UND Fan

When does spring ball begin? Do we know if everyone came back for the second semester (and from spring break)? Everyone healthy?

Yes, we will have great facilities and can fund the full 10 rides without problem. However, please be assured that we do not have an unlimited budget for recruiting. In fact, UND's men's BB recruiting efforts may be the most costly of any DII teams. It is difficult and costly to get to Grand Forks, there aren't many ND or NW MN kids who can play DII and the remoteness and long, cold winters make it very difficult to recruit. That means that we have to bring in a lot of kids for visits to get the number of kids we need. The new facilities will help a great deal but it is still a long ways from most anywhere. Kids, who play DII, often want it to be close enough to home for their parents or GF to be able to go to games. There are not that many DII kids who live within 300 miles of GF - and, of course, we don't get all that do live within that radius.

A few items of interest regarding UND men's recruiting: Winkleman is to make his decision after the state tourney this weekend. He has said that UND is one of his final two options - not sure if the other one is St. Cloud or NDSU. Everyone seems to be healing quite well from their injuries/surgeries. Of course, we really won't know until this fall whether they have fully recovered and will contribute to the degreee hoped for. UND has their eyes on a scoring JC forward. He will visit this weekend. Decent chance on landing him. We have a chance of convincing a couple of talented forwards to walk-on. We may know soon. One or both may be offered some $ if Winkleman goes elsewhere. Prior to Spring Break, it was 50-50 whether Koenig would transfer. Of course, no one can talk to him until he would get his release from Green Bay. Supposedly, UND is at the top of his list if he transfers.

Wow - The bison almost came back to win it. Perrizo makes a shot with 4 seconds left. Sioux win by one!

Go to: www.fightingsioux.com and click on live broadcasts.

Big lead at halftime (41-24). Playing well but Leighton has 3 fouls, 2 on Boese and Demaine. No time to get cocky yet - the Bison sure could come back.

Glad it is free again, D2! I would guess the activity will keep up immediately.

I live out of state and was only able to see one Women's game this year (the SU game in GF). We have had such problems with turnovers this year. Why is this? Lack of ball handling talent? Having such a short point guard? Lack of discipline? All of the above? Your thoughts?

The women sure are struggling today. Hopefully, they can hang on and get their game together for the Bison tomorrow.

What happened to the three pitchers? Are they in school, just not playing? Are they playing elsewhere?

bbfan - your points are well-made and I appreciate your acknowledgement that most NCC teams likely improved significantly since many of the non-conference games were played before the first of the year. I agree - most NSIC teams are improving each year.

I may have a couple of "action" photos. I will check this evening.

Thanks for the update on the Fargo luncheon. I am curious how many fans are attending the Sioux Booster luncheons in Fargo these days. I was one of the guys who organized that group many years ago.

UND wanted Godfread - knowing that he would be a "project"! However, he made up his mind early on that he wanted to go DI - and to Utah. I fully agree - I would much rather have Ryp than Godfread. DMB

I hadn't realized how weak the league's freshmen crop was this year! Normally, there are some very good ones that put up some good numbers!

Gutsy win over SDSU tonight - NDSU tomorrow night!!

Scott - What about Concordia of St. Paul? They have come out of nowhere in the last very few years to become a real player in many sports. Do you have any idea what their aspirations are?

Very interesting concept - it would be a great league!

Bison fans - no smartass comments from me. It certainly will help your cause to be in a conference right away and with three teams that your fans can relate to (UNC, SDSU and Davis). It hadn't sounded like a conference was possible for this upcoming year so this was very good news for you. I have said from the start that the SU move to DIAA in FB would be a good move - despite a few tough years during the transition. I have also said from the start that, with the possible exception of wrestling, the move to DI will be disasterous in all other sports. We will see if I am right or wrong. All this being said, UND may join you soon if FB scholarships are cut again.

Wonderful!! Just what we needed!!

I would assume that Legend was meaning that, if we had a chance to land Koenig, we would find the money to do so. And, he is probably right! I am quite sure there is nothing new regarding his transfer. In fact, if anything, he may be more apt to stay at GB now than he was a couple of weeks ago.

I agree with all of your comments. We do lose fewer major contributors but, more importantly, I am sure that the coaching staff and team learned a lot from our less than stellar 2002. They won't let that happen again!

While I am one of UND biggest FB fans and supporters, we better not get too over confident about 2004. We all remember what happened in 2002 after the Championship season. Plus, this last year could have easily been a near .500 season - we were fortunate (and clutch) in coming back in many games. There is no question, however, that we were a very good FB team by the end of the year. Next year, the NCC road schedule is more difficult plus everyone will be gunning for us. A few key injuries could really hurt. Again, I think we will be very good but we better not start counting our chickens.......

That is a good question. If we knew he was available quite soon, we probably could/would. However, if it is into the spring or summer before he decides to move on, our limited scholarship $ may be gone.

I find it appalling that Ryp didn't get Player of the Week honors. His stats blew away the other two and came against pretty darn good competition. I agree with your comments about recruiting challenges with a large junior class but it goes much further than that. It will likely be into the summer before we know if Parks, Nobles and Doyle have fully healed from serious injuries. Especially Parks, his knee was really messed up. It would appear that Nobles and Doyle should be OK but if any of the three can't go, it will be too late to find a talented replacement and we are right back where we were this year. Also, they may be able to play but will they be the player they used to be? We just won't know for months. Winkelman is still a possibility but is thinking more about DI aspirations. They are talking to some other talented HS players but with limited $ available, it is difficult to offer free rides. A couple are interested (at this point) in coming in for a partial and "earning" more $ after the first year. That would really help with the large junior class problem we have. They are looking at some juco players this week who won't be able to go DI. Koenig is still not thrilled about Green Bay but continues to start (not many minutes a game, though) and the team is in the hunt for their conference title. Despite not caring for the campus, etc., he may stay if they go aways in the tourney. Dan Harkins, the guard out of Portage, WS, is having a good year - averaging about 20 with his team winning their conference. It will be interesting whether he is "too good" to redshirt next year.