The 2011 Class is wrapped up and in the world of recruiting it is never too early to look ahead to next year's class.  So we begin the look at 2012.  To adequately pen a recruiting post you need to cover three key areas.  How many scholarships do we have available, what are our needs and then who are we targeting?  The first two steps are very easy but in April it is hard to get a clear picture on who Minnesota is targeting.  The AAU season is just getting underway and will heat up as we near the summer months.  Once tournaments start happening all around the country then you will see coaches taking more time to evaluate the talent and carefully decide who they are going to offer scholarships to.

The Gophers this year need to be extra careful in their scouting and eventually who they offer as we only have 2 open scholarships right now.  Looking at our scholarship matrix below you see that we have two seniors on the roster which means assuming we have no transfers or players leaving early for the NBA Draft, we'll have two available scholarships.

The addition of Julian Welch and Andre Ingram was a nice move from a scholarship availability standpoint.  Before they committed the Gophers would have had just one available scholarship for the 2013 class.  We'll get to that class later but one person classes make for a lack of balanced experience on your roster.

We are losing a PF and a soft C with our departing seniors but that does not necessarily mean we'll be targeting those positions.  Even with the departure of Mbakwe and Sampson we are still left with two centers on the roster (Maurice Walker and Elliot Eliason) plus a PF in Andre Ingram and a combo forward, Oto Osenicks.  Other positions of need are SF and PG considering we have just one of each on the current roster.  We have several athletic guards who can play different perimeter positions so I do not anticipate we will offer a guard unless it is a true shooting guard that can stretch a defense ala Blake Hoffarber (with some added athleticism).

So with just two scholarships available, what direction will the staff go?  I'm going to take the easy road here and guess that we'll go with a big man and a perimeter player. 

I'd be shocked if we signed two big men considering Elliot Eliason is a true center who is only a freshman, Maurice Walker can play C or PF, Andre Ingram is a PF and Oto is supposed to be able to play PF or maybe even a shooting SF.  Those four guys give us some flexibility and three of them are young enough that they'll be around for a few years.  Adding one big man not only seems logical but Tubby has signed a big man in every one of his recruiting classes.  If I had to be pinned down to one position I would guess that we'll sign a center.

On the perimeter it is very interesting.  As I said above I doubt that we'll sign a combo, athletic guard; we have a few of those.  Whatever position we sign on the perimeter it will be a "true" position player.  Signing a "true" point guard is a very real possibility and it is a significant need in my opinion.  But I sincerely hope that we don't waste our time with another guy who can play a little point and a little shooting guard.  We need a true point who can run the offense, play some defense and help his team score.  But those are not always easy to sign, Tubby has seemingly tried in every recruiting class and failed to land a legit point. 

So next we move on to shooting guard.  Now one could argue that with Hollins, Hollins, Coleman and Armelin we have plenty of shooting guards.  This is true, but the problem is that none of them are exceptional shooters.  The idea of landing a pure shooter would significantly help this offense, especially if they also possess some athleticism.  This route seems the least likely to me but if the right player is interested I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to land a shooter.

Finally we come to small forward.  In our current offense there isn't a huge distinction between SG and SF, so considering we have guys like Austin Hollins and Joe Coleman who could slide over to be a smaller forward this isn't necessarily a huge area of need.  But we are losing Rodney Williams soon and the idea of landing a "true" small forward would be a good plan.  A 6-6 or 6-7 athletic wing who can shoot a little, defend well and slash to the basket is something we just don't have.  Rodney is in that mold but has yet to grow in to the role. 

If I had a vote I would offer a true point first, a true SF second and then if a great shooter came along I'd be happy to take him.  I think we could get by without at true SF with our current roster better than we'll get by without a real point guard, I'm just not sold on the Welch/An Hollins

So who is available and who are we targeting?  Sorry to make you click below to see the rest.

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The spring signing period is open for NCAA Basketball and the Gophers have landed a huge recruit from Canada.  Not THAT recruit who hails from Canada, but Maurice Walker (the big guy in the picture) is the third member of the 2010 Gopher recruiting class.

