How many times have you heard somebody say “if Minnesota recruited only Minnesota players, what would an all Minnesota team look like?”
I’ve heard it so many times that for the first time ever I actually am going to dive into what it would look like if a Minnesota team was to get all Minnesota kids but could only have Minnesota kids.
We also have to play under the NCAA rules so we can only have 13 scholarship players and we need to balance those scholarships out well. Therefore, here is our team with some notes below.
Point Guard
The toughest decision on this team was “do we take Siyani or Quinton Hooker?” We can only have one senior lead guard on the team and with both being seniors (Siyani tore his ACL and is sitting this year out and coming back in the fall) next year we have to pick one. We went with Hooker because we know he will be healthy but it’s a choice that kills us as both are leaders that kids love to play with. Can we talk one into walking on?
Quinton Hooker (Junior at North Dakota, from Park Center). Having an outstanding year at UND putting up 19 points a game with five boards and four assists shooting 46 percent from the field and is a great leader. See all the Minnesota talent at UND? That is Hooker getting them up there.
Marshawn Wilson (Freshman at UNI, from Hill-Murray). Scoring a dozen points a night shooting 42 percent at the arc and defending older than his years. Marshawn is having a great freshman season and is without a doubt a high major talent playing in the MAC. Can use him at both guard spots.
Shooting Guard
We have a shooter in Zierden and a couple guys in Marshall and Crandall who can shoot as well as play make. Like this group although would also like a defensive stopper with muscle like DJ Davis (scoring nine a game as a sophomore) but only have so many scholarships and we grabbed our worker wings at the three spot.
Isaiah Zierden (Junior at Creighton, from BSM). Scoring a dozen a game for this season shooting almost 40 percent from the arc. This is the feet set shooter the team needs on the wing.
Marcus Marshall (Senior at Nevada, from Johnson). Sitting out right now cause of a transfer but is a playmaker who scored nearly 20 points per game before leaving Missouri State shooting an outstanding 46 percent at the arc (same numbers from the field).
Geno Crandall (Freshman at North Dakota, from DeLaSalle). The high potential playmaker is starting to flourish scoring ten a game with four assists and four boards a night play as a red-shirt freshman who actually just turned 19 so he is more of the age of a true freshman.
Small Forward
We have our worker senior, our playmaker, and our worker in waiting. The small forward spot has not been a deep position in recent years in Minnesota but the 2016 class will provide some.
Sanjay Lumpkin (Senior at Northwestern, from BSM). Started all but six of the last 88 games for the Wildcats because he is an outstanding defender and position player on offense. Grabbing six boards a game too.
JP Macura (Sophomore at Xavier, form Lakeville North). We will use the 6-foot-5 height at the three spot and definitely take the nine points a game in the Big East with 45 percent field goal shooting.
Stephon Sharp (Freshman at Minnesota, from Hopkins). Walked on at Minnesota and is doing a great job is a team role player on both ends and he can be on this team certainly in that walk-on role getting some worker minutes as a walk-on.
Sacar Anim (Freshman at Marquette, from DeLaSalle). Sacar isn’t playing at all for the Warriors but we need his toughness and we need another young wing to balance out the classes and he is the best local option.
Power Forward
We will have two juniors in Travis and Washington that could start together and a senior shooter in King. Need to add to the four spot soon and there wasn’t much to add from in recent classes. Like what the team has now though and going forward with Reid and Kyle.
Reid Travis (Sophomore at Stanford, from DeLaSalle). Reid gives the Cardinal 13 points and seven boards a game shooting 56 percent from the floor and we will be working on that 48 percent foul shooting.
Joey King (Senior at Minnesota, from Eastview). Scoring a dozen points a game for a struggling Big Ten team King is the three point shooter the team needs. Joey is shooting over 40 percent at the arc and 90 percent at the foul line.
Kyle Washington (Junior at Cincinnati, from BSM). Kyle gave NC State seven points and four rebounds in 18 minutes a game before transferring to Cincinnati.
Center
Akolda will be a senior next year while Reggie is sititng out and will be a junior next season. A couple of quality bigs.
