Spring recruits/transfers only thread.

Donate To GopherHole
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

"I think I will help them for sure with my shooting because they weren't a good shooting team last season and just my versatility," Ihnen said.

There's a fine line between honesty and bluntness.
 

So we got at least one and maybe two spots open. Let's take Demir or try to land Shak and call it a day and start hammering on these 2020's.
 

jmag21 said:
So we got at least one and maybe two spots open. Let's take Demir or try to land Shak and call it a day and start hammering on these 2020's.
Click to expand...

We have two spots open, 3 if Coffey doesn't come back.

So we can take Demir and a grad transfer guard like Kareem South to round out the class.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
"I think I will help them for sure with my shooting because they weren't a good shooting team last season and just my versatility," Ihnen said.

There's a fine line between honesty and bluntness.
Click to expand...

We Germans are a blunt people. Besides, I'm sure that was a big selling point.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
"I think I will help them for sure with my shooting because they weren't a good shooting team last season and just my versatility," Ihnen said.

There's a fine line between honesty and bluntness.
Click to expand...
Truth sometimes hurts. Pitino's blog states the same thing, noting we were one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in the nation.
With our significant flaws this season it is remarkable that we made the big dance.
 

Otis said:
Best article I've seen yet on Gopher spring recruiting:

In terms of high school prospects the Gophers have set their targets as Grant Sherfield as a ball handler, Isaiah Ihnen as a four man, and Sam Freeman as the potential five. Sherfield visited Minnesota and the Gophers are considered a leader for Sherfield. Grant is taking an official visit to Wichita State this week. The question will then be, will Sherfield make a decision soon after? Ihnen is a 6-foot-9 four man visiting the Gopher campus the second half of April. The Gophers are one of three schools Isaiah - who is in Germany - will be taking official visits to. And Sam Freeman is a center from Texas who is expected to visit this April. Coach Richard Pitino is said to soon be going to visit him as well. With these being the key targets at the moment, expect the Gophers to have patience to see these recruits through. Assistant Kyle Lindsted is the lead on each of these prospects.

Then of course there are transfers. Four different types: 1) mid-year, 2) transfer and sit, 3) graduate transfer, and 4) transfer and get a waiver. At the moment the waivers are a guessing game so we will just look at the other three types of transfers.

Mid-Year: Minnesota did not have scholarships to give for a mid-year transfer and in my recollection they have not added a mid-year transfer in a long time. But to give you an example of the players that have mid-year transferred here is my top five in that category:
1.Quadre Green - former 5-star recruit headed to Washington from Kentucky
2.Carte'Are Gordon - 6'9 power forward who was a top 75 recruit, left Saint Louis for Dayton
3.Jordan Usher - double figure capable scorer who will play for Georgia Tech next year (from USC)
4.Micah Potter - 6-foot-9 junior that was giving Ohio State 4/2 before leaving for Wisconsin
5.Chase Johnson - former 4-star recruit that signed at Florida, rarely played as a frosh and went to Dayton

Transfer to Sit (and maybe have a waiver): At the moment I'm still catching up on the avalanche of transfers. So my list only includes a few of the recent names. Overall the best five transfers that would sit a year are likely:
1.West Virginia 6-foot-8 sophomore Wesley Harris who started 17 games this year averaging eight points a contest
2.Brown 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Desmond Cambridge, an underclassmen that has averaged 16/17 a game in the IVY league
3.UNLV 6-foot-9 freshman forward Joel Ntambwe who averaged 12 points and five boards a game in his first year of college hoops
4.Idaho 6-foot-3 freshman guard Cameron Tyson, a 43.5 percent three point shooter that scored 13.5 points per contest
5.TCU 6-foot-2 point guard Jaylen Fisher. Fisher has scored 12 points a game when healthy but has lost many games to injury. Likely to get a medical

Transfer to Sit (and make sense for Minnesota): The Gophers need depth up front and they need ball handlers. A couple of the names above makes sense for this group as well.
1.UNLV 6-foot-9 freshman forward Joel Ntambwe is not only a talented frontcourt prospect but he committed to UNLV when current Minnesota assistant Rob Jeter was on staff in the winter of 2018. It's possible that there is no relationship at all between Jeter and Ntambwe or maybe they know each other well. Either way he is a talented frontcourt player to keep an eye on. Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua is also a freshman that started there (4pt/4rb per) but he signed with UNLV after Jeter left.
2.Jaylen Fisher is from Memphis much like Eric Curry. It's possible there is a hometown connection between the two that could help (it worked with Peyton Willis).
3.It's already been reported that Minnesota has made contact with 6-foot-7 athletic scorer and shot blocker Anthony Duruji from Louisiana Tech. Duruji made 47 percent of his shots this year averaging 12 points and six boards.
4.Xavier Bishop of UMKC. Bishop is very small and that is why some schools are turned off but he has heard from UCF and Nevada among many other programs. Scored 15.3 points per game last year with four assists a game. Pitino did take Mathieu at similar size (5-foot-8) but you have to wonder if he would do that again.
5.UTEP 5-foot-10 sophomore Evan Gilyard scored 13.6 points per game and shot 36 percent at the arc this year, 38 percent overall. Another ball handler that Minnesota may be interested in and he is a couple inches bigger than Bishop.

