MinnesotaSportsScene.com

Well, Tubby Smith can now relax and not worry so much about that term life insurance quote rate; he’s pulled off what previous coach Dan Monson never managed during his tender and that’s getting the top two Minnesota recruits in the state to stay at home and play for the Gophers.

Rodney Williams Jr. finally gave Minnesota and Coach Tubby his oral commitment recently, joining his lifelong pal Royce White in the maroon and gold as part of the 2009 recruiting class. Williams Jr. and White are both Top 50 recruits according to most scouting services, and while White is clearly the better of the two, having them both is a huge recruiting coup by Tubby and his staff.

Williams and White are joined in the 2009 recruiting class by California pure point guard Justin Cobbs, and with Williams on board, Coach Smith may lay low on his 2009 recruiting class until spring, when most of his top power forward targets are expected to make their decisions. One possible target is Trevor Mbakwe, currently attending Miami Dade Community College; he’s a big man that could certainly help the Gophers, especially if they start losing some of Tubby’s recruits to early NBA Draft entries. That is a risk with current freshmen recruits in the class of 2008, like Colton Iverson, Paul Carter and Ralph Sampson III.

Even before the Gophers add a power forward, though, the commits from this trio should be enough to get Tubby a top-20 recruiting class ranking once again.

Rodney Williams Jr., who Tubby Smith’s Minnesota Gophers are in hot pursuit of for the 2009 recruiting class, has five other schools he’s interested in who are currently pursuing him, according to recent online reports. That list includes Kansas, Connecticut, Memphis, Miami (FL) and Santa Clara.

Williams Jr., who is a longtime pal of Gophers commit Royce White, is expected to keep Minnesota high on his list, but competition for his services could be tough with Kansas, UConn and Miami (FL) in the mix. The Robbinsdale Cooper shooting guard is a Top 40 recruit on most national lists, and if paired with White, could vault the Gophers recruiting class near the top nationally for 2009, coach Smith’s second class since taking over the Gophers program in the spring of 2007.

Both of Smith’s classes are thus far also good character recruits so far, which hadn’t always been the case for recent Gophers regimes. No academic issues so far, no off-the-court shenanigans. The men’s team is now nearly as sedate as the women’s team, whose biggest issue is keeping around a handy supply of Progesterone.

Gophers 2009 basketball recruit Royce White just proved to be a better “get” than coach Tubby Smith may have thought when he landed White’s verbal commit last month. According to the latest Rivals.com poll of the top 150 prospects in the 2009 class, White moved up several notches to 18 overall.

White’s pal, Rodney Williams, Jr., also move up in the poll, to the 28 spot. Williams is considered a strong Gophers target, especially since he is White’s summer league teammate in the Howard Pulley tourney. Glen Rice Jr. and Daniel Miller, two kids from Georgia, have also been offered scholarships by the Gophers. Rice is another Top 100 prospect and could provide some insurance at guard if Williams doesn’t sign with Minnesota. Miller’s not Top 100, but has good numbers and is said to have impressed Tubby Smith, who knows a thing or two.

Georgia has been a strong target state, recruiting-wise, for coach Smith, who landed 2008 post player Ralph Sampson III from the Peach State. Must be offering them Kohler faucets in their dorm rooms or something! (Not really… I just like Kohler faucets.)

New Gophers recruit Royce White, himself ranked 32 in the nation by Rivals.com, commited to Tubby Smith’s Gophers recruiting class of 2009 a couple weeks ago, and is convinced that he can be a big factor in getting lifelong friend and fellow Top 100 recruit, Rodney Williams Jr., to also select the Gophers. Williams is ranked 43 overall by Rivals.com.

While many folks were wowed by Tubby’s Fab Five recruiting class for 2008, if he can add Williams along with White to his 2009 recruiting class, Minnesota could easily see the 2009 class surpass Tubby’s 2008 recruiting class. Although coach Smith’s 2008 class ranks no lower than Top 15 nationally, and is ranked Top 10 by some services, none of his recruits rank higher than 100 individually.

With Royce already in the bag for 2009 and Williams a strong prospect to join him, the 2009 class would easily boast two Top 50 recruits, making it an even stronger recruiting class with those two players alone. The biggest risk with White and Williams are the academic concerns they pose; White seems to have dealt with his issues, but Williams needs a strong senior year academically to secure his academic eligibility for the Gophers.

Here’s hoping the pair will overcome the academic challenges and secure their future in the maroon and gold, rather than the alternative, which could be hawking the best acne treatment in commercials, or something like that, which certainly isn’t a goal anyone wants to see them reduced to.