As we were treated to an extremely entertaining NCAA tournament and the Women’s college basketball transfer portal seems to almost double in size every day, it’s never too early for Minnesota Gopher Fans to look forward to the next season and for reporters or contributors to review the 20-21 reason and examine what went wrong and what should have fans thinking that next year could be a special one for the Golden Gophers. For this two-part review, I will come at it from half the perspective of a loyal ever-optimistic fan and half from an unbiased point of few that isn’t clouded from fan rose-colored glasses.
In this last part, I review the overall state of the recruiting, including local recruiting wins, and promising aspects of the program that should have fans excited for the new year and beyond.
Bright Spot: Recruiting/Local Recruiting
Overview:
Almost any coach at any level in college basketball will say a version of the saying that “recruiting is the lifeline of any program.” While it may be said often, it doesn’t mean that it has any less truth to it. Another thing fans and followers of a program don’t understand is that on average, each class has between 15-25, maybe a little smaller number of players who can make the transition from high school basketball into the college game and be productive and thrive. Players like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers are extremely rare and while the goal is always to try and recruit players at that level, most teams have to understand that its more about getting pieces that fit together and as a group, take the team to the top of the college basketball world.
The Minnesota Gophers have had their fair share of players who you would call program-changing type of players, most recently superstars Amanda Zahui and Rachel Banham. It appears since those two have moved onto the WNBA, the Gophers are still looking to recruit their next program-changer. Coach Whalen and staff also were coming in starting behind the eight ball, especially with local recruiting, and were looking to come in and turn things around. While the future appears to be golden in terms of local recruiting, developing that talent and getting next level players still appears, whether unreasonable or not, to leave some to be desired for fans and followers of the program.
Fan View:
First let me put this simply. If you look at the two previous Gopher coaches in Pam Borton and Marlene Stollings, I have the personal opinion that Borton burned a lot of local bridges and Stollings came in and danced on the ashes. If you want a prime example of just how disconnected recruiting got during the Stollings years, Lindsay Whalen was able to sign a Minnesota High School player exactly one month after she was hired as the coach. Stollings did not sign one single High School player from the State of Minnesota during her four years and Whalen not only got one signed, but that player (Sara Scalia) is a key cog for the team and without a doubt one of their most reliable scorers.
Keeping on the theme of Local recruiting, while there were some notable misses in the class of 2020 and 2021 that did sting, they did bring in two Minnesota players in Katie Borowicz and Maggie Czinano. Katie appeared to be firecracker who can give the team energy and effort off the bench after enrolling early this last season and Maggie is hoping to have a similar effect once she arrives on campus in the fall. Not to mention the staff has brought in three Minnesota transfers in Kayla Mershon, Laura Bagwell-Katalinich and the most recent addition in Bailey Helgren. All are expected to be productive post players in the upcoming season. So even with a couple of misses in recruiting, there is no question Whalen has improved local recruiting.
Then comes the class of 2022. As of right now, they have three high-level local recruits verbally committed. Mallory Heyer, Mara Braun and Nia Holloway are three of the top six players from Minnesota in the class of 2022. Even just getting these three, this arguably could be the best local recruiting class the University of Minnesota has secured in over a decade or more. Add in the fact that Whalen and company are right in the hunt for a fourth local recruit, Amaya Battle, who is also a top five player in the state and likely a top 100 recruit in the country. If they are lucky enough to add the fourth commit, Whalen will have not only silenced doubters about her and the staff’s ability to recruit, but she will also have emphatically shut them up with this class of 2022.
Unbiased Observer:
Looking at recruiting, it’s a give and take when it is looked at as whole and not just from the local recruiting viewpoint. On one hand, the staff has brought in dynamic guards in Jasmine Powell and Alexia Smith who both have been starters this last season and productive members for the team. They also have gotten some transfer post players and brought in a high school recruited post player with promise in Klarke Sconiers However, post play on defense and rebounding has been an ongoing thorn in the side during the last three seasons for the Gophers. A recruiting goal has to be to secure a high school post player who can take over and own that position. It’s unknown right now if any in the 2022 exciting class will be that player, but as of right now unless I am proven wrong, it appears they are the best bets to give them a consistent and high-level post player. To Recap, yes, the current staff should get a solid B on local recruiting, however they have to both continue that momentum and work on developing the players that they are recruiting to progress each year and continue to get better and better. Next year should be a step forward in terms of results and production hopefully setting up a great entry for the much-anticipated 2022 class.
Bright Spot: Everyone returning
Overview:
As of this publication, the Gophers appear to have 16 players on the 21-22 season roster. All thirteen players from last season are listed as coming back, along with adding two freshman and a grad transfer post player to make up the number. While that number could change or fluctuate or transfers could happen before the season gets underway, the fact that the team will have consistency and their entire strong core planning on coming back is something that could pay big dividends for the team in the upcoming season.
Fan View:
As has been mentioned, while the 20-21 team was talented, injuries and covid were huge culprits to derailing a successful season. With everyone returning, the consistency and knowledge of the teammates should give the team a leg up when the season starts. It could very well be a returning starting five of Sconiers, Sissoko, Hubbard, Scalia and Powell. As we as fans saw in stretches last season, when that group gets practice and regularity in their schedules, they can be impressive offensively and have successful runs. If each player continues to develop and take steps forward, the could one of the deepest and most talented teams the Gophers program has seen in the last decade.
