others when going up against the top dogs in college basketball is pretty minimal.
 



Here's what I know from coaching high school kids: parents say things to coaches their kids are not aware of or on board with. My point: It's highly possible Mr Hurt told Richard under no circumstances was Matthew ever going to be a Gopher. It could easily have been part of a discussion how Richard had failed Michael. Maybe it was stronger....leave my kid alone. Only dad doesn't tell their son or daughter anything about his discussion with coach.
I'm not believing for one second Richard would not shoot off a text a couple times a week to Matthew at the minimum if there wasn't some parental interference. Come on...really?

This seems totally plausible, now that being said Dman could also be telling the truth giving the perspective of the recruit as to what happens. Throw in the other poster who talked of "Hurt fatigue" with Dad and it all makes sense. No need for torches and pitchforks to say Pitino didn't do this or that because all of these perspectives may indeed be true. Lastly, thanks Built for the insights I always enjoy your posts. I would say that particular coach is doing it right. Can you imagine that loon Mr. Ball being the Dad of a player? That would be awful.
 

Wow. This kid has a parent who encouraged him to go public with this complaint?
Do they think its going to appease the people who wanted him to 'stay home'?
Frankly, I wouldnt even care if it held a certain element of 'truth'. There's no way any coach would stop recruiting this kid without a hugely compelling reason.
I might be seeing one...
 

Just because you don’t buy it doesn’t mean you can know with certainty whether it’s true or not.

Logic tells you it's not true. I like Pitino, but he's not exactly in a secure enough position to shut a kid with this talent down if he showed one ounce of interest. Pitino would have been the toast of the town if he had gotten Hurt and Hurt would have been a box office hit. Pitino would have a LOT of explaining to do to Coyle if this story were true.
 

I’ve complained about Richard’s recruiting, but this is bs. Richard would still take Hurt in a heartbeat.

Mr. Hurt, on behalf of the Gopher coaching staff, I’m re-affirming your son’s opportunity for a scholarship to the University of Minnesota. All you have to do is express interest and the spot is yours. Deal?
 



You truly believe that Pitino would stop recruiting an in-state 5 star player without cause...... really? Think about that for a minute.

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I didn't say that....I said I believed what he said. I don't know any specifics about what happened with the recruitment of Matthew Hurt. Neither does anyone who is posting on this board.
 

I didn't say that....I said I believed what he said. I don't know any specifics about what happened with the recruitment of Matthew Hurt. Neither does anyone who is posting on this board.
Were there any departures on the recruiting staff? If there were, could that be person have been designated as Matthew's contact person at UMN?

This is starting to sound like a Little League pop fly to the outfield: " I got it! I got it! No, you got it! You got it! You got it!"

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I didn't say that....I said I believed what he said. I don't know any specifics about what happened with the recruitment of Matthew Hurt. Neither does anyone who is posting on this board.

hmmmm. That would include dman....
 

I love these uninformed responses. My favorite that didn’t piss me off was “Hurt hold the distinction of being the only Mr. Basketball not to play in the State Tournament.” I helped put Mr. Basketball Brett Yonke out of the regional semi-finals before he reached state. Fall in home visit 5 star recruit tells staff he can see himself being a gopher. It was real. Only 2019 Minnesota kid that has said that after Ben Johnson leaves. One assistant falls asleep during the fall home visit. Gophers follow up with two texts at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They did not come down to Rochester to see him play this year. The staff was shocked to hear that they were not going to make the final list in December. One former D1 coach who knows the situation well said it was recruiting malpractice. I am a former D3 athlete who was recruited harder to the MIAC than this. In my field if I recruited a top prospect in this way that had said they wanted to come work for us I likely would be disciplined, demoted, or fired. It wasn’t “lazy” it was just plain incompetent. Don't worry the earlier quote "Ok Michael you can go now" is exactly what the response was with the DNPs after the Wisconsin win which really shows the true colors of the coaching staff. The comment "the episode has the stench of the family being upset that Michael doesn't get more PT" well it was coaching staff upset that they were out that led to DNPs. I am a Louisville and Minnesota fan who has had season tickets for both programs. When Louisville stopped texting and calling it was a sign to the recruit that they are out. It hurt and we have problems at Louisville but our current head coach is not one of them. Usually I ignore message board smack. Calling an 18 year old cowardly, pathetic, and wanting money under the table is pretty low even for this message board thus my response. I am not Matthew, Michael, mom, dad, or a grandparent but I am close enough.

