Former Champlain Park G Josiah Strong in the portal

How dare you!
Maybe it's all this real corn likker we have up in these hills of east tn... But I'm serious.. a roster of freaking cast off MN kids will not do shit..
Again a marathon... And I guess you build it how ya gotta... But man.... I see everyone on these MN kids jocks.... Go get the best freaking talent...
 

Maybe it's all this real corn likker we have up in these hills of east tn... But I'm serious.. a roster of freaking cast off MN kids will not do shit..
Again a marathon... And I guess you build it how ya gotta... But man.... I see everyone on these MN kids jocks.... Go get the best freaking talent...
Patience grasshopper. I am sure that Johnson is not looking exclusively at bringing former MN preps home. The only ones touting this idea are the fans here who seem to think that this is the only chance that anyone would transfer here. Over half of the transfers from last year were not MN kids nor had any connection to MN.
 


Patience grasshopper. I am sure that Johnson is not looking exclusively at bringing former MN preps home. The only ones touting this idea are the fans here who seem to think that this is the only chance that anyone would transfer here. Over half of the transfers from last year were not MN kids nor had any connection to MN.
Patience grasshopper. I am sure that Johnson is not looking exclusively at bringing former MN preps home. The only ones touting this idea are the fans here who seem to think that this is the only chance that anyone would transfer here. Over half of the transfers from last year were not MN kids nor had any connection to MN.
It was pretty damn close to 50%
 

Was going to say something about provincialism, but also thought, "where the hell is Michael Jones?"
That is all 5 starters and 10 of the 13 players on the roster from this state. Honestly appears like a 1950's roster.
I'm just here to start the annual rosterbating.
 



For transfer SGs, I would love:

Josiah Strong: 1-year player, proven volume 3-pt shooter from a solid conference, and looks to have a decent handle (Willis levels, at least)?

Either Walton/Jones (but not both): a 2-year player who can shoot and also helps balance out the classes. I probably have a stronger lean towards Jones as he supposedly was a solid defender while the verdict is still out on Kerwin.

There is plenty of room to work Carrington and Henley into the guard rotation, who I think will immediately contribute in small doses but with room to grow.

Then get a true PG and Garcia, and things are looking up for 2022/2023. A good mix of "win now" and "build towards the future."
Has Walton entered the portal ?
 


Patience grasshopper. I am sure that Johnson is not looking exclusively at bringing former MN preps home. The only ones touting this idea are the fans here who seem to think that this is the only chance that anyone would transfer here. Over half of the transfers from last year were not MN kids nor had any connection to MN.
But the really solid starters, Battle and Willis, had Minnesota connections. The concern isn't that he can't get kids from outside of Minnesota to come here, the concern is whether any that are good enough to start in the Big Ten will.
 



But the really solid starters, Battle and Willis, had Minnesota connections. The concern isn't that he can't get kids from outside of Minnesota to come here, the concern is whether any that are good enough to start in the Big Ten will.
I get you... I really do. But Stephens and Loewe held their own as starters in the conference both offensively and defensively against most teams. Ideally, they might have served as key reserves but they played team ball and were not liabilities. Daniels and Ogele did not perform as well as I had hoped inside and were not of B1G caliber.

Johnson needed to rely on familiarity in the first year yet still pulled in some guys from out of state. Now that he has a year under his belt and can show recruits how they fit into the vision, I expect to see him and the rest of the staff cast a wider net. One of the first tangible examples will be Jaden Henley who hopefully will sign next Wed.
 

I get you... I really do. But Stephens and Loewe held their own as starters in the conference both offensively and defensively against most teams. Ideally, they might have served as key reserves but they played team ball and were not liabilities. Daniels and Ogele did not perform as well as I had hoped inside and were not of B1G caliber.

Johnson needed to rely on familiarity in the first year yet still pulled in some guys from out of state. Now that he has a year under his belt and can show recruits how they fit into the vision, I expect to see him and the rest of the staff cast a wider net. One of the first tangible examples will be Jaden Henley who hopefully will sign next Wed.
I am not saying he can't. I am saying that there is a concern that he can't. I like coach Ben, but let's face it, coming in here with no track record of winning, no track record as a head coach at a Big Ten University that hasn't had a sniff for years....the deck is stacked against him heavily. I think he can succeed but this is a big moment. We need to have a much better class and a very promising year on the court or the job only gets tougher.
 




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