Michael Hurt - Redshirt?

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Southpaw

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What do y'all think of redshirting Hurt next season? Amir has proven he can play major minutes at the 3; Fitzgerald is likely to need some minutes at the 3/4; also, with four quality guards we'll likely play small occasionally with three of the four on the court at the same time - barring injury, there doesn't seem to be any minutes available for Hurt.

Right now, Hurt appears a little overwhelmed as if the game is a bit too fast for him (not uncommon for a freshman). The upside of redshirting would be another year to develop his game in a practice setting with no pressure to perform; it would also allow for an extra year to play alongside his "little" brother if the Gophers can successfully recruit him.

The downside would be the potential waste of a scholarship year if he doesn't project as a contributor down the road.
 


Interesting thought.

If (and that's a big "if") Fitzgerald is healthy & ready to contribute as a top-8 rotation type player, I think red-shirting Hurt would make a lot of sense. Even if he's improved, there are so many guard/wings who'll be ahead of him (presumably). ... Mason, McBrayer, Coffey, Fitzgerald, Washington, and maybe even Harris (if he plays with more confidence and/or shoots it better than Hurt).

If Fitzgerald isn't ready right away and/or it becomes apparent early in the season he's not what Pitino recruited him to be, then you can't red-shirt Hurt. Can strip the red-shirt pretty early in the season if that's the case.

I never worry about future scholarship availability. If a coach really wants a guy, they'll get creative and find a way (bury a guy on the bench is one way) to make room for a future scholarship.
 


Jeff Hagen said on numerous occasions that redshirting his sophomore year was the best thing he ever did.

As Hodger writes, if Fitz is healthy, then there is a compelling reason to RS Hurt.

Go Gophers!!
 


Winasota Gopher said:
When is the last time Fitz played an entire season?
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Just looked it up. The last game Fitzgerald played in was exactly two years ago tomorrow, March 23, 2015, vs. Louisiana Tech in the NIT. He was scoreless and had no rebounds in 4 minutes of PT. So by the time next season rolls around, it will have been approximately 31 months since he last played in a game.

Also, his freshman season (2013-14) was shortened by injury (didn't play in last 10 games), his sophomore season (2014-15) was not.
 

I wouldn't be totally against this if we bring in a grad transfer SF. Sometimes a sophomore or even junior year redshirt can do wonders for a player. One that always stands out in my mind is Kelly Olynyk red shirting his Junior year and coming back the following season a completely different player. If a move like this would also help us get his brother, because they'd be able to play two years together, potentially, instead of one, then all the more reason. I think it's totally up to Michael though, he has to want to do it.
 

It depends on whether we want Hurt for his entire career. If you redshirt you run the risk that Hurt leaves and succeeds elsewhere while eliminating his brother from ever attending UMN. If you give enough playing time to keep him happy, you give yourself a chance at Matthew coming to UMN as well.
What I don't know is the extent to which Michael Hurt would remain loyal to UMN.
 

MennoSota said:
It depends on whether we want Hurt for his entire career. If you redshirt you run the risk that Hurt leaves and succeeds elsewhere while eliminating his brother from ever attending UMN. If you give enough playing time to keep him happy, you give yourself a chance at Matthew coming to UMN as well.
What I don't know is the extent to which Michael Hurt would remain loyal to UMN.
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He committed almost immediately after offered? Dude's a Gopher. I would think that he would stay here.

By all accounts he is a really hard worker though. I have no doubt he will succeed either next year or the one after that while being at Minnesota. I'm looking for him to be good for us next year as i think he just needs a touch more confidence.
 



MennoSota said:
It depends on whether we want Hurt for his entire career. If you redshirt you run the risk that Hurt leaves and succeeds elsewhere while eliminating his brother from ever attending UMN. If you give enough playing time to keep him happy, you give yourself a chance at Matthew coming to UMN as well.
What I don't know is the extent to which Michael Hurt would remain loyal to UMN.
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Agree with this, but there is a flip side that Hurt may actually like the idea of redshirting as it could give him an additional year to play with his brother (if we're lucky enough to land him).
 

Okie said:
Agree with this, but there is a flip side that Hurt may actually like the idea of redshirting as it could give him an additional year to play with his brother (if we're lucky enough to land him).
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Tim1406 said:
He committed almost immediately after offered? Dude's a Gopher. I would think that he would stay here.

By all accounts he is a really hard worker though. I have no doubt he will succeed either next year or the one after that while being at Minnesota. I'm looking for him to be good for us next year as i think he just needs a touch more confidence.
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I agree with you both. I tend to think he will be like Isaiah Dahlman who chose to stick with Izzo and Sparty despite the fact that better players came in and turned him into a backup. Izzo even counseled Dahlman to leave, but Dahlman dedicated himself to being the best practice squad player on the team. Izzo loved him for it.
 

