Recruiting Report: Michael Hurt (2016)
The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team will welcome three new members starting in 2016 including guard/forward Michael Hurt (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall HS). Michael signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday. Michael will join the Gophers next fall for…
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Continue ReadingThe University of Minnesota men’s basketball team will welcome three new members starting in 2016 including guard/forward Michael Hurt (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall HS). Michael signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday.
Michael will join the Gophers next fall for the upcoming 2016-17 season, and represent head coach Richard Pitino’s highest-rated recruiting class to date, ranking 17th according to 247Sports and 20th in the nation according to Scout.com. Both publications have the Gophers' class rated third in the Big Ten.
“The signing of these three student-athletes represents another step in the growth of our program,” Pitino said.
“In Amir and Michael, we have the two best prospects in our state staying home to help us in our pursuit to win a championship. We look forward to having them represent our University both on and off the court.”
The 6’6” Hurt will join the Gophers after starring at John Marshall, averaging 20.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game last season with the Rockets, all team highs.
Hurt, a three-star prospect, also contributed a team-high 45 blocks and 47 steals while averaging more than 30 minutes per game. He is among the top 150 prospects nationally, and received multiple Big Ten offers.
“Michael is another kid who will fit right into our system,” said Pitino.
“He can shoot and has excellent length and athleticism, along with a great work ethic and feel for the game. Being from Minnesota as well, he is excited to represent this state for our team.”
November 2015
Rochester John Marshall wing Michael Hurt committed to the University of Minnesota last January so his official visit nine months later is anti-climactic but Hurt took his trip over Halloween is more excited now than he has ever been for Gopher basketball.
“I’m extremely excited, not only to represent my state, but also to play for coach Richard Pitino and play with all the guys, I love them!”
The three star Hurt is joined by three star Eric Curry and four star Amir Coffey in a group that will soon sign letters of intent and officially make the Gophers a top 20, top 25 level recruiting class.
Michael was on campus over the part of three days and was able to see the Gopher team practice a couple times, he was able to talk to academic advisors, watch the football game against Michigan on Halloween, hang out with the players, and of course dine better than one normally does.
“It was awesome, I had a great time”, Hurt said. “But as you know it's kind of different when you committed so it was less about getting me to really like the school to go there, and more about getting more connected and bonded with the guys and coaches.
“It was really awesome getting to see practice and what it's like going through a game day with going to the hotel and everything on a game night, etc. (Minnesota played Minnesota-Crookston on Sunday) then seeing shoot-a-round before the game. So it was just great to see how it's going to be when I get up there and getting to know the players better.”
Hurt and the Rochester John Marshall Rockets are a top ten team in Class AAAA and one of several teams in the class that has a shot at the state title.
Hurt is joined by his 2019 standout brother Matthew Hurt on the team as well as fellow Big Nine All Conference talent Dedoch Chan(transferred from Albert Lea where he averaged a double-double) and junior guard Isaiah Walden.
January 2015 update
Tonight Michael Hurt had Minnesota coaches Ben Johnson and Richard Pitino in the stands to watch him play. It was the fourth time in four months they had traveled to Rochester to see him compete.
Hurt has visited the Twin Cities campus four times in the past half year so obviously there was a connection. Michael was offered in mid-August and committed to the Gophers this evening calling the coaches while they were traveling back to the Twin Cities.
“After going to the U on a couple visits and comparing it to others schools, the University of Minnesota just felt a lot more like home,” said Michael. “I just feel really comfortable around coach Johnson, Coach Pitino, and the entire coaching staff. I also felt comfortable around the players and everybody in the program at Minnesota. It just felt right.”
Minnesota was the right fit for several reasons, starting with the coaches.
“I talk to Coach Johnson a lot, he's been the main one recruiting me, and I've talked to Coach Pitino a lot more since they offered me,” said Hurt. “I really like Coach Pitino's style. People compare it a lot to Billy Donovan's up-tempo style.
“Defensively they get after it obviously as they are top ten in the nation in steals. I really Coach Pitino as a person, he's just a really comfortable guy to be around. He has a great sense of humor and he's a very genuine person when he's talking.”
Hurt is proud to represent Minnesota.
“It's great to me, playing for the home state school of Minnesota. A lot of kids grow up dreaming of doing something like this. For it to actually come true it's a complete honor.”
Hurt can now focus on his high school season where he is putting up 23.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 blocks per game for Rochester John Marshall.
“My focus now is just improving myself completely. I want to get bigger, faster, stronger so I can play in the Big Ten. But also to focus on my high school team. We've come up short in the section final playing against Lakeville North two times in a row.
” And we haven't won a Big Nine Conference title either in a while so those are two things that I want to get done before I finish my run here. I just have to focus on making myself better and my teammates better.”
AAU will also be different as Michael will be one of the few that don't have to worry about building offers and interest.
“I think will focus more on improving myself in these events. If I go to those camps like Adidas Unrivaled, I will focus more on improving my skill set and playing against some of the greatest players in the nation at my age. It's something where I can focus on that instead of playing for scholarships.
“Also, I can focus on bringing guys in to Minnesota, bringing guys to our team. Talking to guys that I know and recruiting players because I want to help set the coaches and other players up as well to have a great future.”
Hurt will be the second ranked Minnesota junior when the rankings are resorted in the coming weeks. He's also a nationally ranked top 150 kid by every service.
Northwestern, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Davidson, and many other low and mid-majors offered (and would have been offered by Stanford but they need to have junior transcripts first and its of course too early for that). There was also interest from Wisconsin, Creighton, Iowa, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Vanderbilt, and others but Michael will be a Gopher.