Royce and Rodney Updates

The Star Tribune's Myron Medcalf reported the other day here that Rodney Williams has narrowed his list of schools down to three, except he's apparently only telling us who two of the teams are. Strange? Yes. But I've got a theory!

Medcalf reports that Williams indicated Minnesota and Kansas are two of the three teams. Kansas, according to Medcalf and Rivals.com, hasn't offered the athletic swingman yet. Rivals' page on Williams also indicates three teams that the Cooper product is "high" on. Those teams are Minnesota, Miami (FL) and Wisconsin.

Guess here is that Williams is also including Wisconsin in that list, considering Bo Ryan's need to pluck Minnesota talent in order for him to have a chance to compete in the Big Ten. However, if Williams does commit to the Gophers, it will have taken just one full year for Tubby Smith to completely shut the gaping hole that has allowed countless top Minnesota reecruits to escape maroon and gold and wear that hideous red and white.

Finally, per Rivals, we learn that 2009 commit Royce White has moved up the recruitment ladder. If you believe in the 5-star Rivals scale, at this time last week White was your average 4-star prospect. Now, he's added a star and is the #18 player in the country, according to Rivals' scouts. Williams, at 4 stars, is ranked #28. Food for thought: No Big Ten team has a 2009 player ranked higher than White or Williams.

Interesting Piece On Minnesota Recruiting

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in its version of a preview for the Gophers-Badgers game this afternoon, looked at how Wisconsin has been able to dominate the recruiting wars in across the border during the Dan Monson years.

I found this section interesting:

In past years, UW has benefited from its ability to identify prospects early as well as a lack of scholarships in the Gophers' program.

The latter is what helped land Leuer at UW. Minnesota initially wanted the 6-foot-10 forward to walk on as a freshman with the promise of giving him a scholarship as a sophomore. By the time they offered a full ride, Leuer's stock had risen and other schools were in the picture.

Jordan Taylor and Berggren were identified as fits for UW's system early and offered scholarships before their junior seasons. Berggren had a Minnesota offer. Taylor did not.

No doubt Dan Monson had some Clem Haskins induced obstacles to overcome, but he clearly struggled in identfying talent early. He was probably always playing catch up.

The article also mentions two 2009 products in Royce White and Rodney Williams. If the Gophers can keep those two players home to build off the outstanding 2008 class, Tubby will be well on his way to righting this ship.

** The inlaws are in DC admiring various monuments. It's game day, so of course I had to pass on the outing. I'll be watching the Badgers-Minnesota game closely to gauge any improvement from the Illinois game.

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.