Pioneer Press: Gophers back in the mix for Mr. Basketball McKinley Wright IV

BleedGopher

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per Jace:

Minnesota was Wright’s runner-up last fall when he picked Dayton. The Gophers picked up a commitment from Isaiah Washington, a four-star point guard from the Bronx, N.Y., days before Wright committed, which cooled the 6-foot point guard’s interest despite Minnesota’s attempt to sell him on the possibility that the two point guards could coexist.

Yet here the Gophers are again, right back in the hunt for a local standout after initially swinging and missing on the loaded crop of in-state talent the Class of 2017 had to offer.

“I still like Minnesota. Nothing has changed with them,” Wright said. “I’ve been talking to (assistant coach) Ben (Johnson) and (head coach Richard) Pitino. Minnesota, it’s home. I’m close with a lot of those guys on that team. I’m close with (Cretin-Derham Hall forward) Daniel Oturu, the 2018 commit. Those are guys are just people I’ve talked to on a daily basis. They had a great year, and I think this upcoming season they’ll have another good year.”

While this is Wright’s second rodeo, he’s not planning on rushing matters. He said Wednesday he still has “at least” 50 days left to make his choice. And since he only used two of his five allotted official visits last fall, he can take three more this spring.

Wright has no timeline for when he might make those visits or make his final decision, but he does think he’ll begin to cut his list in the next week or two.

“The reason I opened my recruitment, I just had to do what was best for me,” Wright said. “I just wanted to weigh all my options and see where it’d be best for me to play my next years of college basketball. … Right now I’m letting everything come at once and seeing what’ll be best for me after I sit down and talk with family and (AAU) coach Al (Harris).”

http://www.twincities.com/2017/04/20/gophers-back-in-the-mix-for-mr-basketball-mckinley-wright-iv/

Go Gophers!!
 


Possible this was written/said before the Stockman commitment?

If true, very terrible editorial work by the newspaper here.
 

Does this mean it's possible we have another scholarship opening up? Why would Pitino and Johnson be talking to him -- trying to get him to walk on?
 

Possible this was written/said before the Stockman commitment?

If true, very terrible editorial work by the newspaper here.
 



I'm not an expert on these things but I don't think having a 3 man recruiting class comprised of three 6 ft guards is a great strategy
 


Does Jarvis still count against our Scholly allotment?

No Jarvis does not count towards the scholarship limit, we are at the limit of 13 with Stockman though, the only way I see Write playing for the Gophers is if he walk's on for a year.
 



Possible this was written/said before the Stockman commitment?

If true, very terrible editorial work by the newspaper here.

Since when did the PP (or STrib for that matter) care about accuracy when it came to reporting in Gopher sports?
 

The Gophers picked up a commitment from Isaiah Washington, a four-star point guard from the Bronx, N.Y., days before Wright committed, which cooled the 6-foot point guard’s interest despite Minnesota’s attempt to sell him on the possibility that the two point guards could coexist.

Not how it happened at all. We lost interest in him, not the other way around.
 

I'm not an expert on these things but I don't think having a 3 man recruiting class comprised of three 6 ft guards is a great strategy

Yes, puzzling for lots of reasons.
 

Possible this was written/said before the Stockman commitment?

If true, very terrible editorial work by the newspaper here.


read the entire article. they mention Stockman in it and that there is no scholarship available

I bet they are trying to get someone else to transfer.
 



I don't get the hand wringing over available scholarships. Pitino knows whether he has a scholarship to give or not and having two departures instead of just one would make the Stockman thing make a little more sense. That said, I don't understand the interest (and again this could be a local hoops politics thing) in adding another short guard to the roster if a scholarship was available. Two unlikely scenarios would explain the interest: 1. The Gophers are trying to get Wright to take a year at a prep school and then be our 2018 PG recruit as we are recruiting PG's in that class or 2. Washington or Harris won't be a Gopher for reasons that are not clear to us right now.
 

I don't get the hand wringing over available scholarships. Pitino knows whether he has a scholarship to give or not and having two departures instead of just one would make the Stockman thing make a little more sense. That said, I don't understand the interest (and again this could be a local hoops politics thing) in adding another short guard to the roster if a scholarship was available. Two unlikely scenarios would explain the interest: 1. The Gophers are trying to get Wright to take a year at a prep school and then be our 2018 PG recruit as we are recruiting PG's in that class or 2. Washington or Harris won't be a Gopher for reasons that are not clear to us right now.

Bringing up the scholarship situation is more a critique of the article. It's really incomplete since it doesn't offer any way that he could join the team. Does this mean that Gas (or someone else) might be out and a scholarship will be available soon? Is he willing to do a year in prep school? Would he walk-on and pay his own way for a year before getting a scholly next year? Is there some other way he ends up at Minnesota? Are Pitino/Johnson just talking to him to keep his spirits up as he goes through the whole process again? I don't know. None of those seem likely, but all seem possible. It's like writing an article about a newly single guy re-connecting with an old girlfriend and then throwing in one line that mentions she is now happily married. Just would be nice to offer some type of explanation for how it could realistically happen.
 

Only way I would take Wright is if he were to redshirt. We are going to need a PG of some sort in the '18 class so it does somewhat make sense but I'd hate to have them both in the same class.

