Gophers receive commitment from 2019 guard Bryan Greenlee

Ok I hope since people are giving their opinions, nobody confuses this with a "welcome" thread and rips me for being "mean" this time. This is also much more of a criticism of Pitino than it is of a kid who is just doing his best. Greenlee played on Team Knight on the Adidas summer circuit with 2 Gopher targets (that as most of 2019 recruiting went we lost to average competition) in Luke Anderson and Toumani Camara. The Gophers had targets on team Knight, they were certainly aware of Greenlee and were not interested. Greenlee. Greenlee shot 40.5% from the field, 42.9% from the free throw line, and 20% from 3 in Adidas Gauntlet play over a total of 11 games. It's a small sample size, and he was even less effective if you look at his last 5 games where he never shot above 33% from the field. This Iowa offer came along with 2 other offers to point guards who were not coveted by power 5 type schools. Iowa took a commitment from one of those guys (Toussaint who has since risen in the rankings a bit) before Greenlee could visit. Once Toussaint committed, Greenlee did not have a high major offer and would go from September to June without acquiring another one.

Meanwhile the Gophers were busy striking out on players at an alarming rate, so much so that they ran out of visits for 2019. The final joke was losing out on a mediocre guard who might have been told by Nebraska(!) to look elsewhere when Hoiberg took over. We were told that "Shoey's" decision to choose Cincinnati was over playing time but Jaevin Cumberland's much rumored transfer to Cincinnati to join his cousin would become official not long after Adams-Woods commitment. Playing time in the Cincy backcourt is no more available than it is in Minnesota.

A partial list of guards the Gophers missed on: DJ Carton, Austin Crowley, Joel Brown, Dereon Seabron, Tyson Etienne, Grant Sherfield, Mika Adams-Woods. Only one of these guys (Carton) was an elite recruit and none ended up at a Blue Blood.

I've seen a few comments along the lines of this is our "11th/12th" scholarship which just seems odd to me. Should we ever be in a position to take a recruit with zero other power 5 offers? I am not talking about someone we get to first, but someone who everyone has seen and not offered? I certainly don't believe so. Further, Sam Freeman is an 11th/12th type guy, Michael Hurt is an 11th/12th type guy, Peyton Willlis has performed to date like an 11th/12th type guy as has Jarvis Omersa. Of that group, I have the most hope for Omersa. Now you throw in the unknown of how Curry will recover from his latest injury and the fact that you still have a scholarship open and what do you have? That's 6 of your 13 scholarships used on players who could very easily be penciled in as 11-13th guys or "scholarships".

This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team. If you can't sell playing time in that scenario, you literally can never sell playing time. Pitino needed to grab impact players last Fall and he failed to do so (how funny/sad is it that we ran out of visits for 2019 and neither of the two big time recruits from Minnesota in Nnaji and Hurt even bothered to visit?). He did a decent job of recovering in the Spring, but that's assuming Ihnen is the real deal and a legit top 100 kid. Between Williams, Freeman, and Greenlee, I count 1 total offer (Freeman from TCU) from a power 5 type school that was commitable when they pledged to Minnesota. Hopefully some of these kids surprise, we're long past due to get lucky on a kid who profiles like this. Unfortunately, we're kind of at the point where we are depending on a surprise to just be a .500 type B1G team which is not a good spot to be in.
 

Ok I hope since people are giving their opinions, nobody confuses this with a "welcome" thread and rips me for being "mean" this time. This is also much more of a criticism of Pitino than it is of a kid who is just doing his best. Greenlee played on Team Knight on the Adidas summer circuit with 2 Gopher targets (that as most of 2019 recruiting went we lost to average competition) in Luke Anderson and Toumani Camara. The Gophers had targets on team Knight, they were certainly aware of Greenlee and were not interested. Greenlee. Greenlee shot 40.5% from the field, 42.9% from the free throw line, and 20% from 3 in Adidas Gauntlet play over a total of 11 games. It's a small sample size, and he was even less effective if you look at his last 5 games where he never shot above 33% from the field. This Iowa offer came along with 2 other offers to point guards who were not coveted by power 5 type schools. Iowa took a commitment from one of those guys (Toussaint who has since risen in the rankings a bit) before Greenlee could visit. Once Toussaint committed, Greenlee did not have a high major offer and would go from September to June without acquiring another one.

