Prep Blog: Minnesota Becoming Prep Basketball Hotbed

Summer is a busy time for recruiting in the circle of college basketball.

High school players hopeful of a future college scholarship spend a good chunk of their summer traveling with an AAU team playing tournaments across the country. It's not only a chance to improve the individual game, it's a chance to get seen by coaches who potentially could want you in their program.

College coaches will never say they look just in their backyard for talent. But at the same time if there are local prep stars, said coach can and should do what it takes to close the border. For Richard Pitino and the University of Minnesota, he doesn't have to look very far to find capable players.

Two years ago, Minnesota had one of its best classes of high-end talent in recent memory with Tyus Jones, Rashad Vaughn, Reid Travis and J.P. Macura. Jones won a national title at Duke and is now back home with the Timberwolves. Vaughn spent one year at UNLV and is now with the Milwaukee Bucks. Travis has battled injuries but is at Stanford and Macura is entering his third season at Xavier and could be their starting shooting guard this year.

Last year, Pitino was able to keep the top player in Minnesota home. Jarvis Johnson of DeLaSalle is on scholarship, but was not medically cleared to play due to a heart condition. Tough break for the Gophers.

This year, two more hometown products will wear the Minnesota jersey at Williams Arena. Hopkins star Amir Coffey and Rochester John Marshall's Michael Hurt. Coffey will compete for a starting spot, while Hurt could see minutes off the bench but might be better off redshirting.

The 2017 class is also loaded with talent, though Minnesota's top player won't don a Gophers uniform next year. Here is a look at some of those top players.

2017 Top Players

Gary Trent Jr.

The former Apple Valley star is following Vaughn's footsteps and spending his final high school year at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas. He's the top shooting guard in the country and a top-10 prospect overall. He can score from anywhere, beat any defender off the dribble and can shoot from virtually anywhere. Gary Trent Jr. has offers from all over the country, but narrowed his top five list this week to Duke, Arizona, Kentucky, Michigan State and UCLA. If I were a betting man, my money would go on Duke.

McKinley Wright

Pitino has had his eye on Champlin Park's McKinley Wright since the day he came to Minnesota. Wright is a tough-nosed point guard who can drive the lane, is a tough defender and loves to get out in transition. The jump shot needs a little work, but he's got great potential. Wright is among the Gophers' top priorities. His final four schools are Minnesota, Dayton, Memphis and Xavier. Amir Coffey is doing his best to recruit Wright to be a future Gophers guard.

Theo John

Theo John of Champlin Park, Wright's high school teammate, is the post player the Gophers have been wanting for several years. He's physical, a big rebounder and defender and is still developing a game in the post. But the Gophers want him badly with the offensive struggles of their current inside players. The Gophers are among his top six, a list that also includes Oklahoma, Purdue, Illinois, Marquette and California.

Jericho Sims

Jericho Sims has gotten a lot more steam after his AAU season this summer with D1 Minnesota. The previous lack of attention was due to attending prep school Christo Rey. He's been compared athletically to former Gopher Rodney Williams, but has better potential offensively, is a physical defender and has the potential to be a great inside player. He has scholarship offers from 18 schools, including the Gophers. Some other top offers include Texas, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Xavier and Iowa State.

Brad Davison (Wisconsin commit)

Pitino and the Gophers lost out on Maple Grove guard Brad Davison, also a star quarterback in football for the Crimson. He took his basketball game to another level this summer in AAU, and gave his verbal commitment to Wisconsin earlier this summer for basketball. While his game isn't flashy, he's a winner and does whatever it takes to make his team better. The Gophers offered him a scholarship late in the recruiting process, but the general consensus is that Pitino put on the full-court press to get Wright, a guard more suited to the up-temp style they want to play.

Nate Reuvers (Wisconsin commit)

Nate Reuvers of Lakeville North can do a little bit of everything, and he's about 6-9. Most saw his game at the state tournament back in March, but he also has since gotten better on the AAU circuit. He gave Wisconsin a verbal commitment to play on scholarship and will be a teammate of Davison. His game is comparable to Frank Kaminsky, who is now in the NBA. He has a long way to go to make the impact Kaminsky did at Wisconsin. The bigger issue for the Gophers? Reuvers noted a concern for the culture of Minnesota's program and the off-the-court issues as a reason why he didn't give Minnesota a closer look.

In looking ahead at this year's junior class, the Gophers have already offered scholarships to forwards Gabe Kalscheur of DeLaSalle and Daniel Oturu of Cretin-Derham Hall. They're also looking at Race Thompson of Armstrong.

In looking even further ahead at this year's sophomore class, there are two huge names to keep an eye on. They are Tre Jones of Apple Valley and Matthew Hurt of Rochester John Marshall. Jones is among the top point guards in his class and yes, he's the younger brother of Tyus. He already has a Gophers scholarship offer among several others. Matthew Hurt is more of a small forward type, and yes, he's the younger brother of now Gopher Michael Hurt. By the time Matthew Hurt is a senior, he could very well be one of the top recruits in the country. He's already gotten offers from schools like North Carolina. You can bet other brother Michael will do whatever he can to make sure he and Matthew are college teammates.

The good news: Pitino has plenty of options when it comes to finding talent in Minnesota. But keeping the talent in-state is the greater challenge, and winning helps. That's why this year is so pivotal for the Gophers. If they can find success in the Big 10 and win consistently, it will go a long way in turning heads and giving local players a reason to stay home. After all, what's better than going to the NCAA Tournament representing your home state?