ND-fan

I have to agree this happy day for UND football and positive day for everyone involved with the program. I don' t understand how we have to be so negative about the program. The one thing is we need no talk of NDSU game because we first need to win the first one. This will be difficult enough because like everyone knows it hard to win on the road. Even the mighty Bison would not like going on the road in playoffs. Und has made first step in FCS football by making the playoffs and next step is to win a playoff game. In the future we need to get to where we have bye and homefield advantage in the playoffs. Were one top 24 teams in FCS and if we win our first game we will be one of 16 top teams in FCS football. Building a winning program is never easy and we should be happy that things are heading in right direction.

I have watched parts of last three games UND has played and I guess I having hard time to figure out what were doing and second I have seen no improvement in the team ball security. Maybe somebody can tell me what kind of offense were running to me its looks like what you get when you get a pickup game or all star game where players are trying to create there own offense instead of team offense where ball moved around the half court to get the shot your looking for. This style offense is going to take above average offensive players and I just don't see where were going to be able to recruit enough talent to run this offense. If we play this style of basketball I just don't see us winning many division I games or at all. Also it very hard to watch us play right now. I would like to hear what other people think but I don't see how this style of basketball is going to work in division I at this level to hard to beat players one on one and then your likely to going see help if you do beat a individual player. I also wonder about playing so many different players your not getting players used to playing with each other and again its increasing the number of turnovers. Most basketball teams usually get themselves down to about 8 man rotational with other people just fulfilling different type of roles. I guess I can see coach trying to figure out what he's got but at some point you got to start playing seriously to win and teach your players the formula you have for winning. Again I would like to hear some other thoughts about what's going on and if I am missing something I sure like to hear it. Also I don't want to hear how bare the cupboard there is enough talent on this to compete I believe win.

The question I have about Sather is can he coach this group of players and get them to winning or at least the potential to win a game. If not were going to see massive changes next year and total rebuild of personnel which may lead to several years of loosing. The problem with that is can UND keep the program viable and attract players and fans back to the game. I think Sather is old school basketball but problem with that is now at division I basketball we have moved to the newer school of basketball where game starts from outside to develop the inside game. What I hear from him is the opposite which concerns me because the talent pool good division I players for small mid majors is the new school. I think Sather can be good coach but I believe he's on shorter leash than previous UND coaches because of need to get program rebuilt quicker to compete in the Summit conference. I also got to believe he's on learning curve to moving up division in basketball. I believe he can do this because he's been successful where he's been in the past. I sure hope they can give the resources that he will need to build successful program. Also getting back to coach Jones for all his naysayers you may find he was doing a lot better job keeping this program together will less resources and the job he did will begin to appreciate in the future.

I was going to let your remark go then and then against my better judgement I going to respond. yes she had higher turner over rate than I would have like to see but when you ask a person to play out position because your guards can't bring the ball up against a press your going to have extra turn overs. Look at Klabo last year she was asked to do same thing to help bring the ball up court and look at her turn over rate she had over 100 turn overs last year. This has been problem since Dyer and Szabal graduated we haven't had guards that were quick enough and had ball handling skills to bring the ball up court. This has been one of my big complaints with Brewster his recruiting of guards has been anything but stellar and I don't see a lot of development in our guards even when they get here. We have had guards who had poor ball skills and sure couldn't shoot from outside. This coming year I have no idea if we have addressed this problem and my guess will be maybe. Brewster sure didn't learn from Roebuck that you needed girl or several girls to hit outside shot to make your post players that much more effective. Our only NCAA team had that in Madi Buck something he inherited from Roebuck. Also getting back To Fallyn her turn overs were in same area as Klabo's and Miller's from SDSU but we never heard of them being turn over machines. We are going to ask a lot from group of freshman to step forward and compete at division one level and that is why I believe we are going to really struggle for good part of the season. I will be glad to listen to other peoples train of thought for the coming season but maybe we will have better chemistry and hopefully some of girls that have been in program take a step forward this year.

