Recruiting News

Football - ESPN Recruiting Insider does not have their official top 150 list up yet, BUT they have at least identified the players who are in the running for the top 150. Minnesota is currently listed as in the running for 13 of these players. 2006-07 we landed 1 top 150 player and that was of course Clint Brewster. Maybe I'm still stuck in the quagmire of low standards but imagine landing even just 3 or 4 of these kids? Here are the 13 that we are zeroing in on (in order of Minnesota's consideration priority)...

• Mike Floyd, WR - 1. Minnesota 2. NotreDame 3. Ohio State - have to get Floyd

• Willie Mobley, DE - 1. Minnesota 2. Ohio State 3. Iowa
• Jewhan Edwards, DT - 1. Syracuse 2. Minnesota 3. PennSt
• Joe Adams, Ath - 1. TexTech 2. OK 3. Minnesota
• Brandon Green, WR - 1. Ill 2. Wis 3. Minnesota
• Quinten Williams, TE - 1. WVirginia 2. Wis 3. Minnesota
• Ryan Bass, RB - 1. AZ 2. Miss 3. Lou'ville 4. Minnesota
• Kapron Lewis-Moore, DE - 1. Tex A&M 2. OK 3. NotreDame 4. Minnesota
• Cordale Scott, WR - 1. Ohio State 2. Wis 3. Ill 4. Minnesota
• Keanon Cooper, OLB - 1. TexTech 2. Miss 3. Wis 4. Purd 5. Minnesota
• Jonas Gray, RB - 1. Flor 2. MichSt 3. Col 4. Mich 5. Minnesota
• Dion Jordan, TE - 1. AZ 2. AZ St 3. UCLA 4. Oregon 5. Minnesota
• Scott Vallone, DE - 1. Rutgers 2. Maryland 3. Syracuse 4. BC 5. Minnesota

Mobley and Floyd are the only 2 prospects from the state of Minnesota that are on the ESPN 150 Watch List.

Basketball - There really isn't any new news on the basketball recruiting front. Tubby was unable to lure a last min recruit to the U for this fall, but he is already working on future classes. Here is a solid article in the Star Trib about 2 of Minnesota's outstanding high school sophomores (soon to be juniors) Royce White of DeLeSalle and Rodney Williams of Robbinsdale Cooper. Both are playing very well for their Howard Pulley 17 under AAU team and 2 local kids that Tubby has to prove he can keep in state.

Here is what I can gather on the 2007-08 recruiting class...

• Tyler Zeller, PF (6'10", 185) Washington, IN - Scout.com has Tyler as #25 overall in the 2008 class. Like I said above for football it is nice to have Minnesota even on the list at this point but that will be meaningless if he eventually signs elsewhere. Current list includes AZ, AZ St, GTech, Ill, Indiana, Kentucky, Notre Dame, NCarolina, Tennessee and Kansas just to name a few. This is an uphill battle but one worth keeping an eye on.
• Draymond Green, PF (6'6", 220) Saginaw, MI - #59 on Scout.com's list. I have read other places that we are a serious contender for Green. There was even rumors that Tubby was planning to hire Green's high school basketball coach which clearly would have helped a ton in recruiting him. The list of contending schools for Green includes Kentucky, Mich State, Clemson, BC, Indiana, Mich, Tennessee and Wake Forest.
• Devoe Joseph, SG (6'3", 170) Ajax, Ontario - #82 for Scout.com overall and 19th best SG. I know very little about Joseph other than he is from Canada (eh). His list is smaller but still full of good schools GTech, Kentucky, Pitt and Wash State.
• Lewis Jackson, PG (5'8" 165) Decatur, GA - smallish PG that ESPN has ranked as the 18th best at his position. Minnesota is listed as #3 on his list behind Purdue and Indiana. Seems like he'd be a solid recruit and with this talent level (especially after this class graduates) we need anybody we can get our hands on.
• Carrington Tankson, SF (6'5") Osseo, MN - local kid with a sweet name. This is the first I've heard his name but MN ranks 4th on his list behind Iowa State, Wisconsin and Marquette.

Ohio State basketball - Thad Motta is WAY ahead of the rest of the Big Ten. His 07 class is set and one of the best, I'm sure his '08 class is great too and '09 too for that matter. They must be because he has started signing high school freshmen (read freshMAN). Thad has signed Jared Sullinger a PF from Columbus. This really wasn't even fair cause Jared is from Columbus and his brother played at OSU, but it never hurts to land one of the best in his class and now you have the next 4 years to recruit other kids and not worry about 1 scholarship.