What I find most disturbing about this is that an education at a MIAC school didn't provide you with a better understanding of sentence structure, punctuation, etc.

JTG
 

I love these uninformed responses. My favorite that didn’t piss me off was “Hurt hold the distinction of being the only Mr. Basketball not to play in the State Tournament.” I helped put Mr. Basketball Brett Yonke out of the regional semi-finals before he reached state. Fall in home visit 5 star recruit tells staff he can see himself being a gopher. It was real. Only 2019 Minnesota kid that has said that after Ben Johnson leaves. One assistant falls asleep during the fall home visit. Gophers follow up with two texts at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They did not come down to Rochester to see him play this year. The staff was shocked to hear that they were not going to make the final list in December. One former D1 coach who knows the situation well said it was recruiting malpractice. I am a former D3 athlete who was recruited harder to the MIAC than this. In my field if I recruited a top prospect in this way that had said they wanted to come work for us I likely would be disciplined, demoted, or fired. It wasn’t “lazy” it was just plain incompetent. Don't worry the earlier quote "Ok Michael you can go now" is exactly what the response was with the DNPs after the Wisconsin win which really shows the true colors of the coaching staff. The comment "the episode has the stench of the family being upset that Michael doesn't get more PT" well it was coaching staff upset that they were out that led to DNPs. I am a Louisville and Minnesota fan who has had season tickets for both programs. When Louisville stopped texting and calling it was a sign to the recruit that they are out. It hurt and we have problems at Louisville but our current head coach is not one of them. Usually I ignore message board smack. Calling an 18 year old cowardly, pathetic, and wanting money under the table is pretty low even for this message board thus my response. I am not Matthew, Michael, mom, dad, or a grandparent but I am close enough.
There isn't one part of this that is remotely believable. The contact between the Gopher staff and Matthew stopped because it was obvious Matthew wasn't coming here. If he really wanted to be a Gopher he should've committed early during his junior season like Michael did and help recruit other talented players.
 

hmmmm. That would include dman....

Well he or she said he or she wasn't Matthew, Michael, his mom, dad or grandparents. But it could have been a relative....a very close family friend....one of his AAU or high school coaches....a parent of a teammate. We don't know how close to the situation they were, but I got the impression they were closer than most of us on this board. I get it, they were telling the story from their perspective, and Pitino and his staff would have a different perspective.
 

I love these uninformed responses. My favorite that didn’t piss me off was “Hurt hold the distinction of being the only Mr. Basketball not to play in the State Tournament.” I helped put Mr. Basketball Brett Yonke out of the regional semi-finals before he reached state. Fall in home visit 5 star recruit tells staff he can see himself being a gopher. It was real. Only 2019 Minnesota kid that has said that after Ben Johnson leaves. One assistant falls asleep during the fall home visit. Gophers follow up with two texts at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They did not come down to Rochester to see him play this year. The staff was shocked to hear that they were not going to make the final list in December. One former D1 coach who knows the situation well said it was recruiting malpractice. I am a former D3 athlete who was recruited harder to the MIAC than this. In my field if I recruited a top prospect in this way that had said they wanted to come work for us I likely would be disciplined, demoted, or fired. It wasn’t “lazy” it was just plain incompetent. Don't worry the earlier quote "Ok Michael you can go now" is exactly what the response was with the DNPs after the Wisconsin win which really shows the true colors of the coaching staff. The comment "the episode has the stench of the family being upset that Michael doesn't get more PT" well it was coaching staff upset that they were out that led to DNPs. I am a Louisville and Minnesota fan who has had season tickets for both programs. When Louisville stopped texting and calling it was a sign to the recruit that they are out. It hurt and we have problems at Louisville but our current head coach is not one of them. Usually I ignore message board smack. Calling an 18 year old cowardly, pathetic, and wanting money under the table is pretty low even for this message board thus my response. I am not Matthew, Michael, mom, dad, or a grandparent but I am close enough.
You know, the kid's statement that 'they stopped contacting me' is probably true enough from his naturally inflated ego's point of view. It could also read as, "they didnt fawn over me enough.
However, if you are really a family friend and you are putting your anonymous statements forward, please know in that promoting these ideas, you have actually done more to turn public opinion against this kid than anyone else here.
 

