Gopher happenings

Lots going on in the nation of the Gopher this weekend.  First, Gopher football lost to Northern Illinois, what else is there to say?  Take everything that was said after the loss to South Dakota, multiply by 10, and repeat.  I was at this game and you could feel the apathy from the crowd the whole way, and the amount of people pouring out of the stadium at halftime was staggering.  Not that it's ever been a hot ticket with everything else there is in town, but Gopher football is a joke both in terms of product and fan interest, which is pretty sad considering the beautiful stadium that's just a year old. Pretty amazing accomplishment by Brewster, actually, and the only thing he's accomplished. 

It's almost unfortunate the way recruiting works, because that's really the only reason for him to still have a job right now, although he's been doing such a bang up job that having his signees leave might actually improve the team.  I mean, he's taken a thoroughly average BCS program in every way and taken it to the bottom.  Certainly they are the worst team in the Big Ten, and might very well be the worst BCS football team in the country, a possibility Marcus Fuller wrote about.  And Brewster has done this all with a shiny new stadium.  Pretty amazing.  Not even Dan Monson could have pulled this off.

And speaking of Monson, that would be a good segue into some good news:  Tubby and Gopher hoops locked up Joe Coleman of Hopkins for the 2011 season on Friday.  I already wrote quite a bit about Coleman here and here, so I won't go over it all again, but needless to say I'm pretty happy about this.  Getting the best player in Minnesota each year should be a priority, assuming he's a Big Ten caliber player, and Coleman is far beyond that.  He's ranked as #116 overall and the #34 shooting guard by Rivals, #80 and #26 by ESPN, and the #29 small forward by Scout, so it's safe to say he should be a pretty high quality edition.

In other recruiting news, there were a couple interesting developments in other players the Gophers are after.  First, Andre Hollins visited campus this weekend, and got to see the football team embarrass itself, but by all accounts enjoyed his visit.  He says all five schools on his final list (Minnesota, Harvard, Stanford, Auburn, and Ole Miss) are still tied at the top, but let's hope some of the local talent did their best to swing him in our favor.  Also, Josh Oglesby, who had previously whittled his list down to Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Arizona State, has dropped the Illini from consideration so the Gophers are now in the final 3.  Both Hollins and Oglesby are combo guards who are pretty much consensus top 150 players so either (or both) would be a quality get.

Lastly, a few recruiting notes around the state (and if you are on Twitter and aren't following Ryan James, you really need to).  First, Shelby Moats, who the Gophers were interested in but who I said seemed more suited to a nerd school, once again proved how smart I am by signing on with Vanderbilt.  He's perfect for that system and they love their academics, so he can go ahead and join the Tri-Lams without being persecuted.  And finally, Chaska's Ross Travis, a player the Gopher never showed a ton of interest in even though there was a segment of the fan base who thought they should, has signed with Penn State.  This way we will be able to watch and judge if and to what degree Tubby made a mistake on this kid twice a year.  Let's hope his eye for talent is still 20/20.

Gopher Hoops Recruiting Update

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm going to take a look at Gopher Basketball recruiting tonight.  After they missed out on Jesperson, Tre Demps, and Uthoff, I relaized I didn't even know if I should be worried or not.  How many other offers were out?  Were they close on anybody?  Seriously, I'm not even sure how many scholarships they have for sure (I think it's 3 for 2011, assuming Mbakwe ends up sticking around).  So let's take a look together.

I am taking these "offer lists" from Rivals.com.  No doubt they have inaccuracies as all recruiting sites do, but they are the one I have a membership to.  The alternative would be to come through all the major sites to try to get the most up-to-date and accurate info, but seriously, I'm not a journalist I'm just bored and own a computer.  So if you want to be more thorough, either do it yourself or go the the Gopher Hole.  They have tons of info over there if you're willing to look for it.

I am not.  And away we go: 

As I said, according to Rivals the Gophers have offers out for 2011 to these players:

-  Joe Coleman - 6-3 SG - Hopkins, MN - #32 SG/#111 overall.  Might as well start with Coleman since as a home town boy he seems to be at the top of the "must get" list.  He's really jumped up in the rankings this year, and it would behoove Tubby to get him to declare as early as possible before more attractive programs get him on their radar.  Right now his other offers are from mid-tier programs, with Iowa State probably the tops, but there's no doubt other teams are starting to take notice since he's basically lit it up every time he's had a chance against top competition.

