Before Johnson though, Richard Pitino had displayed a level of relevance with the Gophers. Part of that was because of standout talent like Amir Coffey.

Although the Hopkins, Minnesota native went undrafted, he averaged 16.6 points per game as a junior. He then grinded in the G-League and earned playing time with the Los Angeles Clippers. Now he’s coming home, or at least closer to it.

Amir Coffey signs with Milwaukee Bucks

A week ago NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Amir Coffey had agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. On Wednesday the Los Angeles Clippers acknowledged the transaction and Coffey’s departure.

Thank you, Amir ❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/r9148tpYxf

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) August 20, 2025

For a guy who went undrafted after leaving the Minnesota Gophers, and largely flew under the radar, Coffey has carved out an incredible career. He earned the thank you from Los Angeles after spending the first six seasons of his NBA career there.

Coffey played in just 18 games as a rookie, and only 44 in his second NBA season. The past two years he has been a regular member of the Clippers rotation logging 142 games and 26 starts. Last season Coffey averaged a career-best 9.7 points per game and his 24.3 minutes per game was the highest usage rate of his career.

Throwback to when Amir Coffey scored 32 against the Bucks' backups in 2022 pic.twitter.com/4LMVj4gAL1

— Nathan Marzion (@nathanmarzion) August 15, 2025

The talented Gopher pushed his ability from deep to a 40.9% success rate from three last year, and he shot 47.1% from the field. As a regular in the rotation, Coffey proved to be a reliable asset for the Clippers.

Related: Timberwolves Crush the Competition with Schedule Reveal Video

Now headed to the Milwaukee Bucks, Coffey will look to quickly acclimate with a new franchise. He’s switching to the lighter Eastern Conference, and will be closer to home in Minnesota as well. The Timberwolves first chance to see Coffey comes on December 21 at Target Center. They face the Bucks at Fiserv Forum on January 13 as well.

Amir Coffey finally got his chance to shine with the Los Angeles Clippers Friday night, and shine he did. In a game where the Clippers rested four of their starters for the upcoming playoffs, the former Minnesota Golden Gophers forward recorded career-high’s in points (21), assists (4) and steals (4), while also playing a career-high 50 minutes. His effort helped lead the Clippers to a 107-103 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Final Stats ?

Mann 25 PTS / 14 REB / 9 AST / 2 STL
Coffey 21 PTS / 4 AST / 4 STL
Patterson 17 PTS / 14 REB
Green 13 PTS / 3 3PM / 8 REB
Noah 9 PTS / 6 REB / 5 AST
McGruder 9 PTS / 11 PTS / 2 STL
Jackson 7 PTS / 3 AST
Zubac 6 PTS / 4 REB / 1 BLK

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) August 15, 2020

CASSELL IMPRESSED

With rookie Terrance Mann also tallying 25 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, assistant coach Sam Cassell, who coached Friday’s game in place of head coach Doc Rivers, was impressed with both Coffey and Mann’s play:

“We expect the same things from our young guys that we expect from the stars of our team: play hard, play together,” Cassell said. “I’m coaching them hard, Doc was out there the first half, he coached them hard. Those guys did a great job doing the things we need to do to win the basketball game.”

Cassel via ESPN

#HNBMediaTV: Postgame @ReelTPJ got to chat with Sam Cassell after his 1st coaching win. He also spoke to young players Terrance Mann and Amir Coffey on the #Clippers win tonight. The stars didn't play tonight, but the effort was brought. LA Clippers finish the season 49-23. #NBA pic.twitter.com/hjQT28CVjG

— The New Show Clips Podcast (@NewShowInLA) August 15, 2020

COFFEY ON FULL DISPLAY

Like Cassel said, Amir did a great job and even decided to include a few highlight dunks in the game. The dunks, which resembled his days in the Maroon and Gold, were on full display all night. Transition dunks, lob dunks, poster dunks, you name it and Amir did it. As you can see below, the best dunk was the one that didn’t even count. 

Just brew-tiful.@FoxSportsWest | @coffeyshop_ pic.twitter.com/SjX94DOCfc

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) August 14, 2020

Amir Coffey is ballin' ballin' pic.twitter.com/5Ap7UDCh81

— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) August 15, 2020

It didn't count…

BUT AMIR COFFEY WHAT ?#ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/0J3eOSj1fS

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) August 15, 2020

NOT JUST DUNKS

But the dunks weren’t the only way he impacted the game. He also led the Clippers in the plus-minus category with a +11 output. Considering that he played 50 minutes, a+11 is really good, as it is harder to get a positive plus-minus the more minutes one plays.