This from the U's Athletic Communication Dept.

"We have been involved with Maurice for a couple of years now. He has really developed into an outstanding player which is evident by the success that his team has had at Brewster Academy under head coach Jason Smith," said Gopher Head Coach Tubby Smith. "Maurice is an outstanding player with a high basketball IQ and is a very skilled. On top of that he is a great student and a fine young man. We are very excited to have him join the Golden Gopher basketball family."

Walker, a 6-10 senior center from Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, averaged 12.5 points and 10.0 rebounds as a senior in leading the Bobcats to a 35-5 record and both the Class A New England Prep School Athletic Council and National Prep School Invitational Championships. In doing so, Walker was named to the NEPSAC Honorable Mention Team.

Ranked as the 12th-best center in the class of 2010 by Rivals, Walker landed at Brewster Academy after attending Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough, Ontario. On the court he finished the season with averages of 20 points, 14 rebounds and four assists and was named 2009 Ontario Mr. Basketball.

Walker is a large individual who should add a real physical presence in the middle for the Gophers.  Comparison's have been made Texas big man, David Pittman mostly because of his size and soft hands.  This is a very nice pick up for Tubby.  Walker is ranked as the 12th best center of the class by Rivals and the 9th best by ESPN Insider.  He chose the Gophers over Pitt, UConn and others. 

ESPN Insider Eval...

A mountain disguised as a man, Walker has a huge frame and is absolutely immovable inside the paint. He uses his size and strength to consistently wear down the opposition, banging on both ends and clogging the lane defensively. He changes ends of the floor capably in straight lines but must improve his conditioning, has heavy feet laterally, and very little lift. Consequently, he's not much of a shot blocker and struggles defend the ball or hedge screens away from the basket. Offensively, he can power through virtually any contact to finish, has very soft hands, and does a nice job of establishing position on the block, but must learn to catch and finish quicker and better capitalize on his size and strength when attempting to create his own shot with his back to the basket.

Walker is gifted with the attributes of a very successful basketball athlete. He is very strong and has a huge frame to add muscle and tighten up as he matures. During the tournament this week he time and time again showed a relentless effort to bang inside with the men and his natural gifts served him well. He hammered down many impressive dunks in traffic and ran the floor very well for a man of his size. However, his ability to position himself inside and use his size effectively was very impressive. Not afraid of contact, this young man should have a very bright future at the highest levels. Right now, he needs to continue to demand the ball in the post as his teammates sometime overlooked this talented big man. His back to the basket jump hook and drop step are very polished going to his right hand, but he needs to continue to improve on some counter moves and going to his weak hand.

I really like the addition of Walker and look forward to what he'll bring over the next four or five years.  The question will be what happens with him in 2010-11.  With two true centers expected to eat up the vast majority of minutes and hopefully Mbakwe manning the PF spot, it will be hard to Walker (or Eliason for that matter) to earn any significant minutes this coming season.  The loss of Carter opens up some minutes as we'll probably see a lot more of Sampson and Iverson on the floor together.  But I'm sure you will see at least one of the incoming centers, if not both, taking a redshirt year in 2010-11.  For Walker's sake a redshirt year to really get in shape and trim down those 270 pounds might be in his best interest. 

This is all assuming Trevor Mbakwe is on the roster and playing.  If he is unable to play then we will be playing a season with several centers and no power forwards so Walker and Eliason will be called on to contribute immediately.

The Rest of the Class

This pick up brings our total class to 3 signed players with one or two scholarships available (pending Royce White).  We have picked up two centers and a shooting guard. Below is a table showing the current Gopher roster and scholarship allotment.

As you can see there is still one, potentially two scholarships available.  Cory Joseph has one if he wants it (more on him below) and the only other likely candidate to grab a scholarship in this class would be Michael Haynes.  6'6", 225 forward who averaged nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds per game this past season for his prep school.  Interest has really picked up for Haynes but Minnesota, Xavier and South Florida are reportedly the only schools to have offered.  Duke and Oklahoma State have also expressed interest but nothing official.

