UND Fan

Mike McFeeley had a good column on this in yesterday's Forum. I don't know how to post it here. I would guess someone will do so. Not overly complimentary!

Grant Gunhas and his dad were in GF for a visit last week. UND would like to have Grant but isn't offering a scholarship - at this point, at least. This is primarily because they already have an abundance of players at that position. For those of you who remember how Don played for the Sioux, if Grant has the same work ethic, he will contribute somewhere at the DII level! Don didn't have tremendous talent, but he played smart and went at it 100% at all times. UND really wants to land Pennick. I guess he didn't play quite as well at the end of summer so the DI schools have backed off a bit. I agree with Corella, the talent is very deep in MN this year. Nothing in ND other than Pennick and Gunhus and they play for a Moorhead HS.

It sounded from the reports of the EGF scrimmage that we had a few players banged up. Does anyone know who may not be available this weekend. I haven't read anything in the paper about it.

Men's BB Update: Everyone is back in GF. Doyle and Nobles are healthy, Parks still has a ways to go. Lindahl gained more weight and strength over the summer - sounds like he also has more confidence. He could be very good this year. It is unlikely that anyone else will be added to the roster prior to school starting. There are a couple of possibilities, both transfers - a big kid from Texas and a wing from out west. Neither are likely to happen. It appears that no one of consequence will walk-on. I am not sure if everyone knows the two kids we added over the summer. Shawn Swan is a very talented wing out of Nebraska. He played at a NE JC last year. A former 100 and 200 state champion, he is a great athlete and should help us right away. You all likely know that Gutter will not be back. He is working at a Walmart in Milwaukee, not likely to go back to college anywhere. He was given a great opportunity and didn't take advantage of it - too bad for him!! We also signed guard Corey Lott out of Rochester John Marshall. They are happy with their three freshmen recruits. All will be redshirted. The kid from WS, Seckar-Anderson, has gained 20 pounds this summer. They are very pleased with him. We have offered a bunch of HS kids scholarships for next year. Some very talented players are considering us but geography and the lure of DI will continue to be a detriment. One recruit decided to attend another NCC school last week. His decision was not unexpected. The Betty is impressing recruits. We will see if it will help us land some kids we couldn't get in the past.

I see Don Hansen has the Sioux rated 2nd in his preseason poll (behind Saginaw). That is surprising - he has never really acknowledged the quality of the UND program.

Yes, the Big Sky plays the majority of their conference games on Thursday and Saturday - allowing plenty of time to travel on Fridays. Interestingly, the ladies play on Tuesday and Thursday. Lots of missed class time!

Anyone know anything about who is walking on (whether invited or on their own)? If so, any background on them would be appreciated. Is the Ecklund kid from MO trying out?

My impression of Hoff..... is somewhere in between. He made a lot of great plays but also really made a lot of mistakes - some that were quite costly. I think the kid has excellent potential and will be a great corner for us. In mhy opinion, he simply made a lot of rookie mistakes last year. Those will go away with experience and maturity.

Apparently there was a pre-season depth chart in yesterday's Herald. I have been unable to find it on their website. Can someone enlighten me how to find it there? If it is not available online, it would be great if someone could fax it to me at (904) 886-5234. Anything surprising on the lists? Thanks!

Pirate - thanks for the update! Keep us informed!

I would be very surprised if Austin would be eligible. I don't think he completed any of his classes at UND!

Glas would prefer to play all their games in the Betty. Obviously, he hopes that improved success will cause attendance to increase to the point where they may be forced to move some games to the Ralph.

Sicakota - you beat me in responding to teamsioux's question and you did a good job of highlighting the reasons. I am sure we could have both added a few more bullets to your list! While it may complicate things a bit - taking advantage of the opportunity to move to the Betty was a no-brainer!

I would guess the bottom line was the bottom line - he will likely make more $ while living in a southern state with better weather. If he wants to continue moving up the ladder to a DI conference, having led more than one conference looks good on a resume.

When does fall camp begin for the Sioux? With an August game this year, it will likely be early August? Anyone know if all veterans and recruits will be at camp - any deserters?

It does appear that the philosophy has changed and that most games will be played in the Betty. That is better for all concerned - a better atmosphere, it will seem like a nearly full house more often, REA will still be able to sell beer, etc. One of the down sides is that, in bringing in so many new non-conference teams, one of the selling points was playing in the Ralph. UND might have a bit of "egg on their face" but this will still be the nicest facility any of those teams play in all year.

UND Hockey - Thanks for the post! He sounds like a potential contributor. Likely wants to go into aviation. We should know within a couple of weeks who else is attempting to walk-on.

