Minnesota Sports Forum

Yesterday six top-notch Minnesota high school seniors indicated they will be playing their college basketball somewhere other than Williams Arena (actually Gary Trent didn't announce yesterday, but we know Minnesota is not on his list). Losing the Champlin Park PG Wright was understandable, because Pitino earlier surprisingly landed a better option in 4-star PG from NYC Isaiah Washington, but overall this has been a horrible recruiting year coming off an even worse season. It raises two questions for me, the second being the most important.

1) To the best of my knowledge, the Gophers only have only one available scholarship. How could they have had so many open offers going into yesterday, and what would have happened if more than 1 had accepted? Pitino must have known he wasn't going to get anyone.

2) How long is Pitino's leash? A terrible season last year, issues with some of his players resulting in departures, and an inability to land in-state recruits. I don't know how long his contract is, but I would fire him if the Gophers miss the NCAAs this season...he's not cutting it.

I'm not exactly a Gophers fan but so follow somewhat the happenings around the program because I follow the MN pro sports teams. I am the most tied to the NE college program but because so grew up in SOuth Dakota I haven't had a college team I have cheered for exclusively since I was young etc. Nebraska's basketball program has had its own struggles but the expectations for that program should be even lower than the gophers.

Ok so now that I laid out my perspective here are my thoughts. It really depends a bit on what programs you are losing these in state guys to. I saw one was lost to Marquette. That's not like losing them to Kansas Kentucky or another big time program but Maquette at this point is clearly a better program than MN. It's never a good look to lose out on in state guys especially when you aren't having success. let's be honest here also the U of MN sports program for the last year or so has largely been a complete mess. If you were an athlete would you be interested in being a part of that? If you were a parent would you have some pause? No it looks like Coyle was a good hire and may get things back on track but it's not been good.

Does Pitino have to make the Tpurney to keep his job? Idk I don't think he does but his team has to show some promise to be something more the next year. When he was on a podcast with Wolfson a couple weeks ago I was actually impressed with what he said and how he said it. He seemed knowledgeable and confident but not too cocky. He might not be the guy going forward and I think Coyle will be able to get a solid read on that this year and make some sort of decision. It's tough the Gophers are a big time basketball school to begin with and they dumped their good coach to get better and that looks pretty dumb now and you wonder what kind of coach they can get to come to the program now. They are in a better spot than NE but not by a ton. Obviously Pitino is on the hot seat to some extent. I'll be interested to see how things go this year. I may go watch when they come to Lincoln if it works I to my schedule. They can't play worst than they did last year! Lol

Is this the lowest point of Gophers basketball?

The combination of a really poor on-court product + off-court shenanigans... yikes. I know things were tough at the end of Dutcher's tenure and at times during Monson's...

But it's pretty amazing how far (long) one man has gotten just by a family name. I don't see anything in Pitino's resume to suggest future success outside his father's legacy (and hope that it resonates with recruits and his son).



[Note: I understand the pecking order of offers and acknowledge that the Washington signing is a good one on paper.]

I think we are at a low point in the program, Abe. I've been a fan for many years...at one point in my life I would have called them my favorite of all the local teams. Not too long ago, I would stand in the freezing cold and buy tickets on the street over face value. But now Williams Arena is more like a tomb, and Pitino has been a bust. I actually enjoyed the team late last year when he benched the big guys and went with a very small, quick lineup...but at least one of those quick guys is now gone (can't remember who...think it was a sex tape scandal).

If I were to think positive, I would go here. Coffey last year and Washington this year are two very good recruits, and Pitino has had some success in bringing in reasonably talented Juco players. It has to translate into wins on the court though, or I'm ready to declare the Pitino experiment over.

I just worry that eventually Williams Arena will be blamed more and more for the program's woes.

Yeah, let's blame the revered arena that's only used 18 times per season and offers great atmosphere when the team is doing well vs. all the other factors.



[Note: I do acknowledge that a practice/living facility is a must for today's biggest sports programs.]

Aren't they upgrading a lot of the other facilities? That's something NE gas going for it. They have a new arena and the whole school is building something new everywhere you look including athletic facilities.

I think there is SOME parallels between NE and MN. NE hasn't had the scandal like the gophers but both programs seem to have been able to bring in some young talent. For NE the negatives are Miles has brought in transfers from top schools and those guys have had terrific first seasons on the floor for miles but then the 2 year it doesn't seem to go as well Andrew White transferred out of the program (just saw he picked Syracuse so that makes sense if he plays) but it's just odd how the 2nd years have played out. Miles has struggled to get taller players the last couple years which has been tough playing in the big 10. The latest gaff was one of the better players in state that had committed when he was like 15 decommitted because supposedly Miles wanted him to play at a prep school which seems a bit odd.

