UND92,96

I think both games this weekend are very winnable, although I'm kind of expecting a split. I'm not yet sold on the Sioux as a road team, and it's hard to predict how the layoff will affect them.

Two more commitments for the Sioux--Kris Ankenbauer, a Plano, Texas defensive back, and Tru Nguyen, a Burnsville linebacker. [url="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=22079

I guess I'm not sure what you're talking about. I, for one, don't believe I've disrespected NDSU's program at all--I've just pointed out the obvious with regard to their past year and a half, and their recruiting struggles which have stretched from the signing of Katie Lorenz to the present (I'm not familiar with their most recent signees). By the time UND and NDSU play again, it may very well be back to being a fairly even matchup. Right now, there is a talent disparity, particularly on the interior, in favor of UND. Nobody's denying that NDSU had great teams in the late 80's through 1997. Since that time, UND has clearly had the upper hand with regard to accomplishments (national titles, conference titles, etc.)

No, I don't think NDSU fans expected their women's program to struggle as much as they have in transitioning to dI, but in retrospect perhaps they should have. If you read what NDSU grad posted above, you would see that he acknowledged that NDSU recruiting had started to slide even before the announcement of the dI move. UND's recruiting has been very good of late, and the oncourt success has been as good as it's ever been, at least during the regular seasons. I think most objective observers would expect the UND women's program to more closely replicate what SDSU has done rather than what NDSU has done.

I love to compare scores? What are you talking about? On second thought, never mind. You're on my "ignore" list, anyway, although I couldn't help but see your most recent post since it was quoted in sultan's post. As for what the UND women have done recently--just about everything except making it back to the Elite 8. If that's the sole measure of a program, then I guess it's been a disappointment. By any other measure--an incredible success. Since UND's last trip to the Elite 8 in 2001, the Sioux have gone 151-25 (.858). Not too bad.

Per wisconsinpreps.com, UND has received a commitment from Cody Rose of Elmwood (WI). link. He's 6'4", 190 lbs. and Erik Lofdahl, who runs the site, calls him "one of the most highly-recruited athletes in the state." His father is an ex-NFL player.

I agree that making it into the men's tournament is very tough. But on the women's side, which is what I believe NDSU grad was talking about, it should be a much more achievable goal. The caliber of play in women's basketball in the Mid-Con and/or the Big Sky is not particularly good. I expect that the SDSU women will immediately be the class of the Mid-Con, and frankly, I think UND would have a very good chance of winning either the Mid-Con or the Big Sky this year.

I agree that Ruley doesn't have the horses. But the reasons for that aren't clear to me. Some ignorant people cling to the notion that NDSU's downturn in fortunes is somehow the result of UND swooping in and "stealing" all the good area recruits due to NDSU's impending period of post-season ineligibility. However, if that were the case, then it would seem USD and Augie should have been doing the same to SDSU. But that hasn't happened, which seems to blow that theory out of the water. That theory also ignores the fact that UND has traditionally gotten a good chunk of the area talent well before division I was even on the radar for NDSU (Heisler, Kleinsasser, Richards, Boll, etc.). Maybe Ruley just doesn't have the desire to recruit as much anymore? Maybe her assistants aren't doing a good job recruiting? It's hard to say what the reasons are.

He tries to push buttons. But who cares? There are lots of writers/posters out there who I don't agree with, but instead of getting myself all worked up over them, I just don't bother reading their columns/posts. Bakken is getting exactly what he's after, and a group of NDSU fans is apparently more than happy to oblige him. It's not worth getting upset over. With all that said, would you acknowledge that NDSU women's basketball definitely is well behind football and men's basketball in terms of having a successful transition into dI? And further, that they're clearly behind SDSU in women's basketball? The question is, why? I don't believe a win over a struggling Minnesota team at home erases the struggles in recruiting and in the on-court results of most of the past season and a half. I don't know what the problem(s) is/are, but I don't necessarily expect UND to experience similar struggles.

