Josh Pastner broke a rule recruiting Trevor Mbakwe

Trevor Mbakwe, a 6'8", 240 lb, power forward who has spent time at both Marquette and Miami-Dade CC, was supposed to provide Minnesota with some size, strength, and energy up front.

Mbakwe never was able to step on the court for Minnesota, however. You see, he is facing some pretty serious assault charges in Florida stemming from his time at Miami-Dade, and as they did with Royce White, Minnesota refused to allow him to play until the legal situation is cleared up.

His court date is August 23rd.

But that hasn't stopped Mbakwe from asking Minnesota for a release from his scholarship pending an NCAA waiver that would allow him to play elsewhere next season. One of the places he has been recruited by is Memphis, who will be loaded in the back court next season, but could use some front court depth.

Tubby Smith knows about this recruitment.

He also knows that Josh Pastner has committed a violation during the process.

You see, coaches are only allowed to watch recruits play at NCAA-certified events, events like Nike's Peach Jam or the AAU games being played out in Vegas this weekend. Mbakwe has been playing in the Howard Pulley Pro-Am in St. Paul, which he is allowed to do. But Pastner, on July 13th, went to see one of those games, which he is not allowed to do.

It is a relatively minor violation that Memphis has already reported to the NCAA and Conference USA. It seems to have stemmed from a miscommunication or a misunderstanding of the rules. Pastner called Smith to inform him of the violation.

I'd be surprised if the Tigers even got a slap on the wrist for this.

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And the award for the worst offseason goes to...

Its has to be Tubby Smith, right?

First, it the disintegration of his roster.

Royce White, arguably the most highly touted recruit Tubby has landed at Minnesota, has dealt with legal issues since he arrived on campus and likely will not be on the team next season. Trevor Mbakwe, another big forward with legal problems, is eyeing a transfer as well and may never suit up for the Gophers. Junior Paul Carter has transferred to Illinois-Chicago. Freshman Justin Cobbs is headed back to Cal to continue his career on the west coast.

Lawrence Westbrook, Damian Johnson, and Devron Bostick all graduated, while Al Nolen, a junior, missed the second semester last season as a result of poor academics.

That is quite a bit of overhaul for a team that many considered to be on the brink of competing for a conference title prior to the start of last season.

Its gets worse for Tubby.

Yesterday, a jury award Jimmy Williams $1.25 million for an aborted hiring at Minnesota. You see, back in 1986, Williams was suspended for two years by the NCAA after getting caught handing out illegal financial aid to a couple of players while he was an assistant at Minnesota. Tubby didn't realize this, and made Williams believe he had a position with the Gophers in 2007. Williams quit his job at Oklahoma State and put his house on the market, only to have Minnesota AD Joel Maturi rescind the offer.

For a program with as many black eyes as Minnesota basketball has, this is another hit they didn't need.

Jim Souhan, a columnist for the Star Tribune, ripped Tubby and Maturi:

The hiring of Smith, even if it was really Smith doing the hiring, offered the promise of on-court success without embarrassment, the promise of clean victories and a classy power coach in whom we could believe.

It turns out Smith looks better on paper than in person. His résumé is impeccable. His work in Dinkytown is spotty.

Smith has returned the basketball program to relevance, and to the NCAA tournament. He has not, however, become the ambassador for the program or the university that we assumed he would be. He has not been as visible or as charming as many of us expected.

His program might have already peaked. And, in the attempted hiring of Williams, he did so little due diligence that he didn't know about Williams' past involvement in scandals.

While I don't necessarily agree with what Souhan is saying, that's not the point.

The point is that the local media, the guys you want in your corner in case something like this happens, seemingly has already turned on Tubby.

I think Smith is an excellent basketball coach. I think that he can make this Minnesota program into one that competes in the Big Ten. Hell, if he had his whole team this year, they very well could have competed this season.

