MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[ustbumkneez]

More info from the Collegiate Basketball Invitational
Isaac Rosefelt had 24 points in his teams second round loss earlier this afternoon at the CBI. The loss eliminates First Merit, Rosefelts team, from the tournament. He shot 10-12 from the field, and 4-6 from the line, and grabbed 6 boards in 20 minutes. Considering his performance in his squads two games, I would wager that Ike will be participating in the All Star Game on Sunday-good exposure and a chance for anyone with ESPNU to catch him in action.

Rosefelt's personal assessment after the first day: "I've got to realize that I'm not playing D-III right now. I've got to box them out every possession," he said. "I can't just jump up and get the ball. It's fun, but it's a challenge.

"I made some shots today, but a lot of them were fadeaway shots," Rosefelt added. "That may have worked at Division III, but I've got to get to the cup and get to the line. Hopefully, this will open some more doors for me."

As for Nicolai, it will be great to see him in purple should your source prove reliable, Phoops. He could allow UST to play a more open game, something they will certainly have to be able to do next year to be competitive, and give the Tommies much needed quickness on the perimeter. Hes a different point guard than UST has been used to over the last 5-6 years, so it will be interesting to see how his career plays out. Hes a lot like Sames, who never really got the burn that people expected him to get (i know track was a factor, but he never made the impression on the coaching staff thats mandatory for PGs), or Travis Kalis, who fell out of favor quickly with Fritz. Methodical guys who control the tempo have fit best in the Tommie system, and have had a great deal of success (Sweeney and Dewyre). From watching him play, it looks like Nicolai could really help the program out early. UST definitely needs to reload, and this is a very good step towards making that happen.

[ustbumkneez]

Its not MIAC recruiting news, but considering theres a fair share of Gopher fans on the board and an additional handful of people who probably saw him play in high scool, I thought it would be relevant to note that former Gopher Miles Webb is transferring to UW Stout, after a season at the University of Idaho.

[piperinsider]

Maple River senior guard Paul Larson is headed to SJU. Read it in the Mankato paper. I'm not sure if his name has been discussed.

[PTPer35]

Its not MIAC recruiting news, but considering theres a fair share of Gopher fans on the board and an additional handful of people who probably saw him play in high scool, I thought it would be relevant to note that former Gopher Miles Webb is transferring to UW Stout, after a season at the University of Idaho.

How the mighty fall. Wasn't Webb a big recruit for Monson back in the day?

Hopefully Tubby can land some big recruits and reshape the image of Gopher Basketball. Anyone know of any big name recruits going to tha U besides Hoffarber?

[piperinsider]

Besides Blake, I believe the only other signee was Al Nolan, Jr. from Mpls Henry.

[funbballer]

And the "book" on Nolen is that he really shouldn't be going there....no one thinks he's a Big Ten guard; I think the Gopher's need some "big nasty's" that will clean the glass and and play some tough, hard-nosed defense.

Supposedly Tubby has offered schollies to Rodney Williams from Cooper and Royce White from DeLaSalle. Those are two of the better sophs in the state....or so I'm told.

I think Tubby is at the Kingwood Classic in Houston this weekend where a great majority of blue chip studs are playing so maybe he can grab a couple of them and direct them to Minnesota!

[Drake Palmer]

Its not MIAC recruiting news, but considering theres a fair share of Gopher fans on the board and an additional handful of people who probably saw him play in high scool, I thought it would be relevant to note that former Gopher Miles Webb is transferring to UW Stout, after a season at the University of Idaho.

How the mighty fall. Wasn't Webb a big recruit for Monson back in the day?

Yes & no.  All through traveling ball, AAU, & the first couple of years of high school, Miles Webb was always physically more advanced than his peers.  His AAU team with current Gopher Spencer Tollackson, former Marquette player Ryan Amoroso, & other players of note were dominant for years on the state AAU circuit, & enjoyed some success nationally.  Then I believe after his junior year, Webb had a knee injury & surgery, & I don't think he ever totally recovered.   To his credit, Coach Monson didn't renege on the scholarship which I think the U offered Webb going into his junior year.  The knee injury not withstanding, I think other players from his class were in the process of starting to catch up & when the dust finally settled, Webb should have ended up as a D2 player.

Monson was sort of caught in a Catch 22 which seemed to plague him throughout his years at the U.  Which Minnesota players to offer?  Talent wise, Minnesota doesn't have the depth of talent as other states, yet to keep the locals happy; the U offered scholies to some MN players in the past that were marginal D1 players. 

Funbb- your "book" on Nolen maybe right, but I think in terms of being a good distributor type PG I think he has the tools, but his J is definitely suspect.  And, his competive juices occasionally get the best of him & he's lost his head in some crucial game situations.  However, one thing to keep in mind with him is that he didn't have the impressive talent on his Henry team that other guards such as Lawrence McKenzie & Kammron Taylor had on their respective state championship teams.  The PG I really question is Jordan Taylor at Benilde who has been offered a scholie to Wisconsin.

[funbballer]

I don't know, Drake. I'd take that Taylor kid in a heartbeat over Nolen. I think he'll be "pretty damn good!"