Overall, his play on Friday was undoubtedly the best — and most — he’s played all season. Coming into Friday’s game against the Thunder, Coffey had only played 11:36 since the season restarted. And prior to that, 24:31 was his most time played in a single game the whole year. That game was a 41-point blowout win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 9. 

MORE TO COME?

But we should see a lot more of Coffey next year, however. After being signed to a two-way deal as an undrafted free agent in last years draft, Coffey spent the early part of the year in the G-League, where he played 15 games and averaged 15.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in just under 30 minutes per game. 

That output was enough to keep him with the big boys, where he played in 13 of the last 15 games before the league shut down in mid-March due to COVID-19. After Friday’s game, Amir talked about what it means to be playing with the Clippers under coach Doc Rivers: 

“Doc is a head coach that’s been in the league for a while now. He’s won championships, he’s had great coaching seasons, he’s won a lot of games. So just coming into the league it was just a blessing to be under a guy like him, and now it just shows how much a teacher of the game he is. (He’s) one of those coaches that gets into detail, let’s you know when you’re right or wrong, ya know just teaches you. And he’s a good development coach.”

Amir Coffey in postgame interview

WORKING HIS WAY IN

Getting back to those 13 games, he didn’t just play a few garbage time minutes (well he did in a few of them but that’s beside the point). In eight of those 13 games, he played more than five minutes. In those eight games, he played more than 10 minutes in four of them. 

His best of those four games came in the aforementioned game against the Cavaliers. In that game, he scored ten points, collected four rebounds, and had a plus-minus of +16. Not bad for the Hopkins High School alum. His coach didn’t think it was bad either: 

“I love him as a player. He’s going to have a really good future. He’s just so long, and his basketball IQ is off the charts.”

Doc Rivers on Amir Coffey

So when you look at his outputs when given an opportunity, plus Clippers head coach Doc Rivers praise for him, we should see a lot more of Amir Coffey down the road! 

Carson Ruen | Minnesota Sports Fan

Amir Coffey got his professional career off to a damn good start during the “league play” portion of NBA Summer League (they’re starting playoffs now) over the last two weeks. He is 2nd for the Clippers in scoring (14.8 PPG), 4th in rebounding (5.8 RPG), and 4th in assists (3 APG).

In other words, he’s exactly what I thought he’d be; a good young talent who will need a year or two in the G-League. If he can get more consistent with his shot and prove he has NBA handles, he’ll be in an NBA rotation in no time. So far, he’s done exactly what he came in to do. Earn a 2-way contract.

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Amir Coffey's 15 PTS has the @LAClippers up 46-37 over LAL at the break on @ESPNU. #NBASummer

Jerome Robinson: 6 PTS, 3 AST
Mfiondu Kabengele: 5 PTS, 4 REB
Jordan Howard: 7 PTS, 3 REB
Devontae Cacok: 6 PTS, 3 REB pic.twitter.com/eBZ8Aeo1lc

— NBA (@NBA) July 7, 2019

19 PTS | 9 REB | 6 AST#2WayPlayer Amir Coffey (@coffeyshop_) was FEELING IT tonight ?@GopherMBB ↗️ @ACClippers ↔️ @LAClippers #NBASummer pic.twitter.com/2OD2xFMmPn

— NBA G League (@nbagleague) July 12, 2019

Big Ten to the big show.

We've signed @coffeyshop_ to a two-way contract. https://t.co/E7oDFoXthk

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) July 10, 2019

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Something changed in Amir Coffey toward the end of last season, with the Gophers. I wonder if that’s when he decided he was going to go pro and if that’s what suddenly motivated him to take the giant leaps in his game, that we had been waiting for during most of his first 3 seasons playing at The Barn.

This is pure speculation and curiosity, just like the rest of this blog is going to be. I haven’t talked to any “sources” who might know more of the thinking that went into Coffey’s decision. This is all speculation. However, that’s partly on Coffey. We aren’t due any type of explanation as to why he left the Gophers early but let’s be honest; he left when he knew he probably wouldn’t be drafted. That’s weird.

I followed the Amir Coffey decision closely and his intentions became clearer and clearer as the process dragged on. The Hopkins native wasn’t going to return to the University of Minnesota unless he was going to be tied to the campus and forced into it. Early on in the process, we started to find out that Coffey’s decision wouldn’t be based on his outlook as a 1st-round pick. In fact, it soon became evident that Amir would be jumping into the NBA, just as long as one team was going to offer him a 2-way contract. He didn’t need to be drafted at all. Not in the first round or in the second. If someone had room on their G-League team for him, he was on board… like I said, not normal when you have a year left of eligibility.

