All Things 2019 Gophers Basketball Recruiting Thread - Tweets, Links, Video, Analysis

STrib: Gophers recruit Tray Jackson hopes to see big gains from fifth prep year

When the fall semester began for students and athletes at universities across the country earlier this month, Tray Jackson could’ve been starting his college career in the Big East.

Instead, the 6-foot-8 forward and newest Gophers recruit decided working on his strength and honing his skills another year would serve him better. After reclassifying from the 2018 to 2019 class, Jackson will be a fifth-year prep at Sunrise Christian Academy on the postgraduate team.

Why didn’t he jump at the chance to play major Division I college basketball this year?

“It will help me develop more leadership and give me a little time to learn the game more,” Jackson said. “Focus on the stuff I want to get better with when I get to Minnesota.”

It was a decision Jackson made before he had a breakout AAU season with Chicago-based Meanstreets and attracted attention from a number of Power Five schools, including those wanting him to start his freshman year in 2018-19.

“He’s really gifted and talented,” Jackson’s AAU coach Tyrone Slaughter said. “There were many schools who recruited Tray and several of them were interested in him making that leap from high school to college this year. One of the things Tray said to me when I talked to him, and I believed as a coach, was that it was something he was capable of doing.”

Creighton, Xavier and DePaul were the main schools recruiting Jackson for 2018. The Gophers beat out Oklahoma, Seton Hall and Missouri on Monday for him to be the first member of their 2019 class.

Still 18 years old, Jackson wanted to play AAU ball again this year. Jackson was an explosive athlete with the ball skills to play both wing and power forward, but surprisingly he only had scholarship offers from mid-major programs after his senior season at Detroit Western International.

His list changed drastically after joining Meanstreets in the spring. Jackson was one of the breakout players early in Nike EYBL play, picking up offers from Xavier and Oklahoma before the summer. Minnesota offered him in June right before he took his first official visit to the Sooners.

Slaughter remembers the conversation with Jackson about whether reclassifying was the right choice.

“He wanted to get better,” Slaughter said. “He wanted to get better at different things in his game. Most importantly he talked about his desire to get stronger. He wanted to become more engrossed into the nuances of the game. When you think about a kid who is that talented and athletic, but has a willingness and foresight to stop the clock and get after it with physical growth and mental development, that says volumes about him and his insight to where he’s trying to go.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...see-big-gains-from-fifth-prep-year/493160111/

Go Gophers!!
 

FWIW, in his latest Scoops Podcast, Doogie tempered excitement a little bit on Jackson. He said Xavier recently dropped out of their recruitment of Jackson, Doogie said he found it interesting that some media outlets reported Tray's comment that he considered Michigan State, Purdue, Oregon, etc., but Doogie went on to say that Michigan State and Oregon did not offer him. He also said Oklahoma's interest in Jackson "cooled" after they tried to get him. Doogie said: "bottom line from what I have been told is there is some potential there. This is a good start, not a great start for the Gophers 2019 recruiting class."

http://www.1500espn.com/tag/the-scoop/

Go Gophers!!

Listened to the podcast and my initial impression from Bleed's recap and Doogie's history didn't change. Doogie mentioned that Xavier backed off on Tray, where do you think he got that "info" from? Probably former podcast guest Ben Johnson. It reminds me very much of Doogie getting "scoops" from a certain ISU assistant under Hoiberg, when Rashad Vaughn chose UNLV and said coach sent out a reactionary tweet of questionable nature, Doogie replied to said tweet in a positive matter. Doogie also never fails to mention anytime Amir Coffey is brought up to "thank Fred Hoiberg for leaving ISU" as if he was a done deal to ISU (despite the fact that literally zero Minnesota kids with Minnesota offers have ever ended up at Iowa or ISU). Consider the likely source of the "scoop" and then consider if said "scoop" benefits that person in some way. He then says Oklahoma "cooled" on Tray Jackson after putting on the full court press during his visit and not getting a commitment. Tray visited OU in June and didn't commit and then scheduled visits elsewhere in the late Summer/Fall...he wasn't going to OU so they wanted him when they had him on campus and "cooled" on him when the writing was on the wall he was going elsewhere. To further state a strange double standard with Doogie, he mentioned at the end of his podcast that Robert Jones had committed to Denver, and casually mentioned that he had a Penn State offer. Now does anyone really think Robert Jones could have committed to Penn State and just decided to go to a low major? But did Doogie even mention the possibility of that offer not being real or Penn State "cooling" on him?

