Bad Recruiting News On The Horizon

As commenter cyclonejohn notes in the previous thread, Gopher fans will in all liklihood have to swallow a bitter recruiting pill tomorrow when Sagniaw, Mich. power forward Draymond Green opts against coming to the Twin Cities to play for Tubby Smith.

Green, you may remember, verbally committed to Tubby at Kentucky but later pulled back from his pledge when the new Gophers coach bolted from the bluegrass state. Minneapolis and St. Paul columnists suggested that Green would follow Tubby to Minnesota, and that to increase those odds, Tubby and the U would offer Green's high school coach an admiistrative position with the program. None of that happened and Minnesota isn't listed in Green's top 3. He has a presser set for Thursday to make his decision between Michigan State, Michigan and Indiana.

Accoding to Rivals, Green is the 78th ranked player in the 2008 recruiting class. He could have been an integral part in changing the direction of the men's basketball program.

I've had an email back-and-forth with a couple 'Tubby is a Savior' types who suggest that this development isn't of much concern. It's early on in the 2008 recruiting wars, they argue, and Green is just one of many talents Tubby has been after.

I can't argue with those points. But this does mark the first recruiting loss Tubby Smith has endured as head man of the maroon and gold. I believe it's best to withhold judgment on Tubby's extremely important 2008 class until a few more targets have made verbals.

But I do find one item disconcerting about Green's recruitment, which I will share with you after a outquote from the Detriot News.

Green is a 6-foot-7 forward who was the lone underclassman to be selected to The Detroit News Dream Team last season. Green averaged 22.5 points and scored 27 in Saginaw's 79-57 victory over Detroit Redford in the Class A state championship.

Saginaw coach Lou Dawkins said Green has made unofficial visits to U-M, MSU and Indiana, and the three Big Ten schools are at the top of Green's list. Dawkins said Green might make another unofficial visit to Michigan today.

"These are the schools who have been after him the hardest," Dawkins said. "By (tonight) he'll decide. If not, then he might make it when he wakes up Thursday."

Descriptions from all around the recruiting world were positive on Green. And writers in Minnesota looked at the Michigan standout as player who could elevate Tubby's 2008 class. What worries me is the quote given to the Detriot News by Dawkins, suggesting that Michigan, Michigan State and Indiana have been after Green "the hardest."

That, after all, was one of the knocks on Tubby in Kentucky, that he was outworked by his competition.

We know that Green was ready to play for Tubby at Kentucky. So, it's more likely Green preferred Indiana, Michigan and Michigan State to Minnesota, than it is his decision is a referendum on Tubby's recruiting.

And while it's far too early to judge Tubby's 2008 recruiting class, I don't like reading three Big 10 schools recruited a coveted recruit harder than we did.