Things are moving very quickly for Sandy Cohen. The Wisconsin native has piled on offers in the last month, going from an obscure name to a player that is gaining some real steam in the recruiting world. The Gophers are on board, offering the 6-5, 180-pound versatile guard from the Class of 2014 last month. I caught up with Cohen at the Nike EYBL event in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago, to see where things stand now:
I know the Gophers offered you recently. What was your reaction to that? I like coach Pitino. I like that new style of play he's trying to bring to the Big Ten, that kind of up-tempo pace. I really like coach Pitino. He's a cool guy.
When did he reach out to you? A couple weeks ago, right after [the] Virginia [EYBL session in late April].
And did he offer then? Yeah, he offered right away.
How much have you been talking to them since? They kind of contact me every day, a text here, a text there. I talk to assistants, too, sometimes.
A month ago you didn't have any of this craziness right? Only a couple of schools had offered you scholarships? Yeah, before EYBL I only had two offers, now I've got up to 10.
That's got to feel pretty good. Yeah, it does. It's kind of like all the hard work is finally paying off. It's nice.
How are you handling all of the new attention? It's crazy. I'm on the phone a couple hours a night. Sometimes it's a hassle, but it's a good thing. It means it's all working. It means it's all paying off.
Now you have a lot more to the decision you'll have to make. Any kind of timeline? I think I'm going to start taking visits as soon as school is over, so probably in June.
Have you thought about stopping by Minnesota campus while you're in town [last weekend?] I was going to but coach Pitino said that he wanted to do it right, so maybe that means an official visit.
What are the other schools that are interested? Marquette, Memphis, LaSalle, Providence, Wake Forest, I can't really think of them all off the top of my head. [Also George Washington, Green Bay, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Creigton].
Are any of those schools going at you the hardest? Probably Marquette. Marquette probably the strongest.
Does playing close to home matter for you? It's not really that big of a deal. I kind of just want to find a place where I feel comfortable.
Had you heard at all from previous staff, from Tubby Smith and those guys? No.
What is it about Minnesota that you like? I think that's a good fit. I like up-tempo pace, I really like that, so I think I would be a really good fit in his offense.
I know you play a little bit of everything. Which position do you like the best? 2-guard
Is that what you play most often? Yeah. But I don't mind if I play the point. I'm kind of versatile with the 1 and the 3.