UND92,96

At www.fightingsioux.com, you can also view a highlight video on the recruing class. I just finished watching it, and it's pretty cool.

Here's the release. There are two additions whose verbal commitments were never mentioned on this board.

I don't think anybody is saying that it will change, or that UND deserves special treatment. The skepticism has to do with the NCAA's rationale behind the lengthy period of playoff ineligibility for new members. I don't believe for one second that it's primarily academically motivated.

That's all well and good in theory, but in reality those dI "standards" aren't apparently all that difficult to get around in terms of getting academically-challenged "student"-athletes into a dI school. The Cincinnati basketball program under Bob Huggins would seem to have been a prime example of that.

According to an article in the St. Cloud Times, it came down to the fact that NDSU is approaching being playoff eligible, and UND has its period of playoff ineligibility coming up. I understand this, and the truth of the matter is that the same issue probably helped UND win some recruiting battles with NDSU in 2004 and 2005. We'll be at a disadvantage for a few years for some of the top local kids because of the lack of playoff opportunities, but there are plenty of good players out there.

NDSU may also have a bit of a quandry with regard to the whole Walker Lee Ashley deal. According to Kolpack, he's going to visit sometime this week. I highly doubt NDSU still has two full scholarships available, so who knows how that will play out, or whether it will have any effect on the Veldman situation. Personally, I think Ashley is far more trouble than he's worth.

I think only the coaches can answer that. Of course, I suppose the same question could be asked of NDSU. I had thought they were only going to sign 15 or 16, and they're over that now. Of course, a few of them, like the Stephen-Argyle kid, are probably getting very little scholarship money.

Another commitment to report--Ben Hicks, Pine Creek High in Colorado Springs, outside linebacker, 6'1", 195. link to some info. The commitment article requires a subscription, so you'll have take my word for it.

He's Gene Roebuck's wife's nephew.

[url="http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/articles/index.cfm?id=9421

I like the speed of this group, with examples being Ankenbauer, Murray, Hawkins and Ebanks all reportedly running in the 4.5 range for the 40; Kudrna being the defending 400m state champion; Daggett was third in the MN class A 110h in 2006; and Rose was third in the 200m and sixth in the 100m at the WI d3 state track meet last spring.

Hawkins' father was drafted by the Patriots in 1992. He was an NAIA all american player at Southwest State. I would assume that the fact that he was injured and missed basically the entire season scared off a lot of schools, but he could turn out to be a steal for UND. He has the size and speed to be a very nice corner.

Kudrna was first team all-state as a db this year, and was all-conference on both offense and defense. He's also one of the top track athletes in the state, and is the defending class A 400m champion. He was also third in the 200m as a junior. It used to seem like UND rarely got Dickinson High players, but have gotten a number of them in recent years (Loegering, Bauer, Ott and Holinka). This class is already larger than I thought it would be. I just hope there's one or two more to come. Apparently Veldman and Jackson are waiting until the last minute to make a decision.

Here's what somebody familiar with Hawkins had to say about him on another board:

Just a lucky guess on my part.

So does this close the door on a potential UND-NDSU game in 2007?: Above quote from Hallstrom's blog. I have to assume UND falls within the category of "d2 of any kind." UND, Concordia-St. Paul, they're all the same, right?

From Ryan Bakken's blog today: I don't really agree about reviving St. Cloud's playoff hopes, as regardless of Thursday's game I still think they have to win the conference tournament to get in. Will they, away from home? Highly, highly doubtful. They're just not that good. Touting them as a post season threat reminds me to an extent of people doing the same to the late 90's Bison teams. Some Sioux fans/media were wary of them because of the success of past teams, but the truth was they just weren't very good. UND may very well lose in the post season, but I don't see it being to St. Cloud.

Apparently, they're starting to recruit some in northern MN. I'm pretty sure Brackins visited there, also.

I've heard that UNI is pretty high on him, but it seems weird that they'd really think that a kid from this neck of the woods who isn't (apparently) heavily recruited by UND and/or NDSU is good enough to play for them.

I doubt it. In the cases of Wisconsin and Iowa, anyway, I think their policies existed well before the NCAA got involved.

I'd like to think UND has a little more to offer than simply being the school where two of his uncles played. It's not like UND is MSU-Moorhead (where his dad played, by the way). If he was going to be giving a school token consideration based upon little more than family connections, I would think it would be Moorhead--not UND. That's not to say I think he's necessarily coming here, but I think his interest in UND is legit, and UND is still a viable contender to sign him.

If this was a few years ago, or four years from now, I'd love UND's chances, given the family connections to UND and Lennon. With the impending transition period, it's tough to say what UND's chances are. It may depend in large part on what he wants to major in.

Having the three closest Big 10 schools (Iowa being the third) not be willing to play UND is a kick in the teeth, no question about it, especially given UND has connections to all three which would have made basketball and possibly even occasional football games a very real possibility.

Pretty much. They also act as the scout team in practices, running the opposing teams' offenses and defenses. In the end, I have to think that most kids really value that 5th year, and they're inevitably going to be far better players during the 5th year than they were during their first.

Not if they red-shirt, which is what 99% of freshmen have done at UND over the past many, many years. They dress for home games, and of course practice, but can't play at all in games.