Green Won't Help Tubby Fill Out 2008 Class

According to published reports, Draymond Green has picked Michigan State.

This is unfortunate, albeit expected, news for Minnesota fans who were hoping Green would follow Tubby Smith to the maroon and gold. Green, the #78 player in the Class of 2008 according to Rivals, had given a verbal to Tubby at Kentucky. He withdrew that commitment when Tubby left the commonwealth.

One thing to note here is that according to Greenandwhite.com the Green signing wraps up the Spartans' 2008 recruiting class. That enables Tom Izzo and company to begin concentrating on 2009. Tubby Smith has not come close to finishing off his 2008 class. The only Minnesota committ at this point is Texas point guard Nathen Garth.

If my tally is right, that leaves 4 available scholarships for Tubby's 2008 class--his first class in Minnesota.

Tubby has offered two four-star shooting guards in Oak Grove, Ill. prospect Iman Shumpert and Devoe Joseph of Ontario, Canada.

Shumpert is being heavily recruited from some heavyweights, and has offers from Marquette, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech. Shumpert has also expressed interest in Duke and Illinois, according to Rivals, but those schools haven't yet offered the shooting guard.

The Gophers would seem to have better odds at landing Joseph, the 22nd best 2008 shooting guard according to Rivals. He currently has offers from Duquesne, Washington St, Santa Clara, Fairfield and other mid-majors.

Rivlas lists four power forwards as having received offers from Minnesota. But two of those can be crossed off the list. Green is now headed to MSU, and Andrew Brommer, who once verbaled Dan Monson, was apparently told he wasn't in Tubby's plans.

The highest ranked PF propsect that has received a Minny offer is Eloy Vargas, a Rivals 4-star player ranked at #17 in the country at his position. Hes 6-10, 210 pounds for Hollywood, Florida. But Vargas indicates he has 'high' interest in Pittsburgh, which has offered. And the competition for Vargas is steep, with the Gophers in a recruiting battle here with Louisville, Clemson, Texas A&M and Miami. Vargas also indicates interst in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio State, but according to Rivals, those schools haven't offered.

Assuming Vargas does indeed head to Pittsburgh, that leaves Robert Eppinger, originally from Minneapolis, who is playing for Indian Hills Community College. At 6-8, 240 pounts, Eppinger would defintley have some weight to throw aronud. Fresno State and Seton Hall are also in the market for his services.

At center, where the Gophers will have to find a way to replace Spencer Tollackson, the Gophers have already missed out on the state's top propsect--Princeton's Jared Berggren--who is headed to the evil neighbors coached by Bo Ryan.

The only other center Minnesota has offered for 2008 is Duluth, Ga. prospect Ralph Sampson III. Tubby was high on Sampson before the son of a legend began to surface as a high-major prospect.

Tubby may have a leg up on the Class of 2009, where some local kids may opt for Minnesota. But landing Rodney Williams and Royce White will be a lot easier if Tubby has a solid 2008 class.

And there's plenty of work to be done before that happens.

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.

Random Tidbits Of Varying Importance

Subjects: That weird band of tubes called the Internet, Pitt's new logo, Draymond Green, Ralph Sampson III and asssorted other pleasantries.

** College football coaches apparently don't like the intricate and confusing Internet thing. Some of us read in Patrick Reusse's recent column that Coach Tim Brewster says he doesn't read the Internet. But Coach Brew isn't the only one. Check out The Feed, which has your up-to-date list of coaches who are distancing themselves from the band of tubes. Bobby Bowden and Joe Tiller make appearances. And Bob Stoops has gotten involved in an illegal Internet pyrarmid scheme. Oops! Maybe it is best to stay away. You never know what you might get in the crazy, unpredictable world of the Internet.

** GopherNation has post #2 up of an eight part serieson the new Golden Gopher era. This chapter discusses what to expect from Coach Brewster and how he should be graded. I agree with the blog's assessment that Brewster will be judged on his recruiting first and that any on-field setbacks will be ultimately blamed on 'Mason's players.' Money line:

This is his honeymoon season. If he overachieves to a 9-3 or 8-4 record then they'll start erecting a bronze statue to be ready in 2009 (Brewster Field at TCF Stadium). If he stumbles by losing to one of their less talented non-conference foes or only win 1 or 2 Big Ten games then it is because he has Mason's recruits. I can already see Sid explaining that you can't run the spread offense with Mason's "pound the rock" kids.

