Davonte Fitzgerald Transfers to University of Minnesota

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First I'd like to say kudos to Selection Sunday who had this name months ago as a Gopher possibility. I understand the concerns about this commitment from both a production at Texas A&M and a roster construction standpoint. Looking at Fitzgerald's freshman year, he didn't shoot well from anywhere (low FG, 3PFG and FT percentages) and doesn't appear to see the court well (.1 assist per game, 3 total on the season) but on the positive side he did block a lot of shot (.7 bpg in just 15.7 mpg). In his sophomore year, Fitzgerald's 3pt and Ft percentages ticked up, but his overall FG percentage went down significantly as did his blocks. To me this signifies a player that was struggling to regain explosion following an injury (don't know if that's true as I haven't watched him). The thing that really stands out to me is Fitzgerald has just 7 total assists in 617 minutes played over two seasons. That is alarmingly low to me and screams does not have a feel for the game and/or is a complete black hole.

If it is true that Fitzgerald had options like UConn as a transfer, then obviously he's a good get on paper. If he has that type of talent, I could care less about what position he plays and what positions the Gophers are weak at. This program isn't at a point where we can bee choosy about talent, get the best players in and go from there. I think the need for a knockdown perimeter shooter on this roster is actually greater than the need for another C/PF. We at least have Konate/Diedhiou at the 5 for next year, but we don't have anyone who has demonstrated the ability to shoot the 3 at a high level (could argue Joey King here, but he's not the type that's going to get open running off screens or force defenses to guard him 23 feet from the bucket). Fitzgerald doesn't fill either need, but if he's talented I'd much rather have him than take a flier on a guy who would fill a need IF he pans out.

One thing to watch now is what happens with Buggs going forward. Unless he improves dramatically this offseason, it's tough to see him sticking around for a 5th year. The Gophers will have Murphy, Hurt, Gilbert, and Fitzgerald all competing for minutes playing roles that are similar to what Buggs projects to. The biggest negative to the Fitzgerald signing is it limits us to just one more LOI this Fall. I know it's possible to oversign, but I've never seen the Gophers actually do it. It seems like a guarantee that we'll have more than a 2 person class for '16, so I'd like to be able to sign at least 3 guys in the Fall rather than having to wait until Spring.
 

I'm fine with the addition of Fitzgerald

MadtownGopher said:
The A&M fans seem to think he has untapped potential. They have a ton of talent coming in next year so it seemed like Fitz wanted a change of scenery. Amir will play the 1/2 for us, not the 3. This does not affect him. I think Pitino wants to go deep into the post season in 2016. At that time he'll be adding transfer vets in Lynch and Fitz and hopefully the huge freshman class will be seasoned enough to make that big run.

2016 Roster:

Ball Handling Guards
Dorsey
Mason
Jarvis
McBrayer
[Amir?]

Wings/Combo Forwards
Buggs
Gilbert
Murphy
Fitzgerald
Hurt

Centers
Lynch
Konate
Gaston

I actually love that roster.
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I could argue the weakest position group was wings/combo forwards prior to Fitzgerald. Clearly, to me, Murphy is projected to be the best of the group. Now, closely followed by Fitzgerald. More than anything we need guys who can score. Fitzgerald will contribute 10+ points a game if he's healthy. And most people must feel he is/will be if UConn and Cal were after him.

The other point that baffles me...Rick Pitino is a HOF coach...there isn't a move made that Richard and dad are not discussing before it happens. They/Richard has a plan. They/Richard are/is working with about 1000x more information than we are to make these decisions. These roster additions are not knee jerk decisions. Trust his decisions. He can coach and Fitgerald can play, (if he's healthy and obviously they believe he will be.)
 

EG#9 said:
First I'd like to say kudos to Selection Sunday who had this name months ago as a Gopher possibility. I understand the concerns about this commitment from both a production at Texas A&M and a roster construction standpoint. Looking at Fitzgerald's freshman year, he didn't shoot well from anywhere (low FG, 3PFG and FT percentages) and doesn't appear to see the court well (.1 assist per game, 3 total on the season) but on the positive side he did block a lot of shot (.7 bpg in just 15.7 mpg). In his sophomore year, Fitzgerald's 3pt and Ft percentages ticked up, but his overall FG percentage went down significantly as did his blocks. To me this signifies a player that was struggling to regain explosion following an injury (don't know if that's true as I haven't watched him). The thing that really stands out to me is Fitzgerald has just 7 total assists in 617 minutes played over two seasons. That is alarmingly low to me and screams does not have a feel for the game and/or is a complete black hole.