Unbiased Observer:
While everyone returning is probably something to celebrate in today’s transfer portal mania and how many players bolt for different schools, the team went 8-13 last season which is not ultimately something to hang your hat on. We have a good offensive team coming back, but the players coming back as well as the players coming in next year all have to work extremely hard on improving the defensive side of the game to have a more successful season. Since it doesn’t appear that a “savior” was recruited or brought in at this time, it will fall on the coaches to help the current roster play better team defense and be more competitive on rebounds. So, while the continuity and cohesion with not losing big time names or key contributors will be high, the hard work and time will have to be put in to improve those areas. If they can do that, there is no reason to think this team couldn’t compete for the NCAA tournament and in the Big Ten.
Bright Spot: Guard Play/Guard Depth
Overview:
The Gophers this last season relied heavily on their impressive guard depth. Jasmine Powell, Sara Scalia, Gadiva Hubbard, Alexia Smith and Katie Borowicz all showed they can explode in terms of scoring for the team at any given moment. From outside the arc, Scalia and Hubbard were the two most consistent and accurate shooters on the roster while all five of them took their turn handling the ball and getting the team into their sets. In terms of scoring, Minnesota gets nearly 50 points a game on average from their guard group and that type of firepower will likely come in handy next season.
Fan View:
The Gophers truly do have a guard group that could compete and hold their own against the best of the best in the Big Ten. In starters of Scalia, Hubbard and Powell, you have ball handling, speed, perimeter shooting to go along with grit and experience. All have shown that they can be the leader in scoring for the team and carry the team for stretches in games. It’s been well talked about, but this is a guard-centered team and that is because of the high-level and talent that this team can put on the court from the guard positions. Then looking at the depth, the team has Alexia Smith, Caroline Strande and Katie Borowicz all capable of backing up those three starting guards. Smith arguably could hold claim to being the best one-on-one defender on the team which will continue to be how she gets herself onto the court and securing minutes going forward in her career. Borowicz and Strande both had moments where they showed that they can produce offensively. Returning all these guard options for the coming season can only be viewed as a positive. With another year under all of their belts, it should add to the experience and knowledge of the conference and opponents going forward. While I do feel a serviceable post game to compliment the guards is paramount to the long-term success of the program, I think that next season the team will still be a guard-centered team and knowing the troops we will be going into battle with from the guard positions gives me hope for a successful season headlined by names like Scalia, Powell, Hubbard, Smith and more.
Unbiased Observer:
It is not disputed that Minnesota hangs its hat on the production and guidance of their guard group. However, what could be disputed is if that is the best strategy for this team to take that next step forward. While the guards mentioned are talented scorers, there are moments in games that beg the question if that if all they are at this point in their career. Now, the struggles of defense don’t fall squarely on the shoulders of the guards, however they do hold some of the blame. Too often there seemed to be a bad forced shot or rushed shot from a guard, and subsequently would leave no one back leading to the opponent getting run outs for easy and uncontested baskets. There were also games where it seemed recovering out to open 3-point shooters was a brand-new concept to the team and they would get buried from 3-point range with what appeared no idea how to stop the bleeding. Bad or rushed shots often killed any time of ball movement or momentum and were just as bad as turnovers. Speaking of turnovers, those got to be cleaned up. It’s not expected that guards have zero turnovers, but it’s also not beneficial if the lead guard is averaging six or seven assists as well as six or seven turnovers to go with it. Continuing the overriding theme, more practice time to work on timing, team defensive schemes and knowing where teammates like to get the ball and when to them the ball could clear up a lot of the overall turnover issues. This is an experienced group who know what it takes to be successful. They have to be able to follow the motto of ‘if we don’t score, they don’t score’ on the defensive side of the ball. I believe the group understands it’s a thin line between being aggressive and being out of control and if they can harness their talent and effort into production, the Big Ten and Country might just be taking notice of the Minnesota Gophers in 2021-2022.
Bright Spot: Possible return to Normalcy
This bright spot is one that comes with no guarantees. One would hope as we continue to move towards a return to what we would consider normalcy, that the training and season could start to have a consistent feel to it. One hopes that not only can fans be in the seats to cheer on the team, but that they can get in that much-needed practice time. They can get time back that was stripped from them last season and it could help out in multiple areas for the program in terms of getting in game shape for the players and being able to focus on team defense. Hopefully having a regular or as close to regular as possible non-conference gives Minnesota a measuring stick to know where they are and where they need to go before getting into the rough, physical and highly competitive Big Ten conference.
While no one knows what the world will look like even next month let alone in November, it’s hard to know what the season will bring for fans to enjoy. What I will say is that we do know this is a staff going into year four and that comes with both excitement and expectations. It’s safe to say that a record of 8-13 is not something coaches are necessarily happy with but there is a lot to point to that could be the light at the end of the tunnel. As mentioned, recruiting is taking a fun uptick these days and has fans and followers already looking at counting down the days till the likes of the class of 2022 get on campus. The team has returners in Sissoko, Scalia, Hubbard, Powell who have all shown they can handle taking on massive scoring loads for the team. With all of them coming back, that gives the team a lot of offensive firepower that they can turn to on any given night.
Overall, I will be excited to see this team in the 21-22 season and hope that I will be back in my season ticket seats drinking a diet coke and hollering at the officials about calls I disagree with each game. My suggestion to anyone on the fence is to give this team a chance. I expect you won’t be disappointed by the high-level play being shown on that raised court in The Barn next season.