But the way this offseason is going, it may be a while before the Gophers get back to that point.
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No. 20: 2009-2010 Team Preview: Minnesota Golden Gophers

2008-2009 Record: 22-11, 9-9 Big Ten (t-7th)

Key Losses: Jamal Abu-Shamala (3.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg), Travis Busch (3.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg)

Key Returners: Lawrence Westbrook (12.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Damian Johnson (9.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.9 spg, 2.0 bpg), Al Nolen (6.5 ppg, 4.3 apg, 1.9 spg)

Newcomers: Trevor Mbakwe, Rodney Williams, Royce White, Justin Cobbs

Lawrence Westbrook is an underrated leader for the Gophers.
(photo credit: Double the post)

There really is only one way to describe the 2009-2010 version of the Golden Gophers - balanced. Last season, there were 11 guys that averaged double figures in minutes played (with no one playing more than 27 per) and nine guys that averaged 5.0 ppg or more on a team that ranked 214th in terms of adjusted tempo last season. Put a different way, they got a lot of scoring from a lot of guys for a team that didn't score a lot of points.

The depth of Minnesota's roster this year is impressive, but the most important player on the court is going to be senior Lawrence Westbrook. Westbrook's game changed a bit last year as he developed into more of a scorer (he shot more, looked to pass less), and it seemed to pay off as Minnesota went 15-3 in games Westbrook bested his season average of 12.6 ppg. Westbrook, who was able to average 12.6 ppg in just over 24 mpg, is at his best when he is attacking. He is built like a running back (6'0", 195 lb of muscle) and is quick, which means that once he gets his shoulders by a defender he is getting to the rim. But Westbrook also has three point range, and made some strides in his mid range game as last season progressed.

Joining Westbrook in the back court is junior Al Nolen. Nolen is a quick little point guard capable of scoring when he needs to, but he is at his best when he is creating and running Tubby Smith's offense. Perhaps Nolen's most valuable attribute is his ability to harass the opposing point guard defensively (case in point: Kalin Lucas shot 7-24 and averaged just 11 ppg in two games against Minnesota). Ideally, Nolen will be a guy that averaged 7.5 ppg, 5.5 apg, turns it over less than twice per contest, and knocks down free throws down the stretch.

Perhaps Minnesota's most important player is going to be Damian Johnson. A 6'7", athletic wing, Johnson has arms that extend for days, which allows him to be one of the best all around defenders in the Big Ten. Johnson is also a threat on the offensive end, as he was the second leading scorer for the Gophers last season. Not a great shotter, Johnson is excellent around the rim, whether he gets there via a post-up, penetration, or an offensive rebound.

Starting inside for the Gophers will probably be a pair of 6'11" sophomores, Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III. Iverson is a bit more polished offensively than Sampson is, but Sampson is more of a threat defensively as he is a bit longer and more athletic. The two complement each other really well when they played together last year. It wasn't uncommon to see Tubby allowing Sampson to step out to the perimeter while Iverson worked down low, as Sampson has pretty consistent range out to about 17 feet.

It may be a moot point for one of those two, however, as Tubby landed arguably his best recruit at Minnesota. Royce White is a 6'8", 240 lb forward out of Minnesota. White may very well take over a starting spot by the end of the season. He is a bruiser down low with a decent array of moves, but also has a fairly well-defined perimeter game for a kid his age. He can knock down a college three with time, and has shown the ability to get out and run the floor as well.

The place where Tubby is going to gain his biggest advantage is his depth, as the Gophers will likely have 12-13 guys that will be good enough to see minutes (although it is highly unlikely that will happen). Up front, 6'8" JuCo transfer Trevor Mbakwe (if he gets cleared to play) will provide some added muscle for the Gophers. Junior Paul Carter and freshman Rodney Williams, both long, 6'8" wings, will provide Tubby with plenty of athleticism (and highlights). Sophomore Devoe Joseph and senior Blake Hoffarber are the shooters. Senior Devron Bostick is the defensive stopper on the perimeter, and freshman Justin Cobbs may even see some minutes backing up the point.