I don't disagree with Doogie's conclusion that this is a good start, not a great start to the Gophers 2019 recruiting class, but he's seemingly going out of his way to make a top 100 recruit (never mentioned that fact in the podcast by the way) seem like a leftover. If you had no idea about recruiting and listened to the podcast, you would have thought David Roddy was the far superior prospect.
 

I don't know if I want Roddy at this point. Is he better than Omersa? He isn't as athletic. And he probably isn't much younger.
 

Listened to the podcast and my initial impression from Bleed's recap and Doogie's history didn't change. Doogie mentioned that Xavier backed off on Tray, where do you think he got that "info" from? Probably former podcast guest Ben Johnson. It reminds me very much of Doogie getting "scoops" from a certain ISU assistant under Hoiberg, when Rashad Vaughn chose UNLV and said coach sent out a reactionary tweet of questionable nature, Doogie replied to said tweet in a positive matter. Doogie also never fails to mention anytime Amir Coffey is brought up to "thank Fred Hoiberg for leaving ISU" as if he was a done deal to ISU (despite the fact that literally zero Minnesota kids with Minnesota offers have ever ended up at Iowa or ISU). Consider the likely source of the "scoop" and then consider if said "scoop" benefits that person in some way. He then says Oklahoma "cooled" on Tray Jackson after putting on the full court press during his visit and not getting a commitment. Tray visited OU in June and didn't commit and then scheduled visits elsewhere in the late Summer/Fall...he wasn't going to OU so they wanted him when they had him on campus and "cooled" on him when the writing was on the wall he was going elsewhere. To further state a strange double standard with Doogie, he mentioned at the end of his podcast that Robert Jones had committed to Denver, and casually mentioned that he had a Penn State offer. Now does anyone really think Robert Jones could have committed to Penn State and just decided to go to a low major? But did Doogie even mention the possibility of that offer not being real or Penn State "cooling" on him?

I don't disagree with Doogie's conclusion that this is a good start, not a great start to the Gophers 2019 recruiting class, but he's seemingly going out of his way to make a top 100 recruit (never mentioned that fact in the podcast by the way) seem like a leftover. If you had no idea about recruiting and listened to the podcast, you would have thought David Roddy was the far superior prospect.

Xavier cooled on Tray after they received there 3rd post commit at the end of August. regardless, it is weird the way Doogie stats things all the time. and annoying
 

Listened to the podcast and my initial impression from Bleed's recap and Doogie's history didn't change. Doogie mentioned that Xavier backed off on Tray, where do you think he got that "info" from? Probably former podcast guest Ben Johnson. It reminds me very much of Doogie getting "scoops" from a certain ISU assistant under Hoiberg, when Rashad Vaughn chose UNLV and said coach sent out a reactionary tweet of questionable nature, Doogie replied to said tweet in a positive matter. Doogie also never fails to mention anytime Amir Coffey is brought up to "thank Fred Hoiberg for leaving ISU" as if he was a done deal to ISU (despite the fact that literally zero Minnesota kids with Minnesota offers have ever ended up at Iowa or ISU). Consider the likely source of the "scoop" and then consider if said "scoop" benefits that person in some way. He then says Oklahoma "cooled" on Tray Jackson after putting on the full court press during his visit and not getting a commitment. Tray visited OU in June and didn't commit and then scheduled visits elsewhere in the late Summer/Fall...he wasn't going to OU so they wanted him when they had him on campus and "cooled" on him when the writing was on the wall he was going elsewhere. To further state a strange double standard with Doogie, he mentioned at the end of his podcast that Robert Jones had committed to Denver, and casually mentioned that he had a Penn State offer. Now does anyone really think Robert Jones could have committed to Penn State and just decided to go to a low major? But did Doogie even mention the possibility of that offer not being real or Penn State "cooling" on him?

I don't disagree with Doogie's conclusion that this is a good start, not a great start to the Gophers 2019 recruiting class, but he's seemingly going out of his way to make a top 100 recruit (never mentioned that fact in the podcast by the way) seem like a leftover. If you had no idea about recruiting and listened to the podcast, you would have thought David Roddy was the far superior prospect.

Splitting hairs over good or great start with a top 100 commit is up there in the dumber things to comment on.
 


