I know it is football season and basketball doesn't really begin for a few more months but this year the Gophers are getting to work early.  Tubby and the boys will be heading to Canada soon for a pre-pre-season set of games and because of this trip they get to start practicing early.  This is really a blessing for the 2010-11 Gophers who have a lot of young guys on the roster.  To get an extra couple weeks to teach them the fundamentals of Tubby's systems and then the chance to put those to use in a game situation is invaluable.  When they practice for real in October just think how much further along these freshman will be compared to freshmen around the Big Ten.

As part of the kickoff the media was allowed to come and watch a portion of practice and then interview Tubby / players.  Here are my observations from the practice.

• Trevor Mbakwe is going to make a huge difference on this team.  I may get into this more below but the lack of a go-to scorer and a rebounding have been the biggest weaknesses of this team in the Tubby era.  We have one of these questions answered.  He isn't going to grab every missed shot but his stated goal is to lead the Big Ten in rebounding (and blocked shots), he is clearly capable.  He won't be the go-to scorer but he should score in double-digits and rebound more than he scores.  I think realistically he'll average 10 points and 11 boards.  Last year the Big Ten's leader was Mike Davis with 9.2 rpg and the Gopher's leader was Sampson with 5.8.  He also was the recipient of an lob for a lay-in with plenty of traffic in the lane.  He is very athletic and strong.  I'm very high on Mbakwe right now, so much so that I'm afraid I've already raised expectations to an unrealistic level.
• Devoe Joseph - speaking of missing that go-to scorer...Is this the year Devoe steps up and is that guy?  Nothing I saw this morning would indicate that.  His only move was still the step back shot with a slight fade-away.  He did not show the ability to get by his defender and into the lane.  In his defense he is nursing a quad injury so his explosiveness should be better by this winter, but his offensive game didn't appear to be any different.   Defensively he also did not appear to be improved.
• Al Nolen - remember what you saw last year (the first half of the year)?  That's what I saw this morning.  Excellent defense, can penetrate into the lane on offense, had a couple nice passes for points but couldn't score when he had the chance.  I still maintain that he is was (before Mbakwe) our best overall player, who just isn't a scorer.  He is critical to our success this year and he should be cleared to play.  Talking with Myron, he pointed out that it is really difficult to get out of Tubby's doghouse, so Nolen's role with this team will be interesting to watch.  Can Tubby afford to not have his best defensive player and only true PG starting the game?  
• Blake Hoffarber - again, what you saw last year is what I saw today.  Once they started playing 5-on-5 going up and down the floor, Hoffarber was 4/4 from behind the arc.  He scored a couple in transition with Nolen finding him and he got a couple off when his man was slow to close out and his quick release wasn't guardable.  I talked with Blake after practice and he told me the one thing he's worked on that we can expect to see differently this year is a pump-fake.  He said at the end of the year he was being face-guarded a lot and guys closed out really hard on him with a few shots being blocked late in the year.  He has worked on moving better without the ball and adding a pump-fake for when guys come flying out to block his deadly three ball.
• Rodney Williams - he looks a little bigger, especially his legs.  I also asked Rodney what he was working on this offseason.  He said he's worked a lot on his ball-handling and he has altered his jump shot a little bit.  I also asked him what he thought kept him from getting more minutes last year and he thought it was his defensive rebounding.  He was often out of position defensively and that put him out of position to box guys out.  I did not notice any increase confidence or a more polished offensive game but it was just part of one practice.  Myron also asked Tubby (in a prior interview) about rebounding and Tubby talked about Rodney "We need Rodney on the boards. He could be our leading rebounder."  I'd like to see him score a lot more too, but apparently Tubby's message is getting through to Rodney.
• Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson - if you are expecting me to say that they were rather similar to what we saw last season, you are correct.  RSIII was agressive and tough inside on some possessions and soft on others.  Iverson looked much more like the Iverson we saw in the second half of the season than the first.  He is about an inch taller than Sampson, and is right around a legit 7 feet with shoes on.  I like both of these guys and hopefully there will be some improvement from last year to this.  I didn't expect any huge signs of improvement and I wasn't surprised.  Tubby in that same Myron interview said he'd like to see both of these guys average 8 rebounds per game.  I don't see that happening but combined if they can get 13 or 14 per game that would be a good start.  On a side note, the elder Sampson was in the building.
  

That is our top 7 and the ones I am secure with.  After that the question is who is our 8th and possibly 9th guy(s)?