Meanwhile the Gophers were busy striking out on players at an alarming rate, so much so that they ran out of visits for 2019. The final joke was losing out on a mediocre guard who might have been told by Nebraska(!) to look elsewhere when Hoiberg took over. We were told that "Shoey's" decision to choose Cincinnati was over playing time but Jaevin Cumberland's much rumored transfer to Cincinnati to join his cousin would become official not long after Adams-Woods commitment. Playing time in the Cincy backcourt is no more available than it is in Minnesota.

A partial list of guards the Gophers missed on: DJ Carton, Austin Crowley, Joel Brown, Dereon Seabron, Tyson Etienne, Grant Sherfield, Mika Adams-Woods. Only one of these guys (Carton) was an elite recruit and none ended up at a Blue Blood.

I've seen a few comments along the lines of this is our "11th/12th" scholarship which just seems odd to me. Should we ever be in a position to take a recruit with zero other power 5 offers? I am not talking about someone we get to first, but someone who everyone has seen and not offered? I certainly don't believe so. Further, Sam Freeman is an 11th/12th type guy, Michael Hurt is an 11th/12th type guy, Peyton Willlis has performed to date like an 11th/12th type guy as has Jarvis Omersa. Of that group, I have the most hope for Omersa. Now you throw in the unknown of how Curry will recover from his latest injury and the fact that you still have a scholarship open and what do you have? That's 6 of your 13 scholarships used on players who could very easily be penciled in as 11-13th guys or "scholarships".

This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team. If you can't sell playing time in that scenario, you literally can never sell playing time. Pitino needed to grab impact players last Fall and he failed to do so (how funny/sad is it that we ran out of visits for 2019 and neither of the two big time recruits from Minnesota in Nnaji and Hurt even bothered to visit?). He did a decent job of recovering in the Spring, but that's assuming Ihnen is the real deal and a legit top 100 kid. Between Williams, Freeman, and Greenlee, I count 1 total offer (Freeman from TCU) from a power 5 type school that was commitable when they pledged to Minnesota. Hopefully some of these kids surprise, we're long past due to get lucky on a kid who profiles like this. Unfortunately, we're kind of at the point where we are depending on a surprise to just be a .500 type B1G team which is not a good spot to be in.

What a ray of sunshine!


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Ok I hope since people are giving their opinions, nobody confuses this with a "welcome" thread and rips me for being "mean" this time. This is also much more of a criticism of Pitino than it is of a kid who is just doing his best. Greenlee played on Team Knight on the Adidas summer circuit with 2 Gopher targets (that as most of 2019 recruiting went we lost to average competition) in Luke Anderson and Toumani Camara. The Gophers had targets on team Knight, they were certainly aware of Greenlee and were not interested. Greenlee. Greenlee shot 40.5% from the field, 42.9% from the free throw line, and 20% from 3 in Adidas Gauntlet play over a total of 11 games. It's a small sample size, and he was even less effective if you look at his last 5 games where he never shot above 33% from the field. This Iowa offer came along with 2 other offers to point guards who were not coveted by power 5 type schools. Iowa took a commitment from one of those guys (Toussaint who has since risen in the rankings a bit) before Greenlee could visit. Once Toussaint committed, Greenlee did not have a high major offer and would go from September to June without acquiring another one.

Meanwhile the Gophers were busy striking out on players at an alarming rate, so much so that they ran out of visits for 2019. The final joke was losing out on a mediocre guard who might have been told by Nebraska(!) to look elsewhere when Hoiberg took over. We were told that "Shoey's" decision to choose Cincinnati was over playing time but Jaevin Cumberland's much rumored transfer to Cincinnati to join his cousin would become official not long after Adams-Woods commitment. Playing time in the Cincy backcourt is no more available than it is in Minnesota.

A partial list of guards the Gophers missed on: DJ Carton, Austin Crowley, Joel Brown, Dereon Seabron, Tyson Etienne, Grant Sherfield, Mika Adams-Woods. Only one of these guys (Carton) was an elite recruit and none ended up at a Blue Blood.

I've seen a few comments along the lines of this is our "11th/12th" scholarship which just seems odd to me. Should we ever be in a position to take a recruit with zero other power 5 offers? I am not talking about someone we get to first, but someone who everyone has seen and not offered? I certainly don't believe so. Further, Sam Freeman is an 11th/12th type guy, Michael Hurt is an 11th/12th type guy, Peyton Willlis has performed to date like an 11th/12th type guy as has Jarvis Omersa. Of that group, I have the most hope for Omersa. Now you throw in the unknown of how Curry will recover from his latest injury and the fact that you still have a scholarship open and what do you have? That's 6 of your 13 scholarships used on players who could very easily be penciled in as 11-13th guys or "scholarships".