Bakken's latest blog entry. I guess I don't necessarily agree that UND will start to get lesser recruits. The reason being is that there really won't be any top-flight dII programs within several hours of GF. The state of ND produces a fair amount of good girl basketball players, and of course northwest MN has been a goldmine over the past several years. Most of those players are probably not going to choose to leave the immediate area, or choose Northern State or Mary or Moorhead (for example) over UND or NDSU. They may choose to go to a major conference dI program if offered, but it's rare that those offers are made to area players. It MAY affect twin cities recruiting to an extent, but most of the better UND players over the years haven't been from the cities, anyway. As a side note, it's interesting how many NDSU fans seem to be faithful readers of Bakken's blog.

The vast majority of women's basketball coaches are, in fact, women, so it's certainly ironic that the NCAA would essentially say that it knows better than female basketball coaches what is good for female student-athletes. My guess is that influential coaches like Pat Summitt (who I believe was one of the first coaches to use male practice players) get this proposal shot down.

Regardless of whether UND is dII or I-AA, I think Solum has the potential to be a player. I don't believe he'd be offered more than a partial at this point for the simple reason that UND will still be at 36 for another year, and as such a freshman would have to be really exceptional to warrant a full. Speed is certainly important, but a kid doesn't have to have Chappell or Dressler speed to be effective. Solum's speed is comparable to Kyle Steffes's coming out of high school. I'm not saying Solum is going to be as good as Steffes turned out to be. The point is that a kid doesn't have to be state recordholder in the sprints to become a very effective skill position player at the I-AA level.

I can't vouch for the credibility of this information, but a poster on the northdakotapreps.com board who apparently has some ties to the Fargo South program posted that UND has a good shot at landing Catlin Solum, who was the Gatorade player of the year in ND. Some people say he's actually going to play baseball in college instead of football, but if he does choose football, I think he could be a good player for the Sioux. I think he has some Dressler-esque qualities, although not as fast.

I don't think Maturi will be around long. He's about as popular of an a.d. as Glen Mason is as a football coach, or as Dan Monson was as a basketball coach. If he makes an unpopular decision in the men's basketball coach hire, he's done IMO.

Football alums were the biggest dI proponents. There is no way--I repeat, no way UND would ever consider dropping football. The 5000 attendance figure from the playoff game is a non-issue. People generally don't show up for games when they expect a blowout. Hence, the 1000 people NDSU had for its men's basketball game vs. Southwest State last night.

I heard what the "infraction" was, and it didn't sound too serious to me. Of course, I'm getting only one side of the story, but if true, I was surprised that Roebuck felt it warranted any disciplinary action.

Ryan Bakken blog entry.

How bad did Maffin's ankle injury appear to be?

I don't think we can really count on Koenig being healthy enough to be the player he once was, but I do feel that Gutter can be the answer inside. He's big, strong AND athletic. He's missed several games so far this year, but I don't believe he has any significant history of injuries prior to the upper body injury he suffered earlier this year. Eventually, I think we'll see a starting lineup of Gutter, Little, Boyce, Kruse and Youmans. I doubt there would be a more athletic group in the NCC.

Maybe not quite the margin of victory it could have been, but a win nonetheless. It will be nice for the team to have a little time off, and then get Gutter and Doyle (and maybe Harkins) back for the post-Christmas games. Barring any further injury setbacks, UND could surprise some people once conference play starts.

UND 86, BSU 59 Kimbrough had a huge game, scoring 28 points and grabbing 12 boards. Very balanced scoring otherwise.

"Chamberlain. You could hold his head in the toilet and he'd still give you half of Europe." --George Costanza

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Koenig is having more trouble getting up and down the court than he was earlier in the season. His limp is very noticeable. I really feel bad for the guy. I'm sure he's giving it everything he has, but he's just not able to perform at the same level he could pre-injury.

Yes, he has potential. He's probably always going to have a problem with lack of bulk and strength, but he blocks shots well, and he can shoot pretty well. I think he'll be an effective bench player over the next year and a half.

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