Outlook: When you talk about this Minnesota team, what you have to mention is team play. They are patient offensively, working the ball around to find a good shot. They don't turn the ball over (Westbrook, who averaged just 2.1 t/o's, was the only player with more than two per game). They can play man just as well as a zone, in the full court just as well as in the half court, and seamlessly shuffle through defenses from possession to possession. They are as well coached and as smart as any team in the country. There are two problems, however. First of all, I don't know if the Gophers really have a go-to scorer. Is Westbrook ready (and capable) of taking that role? Will he be able to break his man down and get the Gopher's a bucket when they really need one? That is going to be important in a Big Ten conference with a lot of good defenses. The other problem is the fact that Minnesota plays in the very good and very balanced Big Ten. I could legitimately see the Gophers finishing anywhere from 3rd to 9th. Most likely, they are going to finish in the pack of three or four teams that will inevitably form two or three games behind Purdue and Michigan State. I'd expect in the neighborhood of 22-25 wins and another NCAA tournament trip.

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"This is why Tubby don't work in Kentucky no more"

That quote right there is a comment from Bsquared-2 on a blog post from Gary Parrish.

The post is about Tubby Smith's decision to not hold an Elite Camp at Minnesota this summer. If you don't know what an Elite Camp is, read this.

Essentially, this is how it works. A school will host a basketball camp during the summer with the sole intention of getting the top 10 or 20 or 50 kids they are recruiting onto their campus. They then pay the recruit's AAU coach, father, brother, or someone else with influence over the recruit a large sum of money to come speak at or work the camp. The understanding is that some of that money goes into the pocket of the person of influence (usually the AAU coach), while some of that money is to be used to assure that the player can get on campus for the camp.

How else would 16 and 17 year old kids be able to afford to fly all over the country during the summer?

Brothers Will and Antonio Barton, from Baltimore, committed
To Memphis after the Tiger's Elite Camp.
(photo credit: Commercial Appeal)

The craziest part of all is that this is perfectly legal. The NCAA cannot regulate who the school hires for its camps, the same way it cannot regulate who the school hires as a coach. Furthermore, they cannot regulate how much the school pays these "employees" so long as they are relatively similar across the board (i.e. if UConn hires both myself and Brandon Knight's AAU coach to work their Elite Camp, we both better be making $1,000, or $3,000, or whatever it is the Huskies staff decides to pay).

$3,000 minus travel expenses does not sound like a huge payday, until you consider the fact that each school can hire these guys multiple times during the summer. If an AAU coach works two camps each at ten different schools recruiting one of his players, that is a quick $60,000 into that coaches pocket (and god knows how much into the players pocket).

But, again, this is all legal.

And everyone does it.

It is part of what makes a great basketball coach, finding the loopholes in the rules that allow you to throw a little money around and get the top recruits and their families/inner circles onto your campus.

Like it or not, this is how recruiting at the big-time programs work. It is how you land players that will win you national titles.

And Tubby Smith doesn't believe in it. After running Elite Camps in his first two summers at Minnesota (the 2007 Elite Camp he ran at Minnesota was his first - he said he never had one at Kentucky), Smith and the Gophers will not be hosting any this summer. From the Big Ten Network:

There's been some concerns as coaches with kids that are traveling that far for a day or two-day elite camp. We don't want anything to suggest that there's any type of (wrongdoing). But I think the best way to be is to be a guy that says we're going to do it this other way (to host only day, overnight and team camps). An elite camp is legal. I think guys are doing the right things, but there are some things that can look like they're not, so you have to be real careful.

While it may not be the smartest decision given the nature of his profession, it is quite a noble gesture.

Tubby Smith is breaking trend and not hosting an Elite Camp at Minnesota.
(photo credit: Twin Cities Daily Photo)

And one of the reasons he was run out of Lexington.

Which brings me to Bsquared-2's point.

All told, Tubby did not have a bad run while at the helm of the Wildcats. But he was not landing blue-chip recruits. As we have said so many times on this blog, successful recruiting is the biggest key to a successful program. Since he wasn't landing the cream of the recruiting crop on a consistent basis, he was not hanging banners which is, when it comes down to it, what they care about in Big Blue Nation.

Tubby will continue to nobly run his Minnesota program, and, as he did at Kentucky, he will continue to compete atop the conference and make NCAA Tournaments, with an occasional Sweet 16 or Elite 8 run mixed in. Those results are perfectly OK at a school like Minnesota.

But they are not at a school like Kentucky.

As Bsquared-2 so aptly put it, "This is why Tubby don't work in Kentucky no more". Continue reading...