Graduate Transfers: The graduate transfers may make the most sense for the Gophers. Not only do they get a good veteran player for a year but they also add that scholarship to the 2020 class. Minnesota will want more than two scholarship for the 2020 group considering all the local talent and that guards like Jamal Mashburn Jr and Jahari Long have already visited.

Here are my top dozen grad transfers (this list will be missing a few names, there are about 25 new transfers popping up every single day.
1.James Bolden of West Virginia (6-foot-0 guard)
2.Derrik Smits of Valpo (7-foot-1 center)
3.Nate Sestina of Bucknell (6-foot-9 power forward)
4.Pat Andree of Lehigh (6-foot-8 power forward)
5.KJ Feagin of Santa Clara (6-foot-1 point guard) headed to San Diego State
6.Rayjon Tucker Jr of Little Rock (6-foot-5 shooting guard)
7.Luwane Pipkins of UMass (5-foot-11 point guard) headed to Providence
8.Justin Pierce of William & Mary (6-foot-7 small forward)
9.Donnell Gresham of Northeastern (6-foot-2 point guard)
10.Haanif Cheatham of Florida Gulf Coast (6-foot-5 shooting guard)
11.Tyrone Taylor II of UNCW (6-foot-3 shooting guard)
12.Daniel Utomi of Akron (6-foot-6 small forward)

Graduate Transfers for Minnesota: So what makes sense for Minnesota? Again, ball handlers and size. And when you add in the local angle...
1.Donnell Gresham of Northeastern. Gresham is a guard that teammates love to compete with because of his character and aggressive nature, he's an improved three point shooter making (42/38 percent at the arc the last two years taking about five a game). Strong rebounder (5 a contest) at 6-foot-2 who scored almost ten points a game and dished out 3.1 assists. From St. Paul, played at Cretin-Derham Hall.
2.Derrik Smits of Valpo. Visited Grand Canyon yesterday and has heard from schools like Arizona, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, and many others (no mention of Minnesota but that doesn't mean Minnesota hasn't contacted). Smits is 7-foot-1 and put up 12 points and six rebounds a game this year shooting 60 percent from the field. Minnesota looked at Smits when he was in high school.
3.Nate Sestina of Bucknell. Gophers need size and Sestina put up 16 points and 8.5 boards a game last year shooting 38 percent at the arc. Nate is 6-foot-9 and has so far lined up a visit with Kentucky.
4.Matt Hauser of Santa Clara. Hauser missed this season because of a foot injury but will grad transfer and play next year. A double figure scoring lead guard that played 30 plus minutes a game as a sophomore and junior.
5.James Bolden of West Virginia. Bolden played his last game for Bob Huggins on January 26th. He's a combo guard that scored 12 points a game shooting 40 percent from the field. Many schools are interested.
6.Pat Andree of Lehigh. Pat is a 6-foot-8 power forward who shot 42 percent from the arc and scored 13 points a game with 6.2 boards this year.

https://247sports.com/college/minne...ng-Richard-Pitinos-Success-Targets-130610480/
Click to expand...

f6d7b7009ee6b5b823ee43a96b7ed6fe.jpg




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

per Marcus:

Ihnen, who visited Texas Christian over the weekend, said that Pitino and Minnesota's coaching staff was able to keep him from signing with TCU with a great sales pitch on his potential position with the Gophers.

"I'll have the opportunity to start," Ihnen said. "They would use me as a wing, but as my skills evolve maybe even as a guard, similar to (Amir) Coffey. (Pitino’s) not afraid to play me at PG. He already did it with Coffey.”

The Gophers could use Ihnen next season as a forward, but down the line they hope he could become more like a taller and longer version of Coffey, a 6-8 junior floor leader who led the Gophers in scoring and assists this year.

“I could have a big opportunity to have the ball in my hands,” Ihnen said the Gophers told him. “I’ll be used on the perimeter and occasionally in the post to make use of mismatches.”