The prize of the class is still uncommitted and would add a rock-star point guard to the class which would vault us into a top 20 recruiting class.  Cory Joseph is one of the top three uncommitted players remaining and would transform this from a nice class to a great class.  But it is hard to speculate on Joseph until he makes his decision from a list that includes Minnesota, Texas, Villanova, UConn and UNLV.  The likely top 3 is Minn, Tex and Nova but there is a lot of misinformation and speculation out there.  I like our chances but I'm not going to get my hopes up.  Joseph is likely to announce his decision this weekend.

We know all about Tubby Smith's 2008 and 2009 classes, but what I'm going to try and do in this column (when it's not football-centric) is keep you abreast of recruiting happenings in Dinkytown and across the Big Ten.

Two weeks ago I looked at newcomers you'll see this year for Ohio State and Michigan State, the two program's that various recruiting experts suggested had better 2008 classes than Tubby Smith's Gophers. Today, I look at Wisconsin and Indiana, two programs who came in just under Tubby's recriuting class in most 2008 rankings.

Wisconsin Class of '08: The prize of Bo Ryan's five-man 2008 recruiting class is Minnesota product Jared Berggren. A 6'10 4-star center from Princeton, Minnesota, Berggren appears to be the prototypical Wisconsin big man. And by that, I mean Berggren seems to be a big man that will excel in the half-court game and perhaps struggle when the tempo is pushed. From the 4-letter's analyisis.

He has good skills, just does not really run the floor. He's a strong skilled big man with good post skills. He plays hard and made a good college choice (might redshirt). Does not run the floor well, Rebounds more with position, not quick enough to get to the ball. He often gets beat by athletic big men right now, but he's a savvy player with a great work ethic.

The other name you know that will be wearing red and white is Jordan Taylor. The Benilde St. Margaret's prodduct is a 3-star point guard, who like Berggren, was recruited by the Gophers. For comparison purposes, Taylor is ranked by scouts in the same realm that 2009 Minnesota poing guard commit Justin Cobbs is ranked.

There's no reason you should have heard much about the rest of Bo Ryan's 2008 class. Three-star shooting guard Robert Wilson from Ohio, two star small forward Ryan Evans from Arizona and three-star center Ian Markolf of Texas round out the class. Of the three, Markolf is the one that intrigues on paper. The old axiom that you can't teach size fits here. Markolf stands at 7'0 and 260 pounds. That prompted attention and offers, according to Rivals, from Stanford, Kentucky, Indiana and Texas A&M, among others. Markolf is another prototypical Wisconsin center and could be the gem of Ryan's 2008 class. We'll see.

Indiana Class of '08: Tom Crean was put in a very unenviable position after taking over in Bloomington. His roster was in total upheaval and part of the job was to put together a relatively large recruiting class to see if IU can be competitive in 2008. With a short amount of time and IU in turmoil, Crean did a respectable job--and his 2009 class is looking way, way up.

The name you know in this class is point guard Verdell Jones from Champaign, Illinois. For some time, many thought Jones was going to come to Minneapolis and pick the Gophers over Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and others. The significant interest in Jones came in part because he waited to sign late and the pickings were slim at point guard. Rivals has him ranked as the #26 point guard in the 2008 class, just a couple spots behind Jordan Taylor.

The rest of Crean's stop-gap 2008 class is uninspiring. Three shooting guards--Nick Williams, Malik Story and Matt Roth--are three-star talent according to Rivals. Center Tom Pritchard, a 6'8, 240 pound big man was fancied by Penn State and Miami (Ohio). Those five freshman will be joined by two junior college transfers. Devan Dumes, another shooting guard, was coveted by quite a few schools, including Ohio State, Colorado and Arkansas. And because this class, and IU in general lacks size this year, Tijan Jobe, a 7'0, 265 pound JUCO transfer rounds out Crean's make-shift 2008 class. Jobe could be considered a reach by some. He hasn't put up big numbers and he was recruited by the likes of Georgia Southern, and few, if any, BCS level schools. Crean's taking a chance here that could turn out wonderfully or be forgotten.

We know all about Tubby Smith's 2008 and 2009 classes, but what I'm going to try and do in this column (when it's not football-centric) is keep you abreast of recruiting happenings in Dinkytown and across the Big Ten.

Over the next few weeks I want to concentrate on the 2008 classes that will be on display during Big Ten play this year. I'm going to start today featuring Ohio State and Michigan State, the two program's that various recruiting experts suggested had better 2008 classes than Tubby Smith's Gophers.

Ohio State Class of '08: Six or seven recruits strong (we'll explain in a minute) Ohio State is certainly reloading. Again. Hats off to Thad Matta.

Leading the class is Rivals 5-star shooting guard, and Ohio product William Buford, who is widely considered among the top shooting guards in the country. Expect Buford, who is considered a superior perimeter player and high IQ guy, to contribute immediately. He'll work nicely with fellow 5-star newcomer and Ohio product B.J. Mullens. At 7'1, 265, Mullens was Rivals' #1 player in the Class of 2008 and projects as a potential one-and-done type. And he's not likely to be a Kosta Koufos type. Mullens apparently has all the ingredients. Here's Jerry Meyer.

"Size, athleticism and skill are the big three that separate Mullens from the rest of this class," Meyer said. "It just isn't very often that you find a 7-foot-plus center who can run, jump and shoot like Mullens."

Matta's 2008 class also includes 4-star shooting guard Walter Offut from Indianapolis, 3-star shooting guard Jeremie Simmons from Flint, Michigan, 3-star point guard Anthony Crater from New Hampshire and 3-star power forward Nikola Keckman from Arizona.

Now, this class also includes OSU quarterback Terelle Pryor, a Rivals 4-star small forward who has at least toyed with the idea of playing basketball. My guess would be Jim Tressel would frown on such an activity, but his addition would only bolster an already loaded Buckeye class of 2008. Whether Pryor plays or not, this is one hefty class Matta has put together.

Michigan State class of '08: Ranked right near Minnesota in many breakdowns, Tom Izzo's class is highlighted by 5-star power forwrad Delvin Roe. An Ohio product that left Thad Matta land, and heavily considered North Carolina, Roe is 6'7, 215 pounds. Roe should have an immediate impact, but as Andy Katz noted, the freshman had knee surgery in August and Izzo said he might be 80 percent come December. Knee injury aside, Izzo seems excited.

"You don't take nine months off and be the same player," Izzo said. "But he would rank right up there for anybody I've had that has come back quickly. He has the brains and the athleticism. He didn't look like a fish out of water on that first day."

Roe could make a dangerous counterpart to Minnesota-killer Raymar Morgan and big man Goran Suton. Gone from the Spartans mix, however, is verteran Drew Neitzel. The Spartans phased in Kalin Lucas some last year, but will also have 4-star point guad Korie Lucious in the mix. A Wisconsin product, Lucious is described by Izzo as a guard "that can do more than one thing." More Izzo:

"Even though he's only 5-10 in stature, he's one of the quickest ball-handling guards. And I think sometime in the future we can play him and Kalin Lucas at the same time, giving us an extremely quick backcourt. Korie is a guy who can really shot the ball."

Rounding out Izzo's 2008 class is Draymond Green, a name Minnesota fans should be familiar with. A 6'7 power forward from Saginaw, Michigan, Green flirted with becoming a Golden Gopher before deciding to stay closer to home in East Lansing. A Rivals 3-star player that ESPN ranks as its 13th best power forward in the country, Green is described as a versatile 3/4 that can take smaller defenders under the basket and slower defenders out on the perimeter. Expect Green to be a bench player to begin his career, fighting for playing time with Roe and Morgan, among others.

It has been a long time since we have received a verbal commitment for the Gopher basketball team.  But according to GopherIllustarted Tubby Smith has been given a verbal from Torrance, CA native Justin Cobbs to join the Gophers next season.  This is the second commitment for Tubby Smith and staff.  Cobbs joins local SF-Royce White. 

Cobbs is a three-star point guard who had offers from Iowa, USC, Washington State, Colorado and others.  As a junior he averaged 17 points and eight assists per game and was his conference co-MVP.  Here is the ESPN Insider evaluation of Cobbs.