Matthew Hurt will be one and done, he won't be around for Michael's 5th year so i don't really by that as a good reason to red shirt. I do think Michael could be open to it as I believe he is pre Med, I imagine he would be hanging around the U for quite awhile if becoming a Doctor is his goal. Also players improve as they add strength and gain experience, look at the strides Dupree made between the past two seasons, the only difference is Hurt wasn't forced into action like Dupree because we had depth last year. Pitino is high on Hurt and Hurt has good instincts, just needs to get bigger an i think that will help with his confidence. I can see Hurt getting some run next year even with a healthy Fitz.
 

If he is not going to be a regular rotation player but the coaches are confident that he could become one in time- then do it (if Hurt wants to).
 




Not so sure about the one and done scenario, bemidji. It really varies - look at Caleb Swanigan for example. After a very solid freshman year, he decided to return to Purdue for his sophomore season. Now he's a leading candidate for POY and has improved his pro draft prospects bigley (as our President would say). There are many other examples of players with one and done potential that stay in school for 2 or more seasons. Playing an extra year with his big brother could be one (of many) factors in play when making that decision.
 

Really good of people to let Michael decide what he wants to do. I know it's a fan forum, but the speculations and projections when you know absolutely nothing about what a player is thinking gets ridiculous.
 

Mulligan said:
Really good of people to let Michael decide what he wants to do. I know it's a fan forum, but the speculations and projections when you know absolutely nothing about what a player is thinking gets ridiculous.
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dude, get over yourself. this is a fan forum. no one is telling michael hurt what he has to do. if you can't see that, not sure what to say. this is a forum where people discuss different options. this is potentially one of them. much like dicussing whether pitino should offer a kid or run a zone, no one is actually telling pitino what to do. weird that you don't realize this.
 

Go4 said:
dude, get over yourself. this is a fan forum. no one is telling michael hurt what he has to do. if you can't see that, not sure what to say. this is a forum where people discuss different options. this is potentially one of them. much like dicussing whether pitino should offer a kid or run a zone, no one is actually telling pitino what to do. weird that you don't realize this.
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Also it was a strange comment as most of the people on here are saying something to the effect of "If the coaching staff thinks it's okay and If Michael wants to then sure!" lol I'm not sure how much more reasonable the majority of people on here could be about it.
 

bemidjigopher said:
Matthew Hurt will be one and done, he won't be around for Michael's 5th year so i don't really by that as a good reason to red shirt. I do think Michael could be open to it as I believe he is pre Med, I imagine he would be hanging around the U for quite awhile if becoming a Doctor is his goal. Also players improve as they add strength and gain experience, look at the strides Dupree made between the past two seasons, the only difference is Hurt wasn't forced into action like Dupree because we had depth last year. Pitino is high on Hurt and Hurt has good instincts, just needs to get bigger an i think that will help with his confidence. I can see Hurt getting some run next year even with a healthy Fitz.
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There are no guarantees he would want to go to the U's medical school.

Weird, that people say he needs more size or needs to be quicker. Very difficult to add weight and mobility at the same time. Also, the best way to adjust to the speed of the game is to be immersed in it.
 

Tim1406 said:
Also it was a strange comment as most of the people on here are saying something to the effect of "If the coaching staff thinks it's okay and If Michael wants to then sure!" lol I'm not sure how much more reasonable the majority of people on here could be about it.
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+1.
 

Southpaw said:
Hurt appears a little overwhelmed
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Not sure I agree. He seemed very composed and didn't make many mistakes. Confidence appears to be his issue. First 4 games he went 0-6, couple games later 1 of 4, two games later 0-2. He hits a few of those he might have been a different player down the stretch. He only took 2 threes in Big Ten play and was clearly not looking to shoot when he got the ball.
 

Redshirting Hurt would be a mistake. He's already big enough; just needs to play more and start putting up some shots. Don't be afraid to fail.

Fitzgerald is a very uncertain commodity with his knee injuries and being two years removed from game action. He might not ever take the court.
 

Go4 said:
dude, get over yourself. this is a fan forum. no one is telling michael hurt what he has to do. if you can't see that, not sure what to say. this is a forum where people discuss different options. this is potentially one of them. much like dicussing whether pitino should offer a kid or run a zone, no one is actually telling pitino what to do. weird that you don't realize this.
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Trust me, i realize that and the fact it's a forum if you care to read. You can offer opinions, but I can't? Talk about getting over yourself. Carry on.
 

Mulligan said:
Really good of people to let Michael decide what he wants to do. I know it's a fan forum, but the speculations and projections when you know absolutely nothing about what a player is thinking gets ridiculous.
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Please stop. The board is much more readable now that DocD has laid off of the internet policeman nonsense; we don't need a successor
 

I told Hurt to eat chicken and eggs for lunch. He didn't. Personally, I'm outraged.

I am glad Fleck bought the house I recommended though. His kids will thrive in that setting. Glad he read the forums and saw it my way!
 

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