Tribune: Pitino would go 0 for MN again if no Hurt



I am not clicking on that. I hate how short our memories are. Or at least based on the title there is selective memory loss.

Yes. Saw the headline on the Strib site and moved on. Sounds as if we haven't landed a Minnesota kid in years. Personally, I couldn't be more excited about the three we signed last year.

JTG
 

I am not clicking on that. I hate how short our memories are. Or at least based on the title there is selective memory loss.

I was thinking same thing lol I'm not reading. We had 2 guys last year all big ten not from the state of minnesota. It's not like Pitino isn't out there trying hard for these guys. If someone wants to go elsewhere then there's not much you can do. It's almost like they know we are gonna have a good season, so let's get this final jab in when I can.
 

And we don’t have any freshmen from Minnesota this year either
 


Why are we so consumed with where a player comes from. I seem to remember a couple kids from the Bahamas that provided some great Gopher teams.
I just want winning basketball. I don't care where the kids come from.
 

I’d be interested to see an article on why Minnesotans don’t feel a sense of loyalty to the U and what would really change that instead of lazy stuff like this (I think it goes beyond just winning though I’m sure that would help). I grew up not too far from the U so I was always interested in Gophers athletics but I do wonder if the fact the campus is in a metropolitan area hurts the perspective of the University when it relates to sports. It’s hard for us to truly capture the mystique of a college town.
 

Why are we so consumed with where a player comes from. I seem to remember a couple kids from the Bahamas that provided some great Gopher teams.
I just want winning basketball. I don't care where the kids come from.

Because the strib will find any reason to drum up negativity for the Gophers.
 

Of all the things to criticize Pitino on it should not be the utilization of Minnesota born players.
 



Because the strib will find any reason to drum up negativity for the Gophers.
I'd say this article puts as much pressure on Matthew as it does Pitino.

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Pitino has had some misses in MN, and the only one I would say lack of effort was Davison

Some kids just don't want to stay home.
 

Pitino has had some misses in MN, and the only one I would say lack of effort was Davison

Some kids just don't want to stay home.

Add McKinley Wright to that list. He was more of an afterthought for the staff.

If there's one thing I've learned in following college hoops it's that MN HS talent is generally underrated on the national level.
 

Add McKinley Wright to that list. He was more of an afterthought for the staff.

If there's one thing I've learned in following college hoops it's that MN HS talent is generally underrated on the national level.

I could be mistaken, but I thought we were chasing Wright hard and he was priority
 



I could be mistaken, but I thought we were chasing Wright hard and he was priority

per KSTP:

Mr. Basketball, Champlin Park guard McKinley Wright, committed to Colorado late last week. He chose them over the Gophers, Clemson, Dayton, Indiana, Butler, and others. Some of the schools, including Minnesota, wanted him to play a prep school for a year.

http://kstp.com/sports/mr-basketbal...ophers-dayton-indiana-clemson-butler/4469505/

Go Gophers!!

I always got the impression we were lukewarm on him. Guys like Sims, Sacar, Theo and Illikainen seemed like misses, but we're not missing them much, if at all. Davidson or Wright would have been good to get one. It's a crap-shoot.
 
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I have no clue on hard they focus on certain players but missing on Wright and Reuvers in 2017 hurts, I would think most of these players just want to go out of state from the get go, that's what makes recruiting so hard today but it doesn't make losing Minnesota players to non blue bloods any easier.
 

I have no clue on hard they focus on certain players but missing on Wright and Reuvers in 2017 hurts, I would think most of these players just want to go out of state from the get go, that's what makes recruiting so hard today but it doesn't make losing Minnesota players to non blue bloods any easier.

I believe Reuvers himself was quoted as saying we didn’t recruit him very hard, and I have no issue with the staff’s decision to prioritize Sims ahead of him. Sims and John were both uncommitted when Reuvers committed to Wisconsin. Pretty sure Wright could have come here, but Isaiah Washington wanted it more and seized the opportunity. Anyone worried about lack of ball handlers on this team should not be wishing we had Davison instead of Washington.
 