[columbianmaffia]

Report from Scotsdale Arizona:

Wow  can you say BOOMBALAHTY CENTRAL!!!...scotsdale is now my tied for my favorite place in the whole world with greece...i cant go into specifics on what happened this weekend or i might get my post deleted  8)...saturday night i was eating dinner at a steak house about 10 yards from the LA Lakers basketball team...Kobe stood up and made an announcement to the resturaunt that he sucks and so do the Lakers...just kidding but he did stand up and say that Jordan Farmar will be singing Usher "You Got It Bad" to the super hot waitress as a rookie initiation for the entertainment for the 8 tables in our section of the resturaunt...it was pretty funny and even though im a kobe and laker hater it was pretty neato...between that and the ladies it was a most glorious weekend...i think everyone needs to experience what i did this weekend...good times

[columbianmaffia]

Its not MIAC recruiting news, but considering theres a fair share of Gopher fans on the board and an additional handful of people who probably saw him play in high scool, I thought it would be relevant to note that former Gopher Miles Webb is transferring to UW Stout, after a season at the University of Idaho.

How the mighty fall. Wasn't Webb a big recruit for Monson back in the day?

Yes & no.  All through traveling ball, AAU, & the first couple of years of high school, Miles Webb was always physically more advanced than his peers.  His AAU team with current Gopher Spencer Tollackson, former Marquette player Ryan Amoroso, & other players of note were dominant for years on the state AAU circuit, & enjoyed some success nationally.  Then I believe after his junior year, Webb had a knee injury & surgery, & I don't think he ever totally recovered.   To his credit, Coach Monson didn't renege on the scholarship which I think the U offered Webb going into his junior year. 

personally i think monson is a moron for not pulling the scollie...it happens to many players that dont work hard or dont live up to expectations...it sucks but i have no problem with it...this was just one of many of his moves that made the gopher program what it has been for the last 3 or 4 years...D1 basketball is a business and if you dont win you dont get the money, players, fans or tv contracts that you need to succeed...miles would have been better off starting at a juco or lower level college

[columbianmaffia]

by the way chicks dig the roller skates and even more so the spandex speed suit

[localcoach]

Lots of good info on the board fellas.  Thanks! 

I have a few unconfirmed but fairly reliable tidbits of information for Drake - et all. 

Augsburg is again working on a nice class which will include Brett Cloutier, a 6-4 undersized banger from Brainerd HS, and quite possibly Aaron Van Der Stoep, the young man from Ellsworth who hit all of those 3's in the state tournament.

Max Hintz, a popular recruit by the MIAC is apparently walking on at Winona State.  Sounds like it's a done deal.

Don't be surprised if Nate Kroschell of Edina picks the Oles over the Tommies.  That would be a major coup for Coach Koz.

Anders Halvorsen is going to attend prep school this fall somewhere.  Apparently he wants to go the Division I route and believes this is the way to do so.

Hamline continues to recruit the junior college scence fairly heavily although I haven't heard of any commitments just yet.

[Drake Palmer]

Funbb- In the case of either Nolen or Taylor, I think it's tough to predict future potential PG success.  Two years ago when I first saw Taylor play, I thought to myself – "this kid is going to be special."  Then I saw him again during the state tourney this year & I wondered –"what happened to his game?"  Hopefully he proves me wrong.  I remain on the fence with Nolen.

...personally i think monson is a moron for not pulling the scollie...it happens to many players that dont work hard or dont live up to expectations...it sucks but i have no problem with it...this was just one of many of his moves that made the gopher program what it has been for the last 3 or 4 years...D1 basketball is a business and if you dont win you dont get the money, players, fans or tv contracts that you need to succeed...miles would have been better off starting at a juco or lower level college

Cmob - Monson basically did what you were describing with Webb, which is why Webb left after his FY year at the U for Wahpeton NDSSS.  What about Jamal Abu Shamala?? 

Years ago, I think I might have had a similar experience to your "boombahlatie" experience when I went on spring break to Tucson. 

Good report Local.  We'll have to see where these kids end up.  I thought I'd read that Max Hintz was going to Southwest State instead of Winona State.  And I'd heard Buena Vista College in the IIAC or possibly NAIA Northwestern College in Iowa was in the running for Aaron Van der Stoep.

If as earlier reported, Tyler Nicolai ends up a Tommy, I still think there's a good chance that Nate Krosschell could follow him to UST.

I have no idea why Anders Halvorsen thinks he can go D1.

[sumander]

Drake, If memory serves me correctly, you were pretty dazzled by Van der Stoep's game after the state tourney!

[Drake Palmer]

Drake, If memory serves me correctly, you were pretty dazzled by Van der Stoep's game after the state tourney!

Dazzled?!?  SUM, that kid had me "blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce,  another runner in the night"...   

The kid was awesome & shot out the lights.  He broke Steve Sir's old record for 3s in a state game & tourney.  And to boot, he closed out his high school career with the game winning three in the waning seconds of the state championship game!  It can't get much sweeter than that!!  So yeah, I liked his game (smirk  )