Minnesota Basketball: Breaking down the 2019 recruiting class

Minnesota basketball has not been a powerhouse in the Big Ten in recent years. How might this incoming recruiting class look to change that?

Minnesota basketball has been far from consistent over the past few years. With only two NCAA Tournament appearances in the six seasons under head coach Richard Pitino, they have struggled to gain traction in the Big Ten. In fact, the Golden Gophers have only finished above-.500 in conference play one time in the Pitino era, landing a 24-10 (11-7 B1G) record in 2016-17 en route to a first-round exit as a No. 5 seed.

Given this, Minnesota needs to build off a Big Dance appearance during this past season and find a way to establish consistent successes in one of the toughest conferences in America. In order to make that happen, their incoming 2019 class needs to find a way to provide strong contributions for the next few years while continuing some recruiting momentum. This class, which is ranked at No. 39 in the country, is the second consecutive top-50 class for Coach Pitino and is comprised of three commits.

With two top-150 players and an underrated center arriving on campus, the expectation is that these players should provide solid minutes right away in Minneapolis. Minnesota is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance during this past season and they are looking to post two-in-a-row for the fourth time in program history. At least one of these players might need to be a major contributor in order for that to occur.

So, let’s take a dive into Minnesota’s three 2019 commits and see what they might bring to the table. (Note: All recruiting rankings used in this piece were found via 247Sports Composite.)