• Austin Hollins looks to be the most ready of the freshmen.  He is very thin and could really use a year to add some bulk.  Defensively he seemed to get it and made quick adjustments when corrected by the staff.  His 1-on-1 footwork was very slow but as long as he isn't being asked to guard someone 1-on-1 in the full court he should be fine.  He and Rodney were battling in nearly every drill and I expect that will be the case all year long for those two. 
  
• Elliot Eliason - easily the tallest guy on the team.  Eliason moves well, had good footwork in the post but I'm not sure his body will be Big Ten ready.  Works hard and has some skill, he'll be a good Big Ten center.
  
• Maurice Walker is a big guy but he does not move all that well.  If he lost 20 pounds he might be dangerous.  At current size he certainly is a big body in the paint and against certain teams that won't pull him out to the perimeter he could have some success.  My guess is that if Tubby has to pick one of the new bigs to play and one to redshirt, Walker is the one you'll see in uniform this season.  His size helps and Eliason would really benefit from a year of learning.
• Maverick Ahanmisi - will benefit from a redshirt year.  He is quick and appeared very coachable (although who wouldn't in your first practice as a Big Ten player).  On one particular play he went up for a rebound amongst Walker, Iverson and Dominique Dawson; Ahanmisi is the one who came down with it.  Tough kid who will benefit from Al Nolen guarding him everyday in practice for a year, but I don't think he helps us this year. 
  
• Dominique Dawson - the walk-on might have to play some this year.  I was not overly impressed as I was expecting a little bit more athleticism.  Instead I saw size.  He is a strong kid who might have to play some spot minutes as a PF this year.  If he plays more than 4 min a game we'll be in trouble but in short stints he may be able to give us some defense and a foul or two.
• Chip Armelin, Oto Osenieks and Chris Halvorsen are not allowed to practice or travel with the team because of late signing, NCAA Clearinghouse issues and transfer restrictions respectively.

There are plenty of questions to be answered so having a couple weeks to practice and play before the real season begins in October is a blessing for this team. 

6-3 shooting guard, Chris Armelin's patience has paid off.  The Louisiana native had offers from a couple smaller schools but was holding out for a BCS offer.  Oregon was also considering a scholarship offer but Armelin visited the U this weekend and he finally received that BCS scholarship he desired.

As a junior and sophomore Armelin averaged 17.5 points per game and was a 2nd team all-state selection both years.  Then as a senior he averaged 21 points and 7.5 rebounds per game earning 1st team all-state honors for the while his team made a run into the 5A state tournament. 

Myron reports that Armelin has a 37 inch vertical and ESPN Insider's eval has this to say...

The lefty from Louisiana showed a nice stroke from behind the arc with good range out to 22'. He has good ball skills in both transition and the half court. He can get his own shot when he needs to. He is a good athlete who can finish at the rim with strength. He has a solid body with good bounce off the floor. Chip has very good pace to his game, seemingly never getting sped up. He could be nice pick-up for a Southland level school.

Being a three time all-state selection and putting up good numbers for three years begs the question why wasn't he offered a BCS scholarship before August 6th?  According to Myron, who asked Armelin, he fell off the radar when he decided to play football during his senior year.  Even with that he received interest from Oregon, Georgia Tech and the home state LSU Tigers.  LSU's new coach is making it a point of emphasis to retain Louisiana's best but his 5 person class consisted of just 1 in-state kid, and it obviously wasn't Armelin.

So with that our 2010 class is complete (kind of).  There really is no resolution about Oto Osenieks but assuming he makes it to campus the class of 2010 now consists of 6 incoming freshmen.

• PG - Maverick Ahanmisi
• C - Elliot Eliason
• C - Maurice Walker
• SG - Austin Hollins
• F - Oto Osenieks
• SG - Chris Armelin

Nobody stands out in this class but most of these guys should be able to redshirt and have a year to develop.  Assuming Trevor Mbakwe is playing for the Gophers this fall, we will have 13 scholarship players and 2 scholarships available for next season. 

On the eve of Gopher Football-2010 officially gets going, the basketball team has announced their non-conference schedule.  The Golden Gophers will be taking on the likes of Hilltoppers, Saints, Terriers,  Zips and maybe the Flying Dutchman.

The schedule...

My thoughts...

This is a very weak schedule, weaker than the previous two years.  The only chance at facing a quality opponent that will boost our tournament resume is facing North Carolina in the second round of the Puerto Rico Classic.  Virginia will be a decent opponent as they return some talent but they were just 5-11 last year.  We'll have to go 12-1 or we'll need to get 12 Big Ten wins if we want to make the Tournament this year. 

