Tubby loses out on Farber
Minnesota Gophers legendary coach Tubby Smith lost out on a highly-recruited player he had targeted for the first time in his tenure as Gophers coach; Krys Faber finally settled on DePaul instead of Minnesota.
It’s hard to blame Faber for his choice, since the Gophers already have recruited two true freshmen post players in this year’s class; South Dakota’s Colton Iverson and Georgia’s Ralph Sampson III. Sampson is 6’11″ and plays the most like Faber, albeit on diet pills; Faber’s beefier. While Faber is more Big Ten-ready that Iverson and Sampson, it’s hard to blame Faber for choosing a university where he’ll be caught in less of a numbers game.
The Gophers still have Champaign Central Illinois point guard Verdell Jones in their sights, who is also considering offers from Kentucky and Indiana. With five recruits already signed in this class and two scholarships remaining, if Smith fails to land Jones, he may opt to carry the open scholarships into next season, when a whole new crop of top recruits will be available.
Smith’s 2008 Gophers recruiting class already ranks solidly in the Top 15 nationally, even without Faber and Jones. If Jones signs, that class might tick up a couple more notches, but there is a good argument to be made for carrying the scholarships over to the 2009 recruiting class.
