ND-fan

The transfer portal is just a fact for all college sports and reason why players are entering can be any number of reasons and may not reflect on program or the coach so i think we need to get over it and move on. Yes, it hard to loose talented player like Weah but if were going to succeed we need players that are committed to the program and want to be here. Weah will have to find home where it meets his requirements and what he think's he can accomplish. I wish him well on this endeavor and hope things turn out great for him. I myself think and many other here think he may be making mistake but only the future will tell us which of is right and i believe people have right to choose their own paths. My only concern is that if Bubba can find equally or better talent to replace the people were loosing and getting these people to buy in to the program push us over where we are playing for championship.

I thought the same but i was really disappointed in the performance i had been waiting all week to be able to watch the team and then we had this performance. I still think this team has potential to be good team and i know they can shoot better than they have showed. I haven't given up in them and i do think were going to be factor in Summit conference but this year Summit looks to have number of good teams so i would like to see them start making some progress. I know were young but i think they have ability to be good team.

They looked better with Olivia Lane back and Borowicz we are better than last year but right now we are still going to have hard time in the Summit conference. The two South Dakota schools we are going to have hard time matching up against they are longer and more athletic than we are right now. Lane, Leet, and Anderson gets us part of the way there but we have no more depth at those positions to match up with their benches. Ndsu we should be able to match up with them were very similar in talent on front lines and i think we may be better at the guard positions. Western Illinois i think is quicker and maybe deeper on the front line. The rest of Summit i haven't watch play yet so i can't say how we would match up. My guess is we could reach 5 position in the Summit with a chance to beat either the 4 or 3 teams on given night but the Two South Dakota Schools are cut above the rest of us as it stands now. South Dakota State if they get Selland back and she returns playing like she did last year it will be very difficult task to nearly impossible of beating them. They would have very complete team better than last year especially with their new point guard Meyer. South Dakota is just experienced team with 3 five year starters back this year and their bench seems to be improved.

This game was over before it even began. The team looked like fawn caught in the headlights we looked scared out there and shots they were putting up looked like it they weren't even close to be made. I thought we might come out the second half with some fire to show them we were not going to lay down instead we looked like we were ready to go home. They could have just forfeited the way they played second half nobody was working to get open shot and thinking of making the shot it was they were playing with hot potato out there until they had to throw a shot up there. The best of group was Bruns he was aggressively trying to score and get open it showed he led the team in scoring. Our interior play was terrible, there big man had them so scared they were afraid of attacking the basket with out doing that they had no chance of putting him in foul trouble like he has been all season. Sather has to be not very happy with this performance. Looking at this road trip looks like they have taken two steps backward. I thought we were on moving to another level but now we need at least step forward to get back to where we were. Hard to access how we played defensively when we were shooting 5% for while on the floor and giving up i don't know how many turnovers that let them shoot layups lucky for us they couldn't hit a layup. This has to be big concern going forward because effort wasn't there hopefully going forward leaders of team step forward to not let this happen again.

Actually its 4 games in 6 days plus traveling to Florida for the final three games. I know other teams have played 3 games also but add in the traveling for whole day and it wears on person. It has shown up in shooting percentages been have dropping each day but it's good in long run to help develop this team. I think this team is playing better than i thought this early in the season. The problem i see going forward is Summit conference is going to very difficult conference this year the top 3 schools are playing already great basketball and have competed well against power 5 schools and then you add in KC and WIU already beating couple of power 5 conference schools this is going to be difficult conference. The transfers and 5 year seniors have made number of schools in conference much better than were last year so its going to be very interesting year. Then consider last year conference champion almost made the semifinals of NCAA tournament.

