2015 Dupree McBrayer Commits to Minnesota
The scholarship table has been updated and is included at the end of these notes. This commitment is not at all a surprise and we’ve long thought he’d wind up a Gopher. Nonetheless, McBrayer is a very good addition to the program.
- The 6’4″ lefty guard may grow a bit taller despite already being 19.
- He’s been at various high schools and needs to finalize a decision on his prep school for this year. Vermont Academy, where rising sophomore Daquein McNeil attended, is a strong possibility.
- Talented and exciting scorer. He can put on a show and wow the crowd.
- Capable of bringing the ball up the court, but figures to play off the ball on offense. Not a lot of physical strength, but his size should enable him to defend multiple positions (1, 2 and 3).
- LNH last saw him in person a few weeks ago in Vegas where he played with New Heights. Gopher assistant Kimani Young was the director of the New Heights organization and a consistent spectator at McBrayer’s games.
- Dupree was impressive when viewed live. However, he had at least 2 years on most of the competition. How much did he benefit from the age advantage is a relevant question.
- Minnesota will now have two big guards/wings who are aggressive scorers in Zach Lofton and Dupree McBrayer. The 2015-16 Gophers will be able to unleash a mean attack on opposing defenses.
8/26/14 edit: Not a surprise, but Gaston Diedhiou is not expected to join the program this fall. Based on the roster makeup we do not see this as a significant issue. The scholarship table below includes Diedhiou, but most likely he will never join the program. Thus, the Gophers still have 3 “open slots” for new scholarship players in 2015 after the McBrayer commit.