Why is it not cool to stay at home to play for the Gophers?

Ewert86PC

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I'm going to ask this of the Football and Men's Basketball forums because each has potentially different reasons.

Why is it not cool for instate Minnesota players to "stay at home" and play for the Gophers?



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One reason could be not having to deal with pressure of being the local hero.

I remember Kill once saying he would not recruit another MN Qb because he felt Leidner got unfairly ripped since he was a local kid.

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One reason could be not having to deal with pressure of being the local hero.

I remember Kill once saying he would not recruit another MN Qb because he felt Leidner got unfairly ripped since he was a local kid.

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Leidner did take a LOT of ****, despite being the try hard hometown kid fans claim they want.

I also kind of disagree that we have trouble landing decent local basketball recruits. We don’t get the 5-Star McDonalds All American types (though we did get Royce White, Kris Humphries, Rick Rickert, and Joel Przybilla), and maybe some would say we should expect to get at least one of those guys after having like 6 of them between 2014 and 2019. Sims is the only non-5 star I can think of recently that we pursued hard and didn’t get. Not counting Wright because we got Washington.
 

Winning is cool, Minnesota teams have been decidedly not cool lately
 

Bad facilities and bad teams in the past. With state of the art facilities and teams on an upward trajectory it will and is becoming cool to stay home and be a Gopher again now.
 


Bad facilities and bad teams in the past. With state of the art facilities and teams on an upward trajectory it will and is becoming cool to stay home and be a Gopher again now.
Until the EOAA goes on the hunt.

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We have three locals coming in next year and had two last year. You can't sign them all.
 


Why is it "not cool" to stay home and play for the Gophers???

Because its not cool it's COLD AS HELL!!! lol


Plenty of very highly rated bb players HAVE in fact stuck around home to play, at least for Monson. Tubby might have missed on a few when he basically stopped trying, and then Pitino when he was first starting, and an unknown, why would any of the NBA bound guys have risked playing for him if he had no history of sending anyone to the NBA, much less a history of winning?

Now that HIS guys are finally getting ready to graduate, if Mason or Lynch go pro, or Murphy, then there will finally be some evidence for young kids to see that Pitino can develop players and get them into the pros. Coffey and IW will hopefully follow and not only go pro but make the NBA. I'm not an NBA fan so I wouldn't know if Murphy has a chance at getting that high or not, or Mason or Lynch, either? That would be for others to comment on.

But my point being, the reason the one and doner types have left recently isn't that hard to figure out and it had little to do with the U, and simply how the coaching situation looked. It's also possible Pitino doesn't want one and doners coming in unless he knows that they can make a huge impact making it worth it?



As for football? Well, the liberal football hating crowd held too much influence over the U for far too long unfortunately. Ruined one of the most incredible football programs ever to have existed.

Had the U totally gotten behind football and supported it like Michigan and OSU did back in the 60s, UMn would rank up there with Notre Dame and Michigan and AHEAD OF The Ohio State University. Hell, I am not sure what all happened when they tried to bring on Bud Wilkinson, like how much they offered him, but that was obviously the worst mistake they EVER made, not getting him on as the coach to replace Bierman.

Then they just basically gave up on football after that. One of the worst crimes committed against a once legendary sports program in all of sports history. I can't think of another sports dynasty that was so abandoned and dismissed by those in charge of it, anywhere else in all of sports, college or pro???

Maybe the Univ of Pittsburgh???
 



The majority of the football players are staying home. All three of next year's basketball recruits are from Minnesota. This is a stupid thread.
 

The majority of the football players are staying home. All three of next year's basketball recruits are from Minnesota. This is a stupid thread.

You’re correct.


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The majority of the football players are staying home. All three of next year's basketball recruits are from Minnesota. This is a stupid thread.
This stupid thread is asking people to answer one of the most commonly asserted reasons for recruiting failure. The need to dispel this assertion is decades old and needs to be addressed.

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This stupid thread is asking people to answer one of the most commonly asserted reasons for recruiting failure. The need to dispel this assertion is decades old and needs to be addressed.

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It's been discussed ad nauseam for the last 30 years. It is a dumb thread.
 




