Why Gopher Commit, Treyton Thompson, Tumbled Down 247Sports Rankings

Treyton Thompson is a, “do-it-all”, 6’11” big who plays for national prep powerhouse La Lamiere during the school year and Adidas-sponsored AAU program, D1 Minnesota, in the summer. The Alexandria, Minn. native and current Minnesota Gopher men’s basketball commit can dominate your best player down in the paint, or spread the floor and show off his silky-smooth jump shot.

Thompson seemed to have it all going for him… until Wednesday, when 247Sports.com released their updated recruiting ratings for the 2021 class. Dropping on that list like a rock, is the aforementioned Treyton Thompson. Pre-update, Thompson — who held offers from Iowa, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma before picking the home-state Gophers — ranked 80th nationally. After the update, he dropped 45 spots, down to 125th.

Additionally, he was downgraded from a 4-star prospect to a 3-star prospect, although his rating of 89 overall was only one point away from a 90 — the lowest rating a 4-star can get. So you may wonder: why the large drop? Well, I’ve got a few different theories.

Theory 1: Lack of offensive production

Although Treyton has all the traits of a player who can dominate on the offensive end, he fails to show the production to back it up. Just look at some of the stats he posted this summer with D1 Minnesota.

Now, those numbers may be less due to being on a team with other high-major prospects like David Joplin, Eli King, Tamin Lipsey, among others. Still, it looks like the 247Sports rankers didn’t seem to think that output was enough. 

On the bright side, one of Thompson’s strengths happens to be his IQ of the game. Based off Gopher Illustrated’s Ryan James Twitter highlights, Thompson regularly shows the ability to pass out of the post and find open teammates, as shown below. He also shows the ability to do the little things, like setting good screens and rebounding the ball at a consistent clip. 

Gopher commit Treyton Thompson is a very good passer out of the post. This assist is to Tamin Lipsey for a three. Lipsey is a 4-star 2022 guard from Iowa (MN, ISU, NB offers). @adidasd1mn up 69-45 pic.twitter.com/6UWxjKju0Y

— Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN) July 19, 2020

Minnesota Gopher committed 2021 Treyton Thompson opens the game winning the Tip, and scoring with the short touch pic.twitter.com/XPk2LiQ7oC

— Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN) July 18, 2020

Minnesota Commit Treyton Thompson on the board pic.twitter.com/8FsqQj1AfV

— Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN) August 8, 2020

Theory 2: Body Weight/ Strength

Although Thompson has the height of a Big Ten/high-major big, he doesn’t appear to have the muscle mass to go along with that size. He weighs just 190 pounds, according to 247Sports, which happens to be the same weight as 2020 Gophers commit Martice Mitchell. Mitchell is still dealing with those same criticisms today.

I don’t know how much this could’ve impacted his ranking — I’m sure not too much — but it could be one of the reasons for his drop.

Theory 3: Everyone hates the Gophers 

As stupid as this sounds, this could be a reason (although not likely). Thompson is a homegrown Minnesota kid who committed to his homestate school with not many offers. Now, if he committed to Texas Tech, this is a different conversation, as the Red Raiders have turned into a national contender.

Believe it or not, bias towards/against programs is real; just ask Duke or Kentucky. But in the grand scheme of things, the school Thompson is committed to probably doesn’t matter. 

The Truth

If you have a subscription to 247Sports affiliate, GopherIllustrated.com (if you don’t you should), then you would already know why Thompson dropped down the rankings. The recruiting big shot who loved Treyton at 247Sports is no longer with the outlet.

With Treyton the reason for the drop was honestly simple, Evan Daniels was always the one who really believed him in him in that top 80ish range, and I never did. I always felt with his limited offensive game he was more someone who was a high three-star who would fall outside the top 100. Evan always felt that he had more offensive ability than he did. Because of that, he was always a major debate when rankings time would come up.

Now that Evan has moved on to a different profession, those of us who are in the rankings group decided a drop outside the 100 was the right move. This was based upon previous evaluations as well as what we saw during this summer’s stuff when he was with D1 Minnesota.

Brian Snow – 247Sports CBB Recruiting Expert

Evan Daniels was hired by CAA to be an agent in the college basketball coaching division and no longer gets a vote… clearly. Oh well, Treyton Thompson’s ranking of 125th nationally is still plenty good. Plus, last time I checked, Richard Pitino doesn’t make evaluations using rankings. 

Chet Holmgren Tops List

• Minnehaha star Chet Holmgren came in as the number one overall player in the same 247Sports ranking. This past year the 7-footer averaged 14.3 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.9 blocked shots per game, while playing on the same team as 5-star Jalen Suggs and 4-star Prince Aligbe, among others. While Holmgren is well-known for his viral move against Stephen Curry, he has shown that he can do much more than that, as 247Sports analyst Josh Gershon writes. 

“Extremely unique player who is unlike almost any American prospect in recent years… Despite lack of strength, very tough kid with impressive mental makeup. Has range to perimeter with jumper, good body control and high feel. Outstanding rim protector and rebounder. Level 10 motor.”

Josh Gershon on Chet Holmgren

247Sports also lists Minnesota and Gonzaga as “warm” regarding his interest in those two schools. 

Pedulla Moves Up

• Minnesota offered Sean Pedulla vaulted high up the 2021 rankings. After being ranked just inside the top 250 prospects nationally, Pedulla is now ranked as the 139th overall prospect in his class. The 6-foot-1 point guard from Oklahoma put on a show this summer, as he showed off his 3-point shooting and high IQ (clip below). Playing with Team Buddy Buckets, Pedulla picked up his first high-major offer from Minnesota this summer, while also gaining offers from Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, Tulsa, among others. Here’s what he had to say about Minnesota when speaking with Ryan James: 

“I have talked to Assistant Coach Kyle Lindsted a lot and I have talked to Coach Richard Pitino a little bit. The culture of basketball in Minnesota is getting big. It’s becoming a big basketball culture area and that’s a big thing for me because wherever I go I want to be about culture and winning. My high school is the same way and I know the culture is big there.

I like the Twin Cities, I like the area. I went to the Mall of America on Friday. That place is insane. I was amazed by it. There is nothing like that in Edmond, Oklahoma.”

Sean Pedulla via 247Sports

• Stewartville, Minn. native and Michigan commit Will Tschetter is still not ranked inside top 150 nationally, despite averaging over 33 points per game his junior year of high school and dominating this summer playing for the Minnesota Heat. Tschetter slid in at 199th in the 2021 class ranking.

Carson Ruen |Minnesota Sports Fan