It's weird Miles seems like a good dude generally has a fun style of basketball to play and seems to be able to sell the program but something seems missing. It will be interesting to see what happens this year for that program. Both programs can only sell that young talented vibe for so long. I think Miles is safe unless things go really bad (that's possible) and Pitino doesn't have the good built up like Miles does and the expectations are higher in MN. It's not an easy conference with a number of teams that are top 25 types or much higher every year. Part of me sorta is pulling for Pitino for some reason.

To me the issue with Gopher basketball is that the whole athletic program need to get sorted out and go from there. It has been a mess. Pitino could be part of the problem or not part of the solution idk. Like I said earlier Coyle is probably trying to figure all this stuff out. He seems like a good guy for the job.

Let's be honest here. Both programs need some players that can elevate the program. For NE Glen Watson might be that guy that is a big part of what needs to happen. He had a good freshman year and NE hasn't had a dynamic PG since Ty Lue which is shocking. I don't know who are the guys that could be the guys for the Gophers but these programs don't just need coaching they need some good players to get where they want to go. It will be interesting to see how this season plays out. It seems both programs have potential to be intriguing in a good way but also have the potential to be in the bottom of the conference.

I am going to take a somewhat contrarian view here:

First off, the low-hanging fruit: Do we really want a Pitino thinking he has to do "whatever it takes" to sign recruits? Do you really want to walk into Burger King and see some kid banging two escorts on the floor? {See what I did there? I combined two embarrassing Pitino incidents into one joke. How does he do it?} Wouldn't it be ironic that a guy who once employed John Calipari and Stu Jackson has....an honest son? If you aren't the type to get embarrassed by that type of thing, or the Ganglehoff incident, or Jim Dutcher's roaming band of pervs, or point shaving like at BC or Tulane, or straight-up paychecks like SMU, say so and stay consistent. But I would kind of be embarrassed. Remember that scene from "The Untouchables" where Costner and Connery are in the church? Well, to paraphrase, AND THEN what are you willing to do to have a successful College Football and/or Basketball team? Big-time college sports is a cesspool that embarrasses cesspools. I always laugh when someone like Pitino or Calipari or Saban insinuates that they went back to college sports because the working in the pros sucks. THEY WENT BACK BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES, and opportunities for cheating are fewer and further between instead of built into the system from the start. Paul Brown started in college....and never had to go back.

Second: Even if everybody was clean and it was all based on merit, then why would the U of M be successful? Great job by that AD. Pierce Brosnan doesn't try to sext with women half his age in the middle of the night, and he's Pierce Brosnan. Maybe the UofM teams suck because they have basically had ZERO leadership for, what, 50 years?

Third: How about the kids? If they simply chose another school because they promised them more money, or their father more money, or had the better "escort", what does that say about them? And why would you devote any more time than necessary to that type of situation? Once upon a time, all those Viking's kids chose another school because they didn't want their kids playing in the HHH. What's the excuse now?

Fourth: I should take it easy on you guys since you live in some backwater burg like Tallahassee, Tuscaloosa, Lawrence, Lincoln (no offense monster) or Boulder (I don't care how many time Men's Journal says I should move there I'm not going to), where nothing goes on. Wait, what? You live in Minneapolis, one of the greatest cities on earth? A place with 4 premier league teams that sometimes remember they are premier league teams? A place with a soccer team whose best 11 players could totally beat Manchester's 5 best players? A place where you can watch baseball players who couldn't play for the Rochester Red Wings while getting a shave with a straight-edge? But in all seriousness, along with all the other things mentioned, there are movie theaters, theatre, ballet, Symphonies and/or Orchestras, Museums, Libraries, and every national touring act comes through there. There's enough to do. Do you really need to scream "You suck" at an 18-year-old while he tries to shoot free throws?

Fifth: You guys have lives. Strange can play the drums. I can't play "Mary had a Little Lamb" on a recorder. Monster, you know a great deal about film. I'm still trying to figure out why "Swordfish" is not the Academy Award winner every year. Abe, you've acted next to Al Pacino and the late Steve Landesburg. Is it really the end of the world if the U of M fell by the wayside?

Full disclosure: I sometimes get angry....at Don Lucia. I mean, how hard could that job be? Even if you just signed the best 6 kids in the metro, left the iron range to North Dakota and the southern rural areas to St. Cloud, shouldn't you make the Frozen Four every year? Why did his own son go to Notre Dame? How did Ted Brown's son end up in Duluth?

But I gave up on FB and BB long ago for the reasons mentioned. I think we all should.