UND92,96

Here's a Herald article on the quarterback competition between Manke and Belmore. I really hope Manke is the choice.

Both the NCC coaches and the media have picked UND to win the NCC. link

I agree. And as much as I appreciate having the Wednesday night coaches' shows, they are filled with too much inane chitchat and too little actual discussion of the sports, especially during the football and basketball segments. It's frustrating to listen to much of the time. As for Richie, we all can agree that he was and is a good guy, but the ONLY possible way he should still be at UND would have been in some sort of administrative capacity, which he apparently wasn't interested in. For Swyg and/or Tim to suggest that the fans' dissatisfaction with the men's basketball program was unwarranted, or that Rich SHOULD still be UND's coach, is beyond ludicrous.

The new roster has been posted. ZBJ is apparently back.

I'd love to talk about men's basketball every day, but if there's no news, what is there to talk about? There was all kinds of talk during the coaching search, but now that Jones is in place, how many times can we talk about the health of Koenig, Bledsoe and Harkins? How many times can we talk about how disappointing the past decade has been? The posts regarding women's hockey, for example, have to do with one topic. It's the same topic that dominated the men's basketball discussion until a few months ago. In addition to the obvious of the fact that women's program has been much better and more fun to watch for years, the other difference is that many of the prospects are local and regional players who some of us are familiar with, and as such, it's much easier to speculate on recruiting. On the men's side, as far as I know, there simply aren't many kids in our region who are legit prospects. I have no reason to know anything about a kid from Wisconsin or southern Minnesota or Iowa unless his name has been leaked on this board.

With a new coach, I suspect inside information may be more difficult to come by for awhile than it was during the Glas regime. I haven't heard anything regarding offers to high school players, although presumably there have been some. On the women's side, there are just two seniors this season--Jahner and Maffin. There are already two verbal commitments--Kirstie Gillet from Dakota Prairie, and Andrea LaFrance from Bismarck Century. I would strongly suspect that Jessica Kielpinski from Mandan has been offered, but there's not much of a history of Mandan players coming to UND for women's basketball so she may be a longshot. There are at least two outstanding local juniors in Kamille Wahlin from Crookston and Ashley Privatsky from Devils Lake who would be huge gets for UND. UND seems to have a ton of intangibles going for it with regard to Wahlin--three of her siblings will be at UND this year; her high school coach (Eric Schmidt) is now at UND; and it would allow her to play very close to home. With regard to Privatsky, UND has done exceptionally well with Devils Lake players (both DL High and Lake Region) during the Roebuck era.

Herald article on the start of practice: link.

8-2, with losses at Northern Iowa and Omaha. I don't necessarily think Omaha is going to be all that great, but we have a gigantic mental block when it comes to playing them.

It seems unlikely we'll be able to find anybody good, who doesn't have baggage, this late in the summer. However, a Koenig-Dryburgh combination inside is still a major improvement over last season, especially in terms of physical presence. Hopefully Gutter and/or Seckar-Anderson can provide some decent minutes off the bench.

I'm excited about the potential of the running game this year. Up front, the line has a lot of talent, with the addition of Murray, the return of Braegelmann, and another year of development by Troen, who was honorable mention all conference as a freshman. Hopefully Kusler can move back to tight end, which would also potentially really help the running game. Strouth should be back to close to 100% (hopefully), and Beatty and Brady should both be very solid. Throw in the constant threat of Dressler on reverses and end-arounds, and that should give defenses a lot to worry about. Manke also provides the threat of the option. While it's true that the receiving corps isn't really proven other than Dressler, I'm not worried about that as there shouldn't be any shortage of guys who can catch the ball, including younger players such as Caufield, Trenbeath, Wahlin and Rambeck.

The hiring of Schmidt is now official.

Here's more on the probable hire of Eric Schmidt: link.

I agree that either Starcevic or Schmidt would be prime candidates to replace Kotelnicki, assuming either is interested in getting into college coaching.

I didn't mean to imply that Kelsch was being recruited by UND, or that she should be. She could probably play college ball at some level, however.

Cassandra Kelsch is another pretty good senior-to-be from Mandan.

The top senior player in ND will be Jessica Kielpinski from Mandan, although I have no idea where she's looking in terms of colleges. Her sister is at Alaska-Anchorage, so that could be a possibility if she doesn't go to UND or NDSU. UND hasn't gotten many Mandan players over the years, except Perrizo as a transfer, so I'd be surprised if she goes to UND. I'm guessing Roebuck and Amundson (Mandan's coach) may not be on the best of terms. It seems like quite a coincidence that the top program in ND hasn't sent a player directly to UND during the Roebuck era (to my knowledge, anyway).

If I remember correctly, you've seen her play, correct? What are your thoughts on her game and how she'll do at UND?

I was kind of expecting that Craig Smith might get the vacant Bemidji State job, but apparently not: link. Of course, I have no idea whether he even applied.

Here's a very interesting column on the problems with the UNO athletic department, with some pointed criticism of the school's administration.

What's wrong with this schedule? Where do I begin? First, whereas last year we had 11 home non-conference games, this year we have six. Second, whereas last year we played a couple of decent (certainly not great, but decent) RMAC teams at home, this year we play none. Plus, we made a trip to Metro State last year, but don't receive a return trip from them this year. What's up with that? And when four of the six home non-conference games are against current or recently departed DAC teams, are we as fans supposed to be happy with that? Finally, while UND men's basketball has seriously underachieved for years, it's not "horrible." Anybody with any knowledge of history knows what this program has achieved in the long term, and knows what its potential is. UND football was also way down in the 80's, but that didn't last, did it? I don't believe it's asking too much to be playing several upper division NSIC and RMAC teams every year, with roughly half being at home and half on the road. Keep the NAIA opponents to a minimum. And NEVER agree to play a dII team on the road without the guarantee of a home game the following season, e.g. Metro State.

Are we getting bumped from KFYR in favor of Mary? link.

Does anybody know whether Thomas Dryburgh is still coming to UND next year? Any word on other possible additions prior to next season?

Travis Brewster has resigned to take a job at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

He's playing in Europe.