If it is true that Fitzgerald had options like UConn as a transfer, then obviously he's a good get on paper. If he has that type of talent, I could care less about what position he plays and what positions the Gophers are weak at. This program isn't at a point where we can bee choosy about talent, get the best players in and go from there. I think the need for a knockdown perimeter shooter on this roster is actually greater than the need for another C/PF. We at least have Konate/Diedhiou at the 5 for next year, but we don't have anyone who has demonstrated the ability to shoot the 3 at a high level (could argue Joey King here, but he's not the type that's going to get open running off screens or force defenses to guard him 23 feet from the bucket). Fitzgerald doesn't fill either need, but if he's talented I'd much rather have him than take a flier on a guy who would fill a need IF he pans out.

One thing to watch now is what happens with Buggs going forward. Unless he improves dramatically this offseason, it's tough to see him sticking around for a 5th year. The Gophers will have Murphy, Hurt, Gilbert, and Fitzgerald all competing for minutes playing roles that are similar to what Buggs projects to. The biggest negative to the Fitzgerald signing is it limits us to just one more LOI this Fall. I know it's possible to oversign, but I've never seen the Gophers actually do it. It seems like a guarantee that we'll have more than a 2 person class for '16, so I'd like to be able to sign at least 3 guys in the Fall rather than having to wait until Spring.
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I agree on the bolded sentences. We need shooters! But, it seems like we are getting athletes, so maybe they attack the basket in a different way or Pitino sees shooters where I don't.
You are speculating on Buggs and I'm curious to see how Gilbert fits in 2016.
 

Blackhammer said:
Fitzgerald looks to be a nice wing prospect.With Davonte and Lynch in two years we should be getting two Big Ten ready players who will have had a redshirt year to get stronger and system ready and healthy in Fitzgerald's case,
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I know several people are concerned about the lack of scholarship available for next year, but here is another way to look at it.

Our two new red shirt transfer players are like singing two new players next year that already have playing experience and a year of practicing in our system. And you get their scrolls back a couple years earlier. Both players are better prepared to play next year than any JC's.

As someone else pointed out, Pitino has done a nice job of balancing out the scholarships.


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Pitino is Brewster like in his approach to field a team.

Pitino is Brewster like in his approach to field a team. but maybe it works in bball better than football.
 


wait!what? said:
Pitino is Brewster like in his approach to field a team. but maybe it works in bball better than football.
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Maybe, maybe not. But what Pitino is doing is sticking with his style of play and going for guys that fit it. Brewster gave up on his style of play pretty quickly and started to switch things up. I'm not so sure recruiting was as big of a problem for Brewster as much as having a lack of a long term cohesive coaching plan. So it might be apples and oranges here.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
So why is Draymond Green an outlier at 6'7"? How come we don't see any NBA rebounding champs that stand 6'1"? I get your point, there are exceptions to the rule. Rodman guarded players much taller than himself, Barkley could rebound with anyone. Still, those guys stand out because they are the exception to the rule. To say size doesn't mean squat is simply not true.
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Agreed. Some big men don't rebound well (we know that from personal experience), but few small ones do. In the Big Ten, some inside bulk also matters for reasons in addition to rebounding. Green had that. This pickup doesn't.

For those wishing to field the best possible team for next year under the present circumstances, this pick hurt. Pitino seems to be signaling that next year will be a developmental year and this pick does keep more minutes available for the freshmen. Assuming everyone stays after this year, the team will begin the following year with 1 senior, 5 juniors, 5 sophs, and 2 freshman and would have the potential to be pretty dangerous for at least two or three consecutive years.

Still, if Pitino was fine with another redshirt, one wonders if he couldn't have done better than this pick. I guess we'll see.
 

jwhoops said:
Rodney Williams was the most athletic player in the country, a senior, and playing next to one of the top defensive centers in the country. The defense was markedly worse with Williams at the 4, and the Gophers still only went 8-10. An unranked freshman SF who won't be paired with a reliable presence at the 5? Its a recipe for disaster. Take a look at daddy Pitino's rotations as far back as you want, and his current roster. You won't find him starting 200 lb SF's at the 4, and he's been pretty friggin successful with his up tempo lineup.

I'm all for playing a small lineup, but playing 4 out 1 doesn't just magically happen overnight, if it was that easy everybody would do it. You not only need an extremely tenacious, defefnse-focused 4, you also need a center that knows what he is doing. There is no reason to believe we have either at this point. Maybe Murphy can develop into that player, but no reason to think he will be ready right away. The other small 4's actually play the 4 because they are game changing floor spacers, not just because they are small. There is a reason players like Hayes, Swanigan and Carter actually play over 6'6 SF's, ya know.
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Jordan Murphy is 220 lbs., not 200, and he'll continue to grow.
 

alchemy2u said:
As someone else pointed out, Pitino has done a nice job of balancing out the scholarships.