I wouldn't have said she had mixed results for UND but she was solid player that improved every year she was here with the school. She had total career pts of 838 in three seasons and would have gone over thousand career points if she would have finished here at UND. Her last year here she had 13.2 scoring average, 7.7 rebounds a game, and played four different positions for UND. This was done playing with Klabo the go to girl first for UND the last year and previous to that having Loyd and Dyer in the previous years ahead of her. I believe if she would have been on team last year and healthy they could have been in the mix at tournament time and if Brewster would have found point guard that could have shot from the outside. I believe she will have success out there may make NCAA tournament in her final year of eligibility if things go as predicted out there.

I don't see UND being at the bottom of the league where we had very young team last year in the league and wasn't given any breaks early in league season being a new member to the conference. We return 6 of the top 8 players from last year and will also should get full season marlon Stewart this year. South Dakota state, Omaha, and Fort Wayne lost big time seniors last year. My first thoughts would be would be in the middle of the pack like 4th and we could be one position either direction from there. South Dakota, North Dakota State, and ORU would have been my upper tier picks. UND, South Dakota State, and Omaha would have been in my next tier of teams, and rest would be bottom tier of teams. I don't know reason for us being picked so low but my guess it has something to do with coaching changes and player personnel remaining the same thinking coaching and players won't match up but I think league might be surprised on that front. This team I believe has players if they develop this year has ability to become very good team but big question is will make step to play better defense.

We have seen all these new recruits that will be coming here but I was wondering have we lost a lot of the current roster with the change in coaches. I didn't think we had that many openings on last years roster. I guess I am little out of touch to what is happening.

I still like going to the Speed Way in Grand Forks has pretty good food and if you want you can get drink with your meal. Its always busy but usually can get in .

Yes I heard him on different interviews especially when he wasn't on local or media covering UND and he was bashing the weather and how far north Grand Forks was and my thoughts at time was why would you be so negative about location of school your trying to recruit athletes to. Yes we have harsh winters compared to other parts of the country but we also have beautiful summers and falls compared to a lot of rest of the country. The other thing is we do have winter activities that a lot of people like to take advantage of. I also thought he had critical year coming up in that he had to show that he could win with his recruits and be contender in the Summit. He was given program from previous coach ready to win with lots of talent and developed to win in the Big Sky conference. That being said UND needs coach again that can recruit top talent locally and from our recruiting region. I believe if we get right individual they could build UND into division I mid major program that could contend with top division I schools in the future. We have facility that provides for great atmosphere for volleyball and we built following to make UND exciting place to come and play Volleyball. We need the right person lead and build top quality program here. This is the time to build a program when right person can be compensated here equally to that of large division I programs.

I have question with men's basketball program and the Betty the revenue generated there is there any return to the Men's basketball program. I look at how facilities get additional revenue hosting various events like the high school regionals, and now state basketball tournament. There has to be some profits generated there to be funneled back to basketball programs or is all that funneled through the agreement with Ralph and hockey. I also wonder now with change in conferences the travel expenses have to been reduced adding revenue for the programs. I guess another question is if hockey is generating positive cashflow why is it then other sports are so under funded compared to our other conference rivals. Is it because lack of fund raising or is not generating as much from these sports in control of facilities. My other question is UND management structure top heavy consuming a lot of dollars that takes away from people actually running these programs. Also do the South Dakota schools get more money from their student fees than UND because they are not being split with Hockey program that has lot of student support. I guess my big question is why are we not able to compete with them and if so is revenue generated or are we spending more in administration and other expenses. I would like to see some facts and figures on this so we would know were behind and know what to improve upon.

What did university of South Dakota pay for there new head coach Todd Lee last year that should be comparable for compensation here at UND. I suspect were going to find were at the bottom of pay structure for division I schools in compensation. I got to believe this was part of coach Jones decision and hard to keep quality assistants and to even add additional assistants to lessen their time on the job. I look at this way he could become assistant at larger division I school and make more money than he has been making and be able to spend more time now with his family time he can't recover later. I think we lost quality individual here and we may never know how much he put into this program over the years. I got to believe were going to find out how under funded we have been in men's basketball and my guess several of other sports here too. My guess its going to take a lot more money to get next coach in place here and also the assistant coaches pay structures will need to be addressed.