It's nothing to do with "not cool." I think some kids just want a break from parents. Others look and see that the politics at UMN make it a dysfunctional University and walk away.
 

I played baseball at the U in 87-92 and I'm from Chicago. I absolutely loved the U. Don't know why people wouldn't want to stay home and represent their state. Great university and great city. The 3 guys that are coming next year have made a great choice. Kids should stay home! I understand if they don't because everyone is a different person but you can't go wrong with the U!
 

Pull the numbers for the top 25 programs and you will find kids from all over the place. Kids pick for a ton of reasons. Winning, coach, tradition, climate size of school, inner city, rural, racial diversity, Quality of education, beautiful girls. In hoops facilities play a much smaller role than football. Nova, Duke, UNC Arizona all have average to below facilities. Also some want early starting chance, light studies and on and on. My grandson had 50 offers and not the slightest idea of staying home or playing at my Alma. He picked Stanford because they checked every box. Best by far if you attract players from all over. This STATE is not a top 10 state for talent.
 

This stupid thread is asking people to answer one of the most commonly asserted reasons for recruiting failure. The need to dispel this assertion is decades old and needs to be addressed.

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You need to put it into perspective, how many top 25 BB players play for the home team? If top tier kids didn’t play away from home then Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, etc. would all have to shutter their programs. You, and so many others, assume the U is the only school that doesn’t get “Every” home state player. That is why the thread is stupid!


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It's nothing to do with "not cool." I think some kids just want a break from parents. Others look and see that the politics at UMN make it a dysfunctional University and walk away.

STFU. Typical knee jerk response is to blame it on some sort of “system”.


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One reason could be not having to deal with pressure of being the local hero.

I remember Kill once saying he would not recruit another MN Qb because he felt Leidner got unfairly ripped since he was a local kid.

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The Gopher program is not a big deal. Other states it is. Kids want to compete for championships. You can’t do it in Basketball or Football here.


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It's nothing to do with "not cool." I think some kids just want a break from parents. Others look and see that the politics at UMN make it a dysfunctional University and walk away.

Others simply want to go out into the world and be able to say, "I played bb for Duke/UNC/UK". Not that hard to understand.

Others like MennoSota said, just want a change of pace, get some distance from their parents, or just want to go out and see the world. My parents and most of my friends didn't understand why I joined the Army out of HS. Most of my friends went to UMn, UMn-Morris, SCSU, Mankato St, Gustavus, etc.. I and a few others joined the military. Got to visit 9 or 10 foreign countries, ended up in Louisiana same time as Clem's first class went there to play the 2nd weekend of the NCAA tourney.

After my 4 years in the Army, spent 2 years back in Minnesota and headed out to the West Coast to continue my college education. Just had the desire to get out and see the world. I love Minnesota, and have been back for around 2 decades now, but you can't blame some of these kids for wanting to get out and see the world...


OR, for just wanting to get out of the frigging cold. What is it today, 12 degrees out, yesterday it was even colder and windier.


Man, who cares. This isn't hockey. Let the locals go and bring in better players from elsewhere. Why not. The locals already know about Minnesota, let people from other parts of the country learn and come to appreciate what Minnesota has to offer.

I mean, yeah, I love the idea of nothing but local boys representing their home state and going on to win a Natl Title with almost an entire home grown roster, and Minnesota might be the only state that could pull that off, OR THAT WOULD EVEN CONSIDER DOING IT, or that would consider it something to be strive for. Guess Brooks and the Woogster and that whole hockey thing seemed kind of special and its hard to not think about doing that in bb, a sport with only 13 total scholarship players, so it could be done.


But most of the locals that leave to play elsewhere, we sort of follow and can still kind of be proud of. Everyone knows Fitz is from Minny and has had an incredible career in the NFL, and someone said he brings players here to the U to train or something like that? We all followed El-Amin, even after he spurned us(thanks Aurchambault or whatever your name is, btw, lol).


So why not bring in outsiders and make them one of us??? A lot of out of staters that come here, end up staying.



I guess once the hockey teams stopped going after only Minnesota grown talent, no reason for any other team to do it.