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Actually, it looks to me like he set himself up for a boom and bust cycle. That's OK with me because I don't care about "balancing the classes." He'll have two consecutive deep classes (assuming no one leaves - a BIG assumption) with the potential to be pretty formidable for two or three years followed by a transition year where he'll have to replenish with consecutive deep recruiting classes (assuming that he's here for that long). I'm fine with two or three years of maximum strength followed by a rebuilding/developmental year.
 



DeathClutch said:
Like I said before, plenty of different lineups and styles can achieve success in the college game. Teams like Witchita State, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Notre Dame all made runs in the tourney with smaller than average lineups, ya know.
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All the above teams were upperclassman heavy. All of the above teams had at least one standout, "anchor" big man. Half of the teams you mention actually played 2 bigs.

Claiming that having the worst frontcourt in high major basketball isn't a major problem and Pitinto actually planned it that way, is the worst kind of spin.
 


dpodoll68 said:
I agree, those comparisons are stupid. Brewster took the Gophers to the postseason in his 2nd season.
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agreed and pitino took the gophers to the postseason in his first season, and won a postseason tournament.
 




Thank you. Our fans sound ridiculous in this thread. Clearly none of us have watched him play and yet people assume he must be terrible because he didn't play a ton of minutes at Texas A & M. He actually played quite a bit as a freshman and had decent numbers. Obviously his stats weren't great his sophomore year but he was apparently still recovering from his injury.

Apparently beating out UConn for a recruit is a reason to complain. I'm guessing a recent national champion coach who has actually watched and recruited a player knows a little more than these fools on here who have never seen him play and want to trash him. What a nice welcome to the Gopher family.

tjgopher said:
I guess I didn't realize how much of a powerhouse the Gophers had become. Beat out UConn, Cal, Arizona State and others for a recruit and the Gophers are apparently above this type of player?
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Fitzgerald and Murphy...I'm just glad to see a couple of Irish dudes join the squad.
 

Go4 said:
agreed and pitino took the gophers to the postseason in his first season, and won a postseason tournament.
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Winning the NIT >>>> losing the Insight Bowl. I'm sure that's what DP meant. :cool:
 

jwhoops said:
All the above teams were upperclassman heavy. All of the above teams had at least one standout, "anchor" big man. Half of the teams you mention actually played 2 bigs.

Claiming that having the worst frontcourt in high major basketball isn't a major problem and Pitinto actually planned it that way, is the worst kind of spin.
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To be fair, we can't say with any certainty yet that this will be the worst front court in high major basketball. It isn't looking so great for the coming year, but we will have more size overall than either Michigan (although I would take Ricky Doyle over any big man on our roster) or Dayton did this past season. I do agree with you that those who think a team can do perfectly fine in the Big Ten without some quality size must be watching some other league's games. Based on Tim Miles' recruiting this season, he must have finally figured that out.
 

60's Guy said:
The other point that baffles me...Rick Pitino is a HOF coach...there isn't a move made that Richard and dad are not discussing before it happens.
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Two questions:

Have you always taken your father's advice? AND

If you did, was he always right?
 

cjbfbp said:
To be fair, we can't say with any certainty yet that this will be the worst front court in high major basketball. It isn't looking so great for the coming year, but we will have more size overall than either Michigan (although I would take Ricky Doyle over any big man on our roster) or Dayton did this past season. I do agree with you that those who think a team can do perfectly fine in the Big Ten without some quality size must be watching some other league's games. Based on Tim Miles' recruiting this season, he must have finally figured that out.
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Who did tim miles recruit with size this year? He has a 6'8" PF in the incoming class and a couple of 6'7" SF's? did i miss a transfer?
 

Tim1406 said:
Who did tim miles recruit with size this year? He has a 6'8" PF in the incoming class and a couple of 6'7" SF's? did i miss a transfer?
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He signed two freshmen power forwards but he also offered two JUCO forwards and one JUCO center. I think the JUCOs are still undecided although one or two of them may not be eligible to transfer yet. He also offered another freshman power forward (from the same prep as Nwankwo) who I believe is still listed as undecided. Pitchford also didn't announce that he was leaving until after the season and his departure wasn't as predictable as Petteway's.
 

Here's a link to Texas A&M forum where they are discussing Fitzgerald: http://texags.com/forums/7/topics/2623678

One post stood out to me:

Hope he learns a lot from Pitino jr and gets enough playing time to justify the change in scenery. Clearly hasn't given up on making it to the NBA which means it's the first in many years of hard work for him.
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Their fanbase must have thought Fitz had a chance to go pro..
 