This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team. If you can't sell playing time in that scenario, you literally can never sell playing time. Pitino needed to grab impact players last Fall and he failed to do so (how funny/sad is it that we ran out of visits for 2019 and neither of the two big time recruits from Minnesota in Nnaji and Hurt even bothered to visit?). He did a decent job of recovering in the Spring, but that's assuming Ihnen is the real deal and a legit top 100 kid. Between Williams, Freeman, and Greenlee, I count 1 total offer (Freeman from TCU) from a power 5 type school that was commitable when they pledged to Minnesota. Hopefully some of these kids surprise, we're long past due to get lucky on a kid who profiles like this. Unfortunately, we're kind of at the point where we are depending on a surprise to just be a .500 type B1G team which is not a good spot to be in.

Carr is slated to start at PG as a sophomore and no one argues that. So that is not an easy position to sell right now despite what you have said. I like what Pitino has done this offseason. Obviously you don't and you could be right. We'll see. If the games all went by recruiting service rankings Texas Tech would not have went to the NCAAs last year.
 


You might not like it but he is right.


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How so, we signed two four stat recruits, and have the 4th best class in the big ten. Anti Pitino crowd is reaching hard

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Carr is slated to start at PG as a sophomore and no one argues that. So that is not an easy position to sell right now despite what you have said. I like what Pitino has done this offseason. Obviously you don't and you could be right. We'll see. If the games all went by recruiting service rankings Texas Tech would not have went to the NCAAs last year.

Texas Tech should not be looked at as the standard but rather an anomaly. They had a hell of a run because of great coaching and a team fully committed to a system led by Jarrett Culver, a lottery pick.
 

This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team. If you can't sell playing time in that scenario, you literally can never sell playing time.

Coffey was still undecided until March 29th. What significant playing time was Pitino supposed to promise to anyone before then? There is no question we missed out on a few of the guys you mentioned because of the uncertainty of Coffey and the need for recruits to make decisions and lock in somewhere before March 29th. After then, the pickings have been slim.
 

Maybe, but my guess is that he would have committed by now if he intended to commit.

Why would you guess that? He hasn't committed to anywhere yet.
 
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How so, we signed two four stat recruits, and have the 4th best class in the big ten. Anti Pitino crowd is reaching hard

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Correct, it is the same group of Pitino haters continuing their Chicken Little bit.




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Now back to more BG news.

https://www.wcjb.com/content/sport...-Greenlee-signs-with-Minnesota-511336111.html


https://247sports.com/college/minn...guard-Bryan-Greenlee-to-2019-class-132852418/

His high school coach said Pitino is looking for him to be a defensive spark off the bench in his freshman year.

Sounds more like a Gabe kind of recruit. Not as much of a high national profile, but very good on defense with good basketball skills. A leader of a consistently winning team.



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Texas Tech should not be looked at as the standard but rather an anomaly. They had a hell of a run because of great coaching and a team fully committed to a system led by Jarrett Culver, a lottery pick.

Culver wasn't even ranked in the top 300 coming out of HS.
 

Ok I hope since people are giving their opinions, nobody confuses this with a "welcome" thread and rips me for being "mean" this time. This is also much more of a criticism of Pitino than it is of a kid who is just doing his best. Greenlee played on Team Knight on the Adidas summer circuit with 2 Gopher targets (that as most of 2019 recruiting went we lost to average competition) in Luke Anderson and Toumani Camara. The Gophers had targets on team Knight, they were certainly aware of Greenlee and were not interested. Greenlee. Greenlee shot 40.5% from the field, 42.9% from the free throw line, and 20% from 3 in Adidas Gauntlet play over a total of 11 games. It's a small sample size, and he was even less effective if you look at his last 5 games where he never shot above 33% from the field. This Iowa offer came along with 2 other offers to point guards who were not coveted by power 5 type schools. Iowa took a commitment from one of those guys (Toussaint who has since risen in the rankings a bit) before Greenlee could visit. Once Toussaint committed, Greenlee did not have a high major offer and would go from September to June without acquiring another one.

Meanwhile the Gophers were busy striking out on players at an alarming rate, so much so that they ran out of visits for 2019. The final joke was losing out on a mediocre guard who might have been told by Nebraska(!) to look elsewhere when Hoiberg took over. We were told that "Shoey's" decision to choose Cincinnati was over playing time but Jaevin Cumberland's much rumored transfer to Cincinnati to join his cousin would become official not long after Adams-Woods commitment. Playing time in the Cincy backcourt is no more available than it is in Minnesota.