This is all so stupid, if he really wanted to be a Gopher, he'd be a Gopher. It reeks of an attempt to lessen the blow back when he ultimately picks somewhere else.
 

He’s going to be a bust anyway, good riddance.
 

I love these uninformed responses. My favorite that didn’t piss me off was “Hurt hold the distinction of being the only Mr. Basketball not to play in the State Tournament.” I helped put Mr. Basketball Brett Yonke out of the regional semi-finals before he reached state. Fall in home visit 5 star recruit tells staff he can see himself being a gopher. It was real. Only 2019 Minnesota kid that has said that after Ben Johnson leaves. One assistant falls asleep during the fall home visit. Gophers follow up with two texts at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They did not come down to Rochester to see him play this year. The staff was shocked to hear that they were not going to make the final list in December. One former D1 coach who knows the situation well said it was recruiting malpractice. I am a former D3 athlete who was recruited harder to the MIAC than this. In my field if I recruited a top prospect in this way that had said they wanted to come work for us I likely would be disciplined, demoted, or fired. It wasn’t “lazy” it was just plain incompetent. Don't worry the earlier quote "Ok Michael you can go now" is exactly what the response was with the DNPs after the Wisconsin win which really shows the true colors of the coaching staff. The comment "the episode has the stench of the family being upset that Michael doesn't get more PT" well it was coaching staff upset that they were out that led to DNPs. I am a Louisville and Minnesota fan who has had season tickets for both programs. When Louisville stopped texting and calling it was a sign to the recruit that they are out. It hurt and we have problems at Louisville but our current head coach is not one of them. Usually I ignore message board smack. Calling an 18 year old cowardly, pathetic, and wanting money under the table is pretty low even for this message board thus my response. I am not Matthew, Michael, mom, dad, or a grandparent but I am close enough.

The key here is "that they had said wanted to come work for us". I don't think that happened in this case. When did he ever say he wanted to come play for the gophers?
 

The key here is "that they had said wanted to come work for us". I don't think that happened in this case. When did he ever say he wanted to come play for the gophers?
So...if a person doesn't want to be a Gopher...why not man up right away instead of letting it linger? I lose respect for people who aren't honest.
 

Don't think there is a big faction that thinks he is doing great in recruiting but I think most realize the odds of landing the really high end guys like Hurt, or Jones or others when going up against the top dogs in college basketball is pretty minimal.

Of course everyone understands what going up against the blue bloods is tough. At some point though Pitino needs to win one of these recruiting battles for an in state really high end guy.
 

What I find most disturbing about this is that an education at a MIAC school didn't provide you with a better understanding of sentence structure, punctuation, etc.

JTG

Yes, that was rather painful to interpret.:confused:
 


As others have said, Pitino’s been in constant contact with the Hurt family for at least 4 years. They have a son that’s been in the program for 3 years. By now they know what Pitino’s about, they know the program inside and out, they know what the school has to offer and everything else moreso than any other recruit out there. If the family had told the staff that Matthew wanted to be a Gopher as DMan suggests, what better way to show that than committing at that very moment? Instead they delay the announcement to the spring for what reason? The family needs further convincing?

This is the issue with recruiting the son of an aspiring coach. You aren’t really recruiting the kid and these things get strung out for publicity. No surprise that as Michael has found minutes hard to come by throughout his career, D1MN kids have not given the Gophers the time of day. Expect that trend to continue.
 
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This episode has the stench of the family being upset that Michael doesn't get more PT and they are burning Pitino here. Garbage.


I wish the young fellow good luck, but based on everything I have read, not too disappointed as a Gopher supporter. It seems as though there **may** have been a power play involved, no time for that from my perspective. Move on and don't look back and hope it works out for all.
 

FYI, I know nothing other than what I have read. Would love the gophs to land the kid if everything was on the up and up, but if not, there are obviously a lot of great choices for the family.
 




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