Some of the state's top prospects. Hard hitters, pitching and some record holders

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/030816aab.html

Women's hockey team poised for another national title?

Four wrestlers clinch NCAA tournament berths.

I know football and men's basketball are the big ones, but hey, UofM is still doing great things.

Just me, but I'd take both their rosters over what we have at Minnesota now and next year. A good blend of lunch pail kids mixed in with the likes of Sabonas, Cunningham, and that freshman guard from BYU, Emory. The kid knows the game and can flat out play. Both teams with players that have incredible basketball smarts and great teamwork. After what we've seen this year from the Gophers this game was a real treat to watch.

I know there has been a lot of negativity and I am as guilty of 'jumping on that bandwagon' as anyone as I was frustrated most of this sports season,,,, Thank you for pointing out the good things happening in the Gopher program... I feel a sense of shame that I get a bad attitude when I should know better.. I know I wouldn't allow that out of my team when I coached so I just need to practice what I preached yet still allow myself room for SOME dissent and sharing frustration.....Yes, this is just a message board but just having a better perspective is something that I know I need so I honestly appreciate you pointing out some of the good things, as well.

Minnesota, continuing in their search for more offensive lineman, offered Jordan Tucker, a 6-6, 325 OL from Roswell, GA.

Tucker has offers from Tennessee, South Carolina and Missouri. Minnesota is his first Big 10 offer.

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And soon after, Tucker's teammate, Sheldon Evans, announced he had been offered by the Gophers, his first from a P5 school.

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It's been a busy week on the recruiting trail for Minnesota.

Today the staff offered Reese Leitao, a 3-star 6-foot-4, 230 pound tight end from Jenks, Okla. who has nine offers, including Minnesota.

Leitao is the first tight end the Gophers have offered for the class of 2017. Jenks High was the No. 1-ranked team in Oklahoma last season and No. 24 team in the nation by MaxPreps.com and Leitao is rated as the state's 10th best prospect, so the Gophers are definitely searching for the best of the best.

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News breaking that Eagles will trade DeMarco Murray to Titans. I was really looking forward to Cobb getting a chance to start this year. Of course, in the NFL you never know how things will turn out.

Mrs. Go4Roses and I encourage GI subscribers to contribute $51 to the Gary Tinsley Fund through the University of Minnesota Foundation. Gary, "Hacksaw", to some, turned his collegiate career around to become a true leader of the Gopher football team and died tragically of complications of an enlarged heart. We've become annual contributors because of how he touched our hearts, though we never had the chance to meet him. The essence of a Golden Gopher is the legacy he has left behind.
Thanks for reading.
Go4Roses.

Great to see the ol offers but where is the d

Much discussed on the board about future longevity of Pitino, TC, and to some degree Lucia.For kicks and giggles let's say this happens next year. Who survives?
Football: No rival wins and the Gophers go 7-5
and a minor bowl game. The season starts well with a 21 point win over Oregon State, but ends with a blowout win by the Badgers in Madison. The offense averages more than a touchdown per game versus last year, but the Gophers secondary is decimated by injuries and the loss of BBC and Murray. Is 7-5 enough of improvement considering no rival wins and a 4-5 conference record with wins against Rutgers,Maryland,Purdue, and Illinois? What say you?
Basketball: This would be based on Buggs and Gaston staying and McBrayer,Dorsey,and Mason reinstated. The young colts start fast losing only 3 games in the pre-season.One being the ACC challenge. Lynch is a force in the middle even through prone to foul trouble.Fitzgerald is a pleasant surprise giving them length on the wing. Sharp continues his steady play and shares equal time with Dorsey and McBrayer. Of the incoming freshman, Curry is not ready to play and is red shirted. Hurt brings a shooters mentality and has some very good pre-season games against lesser compitition. Coffey has a Murphy like pre-season; good game,bad game, but his ability to find an open teammate and play defense covers for his lack of offense. The conference season is another story. Hurt is not strong enough physically and has trouble on ball screens, thus he can't get his shot off. Fitzgerald also has trouble with the physical play in the conference. The Gophers end up.8-10 On the plus side one of the wins is against arch rival Wisconsin. They go 1-1 in the BTT. No dance. The NIT sees two home games that draw crowds of around 7,000. Gophers don't make it to New York losing in a quarter final game. Season record: 18-12. What say you?
Hockey: The season starts fast the 10 freshmen are now sophmores. They lose 2 games against UMD,and split with Minnesota State, and St.Cloud State leading up to the Mariucci Classic. They go.1-1 in the Classic.
They go 4-2 in the next 6 games against the BIG, trailing Michigan in the standings and leading up to the North Star Challange.Depite getting superb goal tending from Kautz, they lose both games. Michigan wins the outright title, but the Gophers win the BTT and and a spot in the NCAA. They lose a first round game in the West Regionals. The consensus is they are the 3rd best team in the State. What say you?

Tubby Smith named Big 12's Coach of the Year after leading Texas Tech's turnaround


By Mike DuPont , Special Contributor Contact Mike DuPont on Twitter: @MikeDuPont_


Texas Tech's regular season reached its conclusion with a win over Kansas State on Saturday but the Red Raiders were also victors on Sunday afternoon when the Big 12 announced its All-Conference awards.