Now, I’m not hating on Coffey, (but go ahead and @ me anyway). I’m just glad Amir stayed in Minnesota to play for the Gophers when nobody else does. He’s a pioneer in the current generation of Minnesota athletes, in that regard. I don’t know what’s going on in his brain. I’ve never talked to the guy so I can’t even guess. Also, it can be argued that growing up in the G-League and making your name as a pro ASAP can benefit your future more than playing out your Senior year of College as a Big Ten star, on a possible sweet-16 team. The two games are very different and every year of youth matters in the NBA.

Before Summer League play started, Coffey even said that his decision to leave was easy and that he had no regrets, even though he wasn’t drafted.

(Excerpt from interview with Marcus Fuller – Star Tribune):

“I felt like it was an easy one,” Coffey said from Los Angeles. “After all the work I put in, and how much better I got after the season going through all those workouts, I felt confident in what I was doing.

“I felt confident in my game, and I was getting good feedback from a lot of teams. I talked to my [family] and agent and felt it was a good time to stay in.”

I just wish someone would ask him the obvious questions that everyone is thinking…. that’s what I would like.

– Leaving early when you knew being drafted was likely out of the question is out of the ordinary when you have a year of eligibility left… why take that risk?

Again, it just seems weird that he was itching so badly to get off campus. Without a real explanation, I guess we are just left to speculate while Coffey hangs out in the G-League for a year and the Gophers are a dominant Big Ten wing away from being legitimate Sweet 16 contenders for the upcoming season.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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EPISODE 59 SUMMARY

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It’s episode 59 and we’re all over the place.

MSF is moving up in the world again and we have an announcement for some activities next week. 

Then, we move on to the Tyus Jones news that dropped on Wednesday morning (we try to figure out why the Wolves don’t want any serviceable PG’s on their team). Could they possibly want Russell Westbrook? Does that make sense for the Wolves? 

Amir Coffey got the 2-way contract he was seeking when he left school a year early. But, Eric is still trying to figure out why he wanted out badly enough to risk not making the league at all…

Our second segment starts with the Twins and Eric is shaking in his boots as he looks in the rearview mirror, at the Cleveland Indians hot on our tail… The two will faceoff starting Friday…

Did you hear about these pissed off topless chicks swimming around Lake Superior? As much as we love the freeing of breasts on this show… the science says full freedom might not be what women want in the long run…

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Episode Chapters

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Minnesota guard Amir Coffey will stay in the NBA Draft, his agent Javon Phillips, of Excel Sports Management, tells @247Sports. Coffey averaged 16.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG & 3.2 APG last season.

— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) May 29, 2019

I’ll start by saying this: We don’t know why Amir Coffey wants into the NBA so badly. Unless he comes out and honestly tells someone what his reasoning is, we won’t know. 

Now, let’s go this direction:

Most draft experts have projected Amir Coffey as a late-2nd round pick as his best-case draft day scenario. He’s more likely to be undrafted that night. That’s where the obvious questions arise. If Coffey isn’t going to get drafted…. why would he leave when he still has college eligibility left?

That’s the $35,000/year (G-League Average Salary) question… 

It really doesn’t make sense in a lot of ways. But at the same time, most of us are die-hard fans of this team so it’s really hard for us to see why Coffey wouldn’t want to go for greatness… Why wouldn’t the home-town kid want to finish his career with a deep NCAA Tournament run, where he could hang his number in the rafters of The Barn next to a new banner???

Maybe he doesn’t care. At least, not as much as he does other things.

I saw Kobe Bryant give an interview on some 30 for 30, or some TV program that was looking back on his career, when he talked about his decision to jump directly to the NBA from High School, and it will forever stick with me when these moments arise.

The only thing Kobe wanted to be, when he was coming out of high school and entering the next stage of his life, was a pro basketball player. The things that are important to most 17 and 18 year-olds, weren’t important to The Mamba. As a student athlete, you had to focus on a lot of other things beyond basketball. He didn’t want to focus on other things. Spending his time on something other than the game of basketball didn’t make sense…

Even if he was going to ride the bench to start his career, or he didn’t get the playing time he wanted, he still saw the NBA as his best option. Why wouldn’t he want to spend his time around the best coaches and the best players in the the world? Obviously, Kobe knew his talent and he was in a much better spot than Coffey, but the principle can still apply to Amir’s thought process.

