UND92,96

In fairness, I was basing my opinion on more than just Steve Johnson and Pierre Lamoureux being friends, but I'm not at liberty to say more than that at this point.

I haven't seen anybody say anything negative about the Lamoureux's. Speculating that they may have re-opened their recruitment had Steve Johnson been hired is logical, however, given the fact that he and Pierre Lamoureux are friends.

I freely admit that I was hoping Steve Johnson would get the job. For one thing, I think his name recognition would have sold tickets. Secondly, I believe the chances of the Lamoureux twins re-opening their recruitment and giving UND strong consideration would have been good. The most troubling thing to me about this entire process is exactly what prompted Johnson to apply in the first place. I have reason to believe he was strongly encouraged to do so by somebody in a position of authority or considerable influence. Rumors were flying nearly a month ago that the job was Johnson's. I know there were some in the local sports media who heard these same rumors and believed them to be true. I'm certainly not in a position to say that Johnson deserved the job, but if he was misled and convinced to apply even though he didn't have the experience in women's hockey that the administration was seeking, that would be disturbing. Also, I believe that many prominent people were strongly backing him. Some may praise Buning for not being influenced by these people, but on the other hand, let's not forget that a pretty darn effective a.d. (Terry Wanless) was ultimately forced out because he ticked off the wrong people early in his tenure.

It's also a pretty big assumption that some of us haven't played the game--to the extent that's even relevant.

Because I was somewhat critical of a certain unnamed UND coach (not Hakstol or any of the hockey coaches), and a couple of weeks later he/she was quoted in a Herald article as being, shall we say, less than thrilled that fans would offer up criticisms on an internet message board.

Some coaches and coaches' spouses also read this board. I found that out first hand recently.

I'm still wondering what she's been doing the past three years. That information seems to have been conspicuously absent in both the Herald and fightingsioux.com.

1. Yes, quickness can be improved, especially by participating in acceleration programs and using other training techniques designed to improve quickness; 2. UND can be successful in dI women's basketball without dramatically expanding its recruiting territory, IMO; 3. Jenna Gillett from Dakota Prairie is a senior-to-be who has verbally committed to UND; Ashley Privatsky from Devils Lake is another senior-to-be who almost certainly is being recruited; I don't know of any others, but there certainly could be some; 4. UND currently has 10 scholarships; I believe the dI max is 15.

I guess somebody has been telling him about this site, since I highly doubt he'd ever know about it otherwise.

I'm not sure whether it's a coincidence or not, but according to Brian MacPherson's blog at the St. Cloud Times web page, Sam Laudner is possibly looking to transfer from NDSU to St. Cloud State. Maybe that's where NDSU would be coming up with the scholarship money for Backowski?

The rumor I heard a couple of weeks ago was that Johnson was strongly urged to apply, and told he had a very good chance of getting the job. Urged by whom? I don't know, but common sense would seem to suggest that it would have had to have been somebody in a position of authority or considerable influence. Johnson's current job is simply too lucrative for him to apply for a job unless he's encouraged to do so by somebody in a position to know that he is a strong candidate. Granted, the process isn't over yet, but if he isn't even granted an interview, I'd certainly like to know what transpired behind the scenes, because I have to think there were some influential people with strong UND hockey ties lobbying hard for him. EDIT: From what I've heard today, don't count out Johnson yet. I still think he's going to get the job.

If Steve Johnson isn't granted an interview, I would be very surprised and disappointed. Nothing against any of the other candidates, but either I have been hearing inaccurate info or something has changed recently. It seems hard to believe Johnson would have even applied (considering the big pay cut he'd be taking) if he hadn't been encouraged to do so.

We'll see. The NSIC is a tough league, and about to get a lot tougher with the probable additions of UMD, SCSU, Mankato and Augie. I'd be interested to know whether any other NSIC programs were seriously recruiting any of Mary's commits other than perhaps Kick? That would probably be a pretty good indication as to whether anybody besides Pintar actually considers these kids to be legit dII prospects. I'm as big of a proponent as anybody when it comes to giving local talent a chance, but when you consider how few North Dakotans have really been impact players in the NCC and/or NSIC over the past decade, it makes a person skeptical to think you can put all your eggs in that basket and still succeed, especially when you consider that in all likelihood, these kids weren't seriously recruited by either UND or NDSU.

