UND Fan

I think the two lists of quality DII FB teams pretty much covers the perennial challengers. I might add Saginaw Valley and Central Oklahoma. I understand that UND is talking to some of the teams on this list.

As I recently posted in the BB forum, from what I hear, the Athletic Department has finally gotten the message and is in contract negotiations with many different quality DII schools for FB games starting as early as next year. I won't mention the names but most are perennial top 20 teams. We already have Central Washington and Mesa on the schedule (acknowledging that Mesa may not be a top quality opponent - despite last weekend's outcome). With us having more open dates due to a smaller NCC schedule, it sounds like we will have some good, well-known opponents coming in. On the Men's BB side, with the opening of the new building next year, it appears that many name DII teams will be scheduled. REA understands that larger crowds mean more $ and is aggressively promoting a strong schedule. Interestingly, most of the discussion is in giving teams a guarantee rather than arranging home-and-home commitments. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.

UNDvince97-01 - Thanks for the positive comment. I, like most everyone else, was surprised and highly disappointed by UND's performance on Saturday. But, it was the second game of the season. We certainly should not throw the season away at this point. True Sioux fans can and should talk about a team's performance, strong points, weaknesses and the likelihood of success. But true UND fans stick with the team whatever the outcome. I, for one, do expect us to have a successful season. Does that mean going to the playoffs? Probably not, but you need to remember that we are coming off a 5-6 record last year. A 7-3 or 8-2 record would be a nice step forward. BisonMav - I also appreciate your comment. It is good to see mutual respect amongst each team's fans. It is a huge rivalry but the state is much better off when one (or both) schools are doing very well in whatever sport.

The coaching staff is really disappointed that Franklin isn't able to go right now. They are seeing good improvement in others in their one-on-one sessions, etc. Right now, it appears that Franklin will be ready by the time practice starts but I got the impression it might be somewhat questionable. The problem is with his big toe. This will be one of the most interesting years that I can remember and I have been following UND BB for many, many years. There appear to be so many different players who could contribute - of course, that doesn't mean they will be a great team. But.... they could be!!

All holdovers and recruits are in school and working out daily. There appears to be a great deal of raw talent but with so many new faces, it will likely take a while gel. Everyone is working hard and getting along well. Unfortunately, Franklin is having a foot problem and not able to work out. Keith Parks and point guard, Caro Nobles, are looking very good. Neither did play last year due to lack of having enough credits. It appears they are both good kids who are now taking school seriously. Doyle and Gutter are likely to be red-shirted. It appears that they are working hard to bring in a lot of quality opponents next year for the first year in the new building. Of course, with the NCC shrinking, there will be more non-conference games. I also understand that UND is talking to some very well-known DII football schools about coming to Grand Forks in the next couple of years. I think they finally realize that our non-conference FB schedule needs to need be upgraded substantially.

Interesting insight! Thanks!

Last I heard, Irvin had a sore knee but they didn't think there was any damage to it!

You make a good point. You certainly can use Teamline on the Internet. However, there is really never a need to do so for listening to UND athletics. Their website provides radio coverage for all UND FB, BB and hockey games. You really only need Teamline when your only communication source is the telephone.

Teamline is for use via telephone, not via computer.

Do others agree that there are far too many graphics? I would rather watch what is happening on the field than see the long T-O-U-C-H-D-O-W-N, First Down and Instant Replay graphics Pretty good other than that.

Bison Kent (and Bison Guy) - I often wonder why you two spend so much time in this forum! You seem awfully concerned about UND, our programs and how we do things! But Bison Kent, what the hell are you doing here at 4:18 in the morning. You have to have better things to do than to be in a Sioux website at that time!!

Sorry to hear that Jim Wacker, former SU FB coach, died this morning. He had been fighting cancer for some time.

While I visit USCHO often during the hockey season, I am seldom their otherwise. And, I had never visited their Cafe until just a few minutes ago. For me, it certainly didn't seem too exciting or interesting. I visit this site two or three times each day. I, like others, am disappointed when there is nothing new to read. However, I personally have no interest in doing anything at this site other than discussing UND athletics. While I would not be opposed to a Cafe-type format for discussing other UND-related topics, I have no interest otherwise. In fact, I believe it would be counterproductive and take away some of the uniqueness and credibility of this site. I would much rather determine how we could inform the countless UND fans who are not aware of this site to join us. A few dozen or a few hundred more Sioux fans would add a great deal more activity and topics to this site. Any ideas how we could do this? I have recommended that this site be mentioned in Sioux Illustrated but I didn't get any "warm and fuzzies" that they will do so.

I am quite sure the Parks played this last year at Parkland College in IL. It is good to see that Austin decided not to play football. Having him join the team in December would not have been good. I will find why Nobles didn't play last year and post what I learn.