A partial list of guards the Gophers missed on: DJ Carton, Austin Crowley, Joel Brown, Dereon Seabron, Tyson Etienne, Grant Sherfield, Mika Adams-Woods. Only one of these guys (Carton) was an elite recruit and none ended up at a Blue Blood.

I've seen a few comments along the lines of this is our "11th/12th" scholarship which just seems odd to me. Should we ever be in a position to take a recruit with zero other power 5 offers? I am not talking about someone we get to first, but someone who everyone has seen and not offered? I certainly don't believe so. Further, Sam Freeman is an 11th/12th type guy, Michael Hurt is an 11th/12th type guy, Peyton Willlis has performed to date like an 11th/12th type guy as has Jarvis Omersa. Of that group, I have the most hope for Omersa. Now you throw in the unknown of how Curry will recover from his latest injury and the fact that you still have a scholarship open and what do you have? That's 6 of your 13 scholarships used on players who could very easily be penciled in as 11-13th guys or "scholarships".

This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team. If you can't sell playing time in that scenario, you literally can never sell playing time. Pitino needed to grab impact players last Fall and he failed to do so (how funny/sad is it that we ran out of visits for 2019 and neither of the two big time recruits from Minnesota in Nnaji and Hurt even bothered to visit?). He did a decent job of recovering in the Spring, but that's assuming Ihnen is the real deal and a legit top 100 kid. Between Williams, Freeman, and Greenlee, I count 1 total offer (Freeman from TCU) from a power 5 type school that was commitable when they pledged to Minnesota. Hopefully some of these kids surprise, we're long past due to get lucky on a kid who profiles like this. Unfortunately, we're kind of at the point where we are depending on a surprise to just be a .500 type B1G team which is not a good spot to be in.

This post is a bunch of BS... You argue that Minnesota missed out on high-level recruits, meanwhile the Gophers have the 4th best recruiting class in the BiG10. You claim it should be easy for Pitino to sell playing time, yet Marcus Carr is undoubtedly a starter and is only a sophomore. Carr isn't just some no-name people are penciling in. He was a consensus Top 100 recruit coming out of high school. If you don't think his presence scared off guys like Grant Sherfield then you are being deliberately ignorant.

As for this sentence: "This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team."

I say you go back to the bridge you and your fellow trolls gather. The Gophers won a NCAA Tournament game last year. That's what people will remember. Not their record in the BiG10. You are being selectively negative and are trying to poison the well. It's amazing you took the time to write this screed just so you can spit on your favorite program...
 




This post is a bunch of BS... You argue that Minnesota missed out on high-level recruits, meanwhile the Gophers have the 4th best recruiting class in the BiG10. You claim it should be easy for Pitino to sell playing time, yet Marcus Carr is undoubtedly a starter and is only a sophomore. Carr isn't just some no-name people are penciling in. He was a consensus Top 100 recruit coming out of high school. If you don't think his presence scared off guys like Grant Sherfield then you are being deliberately ignorant.

As for this sentence: "This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team."

I say you go back to the bridge you and your fellow trolls gather. The Gophers won a NCAA Tournament game last year. That's what people will remember. Not their record in the BiG10. You are being selectively negative and are trying to poison the well. It's amazing you took the time to write this screed just so you can spit on your favorite program...

Well said! Looking forward to seeing some new names flourish this year!
 

Gophs did miss out on high ranked recruits...ranking. Are a function of quantity as well as quality
 

Gophs did miss out on high ranked recruits...ranking. Are a function of quantity as well as quality
To a point, if there all ranked fairly highly, you start pulling in in ranked guys and high 300 recruits, it does nothing, if anything it hurts the composite

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This post is a bunch of BS... You argue that Minnesota missed out on high-level recruits, meanwhile the Gophers have the 4th best recruiting class in the BiG10. You claim it should be easy for Pitino to sell playing time, yet Marcus Carr is undoubtedly a starter and is only a sophomore. Carr isn't just some no-name people are penciling in. He was a consensus Top 100 recruit coming out of high school. If you don't think his presence scared off guys like Grant Sherfield then you are being deliberately ignorant.

As for this sentence: "This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team."

I say you go back to the bridge you and your fellow trolls gather. The Gophers won a NCAA Tournament game last year. That's what people will remember. Not their record in the BiG10. You are being selectively negative and are trying to poison the well. It's amazing you took the time to write this screed just so you can spit on your favorite program...

Agree x 100.


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The official release from the U:

Gophers Sign Greenlee for Upcoming Season

University of Minnesota head men's basketball coach Richard Pitino announced Friday the addition of 6-foot guard Bryan "BJ" Greenlee. The Gainesville, Fla., native and senior at the Rock School will join the team this summer in preparation for the 2019-20 season.

