All Things Dawson Garcia Recruitment Thread (Class of 2020): UPDATED: Gophers Offered

UNC added a commitment from 5* Center Walker Kessler tonight to go with 5* Center Day’ron Sharpe who’s already committed in their 2020 class. That should take them out of the Garcia sweepstakes.

Is Garcia considered a center? I thought he was more of a stretch four?


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Is Garcia considered a center? I thought he was more of a stretch four?


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yeah but unc will play both of them at once 1 at the 5 and the other at 4, I don’t know if unc has more scholarships but either way Dawson would have to battle for playing time so we can probably rule the Tar Heels out
 

Tired of this...I could care less if Minnesota kids choose to go other places. Minnesota is not the only source of talented basketball players in this country. If Pitino brings in talent from other states, which he has, then he is not failing at recruiting. I want players who want to be part of the U and if they aren't MN kids, I'm not going to get bent out of shape over it. Of course it's great if kids from home decide to stay home but it seems silly to get worked up if they don't.

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It's not just a feel good story.

The only prayer (even if it's just a mirage) to land a player as highly ranked as Garcia is if that player is from Minnesota.
 

Dawson could play 5 or 4 in college. UNC having 2 commitments will help us and probably knock UNC out.
 

Dawson could play 5 or 4 in college. UNC having 2 commitments will help us and probably knock UNC out.

I hope you are right. Also hope the looming NCAA penalties against Kansas drops them out of the running.


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It's not just a feel good story.

The only prayer (even if it's just a mirage) to land a player as highly ranked as Garcia is if that player is from Minnesota.
I disagree with your argument

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It's not just a feel good story.

The only prayer (even if it's just a mirage) to land a player as highly ranked as Garcia is if that player is from Minnesota.

What if we land someone from anywhere that we think is better, in other words, the staffs evaluation is better. I see this at other programs all the time, guys ranked lower by the services but higher by a coaching staff, using different criteria for skills and fit that out perform 90% of the top 50. It has happened here. Few will out plat Murphy. We all want better players but just because they are highly ranked by 247 does not guarantee success. Further, tons of top 50 guys leave their states and play at non blue bloods.
 

What if we land someone from anywhere that we think is better, in other words, the staffs evaluation is better. I see this at other programs all the time, guys ranked lower by the services but higher by a coaching staff, using different criteria for skills and fit that out perform 90% of the top 50. It has happened here. Few will out plat Murphy. We all want better players but just because they are highly ranked by 247 does not guarantee success. Further, tons of top 50 guys leave their states and play at non blue bloods.

Sure, that's fine too. Typically, if someone really likes a certain recruit, others feel the same way.

I'm just saying that it is not simple bias towards local kids that makes the recruitment of local kids important.
 

It's not just a feel good story.

The only prayer (even if it's just a mirage) to land a player as highly ranked as Garcia is if that player is from Minnesota.

Yes. In the end I don't think anyone really cares where players come from as long as they can play and are good citizens. But the likelihood of us getting top 20-30 (maybe top 75-100) players from outside Minnesota is low right now. Maybe after five to eight years of sustained success, that might happen, but there's essentially no chance now. While provincial, the idea of the Gophers doing really well with guys from Minnesota is really appealing to me.

The most likely chance for sustained success is solid regional and local recruiting. I agree with all those who point out it is a completely different world now than when we all dreamed about being Gophers and the local recruiting is a lot harder, but we have to be solid locally to establish a base to build from.
 



Yes. In the end I don't think anyone really cares where players come from as long as they can play and are good citizens. But the likelihood of us getting top 20-30 (maybe top 75-100) players from outside Minnesota is low right now. Maybe after five to eight years of sustained success, that might happen, but there's essentially no chance now. While provincial, the idea of the Gophers doing really well with guys from Minnesota is really appealing to me.

The most likely chance for sustained success is solid regional and local recruiting. I agree with all those who point out it is a completely different world now than when we all dreamed about being Gophers and the local recruiting is a lot harder, but we have to be solid locally to establish a base to build from.

Well said, Holy Man.

I don't care where the players come from. I don't expect Gophers to get the Jones', (Matthew) Hurts, Suggs', Garcias, and now Holmgrens of the world, however, for some of the exact reasons you mention here we need to make hay on the guys like Wright, Reuvers, Oturu, Gabe, Carlson, Walton, Heide, Holloman, etc., those guys in that next tier who likely will be significant players & help you win Big Ten games.
 
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Well said, Holy Man.

I don't care where the players come from. I don't expect Gophers to get the Jones', (Matthew) Hurts, Suggs', Garcias, and now Holmgrens of the world, however, for some of the exact reasons you mention here we need to make hay on the guys like Wright, Reuvers, Oturu, Gabe, Carlson, Walton, Heide, Holloman, etc., those guys in that next tier who likely will be significant players & help you win Big Ten games.

What we all hope for is the day that more and more of these guys dream of growing up to be a Gopher. That will only happen with winning and once it does- there will be even more winning both on and off the court. Until then we have to take the best of the willing regardless of home address.
 

Well said, Holy Man.

I don't care where the players come from. I don't expect Gophers to get the Jones', (Matthew) Hurts, Suggs', Garcias, and now Holmgrens of the world, however, for some of the exact reasons you mention here we need to make hay on the guys like Wright, Reuvers, Oturu, Gabe, Carlson, Walton, Heide, Holloman, etc., those guys in that next tier who likely will be significant players & help you win Big Ten games.

