Race Thompson
- Thread starter LLCoolCY
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The fact that the Gophers have had a couple of their best football seasons since the early 2000's recently and couldnt sell out a 55k stadium should tell you all you need to know about the fan base.
Some of the radio talking heads recently said they had less than 35k for the Northwestern game this year.
Some of the radio talking heads recently said they had less than 35k for the Northwestern game this year.
There is a set of fans that follow Gopher basketball pretty well. Even in a down year, the barn gets decent attendance. When they are good at basketball, the cities do a decent job of supporting Gopher basketball. Gopher football is a different animal. The Vikings really are team number one up here so the Gopher football team needs to compete with that.
@singsing claims to know the family really well. Said Race really likes Drew, but also likes Prohm.
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/750686?referrer_id
Interesting in this Q & A from less than a month ago Race doesn't mention Baylor as one of his scholarship offers or even as one of the schools he's hearing from. However, it was reported he did receive an offer from Baylor in December and took an unofficial there earlier this month.
Edit: In a December interview he includes Baylor along with ISU, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Creighton as teams showing the most interest. Seems to go in depth about ISU and Minnesota in that interview with Scout. I guess my point is, it seems odd he wouldn't even mention Baylor as one of his offers or a team showing interest in that more recent interview if some are saying that Baylor is now his top choice...
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Was that the same guy who said we didn't have a chance and came back later saying he was wrong?
Oh I don't disagree it is more a sports town, or that Sconny, ISU, or Iowa has more passionate fan bases. Just responding to a poster that said he never sees it. Now I didn't live in Minnesota throughout my childhood so I am newer to the area and how people act, but at least in my opinion I felt they cared enough. But that also could be with the new football hire and their basketball team not being a bottom-feeder.
Yes. Obviously recruiting is fluid, but back in December ISU had no chance.
Live in St. Paul work in Minnetonka. And as I said, you could totally be right, but as an outsider of being a University of Minnesota fan, it seems like I see a bunch of U of M gear everywhere up here. But I don't deny that it is a bigger pro town than college, as any major city is.
and that drives me crazy. How does Baylor basketball consistently get great players? They play in front of what 4,000 people every night? How could a player want that over Hilton? Are Baylor fans going to fallow their team in the post season like ISU? Heck no. We can bring 20,000 to KC, I bet if Baylor played the NCAAs in San Antonio they could only get a couple of thousand. I know Drew might be a great guy to play for and Baylor is a good school but if you are looking at basketball as the main criteria for selecting a school, than I would think ISU can get the nod.
I've resisted in the past, but I finally came to terms with the fact that getting to play in front of a passionate, packed-house fan base, is apparently a low priority for a recruit. No matter how much we want it to matter, it just doesn't seem to.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
Oh, it matters. Just not to the degree that we wish it would. All other things being equal, I think it can make a difference with a guy who is on the fence.
Some things matter more or differently to recruits.
I've read that the Baylor basketball program has a great family feel to it. That might matter more to a kid then playing in a packed arena.
Race did state in an interview (which I can't find at the moment) that he was very impressed with how ISU students treated the MBB players as stars when he visited Ames. Specifically said that the fan reaction was one of the things that stood out about his visit.
Fortunate RT decided to visit Hilton for the #9 Baylor vs ISU playing for 2nd in the league honors. Hilton Magic should be in full effect, no better atmosphere to sell him (if it is a factor).
exactly. i lived in this circle for 19 years and there is absolutely no comparison between ISU and Minnesota in terms of passion, knowledge, or fandom. The Gophers may sell some tshirts but down here you see about 1/5 cars with ISU/Hawkeye plates. Up there I maybe saw one, ever, Gopher plate.
I never thought about this before but Minnt is such a t shirt school. A lot of big ten teams are like that.
I think many recruits talk about fans and support, but really the bottom line for many top recruits is, can this school/coach get me to the next level? They just can't really say that in an interview.
Let's face it, schools like Texas and Baylor may suck for fan support, but they do send guys to the NBA. Baylor, not as much, but they've had a reputation for quality big men lately. I understand, they get better recruits, so they should have a few in the league, and it may be a chicken/egg argument, but you've got to have that solid reputation.
That's why I'm pretty excited about point guards going forward. If Morris can be a NBA mainstay, and Prohm can get Wiggington drafted in the first round in a couple years, look out. We should be in on some high level ball handlers.
UNI.
@TravisHines21 Spotted both Race Thompson on his unofficial visit and a Niang Indy jersey in JTS thus far.
And found the article I was mentioning.
http://www.scout.com/college/minnesota/story/1703503-thompson-visited-minnesota-iowa-state
“Iowa State was a blast!” said Thompson. “The coaching staff and team are very welcoming. The fans are also welcoming, it was a lot of fun.”
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Been here for over 40 years and when they have a good team (and they are treading that way) in basketball the following is pretty passionate. The Barn has been dead for a while but some of the most raucous games I have attended in person have been in that dump. Seems to me the noise is back after watching that Iowa game where the refs couldn't even hear the Iowa player trying to a call timeout.
With that said, saying any place other than Hilton can be a special place to play is like waving red flag in front of a bull to some of our guys here.
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