BREAKING: Elijah Hawkins to transfer

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EasyThere Pilgrim said:
It's confusing. Actually, it's nonsensical.

The bottom line with sports fans continues to be, NO MATTER WHAT:

Win and the coach is a genius. Even if he's handed a loaded pre-paid team on a silver platter.

Lose and the coach is a bum. Even if the entire team is bought & bribed-away right out from under him.
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Who identified a certain point guard in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, despite his being too small and unproven at the high-major level?

Oh. That's right.

The coach that clearly knows nothing about basketball.

Now that he's been seen playing at the high-major level, he's a commodity. Odd, that.
 

touchdownvikings said:
Who identified a certain point guard in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, despite his being too small and unproven at the high-major level?
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Yes, he deserves credit for that but it should also be noted that we got a commitment from Hawkins after failing to land Claudell Harris, Latrell Wrightsell, and Charles Pride so I don't think Elijah was one of his top choices for that last scholarship. If he gets credit for Hawkins, well then, he gets something a little different for identifying these talents:

Charlie Daniels
Danny Ogele
Taurus Samuels
Jack Wilson
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Yes, he deserves credit for that but it should also be noted that we got a commitment from Hawkins after failing to land Claudell Harris, Latrell Wrightsell, and Charles Pride so I don't think Elijah was one of his top choices for that last scholarship. If he gets credit for Hawkins, well then, he gets something a little different for identifying these talents:

Charlie Daniels
Danny Ogele
Taurus Samuels
Jack Wilson
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I mean in fairness to pretty much every coach in this transfer portal insanity I am sure they all have some hits and some misses.

Overall I would say Johnson has had more hits than misses with the players he has brought in from the portal. Main issue is trying to keep any sort of roster continuity from year to year. Some of that is certainly on Johnson but a lot of it is a by product of the craziness that has seen nearly 2000 players enter the transfer portal this season after some 1700 did so last year as well. 3500-4000 college basketball players switching teams over the past 2 seasons. That is just ridiculous on every level.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
Yes, he deserves credit for that but it should also be noted that we got a commitment from Hawkins after failing to land Claudell Harris, Latrell Wrightsell, and Charles Pride so I don't think Elijah was one of his top choices for that last scholarship. If he gets credit for Hawkins, well then, he gets something a little different for identifying these talents:

Charlie Daniels
Danny Ogele
Taurus Samuels
Jack Wilson
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LOL. But thank you for another perfect example of fan logic.

My guess is that it's delusion. Limited to fandom. And not a lack of intelligence that affects all areas. Hopefully 😳.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I mean in fairness to pretty much every coach in this transfer portal insanity I am sure they all have some hits and some misses.

Overall I would say Johnson has had more hits than misses with the players he has brought in from the portal. Main issue is trying to keep any sort of roster continuity from year to year. Some of that is certainly on Johnson but a lot of it is a by product of the craziness that has seen nearly 2000 players enter the transfer portal this season after some 1700 did so last year as well. 3500-4000 college basketball players switching teams over the past 2 seasons. That is just ridiculous on every level.
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Yes, I can't disagree with that.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Main issue is trying to keep any sort of roster continuity from year to year. Some of that is certainly on Johnson but a lot of it is a by product of the craziness that has seen nearly 2000 players enter the transfer portal this season after some 1700 did so last year as well. 3500-4000 college basketball players switching teams over the past 2 seasons. That is just ridiculous on every level.
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How is Payne, Hawkins, & Christie (and I wouldn't doubt Garcia) leaving IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM on Johnson??
 

MNVCGUY said:
I mean in fairness to pretty much every coach in this transfer portal insanity I am sure they all have some hits and some misses.

Overall I would say Johnson has had more hits than misses with the players he has brought in from the portal. Main issue is trying to keep any sort of roster continuity from year to year. Some of that is certainly on Johnson but a lot of it is a by product of the craziness that has seen nearly 2000 players enter the transfer portal this season after some 1700 did so last year as well. 3500-4000 college basketball players switching teams over the past 2 seasons. That is just ridiculous on every level.
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2021-2022:

Hits: Willis, Battle, Loewe, Stephens, Fox, Sutherlin. Misses: Ogele, Daniels. (6/2)

2022-2023:

Hits: Garcia. Misses: Samuel; Neutral: Cooper (1/1)

2023-2024:

Hits: Hawkins, Mitchell. Miss: Wilson. (2/1)

Overall 9/4.

The bigger issue has been the non-transfer recruits. Thiam, Treyton Thompson, Henley, Keinys, Betts were all misses and JOJ and Carrington bailed before providing significant value. Christie and Payne are his two best recruits. One is gone and the other has a foot out the door.
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
Between him and Pilgrim, all you see is people complaining about them. I cannot understand the force that causes other seemingly normal posters to insist on continuing this. Put them on ignore or just don't respond. The place will be better for everyone.
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I’ve resisted putting MPLS on ignore so I can check in on the one in ten posts he makes that contributes something rational and helpful to the board. Pilgrim has been in the auto delete pile for quite some time.

It’s easy to scroll through mpls pissing matches without reading or participating.
 




howeda7 said:
2021-2022:

Hits: Willis, Battle, Loewe, Stephens, Fox, Sutherlin. Misses: Ogele, Daniels. (6/2)

2022-2023:

Hits: Garcia. Misses: Samuel; Neutral: Cooper (1/1)

2023-2024:

Hits: Hawkins, Mitchell. Miss: Wilson. (2/1)

Overall 9/4.

The bigger issue has been the non-transfer recruits. Thiam, Treyton Thompson, Henley, Keinys, Betts were all misses and JOJ and Carrington bailed before providing significant value. Christie and Payne are his two best recruits. One is gone and the other has a foot out the door.
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I would consider Cooper a hit, he had his flaws but if his supporting cast could have made shots more consistently he would have put up some insane assist numbers.

To your part about recruits. Thompson was a dud but he wasn't Johnson's fault as he was already committed before the coaching change.

Too early to call Betts a miss. If he doesn't do anything in 24/25 then it will probably be time to consider him a bust/miss.

If Christie leaves for the NBA it is tough to view that as any kind of negative towards recruiting. Goal is to find talented players, he clearly found one in Christie.

Thiam and Keinys were busts

Payne was a recruiting win and in the past would have been a guy we could count on to stick around and continue his development here....but in this current era a starter on a Big Ten team can be lured away by someone able to pay more money.

Henley, JOJ, and Carrington are guys who in the old days would have stuck around and provided depth as all can play some but now those are the kind of players make up a big portion of the roughly 2000 players in the portal looking for new homes as opposed to staying and working at the place they committed to.
 

Holy Man said:
I’ve resisted putting MPLS on ignore so I can check in on the one in ten posts he makes that contributes something rational and helpful to the board. Pilgrim has been in the auto delete pile for quite some time.

It’s easy to scroll through mpls pissing matches without reading or participating.
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I've resisted as i often enjoy seeing him get counter punched.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I would consider Cooper a hit, he had his flaws but if his supporting cast could have made shots more consistently he would have put up some insane assist numbers.

To your part about recruits. Thompson was a dud but he wasn't Johnson's fault as he was already committed before the coaching change.

Too early to call Betts a miss. If he doesn't do anything in 24/25 then it will probably be time to consider him a bust/miss.

If Christie leaves for the NBA it is tough to view that as any kind of negative towards recruiting. Goal is to find talented players, he clearly found one in Christie.

Thiam and Keinys were busts

Payne was a recruiting win and in the past would have been a guy we could count on to stick around and continue his development here....but in this current era a starter on a Big Ten team can be lured away by someone able to pay more money.

Henley, JOJ, and Carrington are guys who in the old days would have stuck around and provided depth as all can play some but now those are the kind of players make up a big portion of the roughly 2000 players in the portal looking for new homes as opposed to staying and working at the place they committed to.
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Cooper wasn't terrible but disappointing relative to expectations, that's why it was a neutral to me.

On Thompson, if Ben gets a pass on year one because everyone left, he doesn't also get a pass on who he chose to keep. FWIW, Thompson deserved more playing time when he was here, he wasn't unplayable.

If Thiam and Keinys are busts after one year of providing nothing, so is Betts. Can he change that? Sure. But as of now, he's in the same spot as the other two.

Another issue is that we got Battle and Garcia in part because we were the only "free transfer" option they had. That's no longer true. Do they pick MN under the transfer rules we have now?
 

howeda7 said:
Cooper wasn't terrible but disappointing relative to expectations, that's why it was a neutral to me.

On Thompson, if Ben gets a pass on year one because everyone left, he doesn't also get a pass on who he chose to keep. FWIW, Thompson deserved more playing time when he was here, he wasn't unplayable.

If Thiam and Keinys are busts after one year of providing nothing, so is Betts. Can he change that? Sure. But as of now, he's in the same spot as the other two.

Another issue is that we got Battle and Garcia in part because we were the only "free transfer" option they had. That's no longer true. Do they pick MN under the transfer rules we have now?
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Agree to disagree on Cooper

Thompson was a 7 footer who wanted to shoot 3s. He might not have been unplayable but he was worthless for the role the team needed him to play. If I remember right Thompson's LOI was already signed by the time Johnson was hired. I guess he could have chosen to dump him but he had little to nothing to do with bringing him to Minnesota.

Thiam and Keinys are busts because they provided nothing and are now gone. Betts is still on the roster and has a chance to be a part of the rotation in the up coming season. To me that qualifies as too early to call him a bust. His first year was different then a lot of other guys because he reclassified. He was just the age of a true freshman last season, he is still very young and it is too early to give up on him. To me this puts Betts in a different category than those other two.

Don't see value in speculating on what would have happened with Garcia and Battle if they were transfers now as opposed to when they came out...maybe they come here....maybe they don't....we have no way of knowing.
 



howeda7 said:
Cooper wasn't terrible but disappointing relative to expectations, that's why it was a neutral to me.

On Thompson, if Ben gets a pass on year one because everyone left, he doesn't also get a pass on who he chose to keep. FWIW, Thompson deserved more playing time when he was here, he wasn't unplayable.

If Thiam and Keinys are busts after one year of providing nothing, so is Betts. Can he change that? Sure. But as of now, he's in the same spot as the other two.

Another issue is that we got Battle and Garcia in part because we were the only "free transfer" option they had. That's no longer true. Do they pick MN under the transfer rules we have now?
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Pretty sure Battle not in the limited options category. Garcia was for sure.
 

howeda7 said:
2021-2022:

Hits: Willis, Battle, Loewe, Stephens, Fox, Sutherlin. Misses: Ogele, Daniels. (6/2)

2022-2023:

Hits: Garcia. Misses: Samuel; Neutral: Cooper (1/1)

2023-2024:

Hits: Hawkins, Mitchell. Miss: Wilson. (2/1)

Overall 9/4.

The bigger issue has been the non-transfer recruits. Thiam, Treyton Thompson, Henley, Keinys, Betts were all misses and JOJ and Carrington bailed before providing significant value. Christie and Payne are his two best recruits. One is gone and the other has a foot out the door.
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I would say that Wilson was not even a swing...practice dude
 

Gopherbbdude said:
I would say that Wilson was not even a swing...practice dude
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We got what was expected. If the players ahead of him on the bench were better he would not be the subject of bizarre fascination and criticism on this board. Every team has a 13th or 14th player on it. He was ours.
 


touchdownvikings said:
Who identified a certain point guard in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, despite his being too small and unproven at the high-major level?

Oh. That's right.

The coach that clearly knows nothing about basketball.

Now that he's been seen playing at the high-major level, he's a commodity. Odd, that.
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And, he coached him into being less reckless and TO prone.
 

GFBfan said:
And, he coached him into being less reckless and TO prone.
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Look at the entire body of work... Who's been here for more than one season and progressed under Ben.... Carrington not really, Joj not really, Payne not really, battle nope, Garcia maaaaaybe a little but nahh.. fox... He got everything he can outta him and I'm glad he's back glad Garcia is back as well

If a school gets to rent a player on yearly basis that coach better develop them a ton more than what Ben has done... A good coach may not be able to retain everyone but he will put them in positions to succeed... We had a tourny team last year... Ben and his weak ass non con and shitty coaching cost us a NCAA birth.... I'll die on that hill
 


Holy Man said:
We got what was expected. If the players ahead of him on the bench were better he would not be the subject of bizarre fascination and criticism on this board. Every team has a 13th or 14th player on it. He was ours.
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Wilson was our 10th guy basically all year, Ramberg and Reader were the 13th and 14th, Wilson was brought in to be our backup center and he was basically unplayable, huge miss especially with Payne's back issues this season. A quality backup there would have gone a long way this year.
 
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GopherBlood777 said:
Wilson was our 10th guy basically all year, Ramberg and Reader were the 13th and 14th, Wilson was brought in to be our backup center and he was basically unplayable, huge mess especially with Paynes back issues this season. A quality backup there would have gone a long way this year.
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This. I don't think anyone has an issue with the 13th scholarship being a walk-on. But when #12 is Keiyns who never plays and 11 is Betts who never plays and #10 is Wilson who never plays it's a problem.
 


howeda7 said:
This. I don't think anyone has an issue with the 13th scholarship being a walk-on. But when #12 is Keiyns who never plays and 11 is Betts who never plays and #10 is Wilson who never plays it's a problem.
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......and #9 is Ihnen who never plays and #8 is JOJ who they stopped playing.

Truthfully, the team was pretty healthy last year too. Depth really gets exposed when you have injuries.
 




Dsigma42 said:
I’m calling it right now, Hawkins will commit to Texas Tech. I posted this earlier as well. This was his primary offer. His uncle has connections at Texas Tech and he is getting a very good NIL deal.
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Who's funding bil NIL for Texas Tech basketball?
 

Dsigma42 said:
I’m calling it right now, Hawkins will commit to Texas Tech. I posted this earlier as well. This was his primary offer. His uncle has connections at Texas Tech and he is getting a very good NIL deal.
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There we go, back on track
 


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