Cobbs is a quick and athletic guard that can get all the way to the rim in transition and has the ability to finish with either hand. He must improve the consistency of his jumper but he can get in the lane at will. He pushes the ball hard in transition mostly off the dribble and makes pretty good decisions both in the open and half court. An excellent passer that does a good job of looking to feed the post on a regular basis. He likes to attack going to his left to score in the lane. Cobbs is a good on ball defender and has the speed, quickness and size to defend both guard positions. This kid has great upside and could end up signing with a high major. Keep an eye on his progress.

In 2006 Cobbs was described by fullcourtpress.net as a, "Strong point with an impressive basketball IQ, Cobbs is one floor-leader that has a bright future."

For most of us, Cobbs came late on to the Minnesota radar and committed while Darius Smith was still trying to figure out where he wanted to go.  Cobbs appears to have good size, plays good defense and has the ability to beat his man off the dribble.  Before last week I had never heard of Cobbs so I'm learning as I go, but I will be sure to keep tabs of Cobbs and how his senior season plays out. 

To date Tubby has two commits for the 2009 class filling SF with one of the top players in the country in Royce White.  We have now secured depth at point guard with Cobbs.  It is expected that SG will be filled by the local four star, Rodney Williams and they are still looking hard for depth in the front court.  This is shaping up to be another great class by Tubby and the future the next few seasons of Gopher basketball shouuld be an absolute blast to watch.

The last time Rivals updated their 2009 recruit rankings, Rodney Williams was positioned as the #28 player in the country. Now, as his recruitment is said to be picking up, Rivals sends Williams tumbling down to #95 in the country.

It's not surprising to see some fluctuations in these rankings, but that large of drop is more than surprising. But thanks to the reporting of Twin Cities Hoops Czar, we have an answer.

In my last post, I noted that Rodney Williams had a drastic drop in his ranking. I asked Rivals.com what their logic was behind dropping Rodney Williams from #28 to #95 in their latest rankings. Their head scouting guru Jerry Meyer responded with this answer.

"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."

Very interesting take from Meyer, and it means that the Gophers cannot get the top-two rated players in Minnesota. With Rivals' #19 player, Royce White, already committed to the Gophers, the next highest rated in-state product is Arizona State commit Trent Lockett from Minnetonka. The Gophers never offered Lockett.

We shouldn't read this as horrible news on Williams. He clearly is highly regarded among college coaches, with a nice set of offers from the likes of John Calipari and Jim Calhoun, among others. And as Meyer points out, Williams has a load of talent, even if he hasn't put the entire package together yet.

So, who else in the Rivals Top 150 (and not) are the Gophers after? Below the fold you'll see the Gophers are concentrating on two areas: point guard and big men. This makes a lot of sense considering the talent the Gophers have on board or on the way at the wing positions.

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Future Gopher Royce White along with hopefully future Gopher Rodney Williams (pictured right) at the Nike Global Challenge.  The two were members of Team USA-1 which finished 2nd in the eight team tournament featuring high school studs on three USA teams and five global teams.

In the three games played over the recent weekend White seemed to have a solid tournament starting all three games, averaging 9.7 ppg and 4 rpg.  Williams started the first two games and finished with just 8 total points (all in championship game) and 6 total rebounds (according to the info I was able to gather). 

AAU tournaments such as this usually get very little press and do not provide you with much for stats.  In this case we are fortunate that OregonLive.com covered every game with stats and even Slam Magazine Online had a story on the championship game.

What to me is most notable in all of this is the exposure and experience the White and Williams are getting this summer as two of the best high school ball players in the country.  These kids are getting to play with and against some other super talented kids which inevitably makes them better. Here is the roster White and Williams are playing with.

That is an impressive roster with four other 5-star kids and players committed to Duke, UCONN and Oklahoma.

Should be invaluable experiences for White, making him more prepared to dominate when he steps foot onto the Williams Arena floor and assuming Williams gets his grades up he too will be better prepared to contribute from day one.