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| Wednesday, July 16 |
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| Rickert changes mind, commits to Minnesota By Rob Bodenburg SchoolSports.com | |||
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The roller-coaster recruiting tale of Duluth East High (Minn.) forward Rick Rickert appears to finally be over -- at least for now. Rickert, who last month orally committed to play basketball for the University of Arizona next season, has changed his mind and announced on Monday that he will stay close to home and attend the University of Minnesota. "I've been recruited by Minnesota and Arizona real hard, and after careful consideration of each of them, I've decided to go with Minnesota," Rickert said at a news conference in Duluth on Monday. Despite Rickert's commitment to Arizona, Minnesota head coach Dan Monson never stopped recruiting the 6-foot-10, 215-pound senior. And since Rickert had not yet signed a national letter-of-intent to attend Arizona, he was free to change his mind. Rickert's decision to stay in state is a major victory for the University of Minnesota, which is struggling to rebuild after an academic fraud scandal resulted in several NCAA sanctions. "I told him, 'Rick, on behalf of the four million people here in the state of Minnesota and the basketball program in Minnesota, I can't accept that answer,'" Monson told the Associated Press. "And I really believe that it ultimately came down to Rick representing this whole state. I couldn't accept him saying he was going to leave until it was time." Rickert's parents also played a key role in his decision to ultimately choose Minnesota. After Rickert committed to Arizona in mid-October, his father publicly questioned that choice. "I've never recruited a kid ever after he has committed to another school until this situation, but it was too important," said Monson. "If (his parents) would've felt differently, I think then you back off and let it go. But they told me before to keep after him no matter what. I promised them if he went anywhere else that I would continue to recruit him, and I'm certainly glad today that I did." Rickert averaged 29 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks per game last season while shooting 88 percent from the free-throw line. He is versatile and may be able to play any of the frontcourt positions in college.
Material from SchoolSports.com.Visit their web site at www.schoolsports.com | |
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