Minnesota Golden Gophers Bring in Pair of Impact Prospects

Call it the never-ending cycle of college basketball.

Every year, traditional blue blood programs like Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas have their pick of top prospects clamoring to join their storied traditions of notoriety and success. Meanwhile, the rest of NCAA Division I basketball’s 300-plus programs are left to plug away, hoping to land some well-regarded prospects with a few hidden gems sprinkled in.

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Fair or not, that’s the reality of not only college basketball, but collegiate athletics overall. Every sport has its headline programs while others toil in relative obscurity.

As such, fans in Durham, N.C. and Lexington, Ken. probably didn’t take much notice when Minnesota coach Richard Pitino lured two quality prospects to Minneapolis within 48 hours.

For fans of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Monday and Wednesday brought very welcome news however. Minnesota successfully secured commitments from both Amir Coffey and Eric Curry, two players Pitino and his staff targeted early on as potential keys to building a consistent winner inside Williams Arena.

While there may be plenty of time between now and national signing day, the week of Sept. 21-27 has been a pretty darn good one for Pitino and the folks who roam Dinkytown.

First came news of Amir Coffey’s commitment on Monday, an event Gopher faithful had been hoping for since the son of former Minnesota standout Richard Coffey began leading local high school powerhouse Hopkins a few years back.

There were other suitors for consensus top-50 recruit Coffey, ranging from Iowa State and Indiana to Michigan State and Texas. Yet the slender 6-foot-6 lefty decided to stay home, openly stating his affection for Minneapolis, the Gopher program and Pitino assistant coach Ben Johnson.

Fast forward to early Wednesday morning and the Gophers received another jolt when Curry, rated a top-100 player by Scout.com, decided to pack his bags and head north from his Arkansas home to play for Pitino. In doing so, Curry spurned both his home-state Razorbacks and the Cyclones.

With those two commitments, Minnesota currently has three total verbals, including promising shooter Michael Hurt, a 6-foot-8 forward from Rochester, Minn. who committed several months back. With those three now in the mix for 2016, Minnesota suddenly has a class rated in the top 20 by both Scout and 247sports.com.

For Pitino, Coffey and Curry’s commitments bring a renewed sense of momentum heading into what many believe will be a transitional year. The Gophers lose several key players from a disappointing 2014-15 campaign in which Minnesota often shot itself in the foot. Unable to close out games for a myriad of reasons, the Gophers stumbled badly when a trip to the NCAA Tournament was expected during Pitino’s second season.

Even with the on-court struggles of last year, Pitino was able to gain significant inroads in recruiting. This year’s Gopher edition will be young and inexperienced, but Pitino brought in a nice class featuring talented point guard Kevin Dorsey and forward Jordan Murphy. The Gophers also brought in a quality transfer for next season in Reggie Lynch and a possible standout in New York prospect Dupree McBrayer.

The additions of Coffey and Curry add more talent for coming years, bolstering the hope that Pitino can carry Minnesota towards the coach’s admitted goal of becoming a force within the Big 10. Taking everything into account, the new buzzword around Gopher basketball should be patience for a program suddenly generating significant energy. The road toward becoming a consistent contender is still a long one, but with plenty of quality talent now coming to Minneapolis, it may have shortened up a bit.

Can the Gophers made good on the talent Pitino and company are stockpiling? If the last 48 hours are any indication, Minnesota could be well on its way.

Next: Arkansas Razorbacks Hoping to Keep Two Top Hogs in the Pen

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