I hope to we don't get another inter[m run by Ed Schafer the problem I see with this when he gets into power he wants to make all the changes he was prevented from as governor. The last time he was president this what he did and made severe cuts in many of programs at UND in favor of pet programs of his over the years. I do not believe an interim president should be making any long term decision for the university. He is just place holder for the position and new incoming president should be making and setting direction he believes the institution should be heading. Back to Kennedy I wouldn't respond to his email letter on his resignation I would keep quiet on the matter. My response would be to the higher education board asking for them on their input on who should be on next committee to find next president of UND. This would basically signal again to Kennedy that his position at UND is finished and he should prepare himself for what ever the future has coming for him. Yes I would agree there are grounds for firing him with his latest comments and now his desire to find employment elsewhere. The sad part of this is Kennedy would have put his nose to grind stone and worked with legislature, Und staff, Students, and people of North Dakota followed through with his visions and his promise to travel and get to know people of state and how UND could benefit them as well listen to them what concerned them about UnD he could have become one of great presidents of UND. I think when both parties have not gotten what they want its best for both parties to part ways and just call this period a mistake for both parties.

Colorado is getting a 62 year old president which means he's probably there at best 4 years until he retires. What Kennedy was looking for was another school where he had potential to grow his salary and live in more populated city and have fresh start with public. Being in much larger city not every move he makes or mistake is going to get front page headlines like it does here in North Dakota. Second is he talks much better game than he plays when it comes to running major university and being in state of North Dakota people do follow the University so it takes small town political skills not Washington DC political skills. Meaning people here do listen and follow what you are doing and if you say one thing and do another people remember here and these kind of actions are not easily forgiven. In Colorado his tenure will be short and if he doesn't rock the boat to much he should be able to finish his career out there unless he choose to move on again for greener pastures. I do get offended when I see people putting down North Dakota people as being small minded and not progressive several of posts have made such references. I think a lot of people here that make those remarks may not know the history of this state or what people have done here in little over 130 years to build a state to where it is today. In that time where there was little to none infrastructure in this state and vast majority of people came here with little money to make a living. While they started with little wealth they built this state and one things they did was invest in educational system to improve next generations chances succeeding in this world. They did this through tough times and harsh weather times where being conservative and having faith in themselves and god got them through these times. The sacrifice many people made to stay and build something here is astounding because a lot of people left to live where is was easier to make a living. But today the state has grown into one of the better states in United States where incomes arein upper one third of all the states and we have developed our state into where large portion of kids want to stay and build life here. We are using our education system to create new industries here in the state and well as provide for ones that are successful. Yes we may do things and look at things differently than other parts of the nation but we have had too if were going to continue succeed here and conquer this land and climate we live in. Also the people of North Dakota put great value on education but they are also practical in that they want return that helps all of the state of North Dakota. This is why they do follow how education system is run and how its being managed but it comes from prospective of how they have lived and had to manage their businesses and jobs here in North Dakota. That is why the next president of UND needs to fit the state of North Dakota because we have had to many presidents that have not been in sink with people of North Dakota. They are not invested in UND and State of North Dakota I think that what people of North Dakota want. It may sound simple but we haven't had president that can communicate and understand the citizens of North Dakota. It seems we have had presidents that are at odds with public, educational system, the legislature, and even within the school itself for number of years. That is why I think next president needs to be looking at UND as more final destination not stepping stone and also young enough that its not last job for retirement. If you get gest of this criteria I think we need somebody that wants to be here and build this institution for long term that whole state of North Dakota can be proud of.

Kennedy was never a fit for UND and sooner the people of higher education come to this realization better we will be. The problem is he was politician at heart and the people of North Dakota don't want a politician leading its top university. They want individual that wants to be leader of institution to build it up over his career and make it better than when he came here. Also they want straight shooter doesn't give politician answer to tough questions but gives a truthful answer. Basically we want another Tom Clifford who did this. He was raised here and had values most North Dakotans respect coming to this job as being job he wanted all his life. Kennedy even last exchanges with press show how different he was than this when no more than 6 weeks ago he said he wasn't looking for another job but truth was he was already looking. To average North Dakotan this is outwardly lying to your face and reason he could never gain much support here in NOrth Dakota. What we have here is elite group of people involved in higher education want leaders for higher education that have values of higher education from elite schools on the coasts of this nation. What we need is person who understands people of North Dakota and values we want present in our education system . I look back at higher education some the best presidents in our schools were North Dakotans. They knew the state, people, and school they were working for where they were to be very successful. Also you will find these presidents could work with our political system because I believe they gained trust of legislature. I am sure hoping we can put together right group of people to hire next president for UND.

What is the percentage of players finishing their career at these large schools that go on to play professional basketball someplace after college. My guess it pretty high with NBA, G league, and overseas basketball in Europe and pacific regions my guess majority of these athletes do try playing professional basketball. I think for lot these players there career interests is basketball and what ever there degrees after that are there secondary plans after they are done with basketball. I don't know if these are wises choices but it is dreams of young men that they have wanted since they were very young. NCAA wants to control these individuals and so do colleges all while using them to make money for themselves with only thing in return for these players is a college degree. This is nothing compared to what administrators, coaches, and media make off these young individuals and here lies the problem of making this more equitable for college athlete in these high profile sports. Don't tell me there is not money in these sports for large universities when coaches are being paid in the millions per year and look what the media is paying to televise college sports. I just think there has to be ways for smaller schools and players interests to be set up where they are treated equitably but its going to cost to do this and in here lies the problem. But for example look at college basketball team has 15 scholarships and say the cost of scholarship is $50,000. per scholarship or $750,000.. dollars total cost but then look here we have coach alone making probably $3,000,000. dollars the players are only getting 25% of what coach is getting in education and still no cash money for themselves to spend. Then you put restrictions on the players once they decide where to play making them virtual under school and coach control once they sign to be with that school. Also if coach leaves they are still under control by that school unless they are given a release and then again they have to sit a year before they can play elsewhere but coach can leave and go on to next place to coach with next school picking up the cost to pay other school. The scholarship programs work much better at small schools and not division I schools because value being received by players is much more equitable to that what schools are receiving and coaches and administrators are receiving. Also the money coming into sports is much less so the system is much fairer at these levels. So how do solve these problems and still be equitable for all and I don't think anyone has plan that everyone could get around and support.

The last few years changes on transferring have changed basketball for mid majors programs in that they have been weakened by allowing their senior players chance to transfer without sitting out a year has made these senior ball players premium for the large college basketball programs. This rule change has weakened the conferences like the Summit and Big Sky by draining away there top talent to large college basketball programs. Basically mid major conferences are becoming minor league development teams for these large colleges. I look at UND had Crandle at Gonzaga team reached elite 8 and South Dakota has Mooney on Texas Tech a final four team both transferred to play on large college team. UND the year before had Carson Shanks on Loyola final four team and Bernstine who went to Washington Pac 12 team. This loss of talent by Summit and Big Sky conferences has weakened these conferences and for sure weakened UND basketball team the last two years. The Kolpack story he had on Forum's sports reporting a year ago on transferring I believe is being played out and what it means to mid major conferences. All ready were seeing it at other schools in Summit conference who have lost players for next year weakening these teams and making mad scramble to find other players. If they are going allow this sitting out period be waved maybe they should also have it for mid Major schools that can recruit freshman and sophomores from large college basketball schools without sitting out for a year. This would allow these mid major schools chance to take young talent away from these schools without sitting out for a year. We could see then strengthening in the mid major schools with more talent because they could offer playing time without loss penalty for transferring.

Is Borowicz from Roseau coming here or is she looking at going to South Dakota State for the coming year. If this happens South Dakota schools are just coming up here recruiting kids right next to UND what's the problem here things like this shouldn't be happening on regular basis.

I have a question is AIU roster made up largely older college players from juniors and also from overseas where they are largely on average older group of players. If this is the case hasn't this been trend In college hockey that you can win with these older mature players in the tournament then young super talents what use to be model for winning in college hockey. That age experience and strength becomes advantage in playoff hockey for colleges. This is just a thought but I would like here some discussion on this.

This is fine run by SDSU but next year they will be coming back to the pack with loss of their seniors this year. On the other hand this is not the case for University of South Dakota I think there time for peaking will be next year and year after if they can continue to add a few pieces each of next two years. SDSU will need a great recruiting year and based on Johnson record he will probably put quality team on the floor but I believe he will be rebuilding next year with senior graduations this year. The rest of Summit conference are similar to UND where it will be dog fight to find who's best between them . I just don't see us competing for top spot in league next year to hard to win with large group of Freshman and Sophomores which we will have next year. Unless he brings in transfer from another division I program and haven't heard anything on that front. NDSU is going to have very difficult year with few players returning from this year and no new coached hired yet or staff so they will be late getting out their recruiting to get some of top athletes. Brewster will need to hit recruiting trail hard if he's going to stay around at UND and then he's going to need to connect with his players and get over his mind game approach to handling players.

I would guess Tim Miles looks for another major college to coach at would be hard for him to come back to Summit conference coaches salaries. I am betting he could make more as assistant at major college than he could at Summit Conference. I look at Jones here at UND is just making 140,0000. and even Otzelberger at SDSU is making 325,0000. Miles was scheduled to make 2.5 million this coming year one lower paid Big 10 coaches still huge pay cut to go back to midmajor program. McDermott at Creighton is making 1.326 million far cry from Summit and Big Sky pay scales. Even Ben Jacobson at Northern Iowa one most successful Midmajor programs is making little over 500,000. not bad but sure not pay structure of big time universities. If not coaching I would think Miles has future probably in color commentator for the sports channels. I wonder with Jones salary being this low compared to other coaches I wonder how we compare in what were paying our assistant coaches. This has a lot to do how well program fairs and competes with quality of coaching staff. I see University of South Dakota have two of Jones assistant coaches we had in last few years I wonder if this has to do with compensation they were receiving.

I am just curious what are your expectations of coach here at UND how much does he have to win before your ready to fire him and move on to next coach. He has reach a sweet sixteen appearance when none of so called elite programs in this conference have never reached that spot. Also South Dakota and South Dakota state view basketball as one of their primary sports for the school. North Dakota State has had some success in past but with football program growing I think all other sports have seen the drain including men's basketball. If your going to talk about the other Mid major programs that have been successful at basketball majority of them concentrate on basketball and usually are private schools. Now look at UND Hockey is the first sport here commanding significant portion of the budget and resources of the school and now second is football which has gotten renewed effort from the school and athletic department. Then comes basketball the third sport for men at UND not like it was in the past and now to be competitive it takes resources of money not just head coach but assistants, facilities, and travel budgets to make a complete competitive team. Now look at the Hockey program where were seeing they have not been winning how long is it before our other sports see a drain again because hockey revenue may be dropping near future if has not now even seen a slide. But getting back to basketball do think were going to put a program together here where you think were going in the top 25 in division I basketball. I by your grading most of all the schools in this conference should have fired their coach this year and looked for another one and same thing can be said for all the schools in the Big Sky. Division I sports for small mid major programs is have some financial stability and ability to show they can win the conference every few years when we there are changes it is because several years at bottom conference and no improvement in year to year play or when the contract of coach is up they may make a change in coaches. I guess I look at some of you posting here your expectations are not realistic and were not biggest fish in pond like we were when we were division II where we had more resources than most other division II schools now were like most of other division II schools in division I with limited resources so change has to be done carefully. If you don't believe that look at all the sports that have disappeared here in last few years.

I agree that a decision 13 years later was wrong just because he is successful now doesn't mean he would have been successful here then. Look at his resume he has gone through whole bunch of career stops to get to where he is now. I would expect he applied to other institutions for head coaching jobs and wasn't accepted until this last position. Also for current coach not many coaches have gone from division II era transitioning to division I and also changing conferences three times in program and has gone through budget restricted athletic program where we were not even able to keep assistants for any given period of time until lately because of lack of money to pay the going rate. Basketball has been the third rail here at UND since the 1990's and to have even success we have had is remarkable. I believe that is why the Athletic Directors we have made little change in the basketball programs is because they know this and making change may not result in any improvement or more likely result in us going the other way. I am sure I get all kind of rebuttals about finding right person that can be here a few years turn us into winning program but nobody here on this sight wants to think what if it fails with each failure it gets harder to find person that can produce winner. Pretty soon in that scenario we had 10 years of loosing and tell me how you turn it around. If I am athletic director and my third rail of sports in the school I am at I want program that is consistent at about 500 and every couple of years puts together team that wins conference and makes the tournament. It may not reach excellence a lot of you talk about but its consistent winning enough to keep fans in the seats and doesn't put athletic budget at distress if whole thing fails reaching for that excellence. Example of this now is NDSU women's basketball program they have been reaching for that next Tim Miles on women's side but look at where that program is at and how long does it takes to rebuild the program and how much additional money will it need to get it done. Just some thoughts from different point of view everyone has this idea changing coaching is going to be automatically successful but I would like see the success rate on changing coaching it seems to many of the schools that are changing coaching a lot never see long term improvement. that's my opinion which may be wrong but what I have seen over the years.

NCAA says the play in game is part of the tournament but I just filled out the ESPN Tournament Challenge there they start with the field of 64 for filling out the brackets. They are not using the four play in games as part of the Tournament. If that is the case most people are going to treat the teams in play in games same way as they not part of the bracket. I think its a shame that they are putting our conference into playoff game it just diminishes the conference on national scene. Tv wanted to have conference tournaments but when they get upset then they want to move conference tournament champion to a play in game. These mid major conferences only get one selection at least let them have there day in the Tournament. Like I say mid majors have about zero chance to get into final 16 let alone even final four the last true mid major school to get into final four was Indiana State when they had Larry Bird. I will here about other mid major programs but some them are more closely related to big schools or are independent school that plays big time schedule. I find it so interesting its fine that we have our own separate division in football but not basketball. I guess I will never get appeal of playing with large schools when you know you have zero chance of winning.

I don't follow hockey as closely as a lot of you on the sight and by far no expert but just quickly looking at the statistics is were nearly a goal under or more per game. I also look at our offensive production from penalties were near the bottom on penalty conversion for offense in the conference or that in the nation. Defensively it appears were in the top tier on defensive numbers for the nation. The question that needs to be answered is it talent or is the coaching to get talent out of the players we do have. If this one year blip on for UND I would say they would just need to refocus and try to make some small changes. The problem here is we have three year trend and its getting worse each year. If I was Brad Berry I would be looking for somebody outside for some real hard opinions on what's wrong with the UND program. I wouldn't want it sugar coated and if has to do with me as coach I would want to know what I am doing wrong so I can start correcting or getting handle on what your not doing as a coach. One the first I would ask is Dave Hakstol I would think he could give opinion on whats happening and then I would go some of the NHL scouts I would bet they could give you some insight on your players or even your coaching. When you have back to back years where your putting more shots on goal and yet getting poorer results it leads me to think you have coaching philosophy that other teams are figuring out and defending you so that you don't score. It may as simple as tendency of type of shot your teaching your players to take and where from. But I think its gut check time for coaches of UND and they better start looking or number of them might be looking for work near future if things don't change .

I look at this win by NDSU in the summit conference is very similar to the Big Sky conference in that there's not that much separates the teams in the conference usually one player in basketball. I have followed on NDSU form and same thing they were wanting coach fired and program in complete failure. That was less than 2 weeks ago and look now there going to dance of NCAA but all we here on this site is they are going as 15 or 16 seats. That is what Summit and Big Sky conferences are fill in teams with seats as high as 12 but never meant to win much in the tournament but I do congratulate NDSU on putting it together at the end of the season. The small mid major conferences provide programing for TV to sell final four to the public but real fact is 90% of teams are one and done showing and remaining maybe can win opening round game but are usually beaten in next round. So many on the site are wanting major changes from year to year and I look at this year as it was going to be difficult year for UND sports. The changing of conferences alone is hard to learn how to win in your conference and your never get any breaks on scheduling the first year and no breaks on officiating compared to long term members. I think we could be in position next year to win this tournament and also compete for the conference if we can find right missing pieces. The only sport in this Conference right now that has evaluated themselves nationally now is Women's basketball because the South Dakota schools are now competing in top 25 nationally the big question is can the conference sustain this level or are we going to fall back. The Question I have is going to be possible for either NDSU or UND to have facilities to host Conference tournament in sometime in the future. I could see where they could split Men's and Women's tournament from each other if some other host facility could handle and provide comparable turn out and revenue to the conference. I think we will have better idea on the direction of sports programs after next year when we see how coaches have recruited for this conference if we see improvements for the various sports. Also we will be either on final year of their contract or close to final year on their contracts for the coaches.