Personally, I always thought Washington was better, I just didn't ever think we'd land him. Even then, I thought Davison was the guy I'd rather have among the in-state PG's in '17. There's been quite a bit of talk as it relates to Kalscheur in the '18 class as far as someone who we really wouldn't get that excited about if he wasn't from here and that's what Wright is to me.
 

Could it be that the staff, having built a relationship with him, is just reaching out to help him find a landing spot? I think it would make sense to maintain goodwill with the home state kids, especially given the AAU connections and whatnot. I don't think it has to mean that we're actively recruiting him for a scholarship position.
 

Could it be that the staff, having built a relationship with him, is just reaching out to help him find a landing spot? I think it would make sense to maintain goodwill with the home state kids, especially given the AAU connections and whatnot. I don't think it has to mean that we're actively recruiting him for a scholarship position.

I think if they can find away to open a scholarship they'd take him a heart beat
 

I think if they can find away to open a scholarship they'd take him a heart beat

Very possible although I believe there are more pressing needs. Likely ends any shot of Tre coming here as well.
 

Gas, from all accounts, is a very smart kid. Since student-athletes are required to take summer classes, it is very possible that he is on track to graduate at the end of the semester, or at the end of the summer. His graduation would open up that extra scholly. Unlike transferring, I think graduating is something that is not released publicly until their grades are in and they are 100% graduating.
 

Gas, from all accounts, is a very smart kid. Since student-athletes are required to take summer classes, it is very possible that he is on track to graduate at the end of the semester, or at the end of the summer. His graduation would open up that extra scholly. Unlike transferring, I think graduating is something that is not released publicly until their grades are in and they are 100% graduating.

He's not graduating this summer, he is a mid year junior scholastically, he's only been on campus 2 1/2 years.
 

I'm not an expert on these things but I don't think having a 3 man recruiting class comprised of three 6 ft guards is a great strategy

Harris is probably a shooting guard exclusively, which means our PG depth after this year consists of:

Washington (So)

Doesn't this look a lot better?

Washington (So), Wright (So)
 

We have 13 scholarships and we only need 8 players at any time...we use the other 5 to prepare the team for the future either by developing the younger players or for players like Stockman who need to sit out a year. Pitino has showed a huge interest in having players who can handle the ball. Harris is a combo guard not a shooting guard. McBrayer has this role too...he can play the point when Mason is out. Coffey is also adept handling the ball and capable of playing point. So the article says he was told they would play two points. We need two things: guards and centers...we are fine at PF and SF. What we don't need is wasted scholarships and a lot of our improvement can be traced to simply not wasting so many scholarships. Gilbert didn't pan out but Gaston has had 3 years of nearly no contributions and it is safe to say that he won't be contributing next year either. If he wants to play, Pitino can find a spot for him somewhere in a smaller conference or something. If they are talking to Wright, it would be this scenario that is most likely. It would be awesome too as it would help balance the classes...5 players in one class is hard to fill....it's one thing to get one great player a class but trying to get 5 is virtually impossible for a school like Minnesota. Let's hope Gaston finds a place he can play and contribute...there are over 300 D1 teams and my guess is he would be a starter on many of them...but not those top 100 teams.
 

IMO after watching several of Harris's games online, at this stage he is exclusively a two guard and anybody who is saying he is a combo guard is basing that exclusively off of his height and not on his skill set. He'd have a very mediocre to below average handle, speed and quickness for someone handling Big Ten PG duties. He never blew by anyone when I watched him and had a few TO's when he tried to handle it too much. When their starting PG was on the bench (jellyfam member Jordan Walker), they had other guys bring the ball up over Jamir ( Al-Amir Dawes who has a gopher offer).
 

I don't get the hand wringing over available scholarships. Pitino knows whether he has a scholarship to give or not and having two departures instead of just one would make the Stockman thing make a little more sense. That said, I don't understand the interest (and again this could be a local hoops politics thing) in adding another short guard to the roster if a scholarship was available. Two unlikely scenarios would explain the interest: 1. The Gophers are trying to get Wright to take a year at a prep school and then be our 2018 PG recruit as we are recruiting PG's in that class or 2. Washington or Harris won't be a Gopher for reasons that are not clear to us right now.

Don't even say such things.
 

I know the NCAA frowns upon such things, but is there any chance they move Gaston to some sort of academic scholarship? School is basically all he's staying around for, which is fine. But he's not going to play and I'm sure he understands that.
 

I know the NCAA frowns upon such things, but is there any chance they move Gaston to some sort of academic scholarship? School is basically all he's staying around for, which is fine. But he's not going to play and I'm sure he understands that.

If programs could transition athletic scholarship athletes to "academic" scholarships, then every team would do that and would have 17-20 players on "scholarship" of some sort.

Go Gophers!!
 

If programs could transition athletic scholarship athletes to "academic" scholarships, then every team would do that and would have 17-20 players on "scholarship" of some sort.

Go Gophers!!
In this case I'm saying he wouldn't be on the team.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

I'm not an expert on these things but I don't think having a 3 man recruiting class comprised of three 6 ft guards is a great strategy

If Wright were to come to MN, I think either him or Harris redshirt.
 




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