Pam Borton and the Gophers, in general, are doing a good job of recruiting in Minnesota. Last November, the U signed four in-state kids, none from elsewhere.

But two of the most dynamic players in recent years got away. Illinois 6-3 sophomore Jenna Smith, who led Bloomington Kennedy to a Class 4A state title title, is leading the conference in scoring and is also one of the top rebounders.

She would look good in maroon and gold. The Illini, going into Thursday’s games, are also 2-1 in conference play after a 49-48 loss to Penn State on Wednesday. The Gophers are alone in first place at 2-0.

Another Minnesotan making a quick impact in the Big Ten is freshman guard Alyssa Karel. At Cretin-Derham Hall she filled up the stats book quickly, with points, assists and steals.

Unforturnately, the U had just one scholarship for ‘07 graduates, so Karel went to Wisconsin.

Wednesday night she had 19 points and made eight of 11 shots as the Badgers bear Michigan State 84-71 at the Kohl Center.

Karel’s previous career high was nine points, so this could have been her breakout game.

“Our game plan was run, run, run and that is my personality so it fit real well,” Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone said. I thought both [Karel] and Rae Lin together on the court were very nice. It was anice combo and it got [Karel] to transition and that is fun to watch and fun to see. It kept our turnovers down and got some people involved offensively. Alyssa gave us some scoring when we needed it.”

A lot of people still underestimate the talent coming out of Minnesota. Smith, Karel and Leslie Knight of the Gophers should raise the respect for Minnesota high school basketball during the current Big Ten season.

The Gophers play Karel and the Badgers at 7 p.m. Monday at the Kohl Center. The game is on the Big Ten Network. Hope you get BTN, I do and I’ll be watching.

Wisconsin was picked to finish second behind Ohio State in preseason Big Ten predictions.

So the MSU win was huge for the Badgers to avoid an 0-3 start. They are 1-2 now.

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