I understand Granstrand's wife is from that area and will work on her Masters at Northern Mickigan. He did a great job for us and I hate to see him move on but we have to understand that he wasn't making squat. Having his wife's Masters paid for would be a huge financial benefit for his family. I don't know if she could have gotten her Masters in her field at UND.

somebison - thanks for the info. I understand George was always pretty hard to get along with. Apparently Taylor had enough of him! Bisonfan1234 really makes some dumg statements on your site, too, doesn't he?? Bisonville.com is an impressive site.

Bison fans - I am sure there is a lot of discussion in Fargo about the firing of your longtime SID, George Ellis, on your website. But, I am curious, what is the inside scoop on this? Ellis was an institution down there and has won numerous awards through the years. In my opinion, the great job he did back in the 80s and 90s is one of the reasons that UND stepped it up and now has an excellent Sports Information Department. It sounds like Ellis has hired an attorney. Is he hoping to get his job back or sue for damages?

Well put, Speez! I fully agree!

Sagard - I must differ from your thoughts. Whether it is sports or business, you must have someone in charge who you assume is going to be in the position for the foreseeable future. Giving Hakstol the job on an interim basis would likely have a negative impact on the team. Without really knowing it, a coach may make decisions based upon what is better for the immediate team today rather than next year (bring a kid now instead of giving him an extra year to mature, playing a kid when he may be hurt, etc.), recruits wouldn't know for sure who they would be playing for when/if they committed, it may affect the play of current players (either trying too hard for the coach, wanting him to get hired or slacking off, hoping a new coach would be named for the next year), etc. These are fairly extreme examples but any potential "lame duck" coach or manager in business does not command the same respect/production as someone you know to be in charge for the long run! I also am a bit confused by another comment - you want to give him one year but you admit you won't really be able to judge his effectiveness for three years. Therefore, how do you make a decision about him after the first year?

Obviously, no one listened to my little lecture of an hour or so ago. Acutally, I don't have a big problem with that - it is cool that so many of us care so much about our hockey program. As a couple of you have noted, this may not be official. We might learn that a national search will still happen - I would endorse that. As I said earlier, I think the best candidate is Sandy. Also, I made the statement I hoped Johnson would be the new assistant. I had no idea he was making that kind of $ in Lincoln. Unless he really wanted to get into college coaching and/or get back to GF, the paycheck probably would be much better in Lincoln. Bottom line - once a decision is made, we should suck it up and support whoever the coach will be. Outspoken fans in GF and around the country badmouthing our decision can only put a negative light on our great program. Enough lecturing.....

Guys - we seem to be getting awfully paranoid about this. I care about UND hockey as much as anyone else but ...... Regarding hockey, UND has made tons a correct decisions in recent years. I have no doubt that this was another correct one. With Blais endorsing Hakstol and indicating he felt a fairly quick decision was important, that is good enough for me! I would guess there may have been more reasons for the quick decision than just the recruiting issue. It could have been an effort to assure current recruits as well as Bochenski, Greene, Stafford felt comfortable NOW as to who the coach would be. We certainly wouldn't want any of them jumping ship in the next six weeks while the coaching job was in limbo! If I "waved the wand", Sandy would be our new coach but I have full faith that the right decision was made. Let's stop second-guessing and start talking about who the new assistant will be. My money is on Johnson.

We haven't talked about Men's BB in a while. An update: The not-so-good (maybe): Aaron Austin won't be back next year. He has continued to experience some serious personal problems. Even if he magically had them behind him, he would not be eligible. Mike Gutter will not be back. He didn't accept the challenge of going to college and is back in Milwaukee. Probably not going to go back to college at all - what a waste of talent! The real talented JC kid from Ohio that we had hoped to get, didn't make the grades and will enroll at a NAIA school in WV. The good: The injuries to Parks, Nobles and Doyle all are healing quite well. Nobles has been able to go full tilt for some time and the other two have recently been cleared to play. There will an announcement shortly regarding the signing of two guards, one a HSer out of southern MN and a talented JUCO player from IL who played in Nebraska last year. The JUCO player appears to be quite good - averaged 20 or so last year. All three of the high school recruits: Harkins, Seckar-Anderson and the kid to be announced will all redshirt next year. With Gutter gone, we have the $ to bring in another kid and there are a couple pretty good ones out there. If we got another bigger kid who would contribute, they may redshirt Stoute and give him another year to develop. They wish that he had more than one year left - he has a great deal of untapped talent. For those of you who have exchanged e-mail with me regarding the program in the past, feel free to send me a note. There may be a couple of other items of interest to Sioux BB fans.