"We are excited about the addition of BJ," Pitino said. "He's played at the highest level and succeeded his whole high school career. He's a fierce competitor and a great kid. BJ is a winner. Our program got a lot better today."

A three-year starter and star for the Lions, Greenlee earned Co-Player of the Year honors from the Gainesville Sun. He averaged 13.7 points and 7.3 assists per game as he helped lead his team to a Sunshine Independent Athletic Association title, also contributing 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals in 2018-19. Greenlee is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.

Greenlee is the fifth signee in the Class of 2019 for the Maroon and Gold, joining rising freshmen Sam Freeman (Dallas, Texas/Northwest HS), Isaiah Ihnen (Boeblingen, Germany/IBA Munich) and Tre' Williams (Dallas, Texas/Wasatch Academy [Utah]) along with graduate transfer Alihan Demir (Ankara, Turkey/Ari College/Drexel).

Go Gophers!!
 

per the Gainesville Sun:

BRYAN GREENLEE
Sport: Basketball
School: The Rock
Position: Guard
Height/weight: 6-foot, 185 pounds
College chosen: Minnesota

Other schools considered: Early on offers from Iowa, Cincinnati, Kennesaw State, interest from Old Dominion, but offers taken by other commitments; committed to Richard Pitino and Minnesota on Thursday, leaves for Minneapolis on Saturday.

Stats: The Sun’s two-time Small School Player of the Year, led the Lions to the Sunshine Independent Athletic Association title in 2019, named tournament MVP, averaged 13.7 ppg., 7.3 apg., 4.2 rpg., 2.5 spg., part of 134 wins in his four years that included two state championships.
Quotable: “It means everything. All the excitement, all the stress of not going where I was going to go. There are so many emotions going on right now. I really wasn’t too stressed out about it because my faith in God is strong. I put my faith in him. I wasn’t too worried about it.” - Bryan Greenlee

https://www.gainesville.com/sports/20190615/rocks-greenlee-signs-with-minnesota

Go Gophers!!
 

Greenlea could be an improvement on Isaiah Washington. Perhaps not the flash of Jelly, but he seems to be a true point guard who will play defense and cherish each possession. If that is correct, he's already better than Jelly.
 

This post is a bunch of BS... You argue that Minnesota missed out on high-level recruits, meanwhile the Gophers have the 4th best recruiting class in the BiG10. You claim it should be easy for Pitino to sell playing time, yet Marcus Carr is undoubtedly a starter and is only a sophomore. Carr isn't just some no-name people are penciling in. He was a consensus Top 100 recruit coming out of high school. If you don't think his presence scared off guys like Grant Sherfield then you are being deliberately ignorant.

As for this sentence: "This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team."

I say you go back to the bridge you and your fellow trolls gather. The Gophers won a NCAA Tournament game last year. That's what people will remember. Not their record in the BiG10. You are being selectively negative and are trying to poison the well. It's amazing you took the time to write this screed just so you can spit on your favorite program...

https://247sports.com/Player/Marcus-Carr-86079/high-school-151360/
 

Agree x 100.


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Agree. There is no need to be negative on a recruit that no one has seen. However, it is a message board and if a losing Big 10 record bothers fans they are entitled to post that.
 

This post is a bunch of BS... You argue that Minnesota missed out on high-level recruits, meanwhile the Gophers have the 4th best recruiting class in the BiG10. You claim it should be easy for Pitino to sell playing time, yet Marcus Carr is undoubtedly a starter and is only a sophomore. Carr isn't just some no-name people are penciling in. He was a consensus Top 100 recruit coming out of high school. If you don't think his presence scared off guys like Grant Sherfield then you are being deliberately ignorant.

As for this sentence: "This is a program coming off a losing record in the B1G and losing it's two biggest impact players from that team."

I say you go back to the bridge you and your fellow trolls gather. The Gophers won a NCAA Tournament game last year. That's what people will remember. Not their record in the BiG10. You are being selectively negative and are trying to poison the well. It's amazing you took the time to write this screed just so you can spit on your favorite program...


Tyson Etienne is actually rated higher in both 247's own rankings and the composite ranking than Marcus Carr was coming out of high school. Etienne is in the same class as Sherfield. If that wasn't enough to scare Grant off of Wichita State, then Carr certainly wasn't scaring him off of Minnesota. I hope Marcus Carr is as good as some posters hope he is. I would guess that at least 2/3 of high major programs have a guard with a recruiting profile as strong as Carr's on the roster. Most of those guys have actually played for the school they are currently attending as well. Adams-Woods chose to go to Cincy who is bringing in a transfer that not only put up better stats than Carr, but is related to arguably the best player on their roster. I just don't buy that Marcus Carr is such a deterrent to guard recruits that we had to call up a guy and offer him in June.