Tech coach Tubby Smith earned the Big 12's Coach of the Year award after guiding the Red Raiders to a 19-win season, including nine wins in conference play and a potential NCAA Tournament appearance.

Smith has won more than 500 games as a head coach at five programs and has earned Coach of the Year recognition in three different conferences, including the Mountain Valley Conference and the SEC.


Last season's award winner, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins spoke highly of Smith and Texas Tech's decision to hire him earlier in the season, attributing Texas Tech's gradual ascent to the depth of talent within the Big 12 Conference.

"Listen, I knew when, you know, I see on the ticker that [Texas Tech] hired Tubby Smith here then I knew that they wanted to win. Because that guy's a winner, he's been a winner anywhere he's ever been. He does a great job of bench coaching. They recruited good players, they've got good players.

"That's the problem with this league: there's too many good players on every team and there's too many good coaches sitting there. You can't outsmart anybody and I guess the people who make shots that day and play the best that day win."

Kansas coach Bill Self expressed a similar sentiment while also acknowledging Smith's assistant coaches Pooh Williamson, Joe Esposito and Vince Taylor made positive contributions to Texas Tech's recent success.

"He has a great staff," Self said. "Tubby is an icon in our profession. It's great to see all the good things that have happened to them. They are young so they are going to continue to get better. They have so many different guys step up and make plays. When we start talking about Coach of the Year, I don't think you have to look much further than Tubby."

If the Red Raiders were to hear their name called next Sunday, Smith would join Lon Kruger as the only coaches to lead five different programs to the tournament.

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/col...ch-coach-tubby-smith-named-big-12s-coach-year

Gents, I will be down at the Target Center and Williams Arena the next four days and I hope many of you can get down there as well. If you do, here are some guys to see:

https://minnesota.n.rivals.com/news/state-tournament-preview-gopher-prospect-perspective

Just want to make you guys familiar with what the Gophs have done locally. I don't feel like starting a thread every time they watch somebody as that will water this board down.

Gary Trent Jr. Watched him two games ago, he and Tre. Gary told us that they are somewhat talking to him but I think everyone knows his plan is to leave the state for college most likely.

Theo John. Watched him numerous times. More than anybody really. They were at 2 of their games recently. Clemson just saw him this week.

Goanar Mar. They watched him about two weeks ago. Butler just watched him this week, Xavier and Iowa too.

McKinley Wright. Of course if they saw Theo, they also saw McKinley. Kid is really good but a few inches shorter than some other PGs. Does that make a difference? Many programs deciding that now. Iowa State, Illinois, and a few others have made that choice.

Nathan Reuvers. I believe they have now been to 3 of his games this winter at least. Notre Dame just watched him too.

Jericho Sims. They have seen him, Clemson just saw him. Jericho plays against a very low level of competition so schools have a tough time watching and judging on that. I'm told he's made huge strides. I have a video of a recent game of his I will watch soon.

Myles Hanson. Offered by UNI recently, Gophers went to check him out to see what he can do.

Trae Berhow. Just offered by UNI and was at their game on Wednesday. Gophers saw him last night to see how he is. Kid now has 7 D1 offers.

They have also had Ishmael El-Amin, Isaac Johnson, and Simon Wright in to games this year and have always talked to Brad Davison too.

Really a good class of talent.

If you have read anything I have said about Tom Izzo at Michigan State, You know I think he is probably the best head coach in college basketball. Right now, Michigan State is playing as well as anyone in the Big Ten though Indiana could give them problems.. They are clicking well on offense right now.. I know Izzo is not as happy as he would like to be about their defense, but that still may come.. His teams always seem to finish the year strong.

I live about 2 hours from the Michigan State campus and have been privileged to attend a practice as an observer. I also have talked to some players that have graduated from Michigan State....For instance, AJ Granger lives about an hour south of me in Findlay, Ohio where he works at an employment company. He grew up in the area as well. He was the center on the Izzo national championship team and you get a flavor for how Izzo does things by listening to guys like that. Izzo is a winner, through and through.. More about caring for his players than "X's and O's".. Trust me, he has recruited some difficult kids to deal with over the years.... I said that the 2 toughest places I have seen HS basketball is Flint, Michigan and Gary Indiana.. Izzo has recruited kids from both areas. He has, at times, been the father figure that some of his kids have never had in their lives.. He has a way of breaking kids down then building them back up, just like the military has done for many people..

I am not going to say Izzo is a miracle worker because he has some real advantages, even from the get-go.. He took over an established program from the retired Jud Heathcote.. The Breslin Center was new during his reign.. The contacts in Flint were established and Michigan made some huge recruiting tactical errors, in my opinion, that opened doors for Izzo at Michigan State. So he had some things fall his way, no doubt.. You have to recruit talent to win like he does, no doubt.. But what he does with the kids, once they get to campus, is what is impressive. I realize that he does not have the championships like Coach K, or Williams at North Carolina but he is just a top-of-the-line guy that gets the best out of his kids in a continuous upward trajectory.

