Richard Pitino’s First Excellent Recruiting Class with Highlights

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For the first time since 2009, the Golden Gophers basketball team has brought in a top-30 recruiting class.

This is a very exciting step in the Richard Pitino era. He’s building a solid base of players based on the type of game he wants to play, aggressive, fast and high intensity.

Kevin Dorsey

Richard clearly wanted backcourt help and got it. This impressive class is headlined by Kevin Dorsey, a four star recruit ranked 86th in the Rivals Top-150. A diminutive 5′ 11″, 170 pounds, Dorsey makes his money off the dribble and plays hard. The playmaker, who played for Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Va., averaged 12 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds as a Junior.

Team Takeover AAU coach Keith Stevens, who Dorsey will play for this summer, called him one of the best on-ball defenders in the country.

“I think he’s a Big Ten-type player,” Stevens said. “He’s a grinder. He’s a hard worker. He’s a physical guard, even at his smaller stature. I think just him going there it fits him. Pitino coaches with an edge and he plays with an edge.”

Dupree McBrayer

The second Rivals Top-150 player Pitino was able to scoop is slender scorer Dupree McBrayer. This 6′ 4″ shooting guard is ranked 135th in the 2015 class and can flat score the ball. We should be excited about this one, because he is a late bloomer who is supremely athletic and has a huge upside.

According to ESPN Evaluations, “McBrayer started taking his game to entirely new levels in the spring following his senior season. The lefty was best known as a shot-maker throughout his high school career and can still make shots in bunches from beyond the arc, but has added a brand new element of being able to create offense for both himself and his teammates.”

Jarvis Johnson

Jarvis Johnson has been in the sights of Gopher fans for a long time. The 6′ 1″, 180 pound point guard out of De La Salle in Minneapolis was the final scholarship given for Pitino’s 2015 class. He’s rated 3 stars by Rivals, but 4 stars by ESPN and 24/7 sports.  He’s fast, athletic and makes plays up-and-down the court.

According to ESPN Scouts Inc, “Johnson has the speed, quickness, athleticism, motor and ability to change gears to be a special lead guard. Johnson has excellent court vision and does a great job using the advance pass on the break and finding the open man down the sideline or rim running.”

Jonathan Nwankwo

At 6″ 9″, 250 pounds, Minnesota found itself a nice post player that could develop into much more than just nice. A Nigerian born big man from New York, Jonathan Nwankwo is a defensive threat that is developing his offensive game. He already has the size to fit in right away in the Big Ten.

According to ESPN Scouts Inc., “Nwankwo is a big body post that competes and plays with energy and urgency. He runs the floor pretty well and does a good job of catching and finishing when he receives drop off passes created by dribble penetration. Excellent rebounder on both ends of the floor. Scores over his left shoulder in the post. He also a pretty good on ball shot blocker.”

Apr 3, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Richard Pitino holds the net after defeating the Southern Methodist Mustangs 65-63 in the 2014 NIT Tournament championship game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports