All Things 2014 Basketball Recruiting Thread

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Jon said:
Math can kill >>
Ellenson averaged 6.9 minutes in the games he played <><> over the season of 38 games his average per game would be <> 62 minutes / 38 games = 1.6 minutes per game...

Austin played in all 38 games so his season average is correct>> careful not to mix apples and oranges I guess...

Buggs 107 / 38 = 2.8 minutes
McNeil 293 / 38 = 7.7 minutes
Osenieks 569 / 38 =14.9 minutes

2013-14 Team Totals as of Thu, Apr 03, 2014
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/minn/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2013-14/stats/season_stats.pdf
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Math can kill…but it doesn't change my point…we have very few minutes that we can't replace with what we have coming in…really we have much more coming in than we have leaving. So the point still is…we will be better next year even if we have only 5 guards playing.
 

Pretty sure it happened at least twice. For being as tall as he is, he certainly had his jump shot blocked on a high percentage of his attempts.

Cayman said:
I'm pretty sure I've seen you mention this like three or four different times. I don't even remember this happening, did it happen a lot when he was in? Just by how few minutes he played I can't imagine it happened all that much. The only on-court Wally moment that sticks in my mind was a reverse dunk he did that was pretty cool.
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Marcus Q&A:

Not much is known about recruits Bakary Konate and Gaston Diedhiou because they're from overseas, so how much evaluating did you guys do before signing them?

It's hard for you guys to find out about them, but it doesn't mean that they're not good enough. Bakary didn't play for his team this season. I saw him in the fall when I was recruiting another kid, and I loved him. He's got great potential. He plays hard. He's actually not as raw as you would think. He loves the game. As we move forward, it's important with any guys we bring in that they have great potential. (Diedhiou) went to a place (Canarias Basketball Academy in the Canary Islands) that produced a lot of good big men. We went out there and watched him and liked his potential.

Are you planning to redshirt Konate or Diedhiou?

I haven't made that decision yet. I have no idea. I would never bring a kid in with mind-set to redshirt him. I'm open to it.

How much did you find out about Illinois State transfer Zach Lofton as to why he was suspended there before leaving?

I'm good friends with the coach at Illinois State (Dan Muller). We spoke about everything because he was in the SEC with me when I was at Florida.

Lofton's got great potential. He wants to be a Gopher. This has been his dream growing up, so I'm excited about it. Sometimes your path doesn't always take you directly there. But I think he has potential to be a really good player. He's a scorer. He's got size. The one thing in the Big Ten that stands out more than anything is just the size of guards, like of Wisconsin's guards. They're so big. We have to do our best to get bigger and stronger.

http://www.twincities.com/gophers/ci_25784748/gophers-basketball-i-want-build-something-special-here

Go Gophers!!
 

Justin Martin graduated today. I'm thinking we should hear some news on that front in the next week. Saw a rumor that he is considering playing overseas instead of using his last year of eligibility. Also read a rumor that Uconn, Purdue and Minnesota were teams that were interested in him. Who the hell knows, I just hope we hear some news on that front soon so we can put it to rest.
 





bc2211 said:
Not sure how they do it at Xavier, but at UMN, you walk before your final grades are in. So while I chuckled at your style, this isn't any more definitive.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Final grades were due on the 13th for Xavier.
 




We should not have trouble replacing Oto's minute at PF, because he was really a SF playing PF only out of extreme need. (He did it a lot better than I thought he could, so hats off to him.) The real issue is Austin's minutes, and particularly his defense, rebounding and general court awareness and lack of dumb mistakes. He was a solid guy and leader out there every night.
 

More Q&A from Marcus and Pitino...I like his comment to Mason!

How big of an adjustment will it be for foreign born recruits Bakary Konate (Mali) and Gaston Diedhiou (Senegal)?

Personally, as well as culturally, it’s going to be different for them. That’s why you’ve got to be patient. You’ve always got to be patient with big kids, too. You look at a guy like Mo Walker, who hadn’t made any impact his first couple years. Last year, he got into great shape and made an impact, as well as Elliott Eliason. In my ideal world, I’d like to bring in a big guy in each class every year and develop them, because there are not a lot of ready-made big guys out there.

Is there another player besides junior college transfer Carlos Morris in the 2014 recruiting class who you think could help you right away?

It’s too early to tell right now to be honest. Nate Mason texted me (last week), and said, ‘Coach, what do I need to work on?’ I told him, ‘You need to work on everything. You’re a freshman’. So I don’t know until we get to working with them every single day. I’ll have a better gauge of that in the fall.

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers/2014/05/18/gophers-basketball-richard-pitino/

Go Gophers!!
 