I believe Reuvers himself was quoted as saying we didn’t recruit him very hard, and I have no issue with the staff’s decision to prioritize Sims ahead of him. Sims and John were both uncommitted when Reuvers committed to Wisconsin. Pretty sure Wright could have come here, but Isaiah Washington wanted it more and seized the opportunity. Anyone worried about lack of ball handlers on this team should not be wishing we had Davison instead of Washington.

Correct, we recruited Wright hard, his issue was also academics. He had to retake the ACT a couple times I believe and had some academic work to get into some places and that is why they mentioned a prep school. It had nothing to ever do with his skills. Davison is really the only one I think we could've recruited harder, but we didn't have a ton of schollys that year. Reuvers wasn't coming here and that is why we didn't recruit him hard. Sims we were in good shape with and then it was a quick commit to Texas (hmm...). MN fans are so crazy about this stuff of assuming we get to keep all these MN kids. Not having another D1 school to compete with I think gives us a little bit of a complex with this idea that all MN kids should want to go to the U.
 

I'm sure kids don't commit to Minnesota because they're being told if they even talk to a girl they might get suspended.
 

Kids pick school for coaches, winning and opportunities plus a hundred other variables like location, climate, girlfriend and academics. People that are hung up on keeping kids home should do some research to find out that hardly anyone keeps their kids home. Some fans act as though if everyone stayed home in their own state the Gophers would be a powerhouse. This is not true. Over the last 20 years Minnesota is no better than 18th in top 100 kids and some states have 5 times as many. Go to the top 10 presently ranked schools and see the rosters of where their players come from. ALL OVER !
 

The one thing the winning programs have had is great coaching.
 

You can't really fault Pitino for missing out on the elite guys that are being pursued by the big name schools. After those guys it is probably a crap shoot between a local kid and a kid from somewhere else. We all like the local angle but if they think an out of state kid is better I see no issue with passing on a local player. Might get it wrong from time to time but that is the risk you take in recruiting.
 


Really? Do we really need another lazy bash Pitino article? If theses guys spent half as much time working on real sports reporting, they may sell more newspapers.


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Pitino was soft on recruiting tyrell terry

We also have Washington and Carr for at least the first two years of Terry’s college career. PG not a big need in this class.
 


Add McKinley Wright to that list. He was more of an afterthought for the staff.

If there's one thing I've learned in following college hoops it's that MN HS talent is generally underrated on the national level.

That isn't even remotely close to accurate on Wright. He was a top priority for the staff and was set to commit before IW took his spot during his official visit. Good Lord, know your facts if you're going say something like that.
 

I always got the impression we were lukewarm on him. Guys like Sims, Sacar, Theo and Illikainen seemed like misses, but we're not missing them much, if at all. Davidson or Wright would have been good to get one. It's a crap-shoot.

At the time w didn't have a spot. We would've taken him before Harris committed
 

I'm sure kids don't commit to Minnesota because they're being told if they even talk to a girl they might get suspended.
Sometimes something that sounds sarcastic is actually true.

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it's a two-edged sword. MN probably has more highly-rated recruits than anytime in the state's history. Yes, MN has had some really good prospects before, but I would say the depth of talent in the state is higher now than almost anytime in the past.

But, with all that talent in MN, people are going to notice if the top kids leave the state. You can't get them all, so it's up to the staff to prioritize. But, if the Gophers go after a MN kid and don't land him, people will notice- and comment. I like the three MN freshmen on this year's team. And, it's certainly possible that the staff sees needs to fill for next year, and the available MN kids may not be a perfect fit. But, right or wrong, we are parochial in MN, and we like to see the MN kids stay home.

as far as Hurt, if he's determined to be a one-and-done, then I won't get bent out of shape if he goes somewhere else. I would rather see the Gophers get kids who want to be here for 4 years to help build the program - not use it as a one-year stopover on the way to the pros. (personally, I think Hurt needs at least a couple of years in college to mature and put on some muscle, but that's just my opinion).
 




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