Chaves is going to need put some time in on this hire because its going to take someone that can really recruit talent, plus coach up this young talent, and then be able to keep such talent if we don't start winning right away. I am sorry this goes back to Pryor he got handed team that was young talented and he was good enough coach ride these players to successful record but as he was going along the cupboard was getting thinner and thinner until he needed to move on and when he did all he could get was division III job back in his beloved Texas. The Tiffen hire was just pouring more gas onto sinking ship and this goes to Chaves he just looked at previous records of Volleyball team and thought with his resume the volleyball should remain middle of pact in conference. I don't know if lack knowledge or just not high priority for him but is seems he has let women's sport lag behind. I remember Chaves coming here saying how he wanted to be AD to major hockey power and by god that was he has focused on. I like hockey but i love some other sports as much or more remember when they were just important and they were playing for things at national level and winning championships. I hated when people say were hockey school and i think it just limits what we can be our history has shown we had been power in Mens and Womens basketball, Football, and we were becoming that in Volleyball. The majority of college world follows these sports and if we are to get national recognition it will be in these sports.

This year has been team that has shown it can play with anyone but problem has been to finish people off in end of the game. I believe this is sign of young team especially at the skilled positions on offense and the defense was good but hurt by injuries. I have to believe were going to be better next year on offense and i think defense will still be quite strong. It will be interesting see how our young players develop and what we can add to this team the defense needs to add to lines in numbers and size. This team with a few breaks could have easily made the playoffs this year but it wasn't meant to be. I am sure to hear how it was all coaching but watching this team they are well coached they make very few penalties and they play well together as a team. I felt for this team but i also know were very close to being very good team that could make championship run. I remember coming from 80 and 90's when we had similar results until it finally all came together as program and i think were about to do the same again.

I take from broadcast that we have lost Gordon for the year. Borowicz could be back by the weekend. That leaves Lane does she have injury or she sick i didn't see her on the bench if were going to have shot at competing in the Summit conference were going to need her or we don't have size to compete with other schools which we saw today again with us getting beat down low and getting out rebounded. Bernhard statement that not knowing who was available for weekend would worry Montana or Montana State is just rhetoric because these coaches prepare there teams for the talent they have available and second right now i don't think anybody worries about us right now because were not that good of team so far haven't shown it yet this season. They are coming here to prepare there teams for conference schedule so they are working on developing their players and feel they can do this and still win the game. This looks to be repeat of last year with to many injuries only this time its front line players being hurt not the guards like last year. I don't know but sure looks like Bernhard is snake bit but freshmen she has recruited look to have talent and also some of the transfers look to be nice additions but can't keep loosing players to injury or sickness. The way things look right now we are in for long season i thought we could move up to middle of the pack in the conference but right now i have my doubts with how this season is beginning.

If we do replace coach i want a coach that has positive attitude and totally into believing in UND i didn't get that from Pryor that he had any love for UND, North Dakota, or anything with area. I remember watching him being interviewed on Big Sky TV and how he hated the weather and it was amazing people lived up here. You can't tell me that when this first things come out of his mouth this is not going to get you the upper hand on the recruiting front and your giving advantage to other schools your recruiting against because if they hear this they are going to use it against you. With Tiffen he has been rather low key and it was hard to get a feel what he was real like in day to day world. He also came when Pryor didn't leave much in pipeline for talent and then he had media blow up over the two players which i think was poorly handled by the University which should have been handled internally and can't but feel it hurt team internally and sure hasn't helped them recruit or retain players no matter what side of the fence you were on with handling the players. I don't envy the new coach because we are at the bottom of barrel as program now with one win team and i have my doubts we could beat division II teams and even some of the small colleges in volleyball. This is going to take years to rebuild and second i have my doubts on level of support UND is giving to women sports look at where we are in all women sports at UND compared to other schools in the conference. We have no upper tier program in conference and were rebuilding programs in most of the sports.

I don't know how are chances are to being selected to the playoffs but i have to think if we do beat SDSU they have to be not considered for the playoffs or am i missing something. They would have 4 and 4 conference record ending the season on two game loosing streak and would have 3 of their 4 conference losses at home. Also they there second half of season would have record of 2-3 not team showing improvement but declining as the season is going along. I see where most feel they are shoe in for the playoffs but i believe they have to be on bubble and will get in because of Missouri Valley conference and politics of the conference. That is why see our chances of getting in small being the new school to the conference and because of our record. I have feeling we will be lucky to get team to semifinals this year out the Missouri Valley i just don't see any of teams that don't have some weakness in make up their teams not like in past years where NDSU and other top schools in conference were in top five schools in FCS. I may all be wrong on this but UND making the playoffs i got to believe are slim at best especially when looking at latest rankings see we weren't even receiving any votes for the top 25.

