Get to Know your Gopher Recruit - Colton Iverson

Currently the only incoming freshman for Coach Tubby Smith is PF Colton Iverson. Tubby does have more coming for the 2008 recruiting class, but Iverson is the lone player currently playing high school basketball.

Colton Iverson
Pos - PF
Rivals Ranks - 4-Star, 140th overall, 37th among PFs
Home - Yankton, SD
Size - 6'9", 240

Status - solid verbal commitment
Top schools - Nebraska, Iowa and had an offer from Florida

The current gopher seniors will leave a massive hole in the frontcourt and the Iverson is expected to come in an be a major contributor. After some invasive minor google-stalking and a little patience I was able to procure a brief e-mail interview with the incoming golden gopher.

Tell me a little bit about your current high school team. I know you went to state last year, are you expecting a return trip? Did you graduate key players?

My high school team went to state last year and we finished 5th after a double overtime loss in the first round.I am the only returning starter from last year, I think my classmates and the juniors will step up this year though so we are hoping for a return to state this year and are excited.

Your recruitment basically came down to Nebraska and Minnesota, what were the deciding factors that put Minnesota in the lead and eventually led to a commitment?

I visited 6 or 7 universitys and took time to listen to about 20 different schools before narrowing it down and I just know that the coaches at Minnesota are going to do a great job. I visited campus and liked everything about it.

The whole recruitment process is rather unique and something that most people do not get to experience. Walk me through the process. What parts did you most enjoy, which parts did you hate, what was your process for eliminating schools?

Well my recruitment really started after I went to the Bob Gibbons tournament in North Carolina with Mike Millers M33M Ballas. There was a lot of scouts there that saw a few of my games and after that tournament the calls were coming. It was all really exciting and great for me. Some of the recruitment process was not so fun though like when I would be back home for a few days between tournaments and the whole time I would be getting calls from scouts and coaches all day.

How excited are you to play for Tubby and his staff? In what ways do you think he will help you to grow as a basketball player?

I am really excited to play for Coach Smith and staff, I know they are all great guys and are going to do a great job. I know that they have produced players of my size and I believe they can do that with me.

When you aren't working out so you can lead Gopher Nation to the Final Four, what kinds of things do you do for fun?

I like to hang out with buddies and we go to bonfires and go to the lake and hang out all day, every once and a while we'll go golfing but we just like to have fun.

Besides preparing for a long professional career in basketball, what are you thinking about majoring at the U?

I am considering something in Business or Sports Managment but still far from deciding.

What can Gopher fans expect to see when the watch you play?

I think they can expect to see a hustle guy going for loose balls and rebounds and blocking shots.

Now that you are a gopher (or soon will be) tell us one reason why Wisconsin sucks!

Haha I don't know if I can comment on that....

EDITORIAL INTERJECTION - I think what he meant to say was, How do you get a Wisconsin grad off your front porch? Pay him for the pizza!

Anyway, thank you to Mr. Iverson for taking the time to respond to my questions. I am excited to see him in maroon and gold next year. By all accounts this current recruiting class is shaping up to be one of the better groups in the Big Ten so hopefully the return to a competitive and winning basketball program isn't as far off as some fear.

FINAL NOTE: for the record, I am in no way affiliated with the University of Minnesota, the basketball program, alumni groups, nor am I an alum myself and I have not contributed any money to the university. I don't believe any NCAA rules were violated with this interview.