Ihnen, who first told 247Sports.com's Evan Daniels about his commitment late Tuesday afternoon, is an up-and-coming 19-year-old prospect at Germany’s International Basketball Academy of Munich (IBAM). He had early scholarship offers from Tennessee and Stanford, but Ihnen narrowed his decision to the Horned Frogs and Gophers after they made him a priority this spring.

Daniels tweeted Tuesday that Ihnen has moved up to four-star status and No. 89 in 247Sports.com's 2019 rankings, which makes him the top recruit in Pitino's incoming class. The class also includes four-star Wasatch Academy (Utah) guard Tre' Williams and three-star 6-10 Northwest (Texas) center Sam Freeman.

“Isaiah has good size, length and athleticism for a versatile forward,” Daniels told the Star Tribune. “I think he’s a multi-positional defender who plays hard. He’s a good athlete. He’s able to stretch the floor a little – and there’s a lot of upside here. I think he can be a mismatch problem. With his physical tools, he’s a really good prospect.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...rospect-isaiah-ihnen-to-2019-class/508968842/

Go Gophers!!
 



Doogie chimes in:

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 

Judging from that video, Ihnen has a compact and quick stroke on his 3 ball. Should be able to get it off in the B1G!!!!
 

I believe Tre Williams will be a star in this league. Ihnen has big upside, and although it doesn't look like he has a Big Ten body yet, if he can shoot as well as he says he can, he can contribute immediately. Freeman--we will see, but welcome aboard, young man.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I believe Tre Williams will be a star in this league. Ihnen has big upside, and although it doesn't look like he has a Big Ten body yet, if he can shoot as well as he says he can, he can contribute immediately. Freeman--we will see, but welcome aboard, young man.
Click to expand...

They had plays designed for him to shoot threes. He’s gotta have a decent shot you would think. This isn’t a highlight reel of transition threes or iso action. Plenty to deduct some designed three activity for him that the coaches desired.
 



Winasota Gopher said:
They had plays designed for him to shoot threes. He’s gotta have a decent shot you would think. This isn’t a highlight reel of transition threes or iso action. Plenty to deduct some designed three activity for him that the coaches desired.
Click to expand...

I saw somewhere else (sorry, I don't remember where) he shot 36% on 150 attempts this year. Reminder, the int'l 3pt line is ~18 inches longer than college, so you'd hope that % would be a good indicator or even increase a bit.
 

BleedGopher said:
Doogie chimes in:

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

I get it, kids got some talent. This game looks like it's played at an elementary gym against a bunch of 6'4" and under kids.
 

abrams said:
I get it, kids got some talent. This game looks like it's played at an elementary gym against a bunch of 6'4" and under kids.
Click to expand...

Funny that his teammate is a 2019 NBA Draft prospect and played for the World team in the 2019 Nike Hoop Summit. Obviously they weren't too concerned with the look of the gym or the perceived lack of competition.
 

fryguy22 said:
I saw somewhere else (sorry, I don't remember where) he shot 36% on 150 attempts this year. Reminder, the int'l 3pt line is ~18 inches longer than college, so you'd hope that % would be a good indicator or even increase a bit.
Click to expand...

That makes it hopeful but how he plays against a top defense can be a bigger factor, has to work to get open and will always have a hand in his face, how he reacts to that is critical.
 

WriterGoph said:
Funny that his teammate is a 2019 NBA Draft prospect and played for the World team in the 2019 Nike Hoop Summit. Obviously they weren't too concerned with the look of the gym or the perceived lack of competition.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the more I look into it, the more I think he is actually playing against decent competition. As you mentioned, his teammate Josh Obiesie is a potential first round pick in the 2020 NBA draft. 6-6 SG.

This guys also plays in that league and played against Isaiah's team and with him in that league's all star game. He is a 7 footer who is probably better than Isaiah too. Has an NBAdraft.net profile.

 

Bad Gopher said:
I believe Tre Williams will be a star in this league.
Click to expand...

This would be great. Every time I see one of us post a potential rotation/lineup, he is somewhat forgotten (2nd or 3rd guy behind starter). In a perfect world, two of the three you mentioned (current recruits) would end up being a standout.. we certainly are not lacking for length and athleticism.
 

Tre Williams (4*)
Isaiah Ihnen (4*)
Sam Freeman (3*)

I've been as down on Pitino's 2019 recruiting as anyone but he has really managed to put together a solid class and he's not done yet. Now if we could just get a couple of early commits from the 2020 MN HS class, that would really get the juices flowing.
 

Slim Tubby said:
Tre Williams (4*)
Isaiah Ihnen (4*)
Sam Freeman (3*)

I've been as down on Pitino's 2019 recruiting as anyone but he has really managed to put together a solid class and he's not done yet. Now if we could just get a couple of early commits from the 2020 MN HS class, that would really get the juices flowing.
Click to expand...