Lakers612 said:
Here's a link to Texas A&M
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No bitterness? They like him and wish him well? Mind blowing.
__________________________________________________________

"Davonte is a fine young man and is going to be a really great addition for them. Its a shame that we couldn't do more with him.

Best of luck to you, Davonte"
 

HOOP DREAMS said:
No bitterness? They like him and wish him well? Mind blowing.
__________________________________________________________

"Davonte is a fine young man and is going to be a really great addition for them. Its a shame that we couldn't do more with him.

Best of luck to you, Davonte"
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Fans are usually ecstatic about the program or else mad at the players or the coach. The flavor I got here was that right now they are not that happy with the coach's ability to develop players.
 

bga1 said:
Fans are usually ecstatic about the program or else mad at the players or the coach. The flavor I got here was that right now they are not that happy with the coach's ability to develop players.
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With their recruiting class, they should be very happy with their coach right now.
 


alchemy2u said:
Guys, the days of tall, marginally athletic, slow, space takers is over. Pitino has said all along he is bringing in a fast running style with a relentless defense. Coach is not looking for the next Randy Breuer, Trevor Winter, Bob Martin, Jeff Hagen, etc..


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Trust me if there was a player as good as Randy Bruer available pitino and every coach in the country would be lining up to sign him right now.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
Happily adding another idiot to my ignore list.
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Doesn't get any more ******y than this, folks. Drink it in. We have truly been blessed with one of the greats of ******. Just when you start to think he can't possibly outdo himself, he always does. Says a lot about him as a person, to constantly fight adversity in that way.

I salute you, sir, for raising the bar for dpdoll as the champion of insulting the intelligence of anyone and everyone via an internet chat board. It takes some serious courage and mettle to be so bold and cutting edge. Every time somebody reads one of your posts, I'm sure they are overcome by reverence.

Character, is the word that instantly comes to mind, for me. Seriously, man. Take a step back and think about it. You must feel really great about yourself, deep down when you close your eyes at night. I pity you, actually, for having such a toxic soul. It must make you absolutely insufferable for all of those that have the misfortune of interacting with you face to face....without the option to casually skip over this juvenile crap.

If you don't want to talk gophers sports, or hear differing opinions, why the hell are you reading these things? At the very least, keep your toxic sewage to yourself. Get a grip....and some help.
 

TheBulldog said:
Doesn't get any more ******y than this, folks. Drink it in. We have truly been blessed with one of the greats of ******. Just when you start to think he can't possibly outdo himself, he always does. Says a lot about him as a person, to constantly fight adversity in that way. I salute you, sir, for raising the bar for dpdoll as the champion of insulting the intelligence of anyone and everyone via an internet chat board. It takes some serious courage and mettle to be so bold and cutting edge. Every time somebody reads one of your posts, I'm sure they are overcome by reverence. Character, is the word that instantly comes to mind, for me. Seriously, man. Take a step back and think about it. You must feel really great about yourself, deep down when you close your eyes at night. I pity you, actually, for having such a toxic soul. It must make you absolutely insufferable for all of those that have the misfortune of interacting with you face to face....without the option to casually skip over this juvenile crap. If you don't want to talk gophers sports, or hear differing opinions, why the hell are you reading these things? At the very least, keep your toxic sewage to yourself. Get a grip....and some help.
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Whoa ...
 

NO

cjbfbp said:
Two questions:

Have you always taken your father's advice? AND

If you did, was he always right?
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But my point was that the sky isn't falling. And there is discussion and thought behind each of these acquisitions.
Pitino has a plan and sees things differently than the alarmists on here.
 

TheBulldog said:
Doesn't get any more ******y than this, folks. Drink it in. We have truly been blessed with one of the greats of ******. Just when you start to think he can't possibly outdo himself, he always does. Says a lot about him as a person, to constantly fight adversity in that way. I salute you, sir, for raising the bar for dpdoll as the champion of insulting the intelligence of anyone and everyone via an internet chat board. It takes some serious courage and mettle to be so bold and cutting edge. Every time somebody reads one of your posts, I'm sure they are overcome by reverence. Character, is the word that instantly comes to mind, for me. Seriously, man. Take a step back and think about it. You must feel really great about yourself, deep down when you close your eyes at night. I pity you, actually, for having such a toxic soul. It must make you absolutely insufferable for all of those that have the misfortune of interacting with you face to face....without the option to casually skip over this juvenile crap. If you don't want to talk gophers sports, or hear differing opinions, why the hell are you reading these things? At the very least, keep your toxic sewage to yourself. Get a grip....and some help.
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Feel free to add him to your ignore list if his posts bother you that much.

I've had a couple posts removed recently that were in jest and nowhere near as inflammatory as this one.

Yikes! Must be a slow period for Gopherhole!
 

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