Tony - While much of this discussion seems trivial, I don't understand your last post. With UMD replacing NDSU, UND will travel to Duluth instead of Fargo for their fourth NCC road game. If we go to Fargo, that truly is another road game. With UND already having made a commitment to play at New Haven, that would mean that UND would play six road games next year. I am sure we are not interested in doing that. You know SU would never do that.

Virg Foss has a semi-interesting article today in the Herald regarding the continuance of the UND/SU football rivalry past this year. The challenge is that, with SU pulling out, UND will have 3 home NCC games and 5 on the road in 2004. It would be our turn to play in Fargo. That would mean 6 road games - something I am sure that we won't do. As I have said before, although I don't know if SU's move up is a wise decision, I respect them for making it. However, as they have made this decision to play at another level, I do not think we should play them in the future. Let's, as they have done in the past, schedule more of the best DII teams in the country for our non-NCC games. Men and women's BB was also discussed in the article. Unfortunately, I don't know how to attach the article to this post.

That was to the point, wasn't it? Unfortunately, even though I didn't like reading it, he was probably quite accurate with his thoughts.

Thanks for the info - very interesting! It is good to see Blais taking such an active role with these kids. That may go a long ways when/if he is recruiting the same kids sometime down the line. It is also good to see a lot of players from the Cities attending the camp. Rivard's involvement can only help the women's program. It appears they received some commitments in recent weeks from some talented girls from the Cities.

It appears the point guard that we had hoped to get has decided to stay in DI. He hasn't committed to anyone so there is still a possiblity that we may get him. We are now looking at another JC point guard out of Texas (that sound familiar?). Sounds like he a pretty talented also.

I found it very interesting who Bohl and Taylor were paired with at the recent Maris Charity Golf Tourney. I am sure it wasn't a fluke that they happened to be with someone who has a lot of $ in his pocket. He isn't an SU grad but may be swayed to do something big for SU sports. He doesn't have Englestad type of $ but he has a bunch of it! I would guess that SU sports facilities were a topic of discussion during the round!

There is a good chance that UND will get an answer from the point guard they are recruiting as early as tomorrow. Right now it looks quite favorable unless he decides he wants to transfer to another DI college. He started four games for a pretty mediocre Missouri Valley team this last year, averaged 18 minutes a game, 7.5 points, not a whole lot of assists. He played more as a freshmen and had a few games in the 20's. It appears that the team brought in another really good point guard so this guy lost time at the point and played more of the 2 some of the time. He will have two years of eligibility left. He averaged 30 points his senior year at a Chicago HS so he does have the ability to score. He is listed as 6' in college but was 5'10" in HS (?). Hopefully, we will get good news tomorrow. DMB

Quite a week for UND basketball!! There was a rumor (well-founded) out of New Orleans that they were going to pick Jerome at No. 18. Of course, that set the expectations quite high and everyone was disappointed when that didn't happen. Then, it appeared that Dallas would take him at No. 29 (last pick of the 1st round - a guaranteed contract). In fact, Dallas called Jerome to apologize after they took Josh Howard. Apparently, there was a lot of a controversy within the Mavericks organization with many feeling that Jerome should have been their pick. On the recruiting front -- UND is hoping to get a point guard transfer from a DI school in the Midwest. The 6'0" player is trying to decide whether he wants to stay in DI or move to DII. It appears he would be a very good player but definitely not a Myron Allen. He should make a decision by mid-July. If we don't get him, we likely won't bring anyone else in before the start of school. All of the holdovers are in GF this summer along with Aaron Austin and Jacobson. Jacobson is working hard on the weights and looking good. Austin definitely can shoot - I still hope he gives up on the football idea.

Who said no funding was in place? I simply said that no tax $ would be needed! The Board isn't going to approval any new building with out knowing exactly how UND plans to pay for it! Obviously, this will be a part of tomorrow's presentation to the Board. I simply can't give you the details - I don't know them! I know what the options were but I don't know what was decided upon. It is kind of nice to know that there were options (plural). Whether Engelstad $ were utilized nor not, I do not know. They easily may have been but it would be REA $, not the original donation from Ralph. You need to remember that REA is a very profitable venture with excess funds to be used for the benefit of all UND athletics. REA was very involved in this decision and plans to do a great deal to market the new addition and UND basketball. Therefore, making REA even more profitable!

No State funding will be utilized for the addition (any new construction needs to be approved by the Higher Education Board even if it State funds aren't involved.) After the announcement, I may have more insight into the details.

The State Board of Higher Education is expected to approve an addition to REA for BB and VB. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday followed by a press conference at UND. There has been a lot of debate about how many seats the venue should have. Apparently, they have decided on 3,600. Initially, they were talking about 3,200. While there is no point in making it too big, I wish they would have settled for 4,000. The Athletic Department's hopes to increase BB season tickets holders from 1,800 to 3,000 in the next few years. If they are successful (that will be a challenge) there isn't much room left for students and walk-up fans. This should help UND's recruiting tremendously. I beleive that construction will start very soon and they hope to have it ready to go by the fall of '04. I don't know how to attach the article but check out today's GF Herald.