Listened to the podcast and my initial impression from Bleed's recap and Doogie's history didn't change. Doogie mentioned that Xavier backed off on Tray, where do you think he got that "info" from? Probably former podcast guest Ben Johnson. It reminds me very much of Doogie getting "scoops" from a certain ISU assistant under Hoiberg, when Rashad Vaughn chose UNLV and said coach sent out a reactionary tweet of questionable nature, Doogie replied to said tweet in a positive matter. Doogie also never fails to mention anytime Amir Coffey is brought up to "thank Fred Hoiberg for leaving ISU" as if he was a done deal to ISU (despite the fact that literally zero Minnesota kids with Minnesota offers have ever ended up at Iowa or ISU). Consider the likely source of the "scoop" and then consider if said "scoop" benefits that person in some way. He then says Oklahoma "cooled" on Tray Jackson after putting on the full court press during his visit and not getting a commitment. Tray visited OU in June and didn't commit and then scheduled visits elsewhere in the late Summer/Fall...he wasn't going to OU so they wanted him when they had him on campus and "cooled" on him when the writing was on the wall he was going elsewhere. To further state a strange double standard with Doogie, he mentioned at the end of his podcast that Robert Jones had committed to Denver, and casually mentioned that he had a Penn State offer. Now does anyone really think Robert Jones could have committed to Penn State and just decided to go to a low major? But did Doogie even mention the possibility of that offer not being real or Penn State "cooling" on him?

I don't disagree with Doogie's conclusion that this is a good start, not a great start to the Gophers 2019 recruiting class, but he's seemingly going out of his way to make a top 100 recruit (never mentioned that fact in the podcast by the way) seem like a leftover. If you had no idea about recruiting and listened to the podcast, you would have thought David Roddy was the far superior prospect.

This is summarizes my thoughts on the recruiting segment of the podcast. Very well put EG. I have wondered if Wahl committed to Minnesota instead of Tray, would Doogie be praising the recruiting class instead? Feels like Doogie is going out of his way to put down out of state kids vs. instate recruits who aren't rated as high as Jackson.
 

Doogie has always seemed a little too homer for my taste. A top 100 recruit is a top 100 recruit. When Dutcher pulled in the no.1 recruiting class, I don't think there was a Minnesotan among them. This year if you had gotten the top three MN kids you would have a top 10 class, but that wouldn't have included Wahl. He is down on Pitino for not closing the borders. But this ain't football, you don't have 25 scholarships per year and it ain't hockey where our school is considered a blue blood program. Washington was #62 and people complain we didn't get McKinley Wright. We get Jackson #83 and people complain we missed out on Wahl #130?. It doesn't make any sense.

He will jump on Pitino if we miss out on Hurt and Zeke, but what else could he have done in recruiting these guys? The blue blood appeal is hard to beat.
 

Doogie has always seemed a little too homer for my taste. A top 100 recruit is a top 100 recruit. When Dutcher pulled in the no.1 recruiting class, I don't think there was a Minnesotan among them. This year if you had gotten the top three MN kids you would have a top 10 class, but that wouldn't have included Wahl. He is down on Pitino for not closing the borders. But this ain't football, you don't have 25 scholarships per year and it ain't hockey where our school is considered a blue blood program. Washington was #62 and people complain we didn't get McKinley Wright. We get Jackson #83 and people complain we missed out on Wahl #130?. It doesn't make any sense.

He will jump on Pitino if we miss out on Hurt and Zeke, but what else could he have done in recruiting these guys? The blue blood appeal is hard to beat.

+1000!
 

All I know is Doogie couldn't handle posters calling him out on his bull****, so he tucked and ran, and hasen't been back here in awhile.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 



FWIW, in his latest Scoops Podcast, Doogie tempered excitement a little bit on Jackson. He said Xavier recently dropped out of their recruitment of Jackson, Doogie said he found it interesting that some media outlets reported Tray's comment that he considered Michigan State, Purdue, Oregon, etc., but Doogie went on to say that Michigan State and Oregon did not offer him. He also said Oklahoma's interest in Jackson "cooled" after they tried to get him. Doogie said: "bottom line from what I have been told is there is some potential there. This is a good start, not a great start for the Gophers 2019 recruiting class."

http://www.1500espn.com/tag/the-scoop/

Go Gophers!!

