As RJ posted, he and AZJ will no longer be with us starting tomorrow. I want to sincerely thank them for all they’ve done for Rivals. Those two are the reason this site is around, and they have contributed a lot to it over the years. @Ryan James, you’ve been a good mentor and friend. I’ll see you in gyms this July, brother. @zach johnson, I really appreciate you bringing me on board two years ago, and I’ve enjoyed my time with GI.

Connor Stevens will be back to help fill RJ’s void, and the amount of content I produce will greatly increase as well, some of that content being basketball. Connor’s brother EJ will also help out. EJ’s worked for Big Ten Network, wrote for a Gopher blog blog before, and done marketing and some other things for Northstar Hoops/Prep Hoops. There’s another writer I’m in the process of finalizing right now too that I’ll announce when appropriate. I’m very committed to making this a great place for Gopher fans to find great content and discussion, and I’m excited about the future.

Link: Gophers on top for Claudin Cherelus

Minnesota's sitting on top, by a lot, right now with Cherelus, so I'd imagine he's a Gopher relatively soon unless he starts to pick up a bunch of big offers.

One reason why he's flown so far under the radar is he hasn't really hit the camp season this summer.

Good for Darin. Kind of surprised they didn't award it to Sharp, but it's nice for the senior to be on scholarship and gives incentive to walk-ons like Sharp to stick around.

Press release:

Minnesota head men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino announced Friday that rising senior Darin Haugh has been awarded a full scholarship for the 2016-17 academic year.

“We are extremely excited that Darin Haugh will receive a scholarship for the upcoming season,” Pitino said. “He has been the epitome of an outstanding student-athlete on and off the court the two years he has been here. He is hard-working, loyal and a great teammate.”

Haugh joined the Gophers prior to the 2014-15 season as a walk-on, following two seasons at Wisconsin-Platteville and Bethany Lutheran in his freshman and sophomore years, respectively. The Prior Lake, Minn., native sat out his junior year due to NCAA transfer rules and saw action in six games as a reserve this past season.

With the announcement, the Gophers will have the full complement of 13 scholarship players this season, along with sophomore walk-on Stephon Sharp and freshman walk-on Brady Rudrud in uniform for the Maroon and Gold.

Link: Norwood thinks highly of Kiondre Thomas and the Gophers

Between being good friends with Kiondre Thomas and Jay Sawvel's success with defensive backs, I have to think that the Gophers are sitting pretty well with Tre Norwood. His quotes reflected that.

Jacob Smith OL Rosemount commits to BYU. Never heard of him.

So far...it looks like he had 3 choices:

1) Set his kids up to be busted by the police. Tip the police on which dorm-rooms to raid. And keep his job.

2) Tell his kids to get rid of the evidence themselves. Wash his hands of it. And keep his job.

3) Do what he did. Intervene. Come down harsh on his kids. Confiscate the pills. Have them write papers, pouring their hearts out. Really have a heart-to-heart with them. Yell at them....all that....just like any caring parent would do. Tell the University and the police....but stop short of backstabbing his kids. But because he confiscated and had possession of the pills himself, he was in violation of University policy, which will probably cost him his job.


So to summarize, he sacrificed his job to do what he (and I) consider to be the right thing.

Lastly, let's not sensationalize this. This is 5 or 6 kids having 3 or 4 bottles of Xanax. A light party pill that costs $20 per bottle.

It seems that at the moment, only Trumps Children have signed on to fire up the base at the Republican Convention. Would any good, loyal TGR Republicans be willing to be a KEYNOTE speaker? Or, even a polite Democrat who can lie and keep a straight face to act as a back-up speaker just in case the KEYNOTE speaker changes his/her mind?

Who, among the Republican Faithful rise to this occasion?

THIS IS a PREVIEW of what kind of entertainment you can find ONLY on the DINKEYTOWN Board. Please be sure to make your comments and observations on the DT FORUM ONLY!
This kind of fun interaction can be yours only IF you have a membership for TGR!

Now I will return you to your reading pleasure on TGR's up to the minute, hard-hitting, insightful and ALWAYS personal GOPHER REPORT!

See you over on DT!

