I have tried to gather as much information as possible on Trent Pierce out of Tulsa Oklahoma and Nolan Winter out of Minnesota. Both are small forwards but in somewhat different roles on how each is used on their teams.
I like Pierce because he reminds me somewhat of Amir Coffey except I am more impressed how Pierce carries himself in interviews. Pierce plays all over the floor for his team, including ballhandling. Has a decent outside shot and is REALLY LONG. 6-8 and 190 pounds. Yes he needs to put on a bit of muscle. Dont know if I would say he is super quick but he could guard the 2 thru 4 positions, ok. I need to see him in full games to get a feel for how well he defends but he sounds willing and his length is really attractive to me. He makes good decisions with the ball and seems to move well, off the ball, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT WHEN IT COMES TO TALL FORWARDS. His ballhandling at his size is a plus.
I think he may be hard to get out of the plains. The state of Oklahoma has a banner group coming through in 2023 and I am sure Porter Moser would love to get all of them at Oklahoma... Oklahoma State and Missouri will be in the running for sure.
Nolan Winter is a much more sure bet for the Gophers, given he is a local player and his Dad is a former Gopher.. Winter is in that 6-9, 6-10 range so he is not going to blow by anyone as a small forward. So when I watch him, I am looking to see if he picks his spots to drive to the basket. He has a nice shot... What I like about what I have seen about him is that he moves well off the ball.. He gets himself in position to rebound or get to a good shot, when he does not have the ball. He can pick-n-pop just fine. He is also very long but may have trouble guarding more athletic small forwards. He seems to have a great feel for the game and always looks to help his team, off the ball.
You guys know I love length and athleticism. These guys are both definitely long. To me, you can never have enough of those guys so I would take both if they were both available to us. Ben is recruiting the right way for the Gophers, in terms of the future.
I like Pierce because he reminds me somewhat of Amir Coffey except I am more impressed how Pierce carries himself in interviews. Pierce plays all over the floor for his team, including ballhandling. Has a decent outside shot and is REALLY LONG. 6-8 and 190 pounds. Yes he needs to put on a bit of muscle. Dont know if I would say he is super quick but he could guard the 2 thru 4 positions, ok. I need to see him in full games to get a feel for how well he defends but he sounds willing and his length is really attractive to me. He makes good decisions with the ball and seems to move well, off the ball, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT WHEN IT COMES TO TALL FORWARDS. His ballhandling at his size is a plus.
I think he may be hard to get out of the plains. The state of Oklahoma has a banner group coming through in 2023 and I am sure Porter Moser would love to get all of them at Oklahoma... Oklahoma State and Missouri will be in the running for sure.
Nolan Winter is a much more sure bet for the Gophers, given he is a local player and his Dad is a former Gopher.. Winter is in that 6-9, 6-10 range so he is not going to blow by anyone as a small forward. So when I watch him, I am looking to see if he picks his spots to drive to the basket. He has a nice shot... What I like about what I have seen about him is that he moves well off the ball.. He gets himself in position to rebound or get to a good shot, when he does not have the ball. He can pick-n-pop just fine. He is also very long but may have trouble guarding more athletic small forwards. He seems to have a great feel for the game and always looks to help his team, off the ball.
You guys know I love length and athleticism. These guys are both definitely long. To me, you can never have enough of those guys so I would take both if they were both available to us. Ben is recruiting the right way for the Gophers, in terms of the future.
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