Sam Dower talks about unofficial visit to Minnesota

Sam Dower took an unofficial visit to the U of M yesterday. Gopher Hole interviewed him about it afterwards. A couple of things in the interview that stuck out to me. The rumor mill said Dower was concerned if Minnesota was actually serious about him which may have led to this visit. Interesting that it didn't come up in the interview.

He also mentions that he can play center or small forward. I don't know that you could use him at center right away because of the strength issues, but I can see him playing center in a small lineup or later in his career being used there. The small forward part of the statement was really amusing and surprising. Yes he can step out and shoot it a bit, but I think its very safe to say that the small forward position is not in his future unless its a temporary thing in a big lineup (which is rare these days thanks to the myriad of motion systems used today and a lack of big men). He's being recruited to be an interior presence with his perimeter abilities as an extra asset, not to be a face-up wing player. If I'm a coach watching Osseo this season, I want to see Dower dominating down low on the blocks, not settling for 17 foot jump shots from the high post. Last year the outside game was understandable when you had him and 7 footer Zach Peterson in the game together. This year he'll need to carry a bigger scoring load for the Orioles.

I'd like to see him in George Mason's scramble system as that would give them the type of backline shotblocker that they rarely have. With his abilities, I think that'd be a good fit. Dower mentions that he has family out at Cal, it'll be interesting to see if that's a factor in the final decision.

Read the entire Gopher Hole interview here.