Even if you believe that Carr is what has prevented more successful recruiting, it doesn't explain how the Gophers failed in the 2018 class to add a guard. They missed on even more guards in that class than they did in this one before taking Carr as a transfer in the Spring. Also to compare and contrast Iowa State has Tyrese Haliburton coming back at PG (hindsight Gophers should have taken him instead of waiting on Eric Hunter who they ended up missing on, but that's not a criticism as you have to go for your top guys first). Haliburton was impressive enough as a Freshman to get some NBA buzz and an invite to a USA tryout. Despite the presence of Haliburton, Iowa State was able to get a commitment this Spring from Caleb Grill (169 overall, offers from K State, UNLV, Texas Tech and others).

None of this is to say Greenlee can't surprise, its to say the Pitino's recruiting has been a disappointment and has put the program in a precarious position. We shouldn't be talking about "rebuilding" after a year like last year. We should be able to absorb losing a top player who stayed for 3 years as most programs experience such a departure regularly. If this was just one commit, it would be slightly disappointing but when you look at the roster as a whole there are just way too many question marks in terms of talent. For a coach going in to his 7th year with brand new facilities, we should be seeing better results. Hopefully that is the case both on the court and on the recruiting trail over the next 8-10 months.
 

Tyson Etienne is actually rated higher in both 247's own rankings and the composite ranking than Marcus Carr was coming out of high school. Etienne is in the same class as Sherfield. If that wasn't enough to scare Grant off of Wichita State, then Carr certainly wasn't scaring him off of Minnesota. I hope Marcus Carr is as good as some posters hope he is. I would guess that at least 2/3 of high major programs have a guard with a recruiting profile as strong as Carr's on the roster. Most of those guys have actually played for the school they are currently attending as well. Adams-Woods chose to go to Cincy who is bringing in a transfer that not only put up better stats than Carr, but is related to arguably the best player on their roster. I just don't buy that Marcus Carr is such a deterrent to guard recruits that we had to call up a guy and offer him in June.

Even if you believe that Carr is what has prevented more successful recruiting, it doesn't explain how the Gophers failed in the 2018 class to add a guard. They missed on even more guards in that class than they did in this one before taking Carr as a transfer in the Spring. Also to compare and contrast Iowa State has Tyrese Haliburton coming back at PG (hindsight Gophers should have taken him instead of waiting on Eric Hunter who they ended up missing on, but that's not a criticism as you have to go for your top guys first). Haliburton was impressive enough as a Freshman to get some NBA buzz and an invite to a USA tryout. Despite the presence of Haliburton, Iowa State was able to get a commitment this Spring from Caleb Grill (169 overall, offers from K State, UNLV, Texas Tech and others).

None of this is to say Greenlee can't surprise, its to say the Pitino's recruiting has been a disappointment and has put the program in a precarious position. We shouldn't be talking about "rebuilding" after a year like last year. We should be able to absorb losing a top player who stayed for 3 years as most programs experience such a departure regularly. If this was just one commit, it would be slightly disappointing but when you look at the roster as a whole there are just way too many question marks in terms of talent. For a coach going in to his 7th year with brand new facilities, we should be seeing better results. Hopefully that is the case both on the court and on the recruiting trail over the next 8-10 months.
I suggest you cheer for Kentucky and Duke if you need great recruits everytime.
 

Even if you believe that Carr is what has prevented more successful recruiting, it doesn't explain how the Gophers failed in the 2018 class to add a guard.

It happens. And, as it turns out, they added Carr and Willis as guards. Both P6 guys.

I would guess that at least 2/3 of high major programs have a guard with a recruiting profile as strong as Carr's on the roster.

You think 2/3's of P6 schools have a Top 150 overall and a Top 30 guard on the roster?? You could be right, but I would find that unlikely.

For a coach going in to his 7th year with brand new facilities, we should be seeing better results.

You mean a Top 4 class in the Big Ten and a Top 40 class nationally isn't enough?

And, those rankings don't include Carr, Willis, or Demir (potentially three starters).

Also to compare and contrast Iowa State has Tyrese Haliburton coming back at PG (hindsight Gophers should have taken him instead of waiting on Eric Hunter who they ended up missing on, but that's not a criticism as you have to go for your top guys first). Haliburton was impressive enough as a Freshman to get some NBA buzz and an invite to a USA tryout. Despite the presence of Haliburton, Iowa State was able to get a commitment this Spring from Caleb Grill (169 overall, offers from K State, UNLV, Texas Tech and others).

