BleedGopher
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per Sid:
According to the bracketologists, the Gophers men’s basketball team remains in the projected NCAA tournament field, but just barely. ESPN has the Gophers as a No. 11 seed this week; CBS has them as a No. 9.
The Gophers face two crucial games with No. 7 Michigan at home Thursday before traveling to Rutgers on Saturday. They will need signature wins if they’re going to make the tournament.
But one of the biggest story lines for the Gophers is how the program is doing recruiting Minnesota players.
Coach Richard Pitino did a good job recruiting Gabe Kalscheur, Daniel Oturu and Jarvis Omersa. Those three freshman have contributed to the Gophers’ 17-9 record overall (7-8 Big Ten).
Kalscheur, a 6-4 guard from DeLaSalle, is playing 29.7 minutes per game and averaging 10.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Oturu, a 6-10 center from Cretin-Derham Hall, is averaging 22.9 minutes, 10.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
Omersa, a 6-6 forward from Orono, is averaging only 7.8 minutes per game, but he has played more in the Gophers’ past three games after not playing in six of the 10 games before that.
Except for junior guard Amir Coffey (Hopkins) and the three freshman, however, the rest of the contributing players are from other states.
Senior guard Dupree McBrayer and sophomore guard Isaiah Washington are from New York, senior forward Jordan Murphy is from Texas and redshirt sophomore forward Eric Curry is from Tennessee. Murphy has been the team’s most productive player, ranking 13th in the Big Ten in points per game (15.0) and leading the league in rebounding (11.9).
While Pitino grabbed those three local recruits, he did miss out on the state’s highest-ranked player in the Class of 2018 in Apple Valley guard Tre Jones, who ended up at Duke.
As for Minnesota’s Class of 2019, the Gophers remain an unlikely choice for the No. 1 prospect, Rochester John Marshall 6-9 forward Matthew Hurt. Kansas is the front-runner in the quest for Hurt, who took his final official visit to Lawrence, Kan., a few weeks ago. Hurt played for Jayhawks coach Bill Self with the Team USA Under-18 squad. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski also was in Rochester last week to watch Hurt play.
Other top Minnesota players who have already signed elsewhere include Hopkins center Zeke Nnaji (Arizona), DeLaSalle guard Tyrell Terry (Stanford), Lakeville North forward Tyler Wahl (Wisconsin) and Breck forward David Roddy (Colorado State). The Gophers offered scholarships to all four of those players.
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-making-ncaa-tournament-would-be-great-recruiting-boost/506130102/
Go Gophers!!
According to the bracketologists, the Gophers men’s basketball team remains in the projected NCAA tournament field, but just barely. ESPN has the Gophers as a No. 11 seed this week; CBS has them as a No. 9.
The Gophers face two crucial games with No. 7 Michigan at home Thursday before traveling to Rutgers on Saturday. They will need signature wins if they’re going to make the tournament.
But one of the biggest story lines for the Gophers is how the program is doing recruiting Minnesota players.
Coach Richard Pitino did a good job recruiting Gabe Kalscheur, Daniel Oturu and Jarvis Omersa. Those three freshman have contributed to the Gophers’ 17-9 record overall (7-8 Big Ten).
Kalscheur, a 6-4 guard from DeLaSalle, is playing 29.7 minutes per game and averaging 10.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Oturu, a 6-10 center from Cretin-Derham Hall, is averaging 22.9 minutes, 10.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
Omersa, a 6-6 forward from Orono, is averaging only 7.8 minutes per game, but he has played more in the Gophers’ past three games after not playing in six of the 10 games before that.
Except for junior guard Amir Coffey (Hopkins) and the three freshman, however, the rest of the contributing players are from other states.
Senior guard Dupree McBrayer and sophomore guard Isaiah Washington are from New York, senior forward Jordan Murphy is from Texas and redshirt sophomore forward Eric Curry is from Tennessee. Murphy has been the team’s most productive player, ranking 13th in the Big Ten in points per game (15.0) and leading the league in rebounding (11.9).
While Pitino grabbed those three local recruits, he did miss out on the state’s highest-ranked player in the Class of 2018 in Apple Valley guard Tre Jones, who ended up at Duke.
As for Minnesota’s Class of 2019, the Gophers remain an unlikely choice for the No. 1 prospect, Rochester John Marshall 6-9 forward Matthew Hurt. Kansas is the front-runner in the quest for Hurt, who took his final official visit to Lawrence, Kan., a few weeks ago. Hurt played for Jayhawks coach Bill Self with the Team USA Under-18 squad. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski also was in Rochester last week to watch Hurt play.
Other top Minnesota players who have already signed elsewhere include Hopkins center Zeke Nnaji (Arizona), DeLaSalle guard Tyrell Terry (Stanford), Lakeville North forward Tyler Wahl (Wisconsin) and Breck forward David Roddy (Colorado State). The Gophers offered scholarships to all four of those players.
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-making-ncaa-tournament-would-be-great-recruiting-boost/506130102/
Go Gophers!!