Doogie is one of the least plugged in reporters in this town, I've been told that by multiple people in the business. He throws stuff on the wall to see if it sticks. I'm not saying he doesn't try and make the effort to get info, but there are media people far more plugged in. When was the last time he had the news first on a legitimate sports story in this town? Oh yeah, never. That said, I do enjoy his podcasts and interviews with the local kids. I trust Fuller, Ryan James and Ryan Burns with recruiting info before anyone else.

I expect Tray Jackson to be a solid contributor right away. He's a consensus top 100 recruit and looks like a great athlete. I'm excited to see him next year, especially since he said himself he wants this year to mature and grow as a player when he could be a freshman in college if he wanted.
 


Doogie has always seemed a little too homer for my taste. A top 100 recruit is a top 100 recruit. When Dutcher pulled in the no.1 recruiting class, I don't think there was a Minnesotan among them. This year if you had gotten the top three MN kids you would have a top 10 class, but that wouldn't have included Wahl. He is down on Pitino for not closing the borders. But this ain't football, you don't have 25 scholarships per year and it ain't hockey where our school is considered a blue blood program. Washington was #62 and people complain we didn't get McKinley Wright. We get Jackson #83 and people complain we missed out on Wahl #130?. It doesn't make any sense.

He will jump on Pitino if we miss out on Hurt and Zeke, but what else could he have done in recruiting these guys? The blue blood appeal is hard to beat.

Exactly, Pitino will keep getting very good players that want to play for the U. Like I have said several times, the Minnesota kids better wise up and realize that Pitino will not wait on them. Also, like you pointed out, Minnesota is producing a lot D1 level talent, but not all of them will be good enough to play at the U (because the U can attract better talent).
 

Exactly, Pitino will keep getting very good players that want to play for the U. Like I have said several times, the Minnesota kids better wise up and realize that Pitino will not wait on them. Also, like you pointed out, Minnesota is producing a lot D1 level talent, but not all of them will be good enough to play at the U (because the U can attract better talent).

I think he has always landed really good players and will continue to do so. But it is time to win a conference title and he landed a critical piece this year in Rob Jeter. Gone are the days of mediocre team defense as Jeter knows all about getting great shots on offense and not giving good looks on defense. No more defenses ranked below 70. Very bullish on this years team.
 



I think he has always landed really good players and will continue to do so. But it is time to win a conference title and he landed a critical piece this year in Rob Jeter. Gone are the days of mediocre team defense as Jeter knows all about getting great shots on offense and not giving good looks on defense. No more defenses ranked below 70. Very bullish on this years team.
I like this team, but I don't think they have the goods to hang banner, maybe top four, would like to be wrong

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

I like this team, but I don't think they have the goods to hang banner, maybe top four, would like to be wrong

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I can deal with top 4 if the arrow is still pointing up after. I’m a Pitino supporter, but he’s gotta break the ice here soon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


Listened to the podcast and my initial impression from Bleed's recap and Doogie's history didn't change. Doogie mentioned that Xavier backed off on Tray, where do you think he got that "info" from? Probably former podcast guest Ben Johnson. It reminds me very much of Doogie getting "scoops" from a certain ISU assistant under Hoiberg, when Rashad Vaughn chose UNLV and said coach sent out a reactionary tweet of questionable nature, Doogie replied to said tweet in a positive matter.

Not to sidetrack, but what was this story? I didn't really start following recruiting religiously until a couple of years ago.
 


Going through the Tray Jackson commitment thread on the Gopher 247 board, a thread I was able to look at despite not being a subscriber, there are some short posts from Ryan James that are worth mentioning.

Asked how well Jackson can shoot:

31 percent three-point shooter. Right now I don't believe he will be a dependable perimeter shooter - at least from where he is now - but he puts the ball on the deck very well.

Can Tray Jackson and David Roddy play together?

Jackson moves his feet well enough to guard small forwards, David Roddy is strong enough to guard power forwards.

Jackson does put the ball on the deck all right, David Roddy actually shoots the ball ok. I think they can play together although it may be best to have them both at power forward BUT I think they can play together because they each have some elements that allow them to play some SF. Also Jared Jones can play center and power forward so he would work as well.

Is it the consensus that we're out of the Hurt/Zeke sweepstakes?

It's the consensus that they are out of the Zeke Nnaji race. But in the Matthew Hurt race along with all the rest.

If we have a shot at Hurt, do we take a commitment from Roddy and risk using 3 of 4 scholarships on PF's in this class?

