Guys - one factor that continues to be overlooked in the discussions about moving to DI is having the ability to recruit that caliber of athlete to your school. My biggest concern is just that. Two major factors are against us - geography and the weather.
I will preface my comments by saying that my thoughts do not apply to football - I think we could be quite competitive in IAA in a fairly short period of time. Obviously, we are already a power in hockey. My comments do apply to ALL other sports.
We would likely continue to get talented athletes out of Minnesota and a few from Wisconsin (we all know that, unfortunately, there aren't many in ND - mainly due to the dwindling population base). Getting DI quality kids from other parts of the country would be very difficult - we are a long way from home for them. The good ones would have many other options. This also adversely affects recruiting costs. Not many kids can drive to Grand Forks for their recruiting visit compared to most other DI schools. Flying to GF is expensive and having to go through Mpls reinforces that GF is "in the boonies". Ask our BB coaches about recruiting young athletes to UND - expensive and you have to bring in a bunch to get a couple of commit. Plus, even in DI, a lot of kids like to play near their parents, girlfriends, etc.
There is no arguing that the winters in GF are long and cold. Don't for a second think that that isn't used against UND by other recruiters when a kid is trying to make a decision. Many recruiting visits for various sports are made during the winter. 20 below temperatures with 30 mph winds aren't too impressive for kids who come from more southern locations.
While we may have the facilities (we need in an indoor practice facility and our track, baseball, softball and soccer facilities leave a lot to be desired) and maybe the money, we have to get the "right" athletes to be able to be competitive. I, for one, do not want to make the move unless we can be competitive in most sports. Despite our great success in swimming and women's BB at the DII level, we won't be powers in DI. I also don't see us being able to compete in VB, baseball, softball, soccer, track, etc.
The money issue also scares me. The costs of recruiting and scholarships grow greatly - expecially recruiting. Remember - just about everyone will have to fly into GF and that we have to bring more athletes than average in to get a specific number to commit. We would need to develop more income from attendance - FB and BB. I am not sure that a tremendous improvement could be expected. We just don't have a great population base to draw from. Will BB atendance grow if we have mediocre results - I am not sure!
All this being said, I would reluctantly agree that a move up is appropriate if DII FB scholarships are cut again. But, if so, we all need to be prepared for being average at very best in all sports but hockey and FB.
THIS POST IS MEANT ONLY FOR THE SITUATION AT UND. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO OPEN (OR CONTINUE) ANY DEBATE ABOUT NDSU's DECISION TO MOVE UP. IN FACT, I WOULD PREFER NOT TO HAVE ANY RESPONSES IN REGARD SU AT ALL. SU GUYS - PLEASE DON'T THINK YOU NEED TO JUSTIFY YOUR DECISION TO MOVE UP. IT REALLY DOESN'T HAVE ANY AFFECT ON UND - OTHER THAN WE WILL WATCH IT CLOSELY TO SEE HOW THEIR TRANSITION PROGRESSES IN SPORTS OTHER THAN FB.