Virginia is the toughest opponent that we are guaranteed to face.  North Carolina jumps to the top of that list assuming they can beat Hoffstra and we get by Western Kentucky. 

Wofford is coming off a 26 win season and they are returning at least six of their top seven leading scorers.  Their top three returning scorers are all Minnesota kids.  Noah Dahlman (16.6), Jamar Diggs (9.5) and Cameron Rundles (6.6) are all local products who ended up with the Terriers.  They nearly knocked off Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament and are very capable of beating the Gophers this November.  They are fairly scary.

Eastern Kentucky returns their leading scorer who also happens to be a Minnesota native.  Justin Stommes is a forward out of Cold Spring and returns his 14.2 ppg average.  The other double-digit scorers from last year are gone so this should be a W.

Cornell was a great team last year but they lost a lot and should be very vulnerable.

I'm not going to go team by team but outside of Virginia, possibly North Carolina and possibly Wofford this schedule is very winable and as I said above needs to be at least a 12-1 non-conference record.

Trevor Mbakwe's trial has been delayed yet again.  The new trial date is set for August 23rd.  Which means sometime in early August you can expect an announcement that it will be delayed into September.  Mbakwe has seen delay after delay while his collegiate career hangs in the balance.  What caused this particular delay?

Miami Dade state attorney's office spokeswoman Terry Chavez said the delay was caused by a conflict with the judge's schedule.

"The judge has a judicial conference to go to," Chavez said.

Kind of incredible when you think about it. I wonder if the conference is in Hawaii.

So what will Joel Maturi do about the latest development?  Nothing, but there is a glimmer of hope that he will be allowed to play if there are more delays into the school year.

"If Trevor's case is continually delayed and it's by the prosecution and not by the defense, then I will truly be willing to look at the decision we've made," Maturi said. "I certainly don't want to have his collegiate career impacted. Last year, he was able to redshirt. We had hoped that it would have been resolved. It wasn't. Now any time that he misses would be a loss of his collegiate eligibility. We certainly don't want that. He has done the right things and done well in the classroom and socially.

"It's my understanding that as a defendant he has a right to a quick trial. I've shared that with Trevor. If it's now Aug. 23, then it could still be resolved before school starts. If not, then I'm certainly open to review why it is not and look at the decision that was made."

Assuming he is not guilty (which I'll do considering we live in America and stuff), he is really getting jerked around.  I hope this gets resolved quickly and he can move on with his life.  I really, REALLY, want to see Mbakwe in a Gopher uniform next season but if the judicial system won't give him clarity and the U of Minn administration will not give him the benefit of the doubt then I hope he can transfer somewhere else to play basketball.

Trevor Mbakwe is a 6'6, 280 pound power forward with talent.  He's exactly the muscle that Tubby's Gophers need under the net.  He wants to play for the Gophers.  Yet, uncertainty regarding a pending charge clouds his future.  The resolution of the Mbakwe conundrum could determine whether this year's Gopher basketball team will be a Top 25 contender, or just another middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team.

Apparently, Mbakwe has asked for and been given permission to consider transferring to other schools such as Memphis.  You can't blame him for wanting to put himself in a position to play ball.  At the same time, you can't blame the University of Minnesota for insisting to wait until his legal issues are resolved.  Never fault an organization for taking the high road.  This is a no-win situation, unless the unexpected happens and his charges are dropped within a very short time frame.

I will never speculate about any student-athlete legal issues until there has been a verdict.  That would be irresponsible journalism, and as a blogger I'm already just a pseudo-journalist at best.  I will say that if there is any blame to be rightfully cast at this point, it is with the legal system that prevents this case from reaching resolution.  A young man's future, another person's uncertainty, and a basketball team's season are all compromised by a laggard legal system.  To clarify, I'm not equating those three parties.  But it is a reality that all three are suffering from the lack of a speedy trial.

So the Mbakwe conundrum continues.

In most years when a team is graduating three seniors, one could reasonably assume that you will have a pretty good idea of what next year's roster will look like.  For your Golden Gophers, that just isn't going to hold true this year. Rather than replacing just 3 scholarships the Gopher staff actually has up to 6 available scholarships to reallocate for the 2010-11 season. 

Gone from the 2009-10 roster

• Damian Johnson (F) - graduation
• Lawrence Westbrook (G) - graduation
• Devron Bostick (G) - graduation
• Paul Carter (PF) - transferring to be closer to family
• Justin Cobbs (PG) - very likely transferring
• Royce White (PF) - likely going to be gone, but huge question mark.  He was technically on the roster last season so I'm including him here

Additions to the roster

• Austin Hollins (G) - incoming freshman
  
• Maurice Walker (C) - incoming freshman
  
• Elliot Eliason (C) - incoming freshman
  
• Oto Osenieks (PF) - incoming freshman
• Maverick Ahanmisi (PG) - possibly another incoming freshman??