Kick supposedly committed to Mary. I have no idea whether UND ever actually offered him. It's kind of interesting to me that Mary is apparently going to try compete in the NSIC with team comprised almost entirely of North Dakotans. I don't see that working very well, but more power to them if it does.

Pat Mitchell, a 6'7" forward from Des Moines, signed last fall. Mike Mathison from North Border and Tate Kick from Dickinson are possibilities. I would expect that either one or two jucos will be brought in for immediate help. Also, 6'8" Derek Benter from Divide County red-shirted this year and has a lot of potential.

This can be updated again as SCSU has released their schedule and they are indeed playing at UND on November 3.

From a column in the Kearney paper today:

Agreed. If it's going to happen, my money would be on Saporu.

With Steve Alford taking the job at New Mexico, I would think the chances are pretty good that UND will be making a few trips to Albuquerque in coming years.

I have to think Derek Malner is the heavy favorite to emerge as the starter at strong safety. At the other corner, the competition may be a little more wide open. I expect Drake Otto to ultimately win the job, but Brandon Jordan is another viable candidate, and I'm not sure what the status of Tyler Weigelt is. He was apparently injured early in the season, but entered the year as Hoffschneider's backup. I tend to agree that the quarterback job is Freund's to lose, but then again, as was shown with USD last year, it's not out of the question for a freshman to ultimately win the job. Not that I'm wishing any ill will towards Freund, but if another quarterback is better this spring--be it Landry, Konrath, Gudmunson or Setness--I hope that person gets a shot.

UND assistant Chris Johnson will be interviewing for the Dickinson State head coaching job. link.

NDSU will name Saul Phillips as their new head coach today, per the Forum. It's kind of interesting that Phillips' experience is very similar to that of Brian Jones. Prior to coming to NDSU a couple of years ago, he was director of basketball operations at Wisconsin for three years.

Honestly, I'd have to watch the tape to get a better idea of exactly how much of Gulf Coast's shooting percentage can be attributed to having open shots, i.e. poor defense, and how much was due to just making a lot of tough shots. Seeing it in person, it seemed like the defense was poor, but with no replays it's hard to say for sure. Part of what makes the last couple of years so disappointing is that it really seemed like a title was there for the taking. I don't feel like either Grand Valley State last year, or Southern Conn. (or Gulf Coast) this year were at the level of some of the teams UND has seen at past national tournaments, such as Southern Indiana in 1997, Emporia State in 1998 and 1999, or Cal Poly Pomona in 2001. It seems like while there's more parity between the regions today, the top teams aren't as good as they used to be. That's my perception, anyway. By way of comparison, I've felt that the losses to end the past couple of years in women's basketball have been far more frustrating than in football, because in football I don't believe UND had a clear talent advantage by any means over GVSU, or over the 2004 Pitt State team. I've felt the past two women's basketball teams did have a clear talent advantage over the teams they've lost to. Coming into the Elite 8, I felt that all the Sioux had to do to win was have a shooting percentage somewhere in the 40's, don't turn the ball over more than 20 times and play decent defense. Unfortunately, against Gulf Coast only the first "requirement" was met IMO.

I agree to an extent, but a couple of recent examples show that it can be done. Kearney shot absolutely lights-out against the Sioux in the first half. Some defensive adjustments were made, and they fell off considerably in the second half. Also, in the Gulf Coast-Clayton State game, Gulf Coast shot a very high percentage in the first half to jump out to a big lead. However, Clayton State switched up defenses in the second half, and Gulf Coast struggled badly. Clayton State easily could have won that game, and they were not a very good team IMO. It was a combination of some poor defensive play, great shooting by Gulf Coast and a very poor job of taking care of the ball by the Sioux that caused the big first half deficit. The problem was, nothing improved in the second half. I didn't expect to come back and win after being behind by that much, but I did expect to make a run to at least cut the lead to single digits at some point.

FYI, that guy is a Bison fan. I don't think any UND fans are going to be bad-mouthing the caliber of play in dII football.