There may be a new name on the recruiting horizon for Minnesota. Grant Sherfield received his release from a National Letter of Intent on Monday afternoon, putting him back on the market.
The four-star shooting guard is rated as a four-star by Rivals in the Class of 2019, where he is ranked No. 101 overall.
The first time around, Sheffield had offers from UCLA, Baylor, California, Illinois, Kansas, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, St. Louis, San Diego, TCU, and Texas.
He took unofficial visits to Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama, and UCLA. The visit to Westwood was a crucial one in the process. He took that visit all the way back on October 21, 2017. He committed to Steve Alford and the Bruins nine days later. Just over a year later, he signed with the program this past November.
The landscape changed though as soon as 2019 began. Alford was fired as the Head Coach. Speculation began running rampant about which signees might look to go elsewhere. Sherfield was on the list, and as expected, his de-commitment became official on January 14.
Minnesota was not a player in his recruitment the first time around, so what might be different now? Sherfield was attending high school in his hometown of Arlington, Texas early on. Now he goes to Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Air, Kansas. Kyle Lindsted is an assistant coach with the Gophers. He was the long time Head Coach at Sunrise. Although he never coached Sherfield, he has a built in strong relationship with the prolific basketball program, and Lindsted still casts a long shadow there.
There is no guarantee that Minnesota will have a leg up or will even be in the lead pack, but we expect Minnesota to get involved with the newest prospect on the market.
Besides Richard Pitino's interest in Sherfield, the natural question is what kind of player is he and what are his strengths. Eric Bossi has seen him on several occasions and here are some of his critiques over the past sixteen months.
"He's a strongly built scorer who can get hot from deep and is capable of finishing through contact. Sherfield is also sneaky explosive and plays with lots of confidence. - Eric Bossi, September 15, 2018.
"He's at his best creating off the dribble and using his strength to get downhill and finish in traffic. He has good range on his jumper and doesn't lack for toughness. Though not quite as athletic as current Bruin Aaron Holiday -- whom Alford and his staff compared him to -- he is a sneaky athlete and a very explosive scorer." - Eric Bossi, September 30, 2017 after Sherfield committed to UCLA.
We will bring you up to date on any information we hear between the two parties in the near future.
The four-star shooting guard is rated as a four-star by Rivals in the Class of 2019, where he is ranked No. 101 overall.
The first time around, Sheffield had offers from UCLA, Baylor, California, Illinois, Kansas, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, St. Louis, San Diego, TCU, and Texas.
He took unofficial visits to Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama, and UCLA. The visit to Westwood was a crucial one in the process. He took that visit all the way back on October 21, 2017. He committed to Steve Alford and the Bruins nine days later. Just over a year later, he signed with the program this past November.
The landscape changed though as soon as 2019 began. Alford was fired as the Head Coach. Speculation began running rampant about which signees might look to go elsewhere. Sherfield was on the list, and as expected, his de-commitment became official on January 14.
Minnesota was not a player in his recruitment the first time around, so what might be different now? Sherfield was attending high school in his hometown of Arlington, Texas early on. Now he goes to Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Air, Kansas. Kyle Lindsted is an assistant coach with the Gophers. He was the long time Head Coach at Sunrise. Although he never coached Sherfield, he has a built in strong relationship with the prolific basketball program, and Lindsted still casts a long shadow there.
There is no guarantee that Minnesota will have a leg up or will even be in the lead pack, but we expect Minnesota to get involved with the newest prospect on the market.
Besides Richard Pitino's interest in Sherfield, the natural question is what kind of player is he and what are his strengths. Eric Bossi has seen him on several occasions and here are some of his critiques over the past sixteen months.
"He's a strongly built scorer who can get hot from deep and is capable of finishing through contact. Sherfield is also sneaky explosive and plays with lots of confidence. - Eric Bossi, September 15, 2018.
"He's at his best creating off the dribble and using his strength to get downhill and finish in traffic. He has good range on his jumper and doesn't lack for toughness. Though not quite as athletic as current Bruin Aaron Holiday -- whom Alford and his staff compared him to -- he is a sneaky athlete and a very explosive scorer." - Eric Bossi, September 30, 2017 after Sherfield committed to UCLA.
We will bring you up to date on any information we hear between the two parties in the near future.