It’s possible that Coffey feels like his basketball career, no matter what happens at the college or pro levels, will be held back if he stays in school. It’s possible that he feels like he needs to go up to G-League (if not the NBA right away) so he can get in front of the next level of coaches and the next level of competition, in order to grow his game.

It’s also possible that he sees his age as a ticking time-bomb. If he went back to school and didn’t have a MASSIVE season, or if he couldn’t stay healthy, he’d enter the draft at 24 years old, with an even lesser likelihood that he gets a 2-way G-League/NBA contract…

I bring all of this up so you can get an idea of why Amir Coffey might have decided to leave, when most players would more likely stay in this situation, especially when the Gophers would enter the season (likely) in the top-25. 

If Coffey would have come back to blow up the Big Ten this season, averaging ridiculous numbers like he did in the back end of last year, and then leading us on a deep March run, he could have seen his draft stock blow up with a lot more guaranteed money and a much smoother path to a long NBA career…

But, at the end of the day…

How we view this decision in the future, will be completely up to Amir Coffey himself. If he finds a way to get drafted or gets a summer league team to give him a shot; then eventually works his way into the NBA where he then makes a bunch of money… we’ll forever talk about how smart he was and embrace him as “one of us” who made it and succeeded in the NBA…

But, if he can’t make the league, gets shipped off to Europe for a few years, and then eventually enters the real world in his late 20’s, as your Real Estate Agent… this won’t look like the best early departure decision in MN history….

I’m rooting for him.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Tomorrow by 11 PM CT, Coffey needs to make his decision. He has one more workout scheduled with the Sacramento Kings in the moments leading up to that deadline…

FWIW: Coffey can workout for teams until 8:59 pm Pacific tomorrow. Public decision will be announced tomorrow, it sounds like. #Gophers https://t.co/RD3UEYgI3n

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) May 28, 2019

I’ve had my ear to the ground on this all day and I am going to shoot you straight like I always do….

It’s not looking good for Gopher fans wanting to see Amir Coffey wear Maroon and Gold again. 

It sucks to say that because the Gophers are going to have a lot more help for Coffey this season, if he were to come back. Losing Jordan Murphy will hurt but if Amir were to stay, the Gophers would be improved EVERYWHERE else. Unfortunately, from everything that I’ve seen/heard, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

It’s pretty clear, at this point, that Coffey isn’t going to be drafted anywhere near the first round. In fact, the question seems to center much more around whether he will be drafted at all. That doesn’t bode well for those hoping he will return. A lot of times, being (pretty much) guaranteed a spot in or around the first 30 picks, is the deciding factor on declaring, and kids will back out of the draft process once they realize that isn’t the case for them. Coffey clearly doesn’t care about whether or not he’s a first round pick.

Ryan James of GopherIllustrated.com said today on the GI Boards that he is hearing from his sources close to Amir and the Gophers, that Coffey won’t be returning. I heard Justin Gaard say essentially the same thing on KFAN today, too. If it weren’t for this tweet from Jeff Goodman, I’d already be writing Coffey off but…

….YOU’RE SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE?!?!

I have heard Amir Coffey is 50-50 on his decision. https://t.co/3xV9K4o1fz

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 28, 2019

Anyway, I’ll go to bed tonight praying to God and all of the aliens that I am wrong, and Amir somehow has a change of heart by the time he announces his decision tomorrow……….. but don’t hold your breath.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Wow, I didn’t even really let myself dream it up earlier today when thinking about the Gopher Men playing in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament tonight vs Purdue. The big game was last night and they won. They beat Penn State and they made it into the dance. It wasn’t pretty, but they did what they needed to do. Tonight, I was almost expecting one of the classic letdown games. We seem to see it in Minnesota more than other places, where you win a big game one night, and then get blown out the next.

But, Richard Pitino and the Gophers weren’t having any of that bullshit. They brought their A-game tonight. And while Thursday wasn’t very pretty, Friday was the opposite. It was beautiful.

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ICYMI: @GopherMBB upset B1G co-champ Purdue to advance to #B1GTourney semifinals.

Here are the top plays.#MarchOnBTN pic.twitter.com/TaoPoRlhZB

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 16, 2019

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Jordan Murphy was banging down low like he was 7 ft tall and EVERYTHING was falling. His jump hook was unstoppable and his patience was tolling on the Purdue big men.