Link: Elijah Walker high on Minnesota, has great relationship with Johnson

Amite (La.) QB Elijah Walker and Port Arthur (Texas) QB Kadon Harrison are two quarterbacks I would have my eye on right now. Walker, as you can read, is quite high on Minnesota. Harrison is committed to UL-Lafayette. I believe Johnson knew about Harrison while he was still at UL-Lafayette but never contacted him until he came to Minnesota. Either one would more than likely commit if offered, and you have to think that the Gophers will be offering a quarterback here soon.

Sid Wilson, who's teammates with Isaiah Washington for New Heights and played the last three years with him at St. Raymond's (N.Y.), has decided to reclassify to the 2018 class and has transferred to Brewster Academy, one of the best basketball prep schools.

Sid heard quite a bit from the Gophers in the past, but that died down this spring and summer. Isaiah Washington expressed more interest than Wilson, but things can change. Wilson spoke highly of Minnesota early in the recruiting process.

He's been great for New Heights in the UA Association this year, averaging team highs in points (16.3) and rebounds (6.3), and shooting a very efficient 55%. That's earned him the No. 132 spot in the latest Rivals150.

Link: Harrison had Minnesota on top before UL-Lafayette commitment

Harrison may be committed to ULL right now, but I definitely believe he'd be a Gopher if Minnesota chooses to offer. He says he hasn't heard from the Gophers since he committed, but Minnesota still is interested.

If you don't go there often, or at all, definitely head over there for fun discussion on all sorts of stuff. With all the change going on and being in the middle of a slow gopher sports news period, it would be nice to get new blood and personalities.

Link: Willis-Dalton likes Minnesota

Z-MAN does own GI, he took it to Scout with him.............................

The final standings of the Directors' Cup, which has a ranking system for athletic departments, has the Gophers at 18th, which is third in the Big Ten, trailing just Ohio State (#2) and Michigan (#3). Wisconsin comes in 27th, and Iowa comes in 62nd.

Link

Link: Cumber still interested in Minnesota

I recently caught up with Georgia WR Javan Hawes to get the latest on his recruitment, which includes Minnesota as a major player.

Here's a link to the story, where you can also watch his junior highlights.

I'll answer questions related to this topic in this thread.

Between USA & MEXICO will Mexico not allow me to go to one of my favorite spots on the West Coast of Mexico? And will the USA not allow me back in?

Many years ago I traveled in Eastern Europe and we were always worried that we would not be allowed back across the fence or wall. Yes the fear was real and a few times we were delayed.

Never have liked Walls or Fences! They work both ways!

Link: Lane hoping for a Gophers offer

Trent Jr. -- #16
Washington -- #86
Reuvers -- #108
Davison -- #119
John -- #129
Sims -- #146
Wright -- #148


https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals150/2017

I would like to take this time to thank all of you here, the guys that I've argued with, discussed with, had a few battles with, and lot of great times with talking on Rivals.com.

It's been a fun 12 years and 2 months. I love talking basketball and through all the ups and downs of this team in 12 years the hoops discussion has always been fantastic regardless of the time of year.

This is my last day at Rivals.com and I need to leave for the gym soon so this will be my last post as a Rivals.com employee.

I want to thank all of the publishers at other sites who have been fantastic to work with, all of the guys I've worked with here in in Minnesota, and Rivals for allowing me to work here. This was my first place writing about hoops and the doors it's opened for me are incredible. Without it my family would not be living the life we are because I have other jobs that started with the stage that Rivals allowed me to work on first.

Finally thank you to all of you Gopher fans who have been here to discuss hoops with me.

Thank you.

Link: Boyd breaks down his Top-8

Power Mizzou spoke with Trinity Catholic (Mo.) lineman Larry Boyd about the top eight that he recently released. Missouri is considered the favorite right now. Boyd was one of Bart Miller's first 2017 offers, so the Gophers have put in a lot of work and the hope is that Boyd comes up for an unofficial visit.

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I found this interesting, thought I'd share.

Also, to settle the debate once and for all, please see the first line in this story in red, bold font. Don't bring it up anymore. SBNation has spoken.

Ranking the 50 States by Number of Elite Recruits