What happen other night when we were missing number of players for the Weber state game. Why does everything have to be such deep dark secret around this athletic program just come out with what happened did number of players test positive for covid or was there something else. This is not good sign again where we have number of players unavailable to play for a game. We went through this last year and again everything was big dark secret how do expect fans to invest in team if they are not willing to invest into fans ability to follow this team. The team we put on the floor other night could not compete in Summit conference and would even have hard time competing in North Star conference of small colleges. I turned on the game saw we had short bench and no one even mentioned this through the whole game. The positive of the game was new player from Texas DJ Davis looks like she could be candidate for point guard if see can improve her shooting and the new recruit of Jodi Anderson looks like she could develop into quite offensive player before the year is done. From there it's hard to tell when we played with four small guards on the floor exposing Leet to cover up for our lack of size which led her to foul trouble. Let us hope we can get our full team back and we start developing into team that can compete in the Summit conference. I sound critical but more so disappointed that we have to start again like last year we need to have something positive happen if your going to get any fan interest in this team.

I believe Sather can coach and is good technician of the game but getting back to the recruiting that is another story. Its just not Sather but assistant coaches that also have to have those skills and connects to help a build a program. I was sad to see Mihailovic leave the program because he had helped bring players like Rebraca and several other players for UND but i am sure he had better opportunity elsewhere. Its finding those diamonds in the ruff and developing them so far Sather hasn't been successful in finding these players for the program or been able to keep them on the team. Contrary to what many you think on this board coach Jones before him had pretty good record on finding talent and developing what he recruited. Rebraca, Geno Crandel, Hooker, Marlon Stewart, Seales, Walter, Avants, Anderson, and Huff to start naming a few that came in became good players and some had careers after UND are examples of talent Jones brought in developed here. If UND is to get to be power in the Summit Sather is going have to start getting these type of players. This years recruiting class i hope he has few of these players in the mix so we can start building this program. To be fair the last two years its hard to judge because of Covid with so many restrictions on travel and how kids have been playing games to find and being able to recruit has hurt coaches especially new coaches like Sather moving up division. I hope to see some diamonds in ruff with this year recruiting class but time will tell on that front. After this year this team will all be his recruits with last of the Jones recruits graduating he will be held accountable for the team on floor so this year and next year are what he will be judged on if he can coach at the division i level bring in talent to compete with other schools in conference.

I am not willing to pronounce whole season is already gone on the first game of the season but from the box score there are several things of concern is that we were out rebounded for the game which i believe we should have been dominate to Crookston, second our poor shooting from 3pt. land, and i was expecting that some of transfers would have received more playing time and my reason is when you bring in transfers it should be up grade in your talent level you have for that position other wise should then be looking for young players that are diamonds in rough to be developed. At least that is my philosophy and especially after the season we had last year where we were definitely behind leaders in conference talent wise. This may be case here too because of team chemistry but we will see what happens when we start playing better teams. I am looking forward to watching them see how they improve from game to game i still think this team should be better than last year with the new players added to this team.

This was terrible loss and you can point to number things like coaching or individual players but the bottom line i believe is we have team that is being led by number young players that are very talented are still young players who are prone to make mistakes under pressure especially on the offense. WE have quarterback, running backs, and receivers who are all either freshman or sophomores leading this team on offense. Defense is more experienced but because of injuries were now playing more young players there also. This has been weakness of North Dakota is we haven't gotten to point where were real deep on the football team where we have junior /senior starters with sophomore / freshman as backups learning and developing into players. Taking this all into account we still have very competitive team and seems to be getting better talent wise the past couple years. I can hear now naysayers its all coaching but remember we have just gone through changing conferences and playing independent schedule making recruiting more difficult to attract top players. Also not to mention the difference in conferences in type of players you need to be successful between the conferences. This has been difficult season to say and with such high expectations to start the season but maybe what were experiencing is hang over from the spring for sure this is going to be lost season where we could have been force in conference. I am sure the people who know more about football will tell me i am all wrong but over years teams with senior leadership generally are more successful this doesn't happen quickly but people believe it happens this way.

The season begins in less than week and very little has been said about women's basketball team. How do create fan interest if don't so some promotion of the team. I can imagine how season tickets sales have been like selling long underwear in the desert in middle of the afternoon. I know they had to cancel fan fest but then they should have tried to get little press to promote the team and season coming forth. This has to do more with the athletic department than coaching staff and i guess were all about hockey and hard core football fans that keep that sport in public eye. Enough of said subject has anything heard how the team is progressing and are they healthy who looks to be making major contributions this year. I am kind of excited to see this team and wondering if they can turn the corner to be of some factor in the Summit conference on paper they look to be improved.

I got to believe Sims and Tyree left because they thought they would get looks at power 5 schools and i also think they wanted to be at schools that were close to big city social life. They didn't get to go power 5 school but schools are close to big cities. Today players can move freely without much penalty and just look at number of new players in Summit conference that have transferred this year and power 5 schools are filling out there rosters with transfers the day of having athlete for whole career is over basically. The top three in conference have kept core of players for four years but what will future bring South Dakota will graduate majority of their team this year or next baring nobody leaves , the same for North Dakota State they will graduate most of core in next two years and does Nelson stay or does somebody make offer where he moves to power 5 school, Same thing for Oral Roberts does Abmas come back for senior year does he leave like Obanor did this year. The rest conference is like UND with some home grown talent but transfer's to fill out the roster. It will be interesting see if projections hold up when season is complete or will somebody put together team that puts it together by end of the season comes in knocks off some these top three contenders. The last few years being favorite to win this conference has not happened and i have feeling this could happen again this year.

Schuster i like alot about his game but the one thing that hurts this team is that he can't seem to run ball when they have good coverage on his receivers and i don't mean he has to run alot but he has to do some to keep the defenses honest and free up his receivers. Vaughn does this for UND but he only is in for a play or two a game so we have no idea how he can manage the team and run offense but we need to get a little out of Schuster what Vaughn brings in when he's quarterback. This is especially true when we have run into teams that can control our running game and were in passing situations they can drop deep for coverage and let there defense fronts rush without much worry of Schuster slipping out running for yards needed. I got to believe they have to be working on this because limits our offense so much especially in the red zone. Maybe i am not see this right would like to hear what others think.

what's happening with Tiffen and Und Volleyball we have heard nothing in two weeks and the program is in shambles if you judge it by its record. This has been long time coming Hardee built this program but because of personal problems had to leave but since then we lived off his recruiting and the team he put together. Pryor was good enough coach to get results out the team inherited but his recruiting and way he felt about Grand Forks and North Dakota in general did little to help him recruit and before it all fell apart he left for warmer climate and division III program if that doesn't tell you something. Then we hire Tiffen from our assistants with upcoming resume but doesn't seem like a ball of fire when he has been interviewed but was given benefit of the doubt. Then we have blow up with girls on social media and our recruiting seems to be falling off especially since covid hit. It's hard to believe a program that was competing for conference championships and heading to NCAA tournament has fallen so far in such few years. This has to be on the AD because he's made hires and has direct knowledge of what's happening with the program. I think Chaves was hired because he was all in Hockey and had good football program in Eastern Washington but i wonder what his commitment has been to women's sports because since his arrival we have seen both women's basketball and volleyball program's go dramatically backwards.

The Fargo dome size of stadium means getting nonconference game against major FBS program is not going to happen they will be left with bringing in FCS opponents and also guaranteeing them money to play how is that going to help for increase budget of moving to FBS. The dream of being major player at FBS level is that a dream they will not be playing for national championships best will be playing for conference championship at one lesser FBS conferences and chance at one lesser bowl during christmas to New Years time frame. There will be no home playoff games like they have now with FCS and chance to play weekly until Christmas one big reasons it had become so popular with people in North Dakota gave them something to follow at the end of the year. I can't see them building a new stadium on short run all players to get funding done for the project are fighting budget battles now them selves like Fargo with flood control project, State with budget short falls from less oil revenues, and NDSU lack of funding research and enrollment declines. I may be wrong but Fargo is not ready to move up even though they like to think big but resources are not in place to make this move now and may take another 10 to 20 years growth to get to where they will have resources to make this move.

