Rodney Williams is Going to be a Gopher

by PJS on Sep 28, 2008 7:46 PM CDT

Great news, as reported first in the blogosphere by Down with Goldy: Rodney WIlliams is going to be a Gopher.

What has been speculated for months is finally offiical. Tubby Smith has now landed Minnesota's two top recruits in the 2009 class in Royce White and Williams. This should send a message to the likes of Bo Ryan that the days of vulturing all of Minnesota's top basketball talent are over. Tubby Smith has closed the floodgates.

As Scout reports, Williams descended from a plane following his trip to Santa Clara and made his committment official. Williams had narrowed his list down to Minnesota and Santa Clara. High profile programs like Memphis and Kansas were also in the mix.

Williams is a 6'5 two-guard or small forward. He's been described as a slasher with room to grow. White and WIlliams will bring the Gophers much needed athleticism at the wing positions. If you think about what the Gophers have been playing at the three spot--Jamal Abu-Shamala, Blake Hoffarber and Damien Johnson--there is much to be desired in terms of offensive production.

Unless the Gophers free up a scholarship by moving Blake Hoffarber to an academic scholarship, this commitment ends Minnesota's 2009 class. It features Rivals 5-star White, Rivals 4-star Williams and 3-star point guard Justin Cobbs.

As it is, the 2009 class adds tremendous upside to Tubby Smith's more-than-solid 2008 class. Beginning in 2009, the Gophers will have two sophomore big men in Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson, a mature Damien Johnson, a sharp-shooting Hoffarber, Devoe Jospeh, Devron Bostick, Al Nolen and Justin Cobbs, among others to go along with the fabulous freshman duo of White and WIlliams.

My friends, that sounds pretty nice to me.

0 recs | Comment 18 comments

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Comments

Outstanding News

This was coming, but this is great news to purge the bad taste of the OSU game.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Sep 28, 2008 9:23 PM CDT 0 recs

I was always half convinced he'd wind up at Santa Clara

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

by PJS on Sep 29, 2008 7:56 AM CDT up 0 recs

Fantastic

Looking forward to the 08-09 season but the one after that is shaping up to be fantastic.

by FishingMN on Sep 28, 2008 10:24 PM CDT 0 recs

Tubby

is the man! I can’t wait to watch Gopher hoops!

by GreasyLlama on Sep 28, 2008 10:30 PM CDT 0 recs

2009 is going to be huge for Gopher Athletics

New stadium and now one of the best recruiting classes in the history of gopher basketball. We’re going to blow the Big Ten wide open in 2009.

by MinnMarchDTF on Sep 28, 2008 10:31 PM CDT 0 recs

Royce And Rodney

Mr Inside and Mr Outside the next 3 or 4 years in Dinkytown.

by FortyYearCatFan on Sep 28, 2008 10:35 PM CDT 0 recs

Wow...

I hope it will still be possible to get tickets once these boys hit Williams. The future is BRIGHT for the Gophers. For all of those people (out of state) saying Tubby is mailing it in/running on fumes / whatever, think again. And even if he is, let’s keep Vince Taylor on the recruiting scene, that guys knows his stuff.

It looks like Maturi got it right this time around… Now let’s just hope there are no academic issues.

It feels so much better getting a top LOCAL class, no offense to RS3 and Devo(e), we like you too!

by eazydp on Sep 28, 2008 10:44 PM CDT 0 recs

Tubby Was Never Like They Said

He landed the nation’s #1 class in 2005. The #1 JuCo player in 2005. Three Top 50 recruits in 2006. And greased the path for two McDonalds A-A in 2007.

His 2008 Gopher recruits are comparable, maybe better than 2008 Kentucky recruits.

His 2009 Gopher class is definitely better than Kentucky’s 2009 recruits.

by FortyYearCatFan on Sep 28, 2008 11:04 PM CDT 0 recs

Forgive me, but ....

….. I don’t follow every twist and turn of UK recruiting. What’s Billy G’s 2009 class looking like?

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

by PJS on Sep 29, 2008 9:55 AM CDT up 0 recs

Very Good But Small In Numbers

UK has 2, maybe 3 openings.

4 Star Jon Hood is SG. 3 Star GJ Vilarino is PG. And maybe 5 Star Daniel Orton at C.

Similar to Minnesota class. Small in numbers (3 recruits) but very good talent level.

The UK and Minnesota recruiting classes were remarkably similar in 2008 also.

Minny signed three 4 Star HS recruits and two 3 Star JuCo recruits. Kentucky signed two 4 Star HS recruits and two 3 Star JuCo recruits. Both classes rated Top 20 (or so).

It’s remarkable (to me) that Minnesota and Kentucky are recruiting on the same level.

by FortyYearCatFan on Sep 29, 2008 10:18 AM CDT 0 recs

EDIT

Kentucky also added 3 Star HS recruit late in summer of 2008 to its current class.

So each (Minny, UK) signed 5 players in 2008. Their classes are Top 20 range.

In 2009, Minny has 3 commitments, UK just 2 so far. The Minny class is higher rated now.

by FortyYearCatFan on Sep 29, 2008 11:32 AM CDT 0 recs

YES!!!

CANT WAIT!!

by gopherz on Sep 29, 2008 12:50 PM CDT 0 recs

Rivals Rankings

It’s difficult to say for sure, but it looks like this class would currently be ranked at 8 or 9. Royce is the 19th ranked player and Rodney 95th on the most recent rankings. Cobbs is not currently in the top 150, although that could change with a full season to go. A couple of Tubby’s 2008 players moved up the board when we got closer to signing time. I’m not sure how Rodney dropped from the top 50 to 95th as the talk is that he is even more athletic than Royce. You can bet that Tubby will get the most out of him.

by Narby on Sep 29, 2008 2:59 PM CDT 0 recs

Williams rank issues

Narby, in this previous post, we noted the excellent reporting of TC Hoops Czar on Rivals’ decision to drop Williams in their rankings. This is a quote from Rivals’ scouting guru Jerry Meyer.

“We were giving Williams a big benefit of the doubt with the #28 ranking based on his athletic ability and potential. Unfortunately, we just haven’t seen progress. He looked very out of place at the Nike Global Challenge and was just okay at Lebron Skills Camp. Can really jump, but don’t know if he’ll get the feel for the game and skill level for that athleticism to really translate.”

That’s where I got the “slasher with room to grow.” His athletic ability isn’t really being questioned. But I don’t know if there is a better coach to take that athleticism and nurture it into an all-around player than Tubby Smith.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

by PJS on Sep 29, 2008 5:12 PM CDT up 0 recs

Rivals Has Him Too Low

Every other major service has Rodney ranked Top 50 or better.

by FortyYearCatFan on Sep 30, 2008 8:03 PM CDT up 0 recs

No more border jumping!

This is FANTASTIC! I had a good feeling from what I read while Rodney visited the campus. But you never know what can happen on these visits. So when I saw he returned from Santa Clara and committed i was THRILLED! Bo Ryan is not going to have it easy anymore. He can not just come in and cherry pick any talented Twin Cities recruit that he wants! That is what makes this SO beautiful! Bo is a great coach, but what hometown kid wouldn’t want to play for Tubby, in a new, emerging, exciting culture developing in gopher land USA! The future is very very VERY bright!

By the way, I really think Royce committing so early had something to do with this. I think that ultimately it is up to what Rodney’s family feels is right, but for Royce to pronounce his commitment so soon, and so strong, it had to have some sort of an affect! Great job Tubby! Keep up the fantastic work!

by TSAX on Sep 29, 2008 3:00 PM CDT 0 recs