Nick Brahms, 6-4, 280 pound tackle from Navarre, Fl is the latest prospect to be offered by the Gophers. He is also the 11th lineman to get an offer in 2017.

Brahms has one other P5 offer, that being Virginia, but has more than a dozen in total.

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with Sid and Dave on WCCO on March 6

asked about o line said he was pleased...getting some movement up front, getting some seams...backs are so good olinemen don't have to hold blocks for too long...gave Qbs some time

asked about center he said Tyler Moore is returning....said new scheme puts more on c and QB to identify fronts and call adjustments

asked about juco guards he said they look good, said Bart Miller has had them both play some tackle...we want to get best 5 oline guys on field

asked about new rcvrs he said Rashede looks good, Mentioned Melvin and Register, said Gentry is healthy and had some nice catches

he said throw together the rcvrs and the tes and opponents will have to respect passing game...young guys are athletic, just need to catch the ball more consistently

asked about getting some nasty in oline he said we are working on that...said two juco guys have played against some tough competition and will get after you, hope some other guys follow that lead

happy for guys at combine

said they will miss those guys but said team ran and tackled on a lot of balls in space well yesterday

Miss bbc and Murray, but said Hardin is bigger and looks good and Buford looks good

miss Campbell, esp height and length, but return Lynn, Poock, Celestin, Juju Huff, likes Jaylen Waters at Mike, Nick Rallis is back, best lb depth he has had

will run some scrimmage stuff Thursday, then go on spring break, will scrimmage each of last saturdays

asked abour Green said he is extremely intelligent, said he made some great checks, said they need to smooth out his throwing action a little, not terrible, but we can help him...said Demry has looked good

saturday was first day in pads

BLM wants teacher fired for voicing his opinion that the STP school district wasn't providing enough help with "“kids who won’t quit gaming, setting up fights, selling drugs, whoring trains or cyber bullying.” He made no mention of race of any kind.

I just hope that TPL'ers everywhere understand that this organization that supports racism, harassment, and denying Freedom of Speech enjoys the full support of both Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Star Tribune article on BLM and Como

The Big Ten all freshman team was all 4's and 5's because the guards and wings were experienced, especially for the top teams. Go right down the list of the best teams

Michigan State - Things got better when Valentine(Sr) handled the ball more with Forbes and Harris who were experienced players

Purdue - Raphael Davis(Sr) was very experienced

Iowa - senior guards Gesell and Clemmons

Indiana - senior guard Yogi Ferrell

Maryland - Trimble and Sulaimon though they struggled at times.

Wisconsin - Koenig is pretty experienced for a young player. Nigel Hayes isnt a guard but he helped out quite a bit, especially when they struggled earlier in the season.

There are a lot of talented players these guys played with that helped with the success... Also this was oppositie if what we saw in the Final Four last year as Koenig and Tyus Jones were really young guards in the national championship game...But, overall, when teams get in trouble during the grind of the Big Ten season, they have to go to their guards to dictate the tempo of the game.. When it gets to a halfcourt game, that becomes even more critical.. Just think it is an interesting point especially when we see play in today's style of basketball. Minnesota probably had the least experience at guard during this season and that showed...Teams still lose with experienced guards but MOST YEARS in the Big Ten, you will need that experienced guard play to win and this year was a great example.

We haven't had a single good season since 1967. Not one. And we won't have one with Claeys. He's already topped-out at #50 in his recruiting class ranking. It will be worse next year for sure.

Meanwhile, Illinois is guaranteed to go from #68 to #30 at worst....just like that. Probably top-20 soon. I even mentioned Lovie Smith after Kill quit. Kaler needs to get off his LAZY CONTENTED ASS and get us a real coach. Pathetic.

Doesn't look like anyone from Rivals is there.

Maye with a 33" vertical

The Gophers offered offensive tackle Xavier Newman today. It's his 15th offer. He also has offers from Missouri, Iowa State, Illinois and Southern Methodist.

Newman is the 10th lineman the Gophers have offered for 2017. Login to view embedded media

Is the bonus amount Pitino will receive if he's still the coach on April 30th. What a great contract for him. His agent is a wizard!

"After we watched film, we just felt like on both sides of the ball, we need to be more physical."

That's what Tracy Claeys said at his initial spring practice press conference on Feb. 29. Claeys said that would be an emphasis for the offensive and defensive lineman this spring, but that approach seems to be parallel with recruiting the incoming class of 2017.

So far, the staff has offered nine offensive lineman and eight defensive lineman, more than any other position they are presently recruiting. Is it a coincidence? Probably not.

It seems Claeys and his staff targeted the trenches early to have established relationships with these prospects by the time the high school season starts (when some can enter their senior years already committed).

Are quality offensive lineman hard to come by at the high school level? You betcha. Comparative to skill players, that is. But if I'm reaching here, I think Claeys is looking to bring in a new breed of lineman, more physical, more aggressive and after admitting the amount of injuries on the defensive line last year, more durable.