Sunday, August 24, 2014

Welcome aboard, Dupree McBrayer!

Richard Pitino added another to the class of 2015 over the weekend or late last week or whatever, with the hilariously awesomely named Dupree McBrayer declaring he'll be a Golden Gopher.

McBrayer, a 6-4 wing from New York, is ranked as the 218th best player in the class according to 247sports composite ranking (and #57 shooting guard), but is considered to be rising up the ranks after an excellent summer session.   He fits in well with what Richard Pitino is trying to do here, as he's super athletic and can play multiple positions (1, 2, 3).  He needs to get stronger, but he's already a skilled scorer particularly when it comes to getting to the rim.  Along with Kevin Dorsey, the Gophers now have two attack, athletic guards who should be excellent defenders.  A damn good start.  Good enough, in fact, that according to 247sports the Gophers have the #21 recruiting class in the country at this point, and the fifth best in the Big 10.

Perhaps even better, McBrayer is from NYC, and with Dorsey from Maryland it shows Pitino and staff making significant inroads on the East Coast, especially considering both Seton Hall and St. John's were after McBrayer.  Winning recruiting battles out of the region against other high major programs is a pretty big deal, and the Gophers have won two already this year.  Next up:  Jarvis Johnson and Alex Illikainen.  Keep it rolling.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I heard that Pitino went absolutely balistic that Diedhiou was not let into the school and that the decision went all the way up to Kaler. I am not normally that pessimistic when it comes to MN Sports but I think you should start referring to this as "Pitino's final recruiting class".