Trevor Mbakwe, the former Marquette forward, fits the profile of the kind of player that the Gophers really need. It was clear throughout last season that players like D.J. White, Raymar Morgan, Geary Claxton and Marcus Landry hurt the Gophers because of their lack of bulk inside.

At 6-7, 240 pounds, Mbakwe would help out a team that added height with its latest recruiting class but little muscle. But I don’t think he’ll wind up with the team this season for a number of reasons.

Tubby Smith doesn’t like to bring in transfers. Keeping a guy on the bench for a year doesn’t help his team win now, which is why he’s not in favor of them. Also, Minnesota is out of scholarships.

Sources tell me that the Gophers think the best thing for Mbakwe to do is go to a junior college for a year, play well and earn a scholarship for the 2009-10 season. But, Smith’s staff doesn’t know much about Mbakwe, who was a star at St. Bernard’s High School. When Mbakwe first thought about leaving Marquette earlier this year, the Gophers were focused on Krys Faber and Verdell Jones and told Mbakwe that they weren’t interested in services at the time.

Mbakwe’s definitely worth a look because of his size alone. His presence would give Minnesota more power in the paint. He didn’t get off to a good start with Marquette because of injuries, but he showed signs of his potential in limited action last season.

Overall, Mbakwe would be a nice addition for team that has a lot of scorers and needs more sturdy defenders and rebounders.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 4:11 pm and is filed under Gophers men's basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.