He's a "natural scorer" and a good athlete who has an improving jump shot, and would be an absolutely terrific addition to the team for 2011 and would be huge to keep the perception up that Tubby "has the borders locked down."  Losing out on Coleman wouldn't be a disaster, but it would certainly shake the foundation, and there would have to be a seriously strong class to keep it from being a major disappointment.

-  Josh Oglesby - 6-5 SG- Cedar Rapids, IA NR/NR - Other than Coleman this is the kid I keep hearing the most about, mainly because he's local-ish and mainly because the Gophers seem to be looking pretty good for him.  He's a combo guard who sounds like he's more SG than PG, but supposedly he has pretty incredible range and is solid with the ball - like a more athletic Blake Hoffarber.  The big wrinkle here is that Iowa just offered him, and there are some who think he's been waiting for that offer.  Either way, there's midwestern teams involved here including Northern Iowa, so I'd say he's a longshot to be a Gopher at best.

-  Naadir Tharpe - 5-11 PG - Wolfeboro, NH - #109 overall - He's not ranked as a PG on Rivals, but ESPN has him as their #8 point guard, and he had some good things to say about Tubby and the Gophers in this article at the Gopher Hole.   I don't know what's going on with my former crush Ryan Boatright since Rivals doesn't list the Gophers as in his consideration set yet GopherIllustrated keeps covering him and Tubby keeps watching him, but if things don't work out with him I'll be just fine with Tharpe.  I think I've been pretty clear that I love me a nice traditional point guard, and Tharpe fits the bill.  In a story on ESPN.com they mention his phenomenal court vision and trademark playmaking skills.  Yes please.

-  Amir Williams - 6-9 C - Beverly Hills, MI - #3 C/#43 overall - He's a highly rated center from Michigan, which means the Gophers chances of landing him are extremely slim, but I'm including him because he still has the Gophers in consideration and it would be pretty freakin' sweet to actually land him.  Of course by in consideration that means they are one of 19 teams he's still considering.  Yes, 19.  Gotta love those odds.

-  Malcolm Brogdon - 6-5 SG - Norcross, GA - #35SG/#115 overall - The next highest ranked player on the list and another wing, I'd peg the Gophers' chances at landing Brogdon at fairly decent since I like Tubby's chances in Georgia.  He's described as smooth and calm on the court and more of a shooter than an athlete, and as such sounds to me rather Devoe Joseph-y;  as such, I 'm a big fan.  However he recently landed an offer from Notre Dame, and when asked what he liked about the Irish he mentioned that the coach said he could "Come in and just play my game.  I wouldn't really be put under any type of rules like a lot of college coaches do."  If that's what he's looking for, stringent Tubby has no shot.


-  Tommie McCune - 6-7 PF - Saginaw, MI - #29PF/#149 overall - The last of the Rivals Top 150 holding an offer from the Gophers, McCune is another Michigan kid so I don't know why Tubby is wasting his time.  I mean, everything sounds good:  athletic, range out to 20 feet, good rebounder, but if he's a Michigan kid he won't get out of the state unless Izzo doesn't want him.  Although I guess with the way that program is going getting their leftovers might now be the worst thing in the world.

-  Devin Coleman - 6-3 SG - Wynnewood, PA - NR/NR - A poor man's Rodney Williams, Coleman is described as an incredible athlete who can get to the rim whenever he wants, but isn't exactly known for his jump shot - which all sounds awfully familiar.  At one point he was favoring Iowa, but recently he has said that Iowa seems awfully far from home and he might prefer some place like Rutgers (which doesn't exactly bode well for the Twin Cities).  Although if your choices are Iowa or Rutgers, Minneapolis has got to look awfully good. 


-  Shelby Moats - 6-8 PF - Waconia, MN - NR/NR -  Behind Joe Coleman and the two PGs I've mentioned Moats is my next biggest wish.  Maybe not all that highly rated right now, but some of his descriptors turn me on:  strong, good outside shot, cerebral, 4.0 GPA, textbook perfect left-handed shot.  Drool.  Apparently he's not that great an athlete and most of his offers come from smarty pants smaller schools (Ivy Leaguers, Bucknell, Lehigh, Holy Cross, etc.) but he sounds like the kind of player who takes a school like that to the next level and makes them a Cinderella threat.  Why couldn't he help do that at the Barn?


So there's your update.  I know there are probably other guys on the radar or whatever, and I will try to do a better job keeping up with all those rumors, but for now here's what you get.  I don't have time to chase down every single link right now.  Maybe you should go do it and stop being such a jerk all the time.