Can the State of Minnesota, honestly, EVERY SINGLE YEAR, give us enough players to do it? And if we start bringing in nothing but homeys, what happens when one year there aren't any good ones, what do the guys from out of state think when they are the only guys from out of state on the roster??? And what if we need 4 guys, and the state has 3 great guys? Do we take someone of lesser quality than we could otherwise get, to keep the whole roster Minnesota natives? Like I said, its not hockey, and it doesn't even work in hockey anymore. It just would cause too many problems.


The only reason I can think of anymore, that truly justifies going after all of the best in-state guys, is to keep recruiting expenses down. Otherwise it seems like a vain pride kind of thing, "yeah, we closed down the border, no one comes and takes one of our boys". lol Sorry, no one really cares if "our" boys don't win games. I used to think differently about this. I used to honestly believe that I'd prefer a team of all-Minnesota boys that only got to the Sweet 16, than I would a team from lots of different states that made the Elite 8. I don't think that anymore. We Minnesotans are possibly the only people in the whole country that think this way. Not saying we all do, but far more here do lean that way than anywhere else I've ever been.
 

I played baseball at the U in 87-92 and I'm from Chicago. I absolutely loved the U. Don't know why people wouldn't want to stay home and represent their state. Great university and great city. The 3 guys that are coming next year have made a great choice. Kids should stay home! I understand if they don't because everyone is a different person but you can't go wrong with the U!

LOVE reading testimonials like this. Thank you gophereric30 for coming to UMn and doing the U proud. You are one of us now!!!
 

This STATE is not a top 10 state for talent.

In football, before WW2, it was, arguably #1, lol. Yeah, I know, not even close anymore.

In basketball, last 20 or so years is almost has been? Maybe not every year, but some years its been Top 10.

In Hockey. Do I need to say anything? I mean, come on, please. Hockey may be WHY Mn isn't Top 10 in other sports, it steals great athletes away from both Fb and BB and Wr, etc..

In Wrestling, Minnesota DEFINITELY is Top 10.


Minnesotans love their sports. Heck, when we can't play sports anymore, we golf or play poker. lol We're pretty good at both of those, too.
 

STFU. Typical knee jerk response is to blame it on some sort of “system”.


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He is forgetting, young kids don't care or read up about political stuff, at least not athletes. He's thinking like a GH poster might, but GH posters are mostly older people that are past their playing days.

Young people don't think like we do. They could CARE LESS about the political bs.



They wonder, does the school win? Would be fun to win and even have a shot at a Title. What more could a kid get out of their college experience than to be a part of a Natl Title winning team???

They wonder, will I like and get along with the coaching staff and my fellow teammates. That's why they do campus visits and hang out with their potential future teammates and talk to the coaching staff.

They wonder, how fun would it be to go to this school? That's why recruits are brought to games, so that they hopefully feel an excitement and a thrill and a rush from being a part of the experience.

They wonder, does this school REALLY want me there? That's why fans do chants and cheers or display signs expressing how much they want top notch recruits, because every top notch athletes wants and craves attention and wants to be loved and adored by fans.

They wonder, how comfortable will I feel while I am here. This might be where upgraded facilities help?



Honestly, I seriously doubt that modern day kids give one rats arse fart whether a school invented cheerleading, won titles in football in 1904, or in bb in 1919, or got invited to represent the US in hockey in 1924/8? Or won titles in baseball in 56, 60 & 64. Those are things really old farts, and/or history buffs, or only the hardest die hard gives a sh1t about. And political bs that goes on at the top involving Boards of Directors, billionaire donars, ADs and Presidents and blah, blah, blah, are things only we here at the GH are going to care about.



For kids these days, its all about "what have you done for me lately".



SO, our new facilities, just opened, BRAND FRIGGING SPANKING NEW, awe inspiring some have said, HELPS!!! It helps a ton.

Fleck isn't for everyone, but for those who like that kind of thing, he's THE KING, and his hire could go down in history as one of the greatest EVER, or as one of the many total flops.

Pitino? He's young enough, he could turn out to be one of those guys who coaches for 10 years after being inducted into the HOF? Or he could get fired after next season?