I completely agree. Gopher fans have been wowed by Brewster, and may likely give him a pass if he puts out a Mason-like mediocre season, if he delivers in the recruiting wars.

** Minnesota basketball recruit Draymond Green, who verbally committed to Tubby Smith at Kentucky but withdrew when the coach headed north, isn't sure what to make of UK's interest at this point. According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Green communicates a little with UK but not enough to gauge their interest. The Saginaw, Mich. power forward is making unofficial visits to Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan in the coming weeks/days. Green is one of many potential 2008 recruits who would make turning around Minnesota basketball a reality.

** Another recruit many Gopher fans would like to see suit up at The Barn in 2008 is Ralph Sampson III. Tubby Smith has been in contact with Sampson, who, along with his younger brother Robert, were together at a basketball camp in Charlottesville, Va. this week. A local NBC affiliate has video here of the camp, focusing on the Sampson brothers and their father, the famous UVA alum.

The Charlottesville Daily Progress was also on hand for the camp. It remains to be seen, the paper reports, whether Dave Leitao's Virginia Cavilliers will ask the younger Sampsons to follow in their father's footsteps.

Whether that’s enough to attract an offer from Virginia isn’t clear, but it would be welcome from Ralph III, who said that the notion of following in his father’s rather large footsteps doesn’t bother him one bit.

“I have interest in any school recruiting me at this point,” Ralph III said. “The door’s wide open right now. I’m trying to gather information to see who’s interested in me then make a well-informed decision later on.”

He said he is looking for a good academic school that has a competitive basketball program, that has a family-like atmosphere, so that he can get the full college experience.

With that criteria, the Gophers would seem to have a good shot. Tubby's always been praised for a family-like atmosphere and the U is a good academic school. At this point, Minnesota and Georgia Tech are the highest profile schools who have offered Ralph III.

** The Pitt Panthers have a new logo apparently. The most apt description of the logo comes from Penn State's Black Shoe Diaries: "it kind of looks like a rabid dog crossed with a ticked off cat." The logo is pictued above. Cute little Cujo isn't it?

** I'm trying not to talk politics here even though it's the day job .... but .... this video on Hillary Clinton's Web site is great, if you are a fan of The Sopranos. Just skip past the registration page to get to the video.

Draymond Green

Don't think Saginaw, Mich. star Draymond Green has completely ruled out going to Kentucky now that Tubby Smith is in Minny.

Tubby On The Trail

Tubby Smith may not get all of the recruits he is targeting, but thank goodness he is aiming high.

We've already learned he is pursuing a basketball legend's son in Ralph Sampson III. We know he's after Draymond Green, even though the rumors that Tubby would offer his high school coach a job haven't materialized. Both are class of 2008 prospects. Sampson is ranked as just a 3-star forward/center by Rivals, though having a Ralph Sampson on your side can't really hurt. Green is a 4-star power forward, who had previously committed to Tubby at Kentucky.

And it's been widely reported that Tubby is getting to know the two best--unsigned--local recruits for the class of 2009. One of them, Royce White, a small forward, is a five-star, top-40 player in the class of 2009, according to Rivals. The other, Rodney Williams, is a 6-5, 4-star standout.

Now, according to Gopher Illustrated (subscription), Tubby is on the trail of Stan Simpson (pictured above), a 4-star, top 100 power forward prospect being recruited by Georgia Tech, Illinois, Wisconsin, Louisville and others. Simpson is a 6-8, 220 pound big man from Chicago.

I had concerns that Tubby wouldn't have the drive to recruit as hard as he'll need to in order to right the Gophers' ship. But it seems he is proving me wrong. Now the test will be if he can convince stars like Green, Simpson and a player with a pedigree like Sampson to come to the Twin Cities.