The sports world in Fargo may be prepared to go FBS but i don't think general public is prepared to go or on the political side yet. The football program probably make the jump but the cost of moving all other sports to FBS conference i don't think there is enough money or schools in those conferences don't want to have to travel to North Dakota. Und proved this with there time in Big Sky conference the costs of travel and other schools soon wanted UND to leave as much as UND needed to leave. Add in that NDSU state affairs right now with declining enrolments and less research dollars and forced change in presidents coming i don't see where NDSU makes the shift to FBS. Fargo likes to think they will be leaders from FCS moving up to next level but like number of posts before we as region lack population and economics of moving up a division in college sports. Only way it may work is if only the Football program moves up but here again economics i still think makes this difficult jump. The move FBS will not mean like it was for FCS you had a chance to play for national title but move to FBS will be one smaller schools where chance of playing for national title will be almost zero but just for New Years bowl game and not one of the top bowl games but just a bowl game. I think this will be hard for casual fan to get handle on because they understand winning something on national basis but for bowl game i don't think it carries like playing for national championship. If they do only go FBS for football there other sports just become even more taxed for revenue and fan following in essence they become even more than UND with one sport dominant school. I think alot of NDSU hard fans may be disappointed they don't make this next step and for sure local media in Fargo but i don't think the economics will ever support this move at this time. If you have my guess is the top conferences and schools will soon break off from NCAA for same reason why they have formed up into their power conferences because they are not going to want to support bottom half of schools with money.

This coming season has many questions to be answered by number of the off season moves we had to make because of number of transfers we had. We have NDSU and SDSU, and Oral Roberts basically standing pat with addition mostly of traditional recruits and then rest of the conference in status of great change for the coming season. It will be interesting to see if somebody puts together a team that can challenge and upset the power balance in conference for the coming year. On paper we look to have at least put a team together that could become contender but that all depends on how they gel and if they live up to their billing. This is definitely going to take coaching and player buy in if we are going to have successful season. I am sure Sather didn't plan on this type of rebuilding process when he took the job but that is how fast game has changed with new rules on player transfers. The top three in conference so far has not seen what other schools are going through some say its the culture of programs and i just think they have been lucky so far and when they have to replace their current group of players things will change for them also. Small midmajor's will never be same where they take players develop them and have winning program by building a team this way because now the power 5 schools are going to come knocking on these kids door and recruiting them to move. I also think the power 5 schools are even going to do it more with change of coaching from the old school coaches to new coaches coming in to replace them.

Little early to predict future line-up for North Dakota. We still have two spots open yet on the team i would guess we will see some future announcements on players yet to be signed by us. Verbal commits has still with one offer still open to juco out Snow college but with leaving of G it has created another opening on the team. I am guessing they are waiting to see if major player becomes available yet before fall and are keeping their options open with scholarship to give.

Men's basketball verbal commits shows each player on the team if its walk on, scholarship, transfer, verbal commit, signed, and the transfer. They don't show it for women's basketball is there somebody else that does this for women's basketball. Women's basketball has it own transfer portal site for each school and shows commits on site but doesn't tell if its scholarship or walk on. If Lane and Sieben are walk-on's this would then leave UND with two openings left. I would guess then couple of recruits that may redshirt for the coming season with that many recruits available for the roster.

Do we have scholarship left i was going through player list i have 15 players or are we adding one for Leet. The list Borowicz, Manson, Gordon, Leet, Lane, Lane, Van Loo, Vander Wal, Anderson, Adams, Wallace, Sieben, Orth, Hoskin, and MCcarthy. This would give us 15 players for next year as i have figured unless i made mistake again.

I looked at JMU box score against VMI and there the stated attendance for that game was 6011 and my guess that will be similar for us this coming Sunday. the maximum attendance based on stadium capacity would be 6219.