GopherIllustrated (and subsequently everyone else) reported that Ahanmisi is visiting and if all goes well he will accept a Gopher scholarship. He is a California point guard with a pretty weak offer sheet.  UC Santa Barbara and Loyola (IL) are the only other schools who have reportedly offered.  Ahanmisi has been pretty far under the radar and currently is not ranked by either Rivals or Scout.  He is a 5th year senior who finished his high school career at Golden Valley High School and then played last year at Stone Ridge Prep school in California. 

Doing some quick google stalking searching I found this article on Ahanmisi during his senior season (2008-09).  It is a good article on his development as a leader basketball player.  This quote from Golden Valley head coach, Chris Printz.

"This year, he has evolved into a leader for us," Printz says. "I don’t know what he’s going to do in the future. I know I’m going to enjoy him playing in college. After that, he’s going to be successful in anything he does."

Maverick grew as a scorer as well averaging 12.5, 15.8 and 20.2 during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons respectively.  According to the article linked above, during a  playoff game in his senior season Ahanmisi scored 41 points on 12/15 shooting.  And he missed his first three shots!  Finding any information on his prep season at Stone Ridge has proven elusive. 

What can we expect from Ahanmisi is a total guess at this point.  Rivals lists him as 6-1, Marcus Fuller wrote that he is 6-2, ESPN lists him as 6-5 and Myron referred to him as a combo guard.  His ESPN profile had this to say and it about the only scouting report easily accessible.

Ahanmisi plays a very active brand of basketball, remaining in constant motion, which serves to wear out the opposition. He always plays hard and never takes a play off. On the defensive end, he does a good job of playing passing lanes for steals. On offense, he shoots a set shot and will connect from 3-point range, but he needs more consistency. He does not have great bounce, but he covers a ton of ground when he puts the ball on the floor and tries to get to the rim.

Marcus Fuller got some outstanding info on Ahanmisi from his AAU coach...

Ahanmisi did shine at some spring AAU tournaments for Bob Gottlieb's Branch West AAU team, which has featured players such as Wisconsin's Marcus Landry and Washington State's Taylor Rochestie. Gottlieb is the father of former Oklahoma State guard and current ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb.

The elder Gottlieb said he first spoke with Minnesota assistant Ron Jirsa about Ahanmisi a month ago. Smith also talked with him last week. Gottlieb didn't know much about Smith's current point guard situation, but he heard from the Gophers that there would be playing time for Ahanmisi when freshman Justin Cobbs transfers.

"There's no question Maverick will help, whether he comes off the bench at the point or the off guard," Gottlieb said. "If he's forced into the starting role, then he's somebody that can help on the offensive end. He's got great defensive instincts. He picks off a lot of passes. He's very bright and a very quick learner."

Gottlieb added, "He's the best end-of-game scorer that I've had in 45 years of coaching. He's great in the open court and in a half-court offense. He sees the court very well."

That is some high praise from Mr. Gottleib.  I would still assume that he is a likely redshirt candidate and then eventually he will be an older upperclassman by two year (prep year + redshirt year).

What really becomes interesting is reading between the lines and doing the scholarship math.  Adding another scholarship freshman and specifically a PG means that Cobbs is almost certainly gone.  He told Sid that he's staying but everyone else is assuming that he is leaving.  Even with all of these additions there is still one scholarship available if Cobbs decides to stay.  This would be ideal for the Gophers as our backcourt depth will be seriously thin.  Cobbs sticking around allows both Austin Hollins and Maverick Ahanmisi to redshirt and develop.

Assuming Cobbs does in fact transfer the speculation will continue around what is going to happen with Royce White.  A scholarship will be available for him.  But at this point if Tubby and staff really wanted him back it would be done.  White may be a Gopher next year but things will have to change between now and fall semester.  Myron had some great insight into the situation...

White has had conversations with Gophers staffers about returning to the team. But one person familiar with the situation told me that the team is not ready to give him another chance because he hasn't gotten away from some of the people they've been concerned about.

But the source also left the door open to a possible return in the future ... seems like that's always the case with White.

"No chance until he stops hanging out with the guys he hangs with," the source said. "All of the extracurricular [stuff]. ... But you never know."