So we got these new facilities, now all we have to do is win and they will come.
 

STFU. Typical knee jerk response is to blame it on some sort of “system”.


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50 years of sh!t show from UMN says I'm more correct that you want to believe.
 

50 years of sh!t show from UMN says I'm more correct that you want to believe.

What have we been lacking for 50 years??? A cutthroat ‘snake’ as an AD who knows what they’re doing. The future is bright.
 

What have we been lacking for 50 years??? A cutthroat ‘snake’ as an AD who knows what they’re doing. The future is bright.

I would SO love to talk to someone, truly in the know, from back in the day, and I'm talking about the very end of the 40s, to the very beginning of the 50s, that knows exactly what went on when the U tried to hire Bud Wilkinson to take over for Bernie Bierman, because there was probably no other f-up in history that can compare to the U blowing that negotiation.

The Vikings trading X number of draft choices for Hershal Walker? NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!!!!!


No other school, in the history of college sports, has probably ever come close to F-ing up a great situation SO BADLY!!!!!!




Bud would go on to be named the Coach of the Century by CBS sports in 1999-2000? For helping OKLAHOMA, not Minnesota, become a super power in college sports in the 50s. OU went on to continue to be a player on the national cfb scene, even to this season.

UMn on the other hand, had a less than spectacular decade, and had forces within the Minnesota community wanting and advocating for the football program to be shut down, much like the Univ of Chicago shut down their fb program back in the day. I'm not even kidding you, this was really a thing.

But when their new coach, somehow put together a team, with a ton of African-Americans on it, since that issue came up elsewhere, and went from last to first and won us another Natl Title, sentiment swung the other way and the move to shut down the fb program was canceled. But the damage had been done in that, they did leave the program to exist, but that's it. Support for the program ended, essentially and the program languished on, barely staying out of the bottom of the cellar. Former players, who felt an attachment to the U, and who found some success elsewhere, would come in, probably for not a lot of money, out of a feeling of loyalty to the U, and would try, but without any real support from the Administration, how were they supposed to compete with the likes of Michigan, Ohio St and Mich St, all schools that showed their football programs that they cared.

Then we added PSU and later Nebraska, too schools that both were very big supporters of their football programs.

And Iowa never seemed to give up. They always supported their program, despite not doing very well.

And then before we could do anything about the situation, Wisconsin made a serious commitment to improving their fb and bb situation, and well, we all know far too well the rest of the story.




So how did we F up that Bud Wilkinson situation???
 

In football, before WW2, it was, arguably #1, lol. Yeah, I know, not even close anymore.

In basketball, last 20 or so years is almost has been? Maybe not every year, but some years its been Top 10.

In Hockey. Do I need to say anything? I mean, come on, please. Hockey may be WHY Mn isn't Top 10 in other sports, it steals great athletes away from both Fb and BB and Wr, etc..

In Wrestling, Minnesota DEFINITELY is Top 10.


Minnesotans love their sports. Heck, when we can't play sports anymore, we golf or play poker. lol We're pretty good at both of those, too.

Thank you for serving.
Pull every ranking for every year this century and you will be shocked to see how few Minnesota kids are ranked compared to other states. Further, look at how schools rosters are stacked with players from all over.
 

Thank you for serving.
Pull every ranking for every year this century and you will be shocked to see how few Minnesota kids are ranked compared to other states. Further, look at how schools rosters are stacked with players from all over.


I doubt I would be shocked. We would be ranked

#1 in hockey. This is not even questionable, it's just a given fact.

Top Ten in wrestling. Have you ever been to the National tourney up in Fargo? Minnesota guys are easily among the top 10 states in the nation when it comes to producing Wrestlers.


And both of those pull from the pool that otherwise would play basketball or football.


Obviously without even taking those 2 sports pulling from our pool, states like Texas, California, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania, and even Ohio are obviously going to out produce Minnesota, and probably every year. But on a per capita basis, Minnesota does pretty damn well.

What are we, the 23rd biggest state?? We shouldn't hardly EVER make the Top 10, much less as often as we do.
 




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