Good for Iowa State. They finished .500 in their league and got bounced in the 1st round by the last team from the Big Ten to make the NCAA tourney.

Despite the presence of Gabe Kalscheur, Minnesota was able to get a commitment in the FALL from Tre Williams (128 overall).

Remember, up until May 29th, recruits had to hedge that most of the 2019-20 PG minutes would be Carr and Coffey. Most recruits by that time needed to lock in.

Minnesota's class is ranked 39th (4th in B1G), Iowa State's is 55th (9th in Big 12). What's so attractive about the Iowa State model?
 
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I suggest you cheer for Kentucky and Duke if you need great recruits everytime.

How about I hold Minnesota to a standard that they should have more success than programs like Iowa State in basketball? We're going in to year 7 now with Coach Pitino and have a single tournament win and a horrific B1G record. What has Iowa State done in that time span? There is a wide gap between great recruiting and landing the Same Freeman's and Bryan Greenlee's of the world. Further, Pitino's best players have consistently been the guys who did have a solid recruiting profile. The guys that looked like reaches according to the rankings (Gilbert, Diedhiou, Harris) have all really struggled. To go further literally every recruit Pitino has had at Minnesota that has been outside of the top 200 has struggled. The best of the bunch was Bakary Konate

The list:
Josh Martin (233)
Bakary Konate (238)
Gaston Diehiou (413)
Ahmad Gilbert (274)
Michael Hurt (216)
Jamir Harris (294)

This hasn't proven to be Wisconsin. If Pitino was turning players with these recruiting profiles in to consistent contributors with an occasional star, the conversation would be different. The best he did out of that group was an occasionally adequate backup Center. If he suddenly starts getting players with this type of profile that can help him break in to the top half of the B1G, that's great.
 

How about I hold Minnesota to a standard that they should have more success than programs like Iowa State in basketball? We're going in to year 7 now with Coach Pitino and have a single tournament win and a horrific B1G record. What has Iowa State done in that time span? There is a wide gap between great recruiting and landing the Same Freeman's and Bryan Greenlee's of the world. Further, Pitino's best players have consistently been the guys who did have a solid recruiting profile. The guys that looked like reaches according to the rankings (Gilbert, Diedhiou, Harris) have all really struggled. To go further literally every recruit Pitino has had at Minnesota that has been outside of the top 200 has struggled. The best of the bunch was Bakary Konate

The list:
Josh Martin (233)
Bakary Konate (238)
Gaston Diehiou (413)
Ahmad Gilbert (274)
Michael Hurt (216)
Jamir Harris (294)

This hasn't proven to be Wisconsin. If Pitino was turning players with these recruiting profiles in to consistent contributors with an occasional star, the conversation would be different. The best he did out of that group was an occasionally adequate backup Center. If he suddenly starts getting players with this type of profile that can help him break in to the top half of the B1G, that's great.
What makes UMN better than Iowa State or Vanderbilt or Oregon State? They are all in P-5 conferences. UMN is what it is. Fantasizing that they will be a top destination for 5* basketball players and then whining when they're not isn't my idea of being a fan, but if you need to live that pipe dream of depression, be my guest.
 

It happens. And, as it turns out, they added Carr and Willis as guards. Both P6 guys.

Willis was awful at Vanderbilt for an awful team that finished at the bottom of the conference. He would have to improve dramatically to be considered any sort of recruiting win. I would say I follow recruiting as close as anyone on this board and I never could find out another school who wanted him as a transfer.

You think 2/3's of P6 schools have a Top 150 overall and a Top 30 guard on the roster?? You could be right, but I would find that unlikely.



You mean a Top 4 class in the Big Ten and a Top 40 class nationally isn't enough?

The Gophers are getting a bump based on the quantity of commitments, not the the quality. Nobody would take our class of 4 over Indiana's class of 2. It also helps that Michigan has only one recruit due to a coaching change. Go through the rankings and I am sure nationally there are some other "Indiana's" with better smaller classes rated below Minnesota. I hope Ihnen lives up to his ranking he certainly seems like the gem of the class on paper but it also seems strange that he only visited TCU and Minnesota. I am cautious on him because of that. The other guys have one confirmed power 5 offer between them.

And, those rankings don't include Carr, Willis, or Demir (potentially three starters).