Amir Coffey was able to get out in space and run, which always makes the Gophers offense look better. But tonight, when those opportunities weren’t there, the offense still looked functional. When all else broke down, they even hit some off-balance late-clock shots. It was weird to see. Purdue is a good team so the game was still very close but the Gophers lead for most of the 2nd half.

Gabe Kalscheur hit big shots (mostly in the first half) and Oturu looked a lot less shell-shocked than he did in his first Big Ten Tournament appearance on Thursday. It was a fun, well-played game on all fronts for our favorite college basketball team. Michgan and Iowa are playing right now on Big Ten Network and the Gophers will play against the winner tomorrow at 2:30 PM in the semifinals.

Also, I think Richard’s job is safe.

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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Amir Coffey 2018-19 Big Ten Game Log

The Gophers have two quadrant-one victories on their Big Ten resume. The first was early in the season against Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, where Amir landed 21 points and 6 rebounds, willing the Gophers to victory.

The second was last week at home vs Purdue when the Hopkins graduate exploded for 32 points and 8 rebounds. He took over right from the tip and the Boilermakers never fully recovered. Without huge performances from Amir Coffey in both of the Wisconsin and Purdue games, we win neither.

In fact, as you can see from the table above; the Gophers have 4 wins over top-50 NET teams and Coffey had massive showings in 3 of the 4. Meanwhile, when Amir isn’t going…. neither does the team. We have 3 really bad losses on the year and Coffey couldn’t get to double-digit points in the 2 of those 3. He only scored 11 points in the other one and his assists and rebounds are always down in those games too.

When he’s bad and the the Gophers play good teams…. things get reeeeeeaaaaaal ugly. Look no further than the second game vs Michigan or the beat down by Michigan State. Coffey went for a TOTAL of 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. The Gophers lost by a combined 33 points and it should have been worse. The Michigan game ended a lot closer on paper than it was in-person.

via GIPHY

Before the Purdue win, things turned in a more positive direction quite quickly in the previous game, when Coffey had his best outing of the season vs Northwestern. He put up 31 points as part of his double-double, spring-boarding him into another big game and the win vs the Boilermakers earlier this week at The Barn. 

Now, Amir Coffey has a chance to cement the Gophers into the NCAA Tournament by building on the momentum he created last week, leaving behind the bad taste of his mid-season swoon. On Friday night the Gophers travel to the #24 Maryland Terrapins. A dub would bolster the total win column to 20 and that, along with a .500 record in a crowded Big Ten, would earn them an easy invite to the dance (along with a respectable seed).

A loss however, would require one victory in the Big Ten Tournament next week to make sure Selection Sunday isn’t comparable to a torture chamber.

For the record, I do believe the Gophers still dance if they lose two straight and end the season with 19 wins. It’s a weak bubble this year and the Big Ten is the best conference from top to bottom. But, leaving the door open for a surprise conference winner or a stupid committee decision isn’t the way you want to enter Selection Sunday.

via GIPHY

But continued great performance from Coffey, to finish out Big Ten play and possibly surprise some people in the NCAA Tournament, wouldn’t just be a massive key to the success of the Gophers, as a team. Amir has the chance to cement himself as a perceived first round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft when he enters his Senior year.

Let’s throw out some hypotheticals to prove my point.

Coming into the season, Coffey wasn’t just seen as a possible NBAer. He was as a guy who had the talent to possibly leave early, draftable after his Junior season. He has all of the measurables you would want. He’s 6-8 and can play the 2 or 3 and even PG in a pinch. He has a high motor and you won’t have to worry about his effort on the court or his character off of it. And he oozes with talent.

Those mutterings had cooled as the season went on though, and nobody is talking about that anymore. The consistency isn’t there.

But, all of that can change with a big March. We’ve seen March Madness catapult no-names to the top of the draft board before and while that might be a bit far-fetched for this upcoming draft class, there’s no doubt the effect it would have on Amir’s future draft stock. It’s not crazy to suggest that a high-functioning Amir Coffey can average 25+ PPG with nightly rebound and assist totals that both chase closer to 10 than to 5. That would turn some heads around the NBA scouting circles.

I’m already excited for next year’s way-too-early mock drafts…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

It feels like a tundra in Minnesota this weekend but The Barn was on fire this afternoon with the Hawkeyes in town to play the Gophers.

I hope you bet the over.

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In an unbelievable turn of shooting fortune, the Gopher offense kept them in the game and even controlling the lead throughout the first half vs. #19-ranked Iowa.

