2015 Big Jonathan Nwankwo Commits to Minnesota
Scholarship Table Updated
2015 C/PF Jonathan Nwankwo, 6’9″, 245 pounds, committed to the Minnesota Golden Gophers today while on his official visit.
He’s a New Yorker who plans to play this season in Florida at Victory Rock Prep. The relationship between him and the Gophers goes back more than a year. As was the case with fellow 2015 commits Dupree McBrayer and Kevin Dorsey, the pledge to Minnesota was not a surprise.
With 5th year seniors Elliott Eliason and Mo Walker finishing their careers before next summer, Nwankwo will have an opportunity to earn minutes both as a center and power forward.
He’s a big, strong kid who can help rebound and defend (so long as he keeps fouls in check) early on. How well he progresses with the ball in his hands is up to him and the staff. The potential is there to be a quality player for Pitino.
Following is an updated scholarship table:
NOTE: We have removed 2014 commit Gaston Diedhiou from the scholarship table.
As we look at 2015-16, the roster breaks down as:
PG/CG – Dorsey, Mason
2G/W – Lofton, Morris, McBrayer, McNeil
F – King, Martin, Buggs
C/PF – Konate, Nwankwo
At this point (and at most any point in time), we believe Minnesota should take great players who fit and want to play for the program. There are still enough question marks up front (4/5) that a strong, versatile F who can score (Alex Illikainen comes to mind) would help ease some concerns, especially offensively.
Nonetheless, with two spots to work with (assuming Diedhiou doesn’t “workhttps://web.archive.org/web/20141007075446/http://twitter.com/latenighthoops out”), an addition of a good player of any position looks fine based on the roster composition. Recruiting should still be open and flowing for Minnesota in 2015.
PS- if you missed it, on our Twitter account tonight we reported that High Performance Academy in Eagan (home of Howard Pulley and Nike EYBL sessions for the past few years) is selling everything. You can click HERE to go to our Twitter page and follow.