Reggie Lynch (Junior at Minnesota, from Edina). Sitting out this year because of transfer but was one of the nation’s leading shot blockers last season with three game while grabbing 5.5 boards with ten points a game for Illinois State.
Akolda Manyang (Junior at Oklahoma from Duluth East). Coming off the bench to give Okalahoma three points and two blocks a game with two boards. Playing nine minutes a night.
2011: If you are form the 2011 class and on here that means you would have red-shirted or transferred in. Joe Coleman’s back has given out so we can’t use him while the other two high major players Ross Travis and Shelby Moats did not red-shirt so we cant use them either. Looked at Joel Awich at Cal Poly but felt that Jake White and Joey King are doing more than he as our veteran four men.
2012: Siyani is a guy you want as a point guard, Sanjay is the worker, Zierden is the shooter, Marshall is the playmaker, King the frontcourt player, and Akolda the active frontcourt player who was junior college player of the year. Looked at Johnny Woodard but need more than the six a game he is giving Tennessee State. I’m pretty sure Manyang was in this class before going to a prep, then junior college, and now at Oklahoma.
2013: Really not much to go with from this class. Have a couple bigs to look at in Reggie Lynch and Carson Shanks, there were lead guards in Quinton Hooker and Graham Woodward. After that there wasn’t much D1 talent in the class. Woodward and Hooker are both having great years. Now, add Kyle Washington to the group and you have nice class. Kyle left BSM for prep school after his junior year.
2014: Can’t have Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn, they went pro already. We can definitely have JP Macura and Reid Travis and will surely grab Stephon Sharp as our walk-on. Then have to pick from Wheeler Baker, Ian Theisen, DJ Davis, Jake Wright, and Geno Crandall. Not to mention Andre Wallace and Ngor Barnaba are guys we have to look at is bringing in as juniors from the junior college route (they are from this class too).
2015: This class just doesn’t look like it will be that thick. Jarvis can’t play according to Minnesota doctors, JT Gibson and Donnell Gresham have been solid as role PGs at the mid/low major level, Sacar Anim is at Marquette but isn’t playing, and Dan Jech is scoring seven a game. But right now the only guy we surely want to pair with Geno Crandall in our freshman class is Marshawn Wilson.
Next Recruiting Class: We are adding Amir Coffey and Michael Hurt as wings for sure. They take the scholarships of Lumpkin and King who are graduating. Need to add a frontcourt player too meaning somebody has to transfer out of this group so Reed Nikko can be the center of the future. If we have another transfer? Look at Steffon Mitchell from high school or Andre Wallace from junior college.
Bottom Line. You can now understand how hard it is picking a team for college coaches. How do you pick between a Siyani or a Quinton Hooker? Hooker has been outstanding and Siyani guides teams to the Dance but a team can’t have two lead guards.
Does this team have enough talent to compete in the Big Ten? I say yes. You could have a really nice ten man rotation from the players listed above with your top scorers likely being the younger players Travis, Wilson, and either Macura or Zierden.
Could they contend for a Big Ten title? I don’t think so. I believe they are a veteran high level playmaker or two away from being that good. That said, going forward adding in all the current high school talent in Minnesota, or convince Rashad or Tyus to be on this team instead of the NBA, then you have your contender.
Who would I start? That is a loaded question. I think I would get the best five on the floor in:
PG: Marshawn
SG: Marcus Marshall
SF: Macura
PF: Reid
C: Reggie
And then from there see how quickly Hooker’s leadership would be needed at PG. Marshawn and Marcus could both play some PG, I think Marcus was the Missouri State point guard. I would only start one of Macura/Zierden and because we are short on small forward scoring Macura starts and Zierden off the bench. Washington or Reggie starting? I want Reggie’s defense on the floor first.
Take the Gopher schedule this year and I think this team would be about 10-2 in non-conference play and 9-9 in Big Ten about. Final record of 22-12 and playing in The Big Dance.
And that is how it would look I think if you could only take Minnesota players and Minnesota players had to stay home and play here.
. He's arguably our best player and to have him sitting on the bench for 15 minutes in the first half every game is so painful. How do you coach this issue? It seems Pitino tried something different this game and pulled him after his first foul a couple minutes into the game, but when he came back in he picked up his second with about 11 minutes to go, so that didn't do much good either.