He needed to pull the fat out of the fire, and he did. As someone noted, spring has become a more fertile ground for recruiting opportunity than it's been in past years.
 

Rouser said:
This would be great. Every time I see one of us post a potential rotation/lineup, he is somewhat forgotten (2nd or 3rd guy behind starter). In a perfect world, two of the three you mentioned (current recruits) would end up being a standout.. we certainly are not lacking for length and athleticism.
Click to expand...

I think most aren't assuming he is a sure thing. I believe Payton Willis had a very similar ranking and look at how he turned out (not saying he's bad, but he probably didn't pan out up to his ranking which happens). I just think people over exaggerate how much impact guys will have their freshman year. I'd say Gabe had about as good of a freshman year as you can expect out of a guy that isn't a lottery pick.
 

Bad Gopher said:
He needed to pull the fat out of the fire, and he did. As someone noted, spring has become a more fertile ground for recruiting opportunity than it's been in past years.
Click to expand...

Or maybe some people were yelling "fire" when there wasn't one.

JTG
 

rockford said:
Or maybe some people were yelling "fire" when there wasn't one.

JTG
Click to expand...

I think most of us would've preferred to have the class filled last November to avoid the nervousness in the Spring but I'm extremely happy with the results thus far.
 

Fans will have to get used the fact that from now on, we will have the depth of a top tier team. Just because some players aren’t starting doesn’t mean that they are bad players.

We need players to gain experience in order to compete with the teams that get the 5 star freshman. With a larger rotation, we will just reload each year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


die hard gopher said:
Click to expand...

We have a bigger hole to fill at PF and a better team surrounding said hole than Marquette.

Let's hope Demir sees this the same way. Ihnen should not be viewed as a possible loss in PT for him.

Not sure it matters to these guys but isn't our Grad School much higher rated than Marquette's as well?
 

per the U:

Isaiah Ihnen Inks NLI with Gophers

University of Minnesota head men's basketball coach Richard Pitino announced Wednesday the addition of Isaiah Ihnen, as the 6-9 forward from Boeblingen, Germany signed his National Letter of Intent to join the Gophers next season.

"We are very excited about the addition of Isaiah to our program," Pitino said. "He's extremely versatile on the court and can play multiple positions."

Ihnen is rated the No. 89-ranked prospect in the class of 2019 according to 247Sports, who also lists him as a four-star recruit. He is the second four-star recruit among the Gophers' signing class, joining fall signee Tre' Williams (Dallas, Texas/Wasatch Academy [Utah]).

This past season, Ihnen played for the International Basketball Academy Munich (IBAM) team, where he averaged 13.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Ihnen is the team's top rebounder, second-leading shot blocker and third-leading scorer.

"His potential is off the charts," Pitino added. "We expect Isaiah to come in and make a great impact on and off the court right when he steps on campus."

Ihnen adds to the recruiting class that includes Williams and Sam Freeman (Dallas, Texas/Northwest HS), along with fellow newcomers Marcus Carr (Toronto, Ontario/Montverde Academy) and Payton Willis (Fayetteville, Ark./Fayetteville), who redshirted the 2018-19 season after transferring from Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt, respectively.

Go Gophers!!
 

Otis said:
We have a bigger hole to fill at PF and a better team surrounding said hole than Marquette.

Let's hope Demir sees this the same way. Ihnen should not be viewed as a possible loss in PT for him.

Not sure it matters to these guys but isn't our Grad School much higher rated than Marquette's as well?
Click to expand...

Marquette definitely has a better team if Amir is gone and maybe even if he comes back. Between Marcus Howard, Sacar Anim, Ed Morrow and Theo John, thats a pretty solid 4 guys. They do need a two guard though.

I do agree though we have a bigger hole as Morrow is decent and was a 9 and 7 guy at Nebraska a few years ago. I'd take him over Curry, Omersa or Ihnen for next year as a PF.
 
Last edited:

die hard gopher said:
Marquette definitely has a better team if Amir is gone and maybe even if he comes back. Between Marcus Howard, Sacar Anim, Ed Morrow and Theo John, thats a pretty solid 4 guys. They do need a two guard though.

I do agree though we have a bigger hole as Morrow is decent and was a 9 and 7 guy at Nebraska a few years ago. I'd take him over Curry, Omersa or Ihnen for next year as a PF.
Click to expand...

Without the Hauser brothers, I don’t think that looks like a great team. They are a huge loss. Howard is the only guy that is a real scorer there - I see our potential lineups being equal to theirs, and would take our potential lineups over theirs even without Amir.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom