Davonte Fitzgerald Transfers to University of Minnesota

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shaggith

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Per Evan Daniels,

"Davonte Fitzgerald signed with Minnesota & Richard Pitino today, per a source. Transfer from Texas A&M."

"Davonte Fitzgerald, who picked Minnesota over UConn, ASU, Nevada, Tulane, Richmond, & Cal, will redshirt then have two years of eligibility."

Anybody know anything about him?
 

Puzzling. Not available next year obviously, fills a role in which we will have a significant amount of talent already in place and are currently recruiting a stud at the exact same spot (edit: unless we are selling heavily to Amir that he will play the 1 or 2 position, which is very likely)....

Very likely someone Pitino recruited while in his prior gig... He's from Georgia.

Edit:

 

Bio per A&M's site:

Played in 25 games, drawing two starts, as a sophomore … averaged 9.6 minutes per contest, scoring 88 points (3.5 per game) and pulling down 40 rebounds (1.6 per game) … also contributed five blocked shots, four assists and three steals … shot 32.6 percent from the floor and 30.2 percent from 3-point range … approached a double-double in the season-opening win over Northwestern State (11/14), finishing with nine points and nine rebounds … contributed seven points with three blocked shots against New Orleans (11/28) … scored a season-best 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting (2-of-6 from 3-point range) during a win over Mercer (12/30) … drew his first starting assignment against Hartford (1/3), scoring four points in 16 minutes … also made the start against Alabama (3/7), finishing with six points … contributed seven points in 13 minutes against Auburn during the SEC Tournament (3/12).

http://www.12thman.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209222453

Go Gophers!!
 




Here's an old piece on him fromhis freshman year (NBC Sports)


Texas A&M forward Davonte Fitzgerald suffers season-ending knee injury
Raphielle Johnson Feb 13, 2014, 4:21 PM EDT

AP
Freshman forward Davonte Fitzgerald has been one of the bright spots this season for Texas A&M, as he averaged 7.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in just under 16 minutes of action per contest. And on Wednesday in the Aggies’ win over LSU the Atlanta native got off to a hot start, scoring 11 points and grabbing three rebounds in nine minutes of the playing time.

Unfortunately Fitzgerald suffered a knee injury late in the first half, and on Thursday the school announced that he will miss the remainder of the 2013-14 season as a result. In SEC play Fitzgerald averaged 8.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, with his best offensive performance being a 20-point outing in a loss at Mississippi State on January 18.

Texas A&M has just one player, junior guard Jamal Jones (12.3 ppg), averaging double figures this season with six other members of the rotation averaging between 6.0 (Shawn Smith) and 9.8 (Kourtney Roberson) points per game. Without Fitzgerald in the fold Texas A&M will need to account for the resulting loss in offensive production as a group, with forward Antwan Space and guard Fabyon Harris (who averaged 12.0 ppg last season) among the options to provide assistance in this regard.

After losing five straight SEC games Billy Kennedy’s team has won two of its last three, and they visit Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon.

Perhaps Pitino thinks he has some big upside and hopes a year of additional recovery from the knee issue and time to develop is what he needs. That said- this is an unusual pickup with Coffey's recruitment pending. Lot's of 6-6 to 6-7 guys coming in with Hurt, Gilbert, Murphy and now Fitzgerald. I have to think this just about eliminates talk of Lofton coming back.
 



Picking up A&M scraps, a good recipe for success is the Big Ten.....

Pitino has mismanaged this roster since he's shown up. Can a Pitino lover explain why any of us should have an ounce of faith in this program?
 



bga1 said:
Here's an old piece on him fromhis freshman year (NBC Sports) Texas A&M forward Davonte Fitzgerald suffers season-ending knee injury Raphielle Johnson Feb 13, 2014, 4:21 PM EDT AP Freshman forward Davonte Fitzgerald has been one of the bright spots this season for Texas A&M, as he averaged 7.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in just under 16 minutes of action per contest. And on Wednesday in the Aggies’ win over LSU the Atlanta native got off to a hot start, scoring 11 points and grabbing three rebounds in nine minutes of the playing time. Unfortunately Fitzgerald suffered a knee injury late in the first half, and on Thursday the school announced that he will miss the remainder of the 2013-14 season as a result. In SEC play Fitzgerald averaged 8.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, with his best offensive performance being a 20-point outing in a loss at Mississippi State on January 18. Texas A&M has just one player, junior guard Jamal Jones (12.3 ppg), averaging double figures this season with six other members of the rotation averaging between 6.0 (Shawn Smith) and 9.8 (Kourtney Roberson) points per game. Without Fitzgerald in the fold Texas A&M will need to account for the resulting loss in offensive production as a group, with forward Antwan Space and guard Fabyon Harris (who averaged 12.0 ppg last season) among the options to provide assistance in this regard. After losing five straight SEC games Billy Kennedy’s team has won two of its last three, and they visit Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon. Perhaps Pitino thinks he has some big upside and hopes a year of additional recovery from the knee issue and time to develop is what he needs. That said- this is an unusual pickup with Coffey's recruitment pending. Lot's of 6-6 to 6-7 guys coming in with Hurt, Gilbert, Murphy and now Fitzgerald. I have to think this just about eliminates talk of Lofton coming back.
Click to expand...

It seems Pitino does really covet those 6-6 or 6-7 guys like that.

And someone mentioned above, Amir wants to play PG. Not sure Pitino is promising that, but if he is none of these guys hurt that.

I get people would rather wait on Coffey, etc. but Pitino has to get talent in here. He can't just wait for Amir and hope he commits. If he doesn't then you are screwed.
 

I know NOTHING about this kid but it seems to be a very surprising addition to the club considering the way our current roster is constructed. Maybe trying to balance out the scholarships? I would've rather used it on a local prospect that we take a flyer on but what do I know. I'll just put on my Maroon & Gold and hope for the best...
 

scher215 said:
I get people would rather wait on Coffey, etc. but Pitino has to get talent in here. He can't just wait for Amir and hope he commits. If he doesn't then you are screwed.
Click to expand...

Would a talented player get relegated to the bench at SEC powerhouse Texas A&M. I'm all for bringing in talent, this is obviously not the case.
 

sonnygarcia said:
Picking up A&M scraps, a good recipe for success is the Big Ten.....

Pitino has mismanaged this roster since he's shown up. Can a Pitino lover explain why any of us should have an ounce of faith in this program?
Click to expand...
The only SF we have on our roster with actually NCAA experience is Carlos Morris, who will be gone after this year. After that, we only have true freshman who can play the 3 (I guess you can include Buggs here too?).

Maybe Pitino wants someone who can come in and bring somewhat of a veteran experience.
 



sonnygarcia said:
Would a talented player get relegated to the bench at SEC powerhouse Texas A&M. I'm all for bringing in talent, this is obviously not the case.
Click to expand...

He tore his ACL and was recovering from his injury last season.
 

I'm sorry to say, but I'm having trouble understanding the urgency to grab this guy at this time. On the other hand, if we beat out the likes of UConn and Cal, maybe Pitino is on to something.

I do think that if this negatively impacts our chances with Amir or any other high major 2016 target that this is a serious miscalculation. I guess my main thought is- let's just slow down.. we have plenty to work with for next year, why not wait for things to materialize with 2016 targets this fall and next spring. Where's the fire?
 

Lakers612 said:
The only SF we have on our roster with actually NCAA experience is Carlos Morris, who will be gone after this year. After that, we only have true freshman who can play the 3 (I guess you can include Buggs here too?).

Maybe Pitino wants someone who can come in and bring somewhat of a veteran experience.
Click to expand...

We have Murphy and Gilbert, hope to land Coffey. That is a potential logjam at the 3. Fitzgerald is talented enough to help the team, but I'm still struggling to understand what Pitino thinks is going to happen this year with the worst frontcourt in high major basketball.
 

Oh, no! Pitino is bringing in too many versatile 6'7" athletes that make it really tough to match up! Our 2-3 zone could end up being Syracuse-like! Anything but that!
 

FWIW, Amir and his father have said all along he wants to play PG in college. Recruiting a SF doesn't create a log jam unless Pitino is hoping to convince him he can't play point.
 

sonnygarcia said:
Picking up A&M scraps, a good recipe for success is the Big Ten.....

Pitino has mismanaged this roster since he's shown up. Can a Pitino lover explain why any of us should have an ounce of faith in this program?
Click to expand...

Welcome to my ignore list.
 


My last $0.02, Pitino wants to play fast and get steals. That means lots of depth and lots of athletes.

I think we all saw last year how quickly depth can vanish.
 

Plus people are talking about him as being a good/decent shooter. Can never have too many of those.
 

jwhoops said:
We have Murphy and Gilbert, hope to land Coffey. That is a potential logjam at the 3. Fitzgerald is talented enough to help the team, but I'm still struggling to understand what Pitino thinks is going to happen this year with the worst frontcourt in high major basketball.
Click to expand...

Looking beyond this upcoming season...

Maybe Pitino is confident in Gaston Diedou playing the 5 behind Kanote and Lynch.

Then we have Murphy, Gilbert, and Fitzgerald who can play the 3 and 4.

Dupree McBrayer can play the 2 and 3.

Then we got Mason, Dorsey, J. Johnson who can play the 1 and 2.

Is that not a fairly balanced roster? Sure, it is small, but it's not like the logjam is that big.
 

Lakers612 said:
Looking beyond this upcoming season... Maybe Pitino is confident in Gaston Diedou playing the 5 behind Kanote and Lynch. Then we have Murphy, Gilbert, and Fitzgerald who can play the 3 and 4. Dupree McBrayer can play the 2 and 3. Then we got Mason, Dorsey, J. Johnson who can play the 1 and 2. Is that not a fairly balanced roster? Sure, it is small, but it's not like the logjam is that big.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And I've seen this talked about more in the NBA, but I think it applies here too. The more players you have who can play multiple positions the better. It gives you far more freedom as a coach to throw out different looks and manage depth.
 

The A&M fans seem to think he has untapped potential. They have a ton of talent coming in next year so it seemed like Fitz wanted a change of scenery. Amir will play the 1/2 for us, not the 3. This does not affect him. I think Pitino wants to go deep into the post season in 2016. At that time he'll be adding transfer vets in Lynch and Fitz and hopefully the huge freshman class will be seasoned enough to make that big run.

2016 Roster:

Ball Handling Guards
Dorsey
Mason
Jarvis
McBrayer
[Amir?]

Wings/Combo Forwards
Buggs
Gilbert
Murphy
Fitzgerald
Hurt

Centers
Lynch
Konate
Gaston

I actually love that roster.
 



MadtownGopher said:
The A&M fans seem to think he has untapped potential. They have a ton of talent coming in next year so it seemed like Fitz wanted a change of scenery. Amir will play the 1/2 for us, not the 3. This does not affect him. I think Pitino wants to go deep into the post season in 2016. At that time he'll be adding transfer vets in Lynch and Fitz and hopefully the huge freshman class will be seasoned enough to make that big run.

2016 Roster:

Ball Handling Guards
Dorsey
Mason
Jarvis
McBrayer
[Amir?]

Wings/Combo Forwards
Buggs
Gilbert
Murphy
Fitzgerald
Hurt

Centers
Lynch
Konate
Gaston

I actually love that roster.
Click to expand...
yep. very balanced.

you did a better job articulating what i was trying to say
 

sonnygarcia said:
Would a talented player get relegated to the bench at SEC powerhouse Texas A&M. I'm all for bringing in talent, this is obviously not the case.
Click to expand...

Texas A&M has a top ten class coming in, recovering from knee surgery this might be a good move for Minnesota and Fitzgerald, hate to have two players sitting on the bench not eligible though, also means no chance Nwankwo gets things straightened out and comes back.
 

Class Make Up (eligibility wise)

Seniors:
Carlos Morris
Joey King

Juniors:
Charles Buggs

Sophomores:
Nate Mason
Bakary Konate
Gaston Diedhiou
Reggie Lynch (RS-Transfer)
Davonte Fitzgerald (RS-Transfer)

Freshmen:
Kevin Dorsey
Jarvis Johnson
Dupree McBrayer
Ahmad Gilbert
Jorday Murphy

2016:
Michael Hurt
 

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