I’m not sure where we found our shooting touch but it was a good thing we did because both teams were on fire and spouted off a total of 101 points in the first half alone…

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The second half started off even better for the Gophers. Iowa couldn’t handle Minnesota’s offense no matter which defensive scheme they switched too… Hard to believe, I know. And Fran threw all of his defenses at us…

I saw a man, 2-3 zone, 1-3-1 zone, and a full -court trap. None of it worked. The Gophers were up and down the floor and scoring in all varieties. Fran was red.

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Iowa couldn’t be held down forever though and they made it close in the last 4 minutes. They cut the lead to 4 and took control of the ball before the Gophers got a turnover and scored on the other end. The Hawkeyes never got closer.

It was a massive win for the Gophers, who are now 5-4 in conference play (15-5 overall) and hold big wins over ranked Wisconsin at the Kohl Center and now 19th-ranked at The Barn.

On Wednesday, the Illini come to town and the Gophers should be foaming at the mouth for a W after they were embarrassed in Illinois a few weeks ago.

Here are some highlights to tonight’s dub:

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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Now that I need a new TV, after throwing everything within reaching distance through my current one, during the 1st half of yesterday’s Gopher-Illini game; I’ve had some time to reflect in silence about one of the worst losses in Richard Pitino’s career at Minnesota.

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It’s been a rollercoaster of emotion for me since the loss (a rollercoaster with a lot of valleys and very few peaks).

At one point I was ready to force an Isaiah Washington transfer. How is a guy who was Mr. Basketball (New York) so bad now? How much better could Amir Coffey be if he played wing full-time? How much better would our team be?

I wondered why Gabe can’t shoot anymore….  why can’t anyone shoot? What happens when every team starts playing a trap zone on us from the tip? What happened to Jordan Murphy? He’s just forgotten how to play basketball all of a sudden? When will we see Eric Curry back to being NEAR full strength?

During one of the lowest of the lows, I even pondered the firing of Richard himself….

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via GIPHY

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It’s been a tough night.

Yet, I continue to come back to the same thing. Something that happened just as the season was starting, after weeks and weeks of waiting games, of course. Not only does this pre-season NCAA decision play into a lot of the Gophers’ problems, but it’s the direct cause of some.

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Pittsburgh transfer Marcus Carr was denied his appeal to play for the #Gophers this year.

Richard Pitino calls the new NCAA eligibility waivers a “flawed process.” https://t.co/6z7CHGy1iM

— Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) November 16, 2018

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Marcus Carr transferred here from Pittsburgh this offseason, where his coach was fired after only getting two seasons to run the program. That’s somewhat of a rare occurrence in college basketball (and college football – just ask PJ Fleck about year 0 and 1).

Normally, you need to sit out one season after transferring to another school. Pitino and the Gophers requested a waiver that would allow Carr to play immediately, given the sudden change at Pitt that resulted in his transfer.

And, things looked good for a while because the NCAA seemed to be giving out transfer waivers like they were molly at Summerset. But in classic Minnesota fashion, the NCAA decided to stop that narrative with Marcus Carr. He was denied his waiver, he appealed, and that was denied a few days later. No matter who jumped to his defense, the NCAA remained the stuck-up assholes they are known to be, who are out to prove points that nobody wants them to prove.

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On what basis can JUSTIN FIELDS of ⁦@OhioStateFB⁩ seek a waiver from the transfer rule of sitting out 1 yr? Just curious / in hoops ⁦⁦@GopherMBB⁩ transfer MARCUS CARR was denied eligibility & he had legit reason as Pitt fired his coach . https://t.co/NK7FLKaUMO

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) January 11, 2019

NCAA denied Marcus Carr’s waiver request. Ridiculous. Carr was in a dysfunctional program at Pitt, coaching staff was fired, but he didn’t have a legit reason to leave? “Student Athlete welfare”? NCAA is wasting a year of Carr’s athletic life…for what? https://t.co/AQhsU1u1JC

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) November 7, 2018

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Here we sit now. As Gopher basketball fans, we’ve been complaining about Isaiah Washington’s lack of growth while we lament at the flow of our offense vs good defenses (especially zones). All season, Coffey has looked like the NBA player we know he can be, but let’s just admit that he doesn’t look comfortable running the point. He would be so much better off (and so would the team) if he could play wing full-time.

What would fix a lot of these issues? A true, natural, #1 point guard.

Like Marcus Carr.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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