What will this do for 2007-08 recruiting?

When Tim Brewster was hired, talk almost immediately went to what impact will his hire would have on recruiting. I think recruiting became the hot topic for 2 reasons. 1. Brewster had a son who was a very good QB and had committed to Illinois. So obvious questions surrounded what Clint's decision would be. 2. There were precious few days from Brewster's hire till signing day, so there was very little time for the acclaimed recruiter to make some progress to affect his 2007 team.

I want to know what the Tubby hiring will do for recruiting! I'm sure we'll see some info put out there in the coming days/weeks, but I'm anxious to see if this hire will have any immediate affect. Some of this was posted before but here is some wild speculation/questions...

1. Cole Aldrich - Will he renig on his Kansas committment? Will Tubby place this phone call? Aldrich would be an immediate impact and a hero in his own state, but ultimately not even playing for Tubby in his home state will sway him from Kansas.

2. Kentucky recruited players - I mentioned this below but what will happen to UK recruits (both signed and undecided)? The undecided ones could decide to follow Tubby, but I don't know if these kids were drawn to the coach or the school. Likely these kids won't be going to UK, but even more likley they'll go to one of the other schools that has been on their "list" for the past few months. I would hope that he could at least convince them to come and make a visit. Coming to Minnesota on a nice warm spring weekend would be the perfect time and maybe (just maybe) one of them will take a leap of faith on Tubby and Minnesota!

3. Iowa recruits - I read a note that Iowa's top recuit (PF - Jarryd Cole) is uncertain about his future at Iowa with Alford leaving for New Mexico. Well I sure hope that Tubby places this phone call as well. Cole has already been drawn to a midwest, Big 10 school. Convince him that Minnesota is indentical to Iowa except in a major metropolitan area. Cole would not be the best recruit of this class, as Hoffarber is rated higher but he would add some balance, talent and depth to this class. Michigan recruits could be lumped here as well but there isn't quite the same correlation as Iowa recruits so I put the Wolverine recruits as extremely unlikely.

4. UK's next coach? - Tom Crean? Tom Izzo? Either one would pose an interesting recruiting situation. If Crean goes, does Trevor Mbakwe change his mind and come to MN? If Izzo gets the UK job does Dahlman decide that playing at home for Tubby is better than playing for a new coach at Michigan State?

Ultimately these are all long shots, I have not yet gulped down enough maroon kool aid to believe all these guys will be knocking down the Barn door to play here. But remember Tubby has only 2 scholarships and of all these longshots it would only take 1 kid to say YES and have an immediate impact.

I'm starting the Scholarship Watch List....

• Cole Aldrich C - 92 ESPN rating (Kansas recruit) - don't hold your breath, but Tubby should at least make a phone call.
  
• Patrick Patterson PF - 92 (UK undecided) - top 10 player who played with OJ Mayo, undecided but Duke or Florida look like his destination.
• Jai Lucas PG - 91 (UK undecided) - this might be the best shot at a 5 star player(and McDonald's All-American). UK was top of his current list, does MN get on the list? Again, not holding my breath. a national recruiting analyst says Lucas is the best shot at a kid following Tubby to MN, but it is too early to tell.
  
• Jarryd Cole SF - 85 (Iowa recruit) - wavering on Iowa pending new coach. Could give MN a shot, but that just my speculation.
• Trevor Mbakwe PF - 89 (Marquette recruit) - if Crean leaves for UK or another job I would say chances are good Mbakwe would come home to the Barn. Switching to the U with Crean staying at Marquette? Who knows but my gut tells me Mbakwe could be here next fall. The Golden Eagles did sign 2 other power forwards so maybe he wants to leave that log jam and take Coleman's PF spot as a soph.
  
• Isaiah Dahlman SF - if Crean takes the UK job then this becomes a maybe, but that is a longshot. He would have to sit out 2007-08 but would have a big impact the following year.
• JR Jarred Berggren C - (verbal to Wisconsin) - MN kid who hasn't signed anything and a big name coach like Tubby coupled with some initial success at MN next year could sway his decision.
• JR Jordan Taylor SG - (verbal to Wisconsin) - read Berggren
  

Those are the only names I can come up with for now, but I will update the list as I hear more.