Future Gophers?

With the whole Royce White hub-bub dominating Gopher recruiting thoughts, I thought I'd take a minute to look at some possible Targets who are still out there for the team

2008:
PG Verdell Jones, Illinois, 30th ranked PG by Scout, Rivals #123 overall: Probably the best known of the names out there other than the two Minnesota kids for 2009, Verdell Jones has an offer from the Gophers. According to Scout, his choices are between Minnesota, Tennessee, and Kentucky - but his only offer is from the Gophers at this point. They also top his list. Jones is the second best point guard still available for 2008, and has taken visits to both the Gophers and Kentucky. The Volunteers just signed PG Daniel West, so that has to take them down a peg for Jones. All signs point to the Gophers leading to get his services.

C Krys Faber, Los Angeles, 23rd ranked C by Scout: Faber also has an offer from the Gophers, and is a big 6-10, 245 physical player. As of now, Scout has Minnesota at the top of his list along with Northern Illinois. He has visited both schools, and has an offer from each. Faber was well under the radar, but had a tremendous senior season and interest has picked up, with Notre Dame, St Johns, Baylor, Iowa, and even UCLA starting to show some interest.

C Steven Toyloy, Miami-Dade CC, 16th ranked Juco player by JuCo Junction: One other name for 2008 that I hadn't heard before is JuCo center Steven Toyloy, who led all junior college players in rebounding last year as a freshman with 13 per game at Miami-Dade. I was surprised to see that Minnesota has an offer out to him according to scout, along with West Virginia, Clemson, and Baylor - with UCONN in the mix as well. He is the 16th ranked JuCo player, but as referenced in this post, who the hell knows what that means. He sounds like a bit of a project, as his coach said, "He needs to continue to improve his footwork. His free throw shooting needs to get a little better and his overall skill development," Eisele said. "He has made great strides since high school and he is getting better day by day. He plays extremely hard and he has got a little bit of a mean streak in his game, which is always helpful with big kids" which sounds very projecty to me. apparently he's a great defender and rebounder, however.

2009
PF Royce White, Minneapolis, four stars from Scout, #32 overall from Rivals: If you're reading this, you probably already know about Royce so I'm not going to say much. I will say that I'm backing off a little from my whole "you are all idiots for saying we shouldn't recruit him anymore" stance, mainly because I was ignorant and ill-informed. I was unaware that this was White's second suspension, and I didn't know he had been a behavior problem all season. I'll trust in Tubby, but if he chooses to no longer go after Royce, I won't have a problem.

C DaShonte Riley, Detroit, #4 center by Scout, #13 overall by Rivals: Riley would absolutely be the best recruit the Gophers have gotten in a while. A 6-10 center who is a defensive monster. Averaged nine points, 12 rebounds, and 7 blocks per game as a junior. Needs to work on his offense a bit, but is a good enough player that besides the Gophers he also has offers from Florida, Georgetown, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, UCLA, and USC. If Tubby can pull Riley out of that group and get him to Minneapolis, a new era will truly have dawned at Williams Arena.

SG/SF Rodney Williams, Robbinsdale, #8 SF from Scout, #43 overall from Rivals: Williams is another guy you probably know about. He's been shooting up the charts and has offers from Minnesota, Iowa State, Kansas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Miami, and Purdue. Williams can flat out score, and if he qualifies academically - which my source indicates is no longer much of a concern - he would be a great signing for Minnesota.

One other interesting name out there for 2009 is Johnnie Lacy, a point guard from Milwaukee the Gophers have shown interest in, along with Wisconsin, Marquette, Cincinnati, and Tennessee. Not only is that just a sweet name, but to steal a Badger target and get him in Maroon and Gold would be a huge step in the right direction. Lacy is the #10 PG by Scout and is #88 overall by Rivals.

DaShonte Riley highlights below: