UND Fan

Guys, I agree with most points being made but.... we are where we are! We have the Betty, Hyslop won't be remodeled and the cost of refurbishing the old REA is huge - primarily due to problems with the structure itself, mostly the roof. The University simply is not going to sink $ into these old facilities! We might as well not waste our time talking about that! There is no question that the proper forethought was not put into the design of the Betty. They wanted to get it up in time for the Jrs. and they had a limited amount of $ available so that is what they spent! If you remember, they did launch a $500,000 or $1 million campaign to finish the building off as they knew they didn't have enough money to do so. The offices weren't furnished nor was the player's lounge, there were no weights in the weight room, the front foyer wasn't finished, etc. I don't think they had overwhelming success in their fundraising. Obviously, much more planning should have gone into the building. That, along with a good, well-planned fundraising effort would have resulted in a much better facility. But that didn't happen - we are where we are. We need to make the best out of what we have rather than worry about what should have happened. The Betty is a nice facility with some faults - primarily it is too small. It would appear to me that the answer is to add large bleachers at each end of the court. There is plenty of room and these wouldn't be bad seats - still close to the court, etc. Not a great solution but it is the only viable one other than moving back to the Ralph!

Could it be that many season ticket holders did not attend due to weather (not a good excuse) or other reasons? The Athletic Department can not sell their seats.

Who was at the games this evening? Apparently it was a sell-out - but the crowd was less than 3,100! I thought the Betty held 3,800. Can anyone explain this?

We have about two full rides available. I don't believe we have any interest in the Goodwin kid - or any guard for that matter. We need size and scoring up front. Looking at a couple of HS kids but will likely need some JC help for immediate relief. Dryburgh may be the big man we go after but he may want to still try for DI. Any idea what kind of year he is having?

This highlights one of our biggest challenges (whether we are DI or DII), this kid wanted to be closer to home. There just are a limited number of recruits within a reasonable distance from Grand Forks. DI caliber athletes are more apt to choose a school farther from home but to the plains and weather of North Dakota, I am not so sure.

Congrats on the big win!!!

It is good to land more local kids. For those who have seen them play, do you think they can contribute at the DII level?

UND's proposal is "waiting in the wings". Along with the DI decision, UND is completing an evaluation of all its facilities. I guess this makes sense, if the decision would be made to make the move in the next couple of years, that would likely have a bearing on how many facility issues are addressed.

Please continue with the updates - I can not get the web broadcast tonight. Thanks!

Thanks for the insight! Yes, Chris has been a great player for us - I am sure he will have great success in the future, whether it is in football or the "real world". I asked you a couple of years ago about whether there were any younger "Kupes" up there who may play for the Sioux in the future. You said there was one or two younger brothers. Are they still playing FB, how old are they, etc.?

You are absolutely correct! I answered that from the context that, yes, he will get another year due to the injury. But, he will be a junior, not a sophomore!

That is correct!

MD - thanks for helping me out with the link!

Interesting article in the Anchorage Daily News. Anchorage lineman catching NFL's eye Jan 23, 2006 Kuper, a 2001 Dimond High graduate, represented the University of North Dakota and was one of two NCAA Division II players in the game ... Anchorage's Chris Kuper, 23, just finished his career as an offensive lineman at the University of North Dakota and could get picked as high as the second round of April's NFL draft. (Anchorage Daily News) I guess I still don't know how to attach a link......

Fully agree - she is extremely talented. I hope she is able to come back!

Athletics has had nothing to do with any tuition increases! If you feel differently, give us some examples!

Rob is not unhappy at UND. Bemidji contacted him and asked him to interview for the job. He said as he owes it to his family to take a look at any option made available to him. Going through the interview process is also good for him - good experience for future jobs - at UND or elsewhere. I doubt Rob will move unless he is offered the job at a huge increase in salary. Living near the lakes is appealing to him but "home" is UND - at least for now! Again, he is not unhappy at UND.

This is a great recruiting tool for UND with parents of prospective recruits!

Plz keep the updates coming!!

I fully agree with your assessment. However, it should be noted that, due to SU's move up, they are not recruiting some ND and NW MN athletes expected to be very good DII athletes who they would have recruited in the past. That means it is a little easier to get these kids to come to UND as SU is no longer after them. This certainly does not offset your point to any large degree. Last year, we got a lot of talented kids SU wanted. This certainly doesn't appear to be the case this year. The FB coaching staff is very frustrated by this. This is one reason that the DI issue is on the front burner. Recruits (and our coaches) don't know whether we will be playing DI FB or not in the next few years. SU (and I don't blame them) is obviously now using the potential probationary period to their advantage. Kids they are recruiting today will be able to play in post-season action in DIA - our recruits would not!

There is no question that the Betty was planned too quickly and various issues have arisen. As 92/96 appropriately pointed out in his initial post, some of these were quite obvious oversites. Another problem that I don't believe has been noted is the lack of storage in the building - it simply doesn't exist. The bottom line was that as soon as the Betty became a possibility (funding was available), the top priority was to get it built prior to the World Juniors. The Athletic Department understands some of these shortcomings. Solutions have been discussed. Of course, there are not easy nor inexpensive ways to address some of them. Bottom line - despite a few problems, this is a great building. Recruiting young, talented athletes to it (as opposed to Hyslop) should be much easier. The recent addition of a weight room will also assist as, until now, all athletes had to jump into a cold car after practice and drive back to Hyslop to lift.

Winning the first couple of conference games surely doesn't mean we are going to be a contender, but it does make you wonder what this team woulod have been like if Koenig would have been healthy and Phillips would have stayed in school. Two very talented individuals would have helped the team a bunch. Not making any excuses - we still shouldn't be losing to many of the teams we have lost to - especially at home!

We win 69-62. Nice surprise!

UND 55 UNO 49 with a minute and 1/2 left!

I think that is a great idea! Many years ago, when there was an odd number of teams (maybe when UNI left, not sure), the NCC would invite a different DII team each year to participate. That seemed to work quite well. I think these teams enjoyed and almost felt honored to be invited. I remember Gunther and others weren't crazy about having both holiday and post-season tourneys (played these teams too many times!) but it may be a necessity now! Rotating the tourney may or may not be a challenge - you need to make sure the local community supports the tourney (it is over the holidays when students are out of town, etc.). Crowds were usually quite good during all the years when it was in Sioux Falls.