So Nate Garth is re-opening his recruitment? This seems odd as he has sounded excited to be a Gopher and play for Tubby. He wanted to coincide his official visit with Sampson and Iverson to help them make a decision for the U. Then he reopens?
He hates Paul Carter? - doubtful
He is intimidated by Kevin Payton and Al Nolen Jr? - that's crazy
Somebody informed him that it is cold in MN in the winter? - duh!
Tubby has another (better) PG that is about to commit? - I hope so
This whole thing seems odd to me, but I have no reason to not trust Tubby and staff. Hopefully they know what they are doing and have a plan.
RECAP of the last week...
LOST - Bryce Webster
GAIN - Paul Carter
LOST - Nate Garth
not sure how that equation ends up but we'll find out.
August 23, 2007
What the heck?
May 21, 2007
Gopher Recruiting 2008
Here is a list of 2008 Gopher basketball recruits. I'm pretty confident that this is a solid and accurate list based on the info I have available to me. After the small 2007 recruiting class and the several seniors graduating, Tubby has 5 scholarships that he can offer for the 2008 class.
COMMITTED
- PG Nathen Garth (6'3") - Discussed HERE. 18 pts, 8 ast and 3 steals as a junior. Garth seems to be a solid recruit who will be called upon to be the on floor coach. Hard worker and possibly still growing into a 6'4" PG. Expect Saul Smith to groom Garth. Received offers from UTEP, Ole Miss, Santa Clara and unconfirmed offer from Cal.
- PF Andrew Brommer (6'8") - in state PF who has been discussed VERY LITTLE here (or anywhere for that matter). Brommer plays for Rosemount High School and Cris Carr's AAU program 43 Hoops. Brommer was a Monson recruit that Tubby is currently still giving a scholarship to. But I would guess that if some of the bigger names below want to sign with the U, then Tubby might convince Brommer that he'll be better off somewhere else. As I said before I know very little about Brommer so I can't accurately comment on whether or not he is a Big Ten PF or not. He did receive interest from Wisconsin, Illinois, Virginia and N.Iowa.
- SG Iman Shumpert (6'4") - #41 overall, Rivals 4-star from Oak Park,Ill. Shumpert is a newer name on my radar but Rivals states that he may be the 4-star recruit playing the best basketball right now. Offers from Clem, GTech, Tenn, Wis and handful of Mid-Majors. Interest from schools like Duke, Ill, Notre Dame, Cal, AZ St, Marq and Mich.
- PF Draymond Green (6'7") - #79 overall, Rivals 4-star recruit from the state of Michigan. Green appears to be the most likely 4-star recruit to end up at Minnesota in this class. He is a former Kentucky commit who has since backed down from that verbal (not sure who's decision that was though). Green is supposed to be an outstanding rebounder with an offensive game that needs improving. Indiana, Dayton and Xavier have offered as well. Michigan and Michigan State have both shown interest.
- SG Devoe Joseph (6'2") - #101 overall, Rivals 3-star from Ontario, Canada. Nearly a top 100 kid, but Joseph is not receiving many offers from major conference schools with the excpetion of Minnesota and Washington State. Duquesne, Santa Clara, Loyola and Fairfield are the other schools currently offering to Joseph.
- PF/C Stan Simpson (6'9") - #83 overall, Rivals 4-star from Chicago. Simpson is an AAU teammate of Shumpert so maybe we can get these guys as a package. Rivals analysis of Simpson is that he is best in the paint on offense and has shot blocking ability on the other end. He lists his top 5 schools as Illinois, UConn, Minnesota, Ohio State and Virginia. He has offers from Indiana and Virginia.
- C Ralph Sampson III (6'10") - Scout.com has as #22 among Centers, Rivals 3-star who has taken an unofficial visit to campus. RSIII is an intriguing prospect. He seems to be a very hard working kid who has improved over the last year. I would expect that you'll see him move up recruiting lists in the near future. He currently has interest from Alabama, Cal, Indiana, NC State and his AAU coach tells Rivals that Georgia has offered. I would personally like to see Tubby land Sampson.
PG - Garth
SG - Shumpert / Rodney Williams
SF - Royce White
PF - Green / Brommer
C - Sampson
Really, who knows how good these guys can be but it is a very interesting recruiting season to say the least. Get some of these guys, improve then start landing top 40 guys on a regular basis and make this program a perennial Big Ten power!
May 16, 2007
Gopher Basketball Recruiting
Tubby has a verbal from his first gopher recruit!
Nathen Garth - PG (6'3") from Dallas - Garth has never visit Minnesota (with a 10 hour airport layover being the exception), but says he is coming here because of Tubby Smith. Garth averaged 18 points, 8 assists and 3 steals per game as a Jr. for Woodrow Wilson HS in Dallas, TX. He had offers from Cal, Miss, UTEP and Santa Clara. Word has it that he is adept at getting by defenders with both hands and is a smart, hard working PG.
Quotes from Garth...
"His (Tubby) résumé is incredible. He wins." - Star Tribune
"I know what Tubby is capable of and what he can do for a program. No knock on Dan Monson, but Tubby's going to get high major players. With the work ethic he has, he's going to turn things around quickly." - Pioneer Press
"I plan to bring a winning attitude and I'm going to be a leader," Garth said. "I want to be that point guard you can count on in the crunch time and I want to bring NCAA Tournaments and a National title." - Rivals.com (requires membership)
We'll just have to wait and see how many banners Garth brings us. This appears to be a good recruit, but not exactly someone to turn and then build your program around. I think that in Tubby's system you need a solid PG in the classic sense of a PG (think Stockton not Marbury), Garth may be that guy. Not much is known about him but he appears to be a hard working kid who can provide some on court leadership.
The guys with the potential to bring banners to the Barn are Royce White and Rodney Williams! These guys seem to be moving up everyone's list at light speed. Both are sophs (going to be jrs within days) and are turning into MUST HAVES for Tubby and his staff.
Rivals.com recently updated their top 40 for 2009 and both players are up there. Let's stop for a min here, can you imagine a gopher recruiting class with 2 top 40 players!! Anyway here is some info on the MN kids of 2009 and their overall rank within their class...
#17 Royce White, 6'7" DeLeSalle - making national news with his play in recent AAU tournaments including an MVP award at the recent Sabes Invitational Tournament where he averaged 16.2 ppg and 6.6 rpg. He has been getting more offers in the last few days including Michigan State and Illinois (to along with Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa State). It's way too early to say who has the advantage, but Minnesota obviously holds the home-team advantage," White told Marcus Fuller of the Pioneer Press
#37 Rodney Williams, 6'5" Robbinsdale Cooper - Williams is also moving up lists faster than expected and has become a 4-star recruit. Athletic wing player who appears to be interested in attending the same school as White, getting both as a package would be a great start to this recruiting class. Currently has offers from Minnesota and Iowa State with interest from Kansas and Wisconsin.
FINALLY, Tubby is one step closer to completing his coaching staff and it seems like a very good hire. In fact I'm more excited by this hire than by Jirsa or Saul. Anyway, Tubby has lured Vince Taylor away the Timberwolves staff. Taylor has a lot of experience at the college level and is known as a good recruiter with stops at Wyoming, Pitt and 4 years under Pitino at Louisville. Taylor has experience recruiting, player development and has the NBA on his resume. All of that will be attractive to recruits and I think this will be a productive hire for Tubby.
