Mason Madsen is building his own impressive offer sheet

If one wants to see how deep the talent pool is in the state of Minnesota, that person should look no further that Mason Madsen. The 6-foot-3 wing out of Mayo High School in Rochester had a strong summer with the Playground Warriors in the Under Armour Association, and went from a nice player with mid-major offers to another high major prospect in the state with an impressive list.

Madsen had around sixteen offers from schools in the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, Missouri Valley, MAC, Southern, and other mid to low-major conferences. But that has changed this week with his two biggest ones to date: Cincinnati and Xavier.

The Playground Warriors made a deep run at the Under Armour Finals in Emerson, Georgia, and Madsen impressed in front of a deep group of college coaches at every game. He averaged 12.2 points on 46 percent shooting, including 41 percent from behind the arc. But he left his mark on the defensive end. He was simply one of the most tenacious defenders at the event no matter which perimeter player he was locked into. I felt like that proved he had the feet, quickness, and strength to play at a high level in college.

Basketball has been a family affair for the Madsen's. Mason plays alongside his brother, Gabe, in both high school and AAU. Their coach at Mayo is their father, Luke. He spoke to The Gopher Report on Wednesday about Mason's game and how his recruitment is going.

Q: I loved Mason when I saw him. He's hard nosed and competitive. It looks like July really helped him.

Madsen: "It did, and I think that's kind of par for the course for him. As I talk to coaches, Mason is one of those guys that is a little bit more of an acquired taste. His game might not flash like his bother's does. I don't want to compare them, but everybody does. It's hard not to. Mason is steady. He's tough. He's physically strong. He's fearless defensively.

His ability to knock down shots is something that I don't think people realized he was about. Over the course of July, he shot the ball at a really high level. He showed the willingness to take big shots. That's something over the course of a month that we were able to see on a consistent basis. So when I say he's an acquired taste, I guess that's what I mean. It's something he's showed over and over and over. He impacts winning. So I'm really happy for him in that way."

Q: The thing that I really noticed in Atlanta was that he went against guys that we know are Power Five and high major types and there was no back down. He loved competing against them and wanted to guard the other team's best player.

Madsen: "That's something, he's just kind of always been that way. He was a little hard headed as a kid, and it serves him well in situations like that. He's kind of a fearless defender. He doesn't care who it is. He probably does a little bit (chuckle). He does kind of care. He wants to guard everybody's best perimeter player. He takes pride in that. Certainly he's got some developing to do and polish on his defensive game. But I think as a coach, finding those dudes who aren't going to blink when you put them across from whoever, whatever ranking that kid has got, and he just doesn't. Part of that might be when you are constantly competing against your brother who is a pretty skilled player you just develop as a defensive player. You develop that mindset. So I don't think that can be overlooked either. That's a constant, the back and forth has made them the players that they are now."

Q: Tell us how the recent recruiting activity has gone down?

Madsen: "I think there are some schools that are continuing to evaluate their recruiting situations. It's hard with the twin twin thing. I think that's another thing that schools are looking at. They are unsure of how they want to proceed. I think that's why there was a delay. Part of it was the acquired taste, and then part of it was how do we recruit the two of them. Do we have a need for both and so forth? I know from talking to both Coach (John) Brannen and Coach (Travis) Steele. I was very clear from that point of view. I'm going to say recruit one like you'e nor going to get the other. They're not conjoined. At some point they're going to do their own thing. They both said we are recruiting Mason. We'd love to have Gabe too. We want them both, but if Gabe chooses to do something else, we're still going to recruit Mason. I think there is some validation there for him, and I'm happy for him for that. He's not going to quit either. He's going to continue. I think the way they have been exposed to the game, they are about developing. They're about continuing to get better. Coaches appreciate that and see that they are not getting a finished problem."

Q: Who is he hearing from not only in regards to offers but interest as well?

Madsen: "As far as interest, Gabe got the offer from Northwestern yesterday. There is certainly interest there for Mason as well. He has heard from Tulsa, Temple, Coastal Carolina recently reached out. But Tulsa and Temple, those are two great spots too. No offer yet there, but they have shown a real interest."

Q: What does the schedule look like for Mason? Is he going to wait it out to see if he gets more offers or is he going to trim a list and take his official visits?

Madsen: "We kind of feel like this week, whatever happens this week everybody's cards are on the table. What else are people evaluating at this point? I think both boys are looking at it like this. So we're actually trying to set up some visits by the end of the week. I talked to Xavier and Coach (Ben) Johnson this morning. They would like to get both of them in early, which is a good sign. I know that Cincinnati feels the same way. They have both said that they do not want to play their senior year not having made a decision. I would think that might come a little quicker than November on a decision.