White still represents the different between what should be a good team and a very good team.  There are all kinds of question marks surrounding this team but having White on the floor answers a lot of them and gives us a scoring threat we don't currently have.

After adding five incoming freshmen the scholarship breakdown looks like this.  I am assuming that Al Nolen returns, Justin Cobbs transfers and Maverick Ahanmisi accepts a scholarship offer.  My best guess is that the remaining scholarship goes to Dominique Dawson for a season and is reallocated next year giving us 4 for next year.

2010-11 should be an interesting season.  Disregard the incoming class and Royce White.  The success or failures of the upcoming season heaving depend on further development of the junior class and Rodney Williams.

It appears the Joseph brothers will not wear maroon and gold together for the Gophers. Reports indicate that Cory Joseph, Devoe Joseph's younger brother, has offered his verbal committment to Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns over Tubby Smith and the Golden Gophers, among other finalists on his list.

This is unfortunate news for Minnesota fans. Cory had the talent to come in and immediately be this team's best offensive player, fill a need at point guard and take the Gophers from a middle of the road Big Ten team to a Big Ten title contender. It doesn't appear that will happen.

The inability to land Cory Joseph, with the obvious recruiting advantage of having Devoe on the Minnesota roster, is troubling. In Tubby's time at Minnesota now, he's been unable to land any marquee talent, unless you consider Minnesota-native Royce White, and we know how that worked out. 

The Dallas Morning News quotes Joseph as saying his relationship with Rick Barnes was a big factor. 

"It was mostly the relationship I had with coach [Rick] Barnes," Joseph said about his decision. "I have good relationships with all the coaches, but my relationship with Coach Barnes fit me best."

So Barnes found a way to leapfrog Tubby Smith, who likely had much more time to build a relationship with Cory. That's disappointing. I also wonder if Tubby Smith's coaching style plays a role in the decisions of top-notch talent to avoid his schools. Tubby is the rare coach that tries to play 10 to 12 players per game. He's the rare coach who makes mass, five-in, five-out, substitutions. He's also clearly not good at coaching offensive basketball. If you're Cory Joseph, and your major goal is to make it to the NBA, Tubby just might not be the right fit. 

For the Gophers, this means that Devoe Joseph is likely your starting point guard heading into next year. Al Nolen likely plays some point guard for this team as well.

I'm disappointed by this news. Had Tubby landed Cory Joseph, the program could have taken a leap forward. As it is, I'm not sure this program is going to be able to leap forward from the middle of the Big Ten pack. And unless something changes, this is poised to be Tubby Smith's most disappointing class of recruits since coming to the Gophers.

If you are looking for travel plans next November, you may want to consider a trip to watch the Gophers in Puerto Rico.  Their 2010 early season tournament will be the Puerto Rico Tip-Off against a solid field of mostly BCS teams.

I'm sure many of you were well aware of the 2010 PR Tip-Off but let's take a quick look at the teams in the field...

• Davidson does not have Steph Curry anymore but their top two returning scorers were freshmen so this team is building.  Jake Cohen and J.P. Kuhlam will be sophomores and the kids to watch.
• Hofstra was a 19 win team this past season and returns 5 of their top 6 scorers.  Leading scorer Charles Jenkins returns his 20.6 ppg, but the Pride will be lead by a new head coach.  Tom Pecora took the job at Fordham and Tim Welsh will be coming in to lead the 2010-11 Pride.
• Nebraska has a really good football team! :)  The Skers finished 2-14 in the Big 12 last year but they do return a young nucleus that promises at the very least a better season than they endured this past year.
• North Carolina will be much better than they showed in 2009-10.  Harrison Barnes and Reggie Bullock are going to be Tar Heels to go along with several other McDonald's All-Americans already on the roster.  Roy Williams is the best coach in the country and this team will be good next year.
• Vanderbilt is coming off a great season before they were upset by Murray State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  Leading scorer Jermaine Beal will be graduating and A.J. Ogilvy will be leaving early but the rest of the team will return to go with a talented incoming recruiting class.  Player worth watching?  How about former Gopher target Festus Ezeli.  
• West Virginia obviously is coming off a Final Four season.  Kevin Ebanks is heading to the NBA and obviously Da'Sean Butler is leaving because of graduation, but Bob Huggins has talent on this roster and they'll be very good.  It appears as thought the Mountaineers are following us to a preseason tournament yet again.
• Western Kentucky had their worst season since 2003-04 and they had 21 wins.  The Hilltoppers are always dangerous and it would be a great test for the Golden Gophers.  

Should be a fun tournament next November, I'll see you all there?