You can play Matthew Hurt wherever man. You could throw him in at three spots if need be. He is very good. Don't think "position" when you think of the Matt Hurt recruitment.

https://247sports.com/college/minne...-Lands-4-star-Forward-Tray-Jackson-121719583/

Disappointing to hear that it's not gonna happen with Zeke, but exciting to know that we apparently at least have a fighting chance with Hurt. If Zeke leaves the Big Ten, or at least doesn't go to Wisconsin, I won't be too upset.
 

Adding Tray Jackson lessens the sting of missing out of Wahl and Zeke. If we could land Hurt and Jackson in the same class, that's got to be top 15 in the nation.
 

Adding Tray Jackson lessens the sting of missing out of Wahl and Zeke. If we could land Hurt and Jackson in the same class, that's got to be top 15 in the nation.

Tray Jackson is rated higher than Wahl anywhere you look, although Wahl is listed as a 3 where Jackson is a 4, so maybe Wahl has a better perimeter game.

Hurt and Jackson alone won't get us a top 15 class. I used the 247 class calculator to see where a hypothetical class of Hurt, Jackson, Roddy, and Yavuz Gultekin would rank. It gives a rating of 59.80 which would be the #24 class going by the 2018 class rankings, although David Roddy is unranked and adds nothing to class's rating at this time. I would guess he would get rated if he were to commit here.

A class of Hurt, Jackson, Jared Jones, and Tyson Etienne, that being a 5 star, two 4 stars, and a 3 star, would give us a rating of 64.00, good for #16 in the 2018 class rankings. So while Hurt and Jackson would be a great start, we'd probably at least need two more top 150 commits on top of that to get into the top 15.
 

I don't think this necessarily means we won't continue to recruit Zeke, unless the interest is clearly not there at all. Regardless I really think we need to find a solid guard that can come in and contribute right away, although we do have 3 left to fill.
 

While I'm sure it has little to no effect on Hurt's recruitment, interesting to see that Kansas got a commitment today from an in-state, 6-3 SF. I remain a firm believer that Pitino has as good a shot as anyone to land Hurt. Pitino has done everything he can between in-home visits and watching him play. Biggest draw for Hurt is being able to be a teammate with his brother for one year. Won't matter what program he plays for, plenty of NBA scouts will follow him for games and evaluate his potential as a pro player. That's why I don't think he needs a blue-blood school to get national and NBA attention. He's a consensus top-10 player, the attention follows the talent.
 



Joel Brown, the 6-foot-1 point guard from Brewster (N.H.) Academy and the CIA Bounce AAU program, is down to four schools and is nearing a college decision.
The Brampton, Ontario native is down to Cal, Vanderbilt, Minnesota and Clemson, he told ZAGSBLOG.
 

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Also, Joel Brown broke down his final four schools for ZagsBlog: http://www.zagsblog.com/2018/09/23/2019-point-guard-joel-brown-down-to-four-nearing-decision/

Clemson: “The style of play at Clemson fits my style of play because they play quick, they have tough defense and I’ll be able to use my quickness and ability of coming off screens efficiently. They play in the ACC which is one of the best, if not the best, conference. And they’re good academically.”
Vanderbilt: “Vandy is doing a great job of rebuilding their program and getting the right guys to come in and become the program they’re destined to be. They are great academically so I can get the best of both worlds. Also, the ability to play in the SEC and play a lot in transition is a great for me to showcase my quickness.”
Cal: “I have a great relationship with Coach [Wyking] Jones and [David] Grace. They play in a loaded conference which produces a lot of pros. The style of play at Cal fits my style of play of being able to play quick up and down, get in the lane and be able to find guys and finish. It’s compared to the NBA and they are the No. 1 public university in the world.”
Minnesota: “They play high level in the Big Ten. Coach [Richard] Pitino is doing a great job of making the program better. They do a good job of getting guys mentally stronger and physically stronger to play in a tough conference. Minnesota is a beautiful city where the fans are crazy and supportive.”
 

Looking at Joel Browns EYBL stats with CIA Bounce...he put up solid numbers, is there a reason he doesnt have more offers/better schools recruiting him?
 

Looking at Joel Browns EYBL stats with CIA Bounce...he put up solid numbers, is there a reason he doesnt have more offers/better schools recruiting him?

Most likely because hes a really poor shooter.
 

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Hope the Gophs take some interest in Damian Johnson's tall, talented guard.
 




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