Some of us have had concerns about Jones' coaching ability over the last 10+ years. I share that concern but feel his inability to recruit talented freshmen (especially those with any size/girth) has been a major issue as well.
Looking at the last 10 years of freshman recruits:
2009 Two Fr recruits - Brekke - 6'6", Shuler - 6'2" guard
2010 Three Fr recruits - Huff - 6'4", Anderson - 5'10", Webb - 6'1" Although Huff played the 3, basically all three were guards
2011 Three Fr recruits (all guards) - Gentry - 6'4" (lasted one year), Benton - 6'3" (walk-on), Antwi - 6'1"
2012 One Fr recruit - Blake - 6'2" (walk-on guard)
2013 One Fr recruit - Hooker - 6' (a stud!!) Could have/should have been redshirted as a freshman (debatable either way)
2014 Four Fr recruits ) - Crandall - 6'4", Cashman - 6'10", Shields 6'8", Richman 6'7" (walk-on) BUT.... Cashman lasted a couple years, Shields one year and Richman did not contribute
2015 Four Fr recruits - Collins - 6'6" (gone), McDermott - 6'4" (lasted one year), Seales 6'4", Avants 6'7"
2016 Two Fr recruits - Brown - 6'3", Walter - 6'8" (190)
2017 Four Fr recruits - Buchanon - 6''1", Moody - 6'3", Igbanudo (walk-on) - 6'2", Franken - 6'8"
2018 Two Fr recruits (so far) - Bijiik - 6'9", (195), Hazekamp - 6'6" (185)
Summary - in the last 10 years, we have brought in a total of 26 freshmen (at least four being walk-ons). Thus far, six did not complete their four years at UND - that number could increase. Of the 26, only 9 potentially had the height to play the 4 or the 5. IMO - only 4-5 of them had the frame/ability to play the 4 or 5. You can also count on one hand the number of these freshmen who were offered by other DI schools.
Obviously, you play the game with transfers as well. We have had some fairly good ones but also brought in a lot of kids who didn't contribute and others who were not good influences on their teammates..
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Next thought - we are not going to win in DI BB often when playing 3 or 4 guards much of the time. You can do it once in a while if you have some real size, talent & depth underneath. Unfortunately, we are lacking in all three areas. My hats off to Avants for the way he battles every night against guys much bigger than him!
Looking at the rosters of all Big Sky teams and NDSU, I have noted the height and weight of all players of at least 6'6". I fully realize that the talent level of two kids who are both 6'7" and weigh 215 can be vastly different but I think the following tells a story. We must recruit more big, wide-bodies.
Team/players 6'6" or greater and their weight
UND (6) 6'9" (195) 6'8" (225) 6'8" (195) 6'7" (235) 6'7" (220) 6'6" (215) This includes McCauley - we don't know his talent level and walk-on Brooks
EWU (9) 7' (240) 6'9" (235) 6'8" (225) 6'8" (220) 6'7" (215) 6'7 (210) 6'6" (225) 6'6" (215) 6'6" (190)
ISU (6) 7' (230) 6'8" (230) 6'8" (225) 6'8" (220) 6'7" (220) 6'6" (200)
UM (9) 7' (240) 6'10" (220) 6'8" (255) 6'8" (240) 6'8" (225) 6'8" (210) 6'7" (215) 6'7" (215) 6'7" (180)
MSU (6) 6'10" (215) 6'9" (200) 6'7" (220) 6'6" (200) 6'6" (200) 6'6" (180)
UNA (7) 6'9" (230) 6'9" (230) 6'9" (230) 6'8" (225) 6'8" (195) 6'7" (185) 6'7 (175)
UNC (5) 6'9" (230) 6'9" (230) 6'9" (225) 6'8" (220) 6'7" (210)
PSU (6) 7'1" (290) 6'10" (235) 6'8" (225) 6'7" (200) 6'6" (200) 6'6" (200)
Sac (5) 6'10" (255) 6'8" (225) 6'7" (220) 6'6" (235) 6'6" (195)
SUU (10) 6'11" (225) 6'9" (230) 6'9" (230) 6'8" (245) 6'8" (220) 6'8" (205) 6'7" (200) 6'7" (190) 6'6" (240) 6'6" (190)
WSU (8) 7' (230) 6'10" (220) 6'9" (250) 6'9" (215) 6'8" (220) 6'7" (185) 6'7" (195) 6'6" (240)
ID (8) 6'9" (230) 6'9 (225) 6'8" (210) 6'8" (180) 6'7" (225) 6'7" (215) 6'6" (205) 6'6" (200)
NDSU (8) 7' (220) 6'9 (240) 6'9" (230) 6'8 (230) 6'8" (210) 6'8" (185) 6'6" (210) 6'6" (205)
After reading the above, I almost elected to discard it. There are so many variables that simply noting height and weight doesn't necessarily tell you anything. But.... I think it does tell us that our size and beef varies quite a bit from the best teams in the league. This isn't news to any of us who follow the program. It need to be addressed but it doesn't appear that it will be any different next year. While Biijik appears to have very good talent, at 195 or 200, he isn't going to be pushing too many opponents around.
In summary - I continue to have a concern about the program. We can debate coaching ability but IMO to be a solid, conference challenger every year, you need to bring in one excellent player and one very good player every year (preferably freshmen). Then, if you have other roster spots open, bring in the best players available to meet a need or take a chance on a young kid who could develop into a solid player.
Lastly, I am sure there are a couple of errors above but I don't think any oversights would relieve any of my concerns.