WanderingGopher said:
May 13, Final Grades were due at Xavier today. Commencement is on Saturday. Still radio silence on the Justin Martin front, no additional rumors.

Yes, we all understand that we have no open scholarships at present, but I have a hard time believing we are going to enter the 2014 season with only 5 players covering 3 positions on the court, while we would have 4 power forwards and 3 centers on the roster (with the 13th player being Lofton redshirting).
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FWIW, Buggs tweeted tonight that he can't wait to get back to Minnesota to start summer workouts, and "it's going to be a big summer for Minnesota basketball."
 

WanderingGopher said:
FWIW, Buggs tweeted tonight that he can't wait to get back to Minnesota to start summer workouts, and "it's going to be a big summer for Minnesota basketball."
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It's hard not to like Charles Buggs. What if we just embraced the dude instead of talking about replacing the dude?
 



Bad Gopher said:
It's hard not to like Charles Buggs. What if we just embraced the dude instead of talking about replacing the dude?
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GH is incapable of operating in the logical middle ground often refereed to as common sense. If you recall, one Charles Buggs, went off for almost 15 points in extended playing time and GH praised him as the next big thing. Cooler heads were stoned to death and a new legend was born. Since Charles has been unable to reproduce that spark GH interest has waned to a point in which he too shall be stoned to death by the same people that lifted him to the skies just 3 short months ago. It truly is one of the great tragedies of our time.

And what did Charles do to deserve such unfair treatment? He never beat his chest asking to be made "the man", nor did he try and be a non factor for large stints of the season. Charles is the epitome of class and great teammate and half this board has him penciled off the roster even for next year. To those who hate, I say wait. Charles will rise again, perhaps to a lesser height than he once touched, however, it shall be bittersweet and enjoyable to all those who had the common sense approach the whole time.
 

Opinion or Hatred

Winasota Gopher said:
GH is incapable of operating in the logical middle ground often refereed to as common sense. If you recall, one Charles Buggs, went off for almost 15 points in extended playing time and GH praised him as the next big thing. Cooler heads were stoned to death and a new legend was born. Since Charles has been unable to reproduce that spark GH interest has waned to a point in which he too shall be stoned to death by the same people that lifted him to the skies just 3 short months ago. It truly is one of the great tragedies of our time.

And what did Charles do to deserve such unfair treatment? He never beat his chest asking to be made "the man", nor did he try and be a non factor for large stints of the season. Charles is the epitome of class and great teammate and half this board has him penciled off the roster even for next year. To those who hate, I say wait. Charles will rise again, perhaps to a lesser height than he once touched, however, it shall be bittersweet and enjoyable to all those who had the common sense approach the whole time.
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Since when does a common sense opinion become hatred? Coach P. offered a scholarship to the Allen kid from Texas, when none were officially available. Is it hatred to offer an opinion on whose scholarship that may be? Some on this board are much too quick to accuse those with differing opinions of hatred. Those who cry wolf, may well have to decide shortly who they support. Our young coach, or the player losing the scholarship.
 

howieramone said:
Since when does a common sense opinion become hatred? Coach P. offered a scholarship to the Allen kid from Texas, when none were officially available. Is it hatred to offer an opinion on whose scholarship that may be? Some on this board are much to quick to accuse those with differing opinions of hatred. Those who cry wolf, may well have to decide shortly who they support. Our young coach, or the player losing the scholarship.
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I wonder if the offer wasn't extended prior to Konate committing, I just can't see someone being forced out about the time school is getting out. I just don't think it would be conducive to future recruiting to force someone out that late in the game.
 

Fwiw I personally think Buggs ceiling is high. He's got a lot of athleticism, I think the coaches are excited about that. That being said I have no idea what the plans are for him moving forward, but I suspect he continues as a Gopher. I hope to see strides from him by next season
 

howieramone said:
Since when does a common sense opinion become hatred? Coach P. offered a scholarship to the Allen kid from Texas, when none were officially available. Is it hatred to offer an opinion on whose scholarship that may be? Some on this board are much too quick to accuse those with differing opinions of hatred. Those who cry wolf, may well have to decide shortly who they support. Our young coach, or the player losing the scholarship.
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Guilty conscious brother? To think I almost posted earlier today I've enjoyed reading your posts as of late.... Then you go and do this...

I didn't name you, nor direct this post at you. The post you quoted was mostly tongue in cheek. By many accounts I would likely be in the "hater" category if the poll was taken 3 months ago on Buggs. I've never been too high, nor too low on him.
 

Bad Gopher said:
It's hard not to like Charles Buggs. What if we just embraced the dude instead of talking about replacing the dude?
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+1
Charles is a fun guy to have on the roster and he has the potential to become very good!
 

howieramone said:
Since when does a common sense opinion become hatred? Coach P. offered a scholarship to the Allen kid from Texas, when none were officially available. Is it hatred to offer an opinion on whose scholarship that may be? Some on this board are much too quick to accuse those with differing opinions of hatred. Those who cry wolf, may well have to decide shortly who they support. Our young coach, or the player losing the scholarship.
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I believe we had a couple guys who hadn't qualified (have they yet??) and who may not. After counting on Buckles last year, my guess is Coach Pitino was getting back ups in the event that they don't (didn't?) qualify (in this case, obviously Buckles was a transfer). If he didn't want Buggs on the team, my guess is Buggs wouldn't be on the team. If Pitino wants Buggs on the team, then I want Buggs on the team.
 

CoMn said:
I believe we had a couple guys who hadn't qualified (have they yet??) and who may not. After counting on Buckles last year, my guess is Coach Pitino was getting back ups in the event that they don't (didn't?) qualify (in this case, obviously Buckles was a transfer). If he didn't want Buggs on the team, my guess is Buggs wouldn't be on the team. If Pitino wants Buggs on the team, then I want Buggs on the team.
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Coach P. comes from Florida and Louisville, where players at the end of the bench are never too comfortable. With only Dre, McNeil, and Morris as wings, and Dre having an unspecified hip concern, I have no doubt Coach P. and staff will consider a wing who can help us in 2014. It's still a long time until school starts this fall.
 

howieramone said:
Coach P. comes from Florida and Louisville, where players at the end of the bench are never too comfortable. With only Dre, McNeil, and Morris as wings, and Dre having an unspecified hip concern, I have no doubt Coach P. and staff will consider a wing who can help us in 2014. It's still a long time until school starts this fall.
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Mason will probably play some at the 2 as well but I agree with you. One injury and the situation becomes very volatile. I wouldn't feel comfortable going into the season with 5 guys to play 3 positions.
 

I like Charles Buggs, great kid and very good athlete. However, no one on here has any idea if he can raise his game to a BigTen level. He shows all of the same issues Rodney had only double. Basically does not seem to have developed the instincts for the game someone at his age should have developed.
Can he? Not a clue. If Tubby was here I would say not a chance. With this staff, I have no idea and it would be interesting to know if they think he can.
 

corcoran1 said:
I like Charles Buggs, great kid and very good athlete. However, no one on here has any idea if he can raise his game to a BigTen level. He shows all of the same issues Rodney had only double. Basically does not seem to have developed the instincts for the game someone at his age should have developed.
Can he? Not a clue. If Tubby was here I would say not a chance. With this staff, I have no idea and it would be interesting to know if they think he can.
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Well not ALL of the same issues Rodney had. I'm fairly certain Buggs doesn't have an issue when it comes to his outside shot like Rodney did.
 

GoldenGopherFan said:
Well not ALL of the same issues Rodney had. I'm fairly certain Buggs doesn't have an issue when it comes to his outside shot like Rodney did.
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Although, his 3 PT percentage DID trend down at the very end of the year (from its previous 100%)
 


HOOP DREAMS said:
I'm not. He has 7 career three pointers.
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Ever since Buggs signed I was under the impression he was a good shooter for his size. I remember his high school highlights having many jumpers in it. Rodney would hesitate for 3 seconds when he was wide open on the 3 point line only to finally shoot it into the bottom of the rim or brick it off the backboard. By all means I hope Buggs can someday become a player near the level Rodney was his Jr and Sr year and Buggs has plenty of his own question marks but I don't think shooting is one of them. To me if he were a shooter of Rodney's caliber he would not have been shooting 3's as often as he was in his limited playing time or we would of saw Pitino become frustrated with his willingness to jack it up. Just my opinion
 

corcoran1 said:
I like Charles Buggs, great kid and very good athlete. However, no one on here has any idea if he can raise his game to a BigTen level. He shows all of the same issues Rodney had only double. Basically does not seem to have developed the instincts for the game someone at his age should have developed.
Can he? Not a clue. If Tubby was here I would say not a chance. With this staff, I have no idea and it would be interesting to know if they think he can.
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+1.
I personally think this staff will be better at player development, it seems to be a focus of the staff unlike Tubby's staff.
It Will be interesting to see how well they do at developing players moving forward.
 


I e-mailed Jeff Goodman regarding Justin Martin. He told me he spoke to Justin a few days ago and Justin said he didn't have a list of schools yet. Jeff said he was going to check again.
 

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