I hope Carr is a quality B1G starter, but I don't see anything to suggest Willis or Demir will be. Demir seems like a fine addition as a grad transfer, but he's not a great athlete and will likely struggle to rebound and defend.

Good for Iowa State. They finished .500 in their league and got bounced in the 1st round by the last team from the Big Ten to make the NCAA tourney.

They won their conference tourney and received a better seed to the NCAA's. We finished below .500 in our league and won an NCAA tournament game, I think there is a case to be made they had a better year.

Despite the presence of Gabe Kalscheur, Minnesota was able to get a commitment in the FALL from Tre Williams (128 overall).

Tre Williams was on a visit to some small California school (Pepperdine? can't remember) right before coming to Minnesota in the days leading up to signing day. He had no power 5 offers at the time and was rated outside the top 200 for sure. Maybe his rise up the rankings is justified and Pitino got a late bloomer. I've seen him play one full game and part of another.

Remember, up until May 29th, recruits had to hedge that most of the 2019-20 PG minutes would be Carr and Coffey. Most recruits by that time needed to lock in.

Minnesota's class is ranked 39th (4th in B1G), Iowa State's is 55th (9th in Big 12). What's so attractive about the Iowa State model?
I wasn't trying to suggest anything was attractive about Iowa State's model only pointing out that they are bringing back a guard who also has 3 years of eligibility left and one that is currently thought of as better than Carr based on his performance last season. Despite his presence, they were able to land a guard this Spring that was actually recruited by their peers. The point was that if Carr was a deterrent that Haliburton would be a similar deterrent if not a bigger deterrent. If Pitino's last 6 years matched Iowa State's last 6 years on the court, he would certainly get much more benefit of the doubt...at least from me. BTW I made this bold to hopefully make it easier to read my thoughts and not to convey any emotion or anything.
 

What makes UMN better than Iowa State or Vanderbilt or Oregon State? They are all in P-5 conferences. UMN is what it is. Fantasizing that they will be a top destination for 5* basketball players and then whining when they're not isn't my idea of being a fan, but if you need to live that pipe dream of depression, be my guest.

This is just depressing to read. I am very familiar with the Iowa State program. If you don't think being the only University in Minnesota and having the access to the talent in the Twin Cities is a major advantage over being located in Ames, Iowa or Corvallis, Oregon or being a private school with (at least at one time) tough academic standards like Vandy, I don't know what to tell you. Iowa State has never even gotten the best players out of Iowa's extremely limited talent pool and has still put a much better product on the floor than Minnesota. If you want to live the "pipe dream" that these schools are on the same footing as Minnesota , that would be like me expecting the Gopher program to be Kentucky or Kansas. I know you are an old dude, so I know you remember when Minnesota was a consistently better program than Wisconsin. I guess it's just ok to you to set the bar at Oregon State now. Noted.
 

Willis was awful at Vanderbilt for an awful team that finished at the bottom of the conference. He would have to improve dramatically to be considered any sort of recruiting win. I would say I follow recruiting as close as anyone on this board and I never could find out another school who wanted him as a transfer.

Now, you're just making stuff up.

Willis averaged 5 points and 18 minutes per game as a true freshman on an NCAA Tourney team at Vandy. Averaged 5 points and 19 minutes as sophomore. That is not "awful" by any standard in the SEC. He shot 35% from 3pt as a soph. He didn't get any other schools who wanted him as a transfer because he contacted MN. He was friends with Eric Curry and we finished #2 with him coming out of high school, where he was a national Top 150. Is he a future all-Big Ten guy? Probably not. But, to say he was "awful on a Vandy team that finished at the bottom of the conference" is just being dishonest or lazy or both. He can absolutely be a contributing team member on a quality Big Ten team.

The Gophers are getting a bump based on the quantity of commitments, not the the quality. Nobody would take our class of 4 over Indiana's class of 2. It also helps that Michigan has only one recruit due to a coaching change. Go through the rankings and I am sure nationally there are some other "Indiana's" with better smaller classes rated below Minnesota. I hope Ihnen lives up to his ranking he certainly seems like the gem of the class on paper but it also seems strange that he only visited TCU and Minnesota. I am cautious on him because of that. The other guys have one confirmed power 5 offer between them.

Are they getting a bump based on quantity? They have two Top 130 national recruits. MN ranked fourth in Big Ten with 3 commits which the database includes. Ranked BEHIND Minnesota is Nebraska with 5 commits, Purdue with 3 commits, Northwestern with 3 commits, etc. Gophers have two players in the Top 130. You can choose to discredit, but why don't we wait until they play a few games before we write novels disparaging them on a message board?
 
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