I don't follow recruiting enough to know where guys stack up class to class, but I would put Daniel in same sphere as Garcia. We need to get the solid guys just below the every blue blood offering types, but we can't give up on the super high demand guys either. That would be a disaster. I've been up close and personal with one high major men's basketball recruiting situation and a couple of women's. Every situation is unique and not getting them to stay home is not an automatic fail on the part of the coaching staff. Like all students, they have their own decision making priorities. The biggest ones I have noticed are school size (the U's enrollment is negative to some players and families) and location. Some just want to be away from home. There is nothing a coaching staff can do about that.

That said, winning can change the minds of players pretty quickly I think.
 

Hearing some rumors that a 7' 5* from Minnesota will be visiting IU for Hoosier Hysteria. I don't know who else it would be other than Garcia.
 



Have literally studied the data nationally for 20 years plus. The top 20 programs were and are built from kids from all over the country and in some cases the world. Long before the programs that climbed into that top 20 group their coaches were finding the vast majority of their rosters from out of state and rarely getting the best player from their home state. MSU has always kept a ton of locals home but also reached well outside. Look at the top 20 last year, back out the walk ons and you will be shocked at how few players cone from their home state. Plus, there are years when some states, including Minnesota are way down. People are using a recency bias, plus there are a whole lot of states that produce more really good players than Minnesota. Some states also have a ton of players that are playing against other D1 players in every game they play. In addition, the world has become much smaller for athletes, first with ESPN, THEN CAMPS and AAU. These kids are exposed to tons of ESPN's favorites. On top of that these programs are being coached by super talented head coaches and staffs. You must grab some of the guys you like early that fit what you do well, no matter what they are ranked. You show them what you stand for, how you play how you will be used. Then you coach them up every single day on skill, team skill. Recruit guys that work their ass off in the offseason, recruit guys that are smart, that do not turn it over,that take good shots, that play bloodletting defense. You can win that way and you can win big. That is how more than a dozen non blue bloods built their elite programs. I could care less where players come from. Obviously when get a loaded state class you want to get a piece of it but give me the 3-4-5 year guy over the one and done.
 


Hearing some rumors that a 7' 5* from Minnesota will be visiting IU for Hoosier Hysteria. I don't know who else it would be other than Garcia.
You read 247 like a bunch of people here?

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Have literally studied the data nationally for 20 years plus. The top 20 programs were and are built from kids from all over the country and in some cases the world. Long before the programs that climbed into that top 20 group their coaches were finding the vast majority of their rosters from out of state and rarely getting the best player from their home state. MSU has always kept a ton of locals home but also reached well outside. Look at the top 20 last year, back out the walk ons and you will be shocked at how few players cone from their home state. Plus, there are years when some states, including Minnesota are way down. People are using a recency bias, plus there are a whole lot of states that produce more really good players than Minnesota. Some states also have a ton of players that are playing against other D1 players in every game they play. In addition, the world has become much smaller for athletes, first with ESPN, THEN CAMPS and AAU. These kids are exposed to tons of ESPN's favorites. On top of that these programs are being coached by super talented head coaches and staffs. You must grab some of the guys you like early that fit what you do well, no matter what they are ranked. You show them what you stand for, how you play how you will be used. Then you coach them up every single day on skill, team skill. Recruit guys that work their ass off in the offseason, recruit guys that are smart, that do not turn it over,that take good shots, that play bloodletting defense. You can win that way and you can win big. That is how more than a dozen non blue bloods built their elite programs. I could care less where players come from. Obviously when get a loaded state class you want to get a piece of it but give me the 3-4-5 year guy over the one and done.

Excellent post!


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i don't see building a program with one and dones. Blue bloods can get away with that. We can't. We have great young talent getting their turn, but we needed Amir's experience and leadership one more year.
 

i don't see building a program with one and dones. Blue bloods can get away with that. We can't. We have great young talent getting their turn, but we needed Amir's experience and leadership one more year.

agreed, but having one on the team can get you over the top.... on an average team.
 


Patience Gopher fans. I think most of us will pleasantly surprised once this 2020 class fills out.

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Big news! I think we have a pretty good track record of landing Minnesota kids who are serious enough to take an official here. Reid Travis comes to mind as one of the exceptions, and I feel like one of McKinley Wright, Jericho Sims, and Theo John must have visited officially too, but I can’t remember.
 

Big news! I think we have a pretty good track record of landing Minnesota kids who are serious enough to take an official here. Reid Travis comes to mind as one of the exceptions, and I feel like one of McKinley Wright, Jericho Sims, and Theo John must have visited officially too, but I can’t remember.

I'm pretty sure that both Wright and John did, and that Sims did not.
 



Any word on the streets about where Garcia is leaning following UNC’s recent commits and Kansas’s troubles? I’m caught off guard a bit by the official visit and could imagine how a hometown school that wants you bad could look good after those two happenings.

That said I don’t want to be blindly hopeful. Certainly a lot of Marquette and Indiana fans saying the same thing on Twitter.


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Any word on the streets about where Garcia is leaning following UNC’s recent commits and Kansas’s troubles? I’m caught off guard a bit by the official visit and could imagine how a hometown school that wants you bad could look good after those two happenings.

That said I don’t want to be blindly hopeful. Certainly a lot of Marquette and Indiana fans saying the same thing on Twitter.


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You mean a lot of Marquette and Indiana fans being blindly hopeful or that are concerned about him taking the hometown visit?
 

You mean a lot of Marquette and Indiana fans being blindly hopeful or that are concerned about him taking the hometown visit?

Probably that they feel in better shape for the same reason we